It’s been a while, but 366 Weird Movies brings you a new DVD giveaway contest! Since we’ve been asked this question a lot lately, and are probably going to be asked it a lot more in the future, what we’d like you to do is to give us suggestions in the comments about what you think we should do with this website after we reach our target of 366 Certified Weird Movies. We have some ideas, which we won’t be publicly divulging in full just yet, but maybe you guys will come up with some great ideas we hadn’t thought of.
To enter, simply post your thoughts in the comments to this post. We are going to select the winner randomly using random.org, so you don’t have to provide the best suggestion to enter. In fact, although we want to hear your thoughts, you don’t even have to have a suggestion to enter: you can simply mention in the comments that you love the site and you’d like to enter the contest.
The usual eligibility rules apply: to receive the DVDs, you must supply us with a mailing address in the United States. (Don’t publish your address in your comment! We’ll contact you through email). If you don’t meet those qualifications you can still comment for fun, but let us know you’re not in it for the prize. We’ll stop accepting entries Thursday, October 12, at midnight. (The winner will be mailed on October 17, the official release date).
Our prize is once again provided by Artsploitation Films (distributors of the Certified Weird Der Samurai): a factory-sealed Blu-ray of Red Christmas, a 2017 holiday-themed horror/comedy, starring 80s genre icon Dee Wallace. From the box cover:
“Horror legend Dee Wallace (The Hills Have Eyes, The Howling, E.T., Cujo) stars as the mother of a family, gathered together in a remote house on Christmas night. When a mysterious, deformed young man appears at their door, holiday cheer quickly turns to bloody, imaginatively orchestrated violence as the family members fight off the vengeful intruder. The film infuses comedy, dark family secrets with outlandish gore and adds the controversial subjects of religion and abortion into its blood-stained mix.”
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Lucky: The adventures of a crusty 90-year old atheist living his final years in a quirky desert town. Probably not very weird but certainly offbeat, featuring the last screen performance of cult icon Harry Dean Stanton and a rare acting role for David Lynch. Lucky official site.
FILM FESTIVALS – Beyond Fest (Los Angeles, 9/29-10/10):
LA’s Beyond Fest usually features revivals of classic genre fare (which we’ve listed in our “repertory screenings” section) mixed in with recent hits from other festivals like the Sequence Break (Oct. 8), Uganda’s madcap Bad Black (Oct 10), and Giorgos Lanthimos‘ highly awaitedThe Killing of a Sacred Deer (the Oct. 10 closing film). We like their taste. Although they rarely land debuts, this year they do have one item of some interest:
Best F(r)iends – Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero reunite for a followup to The Room (also screening at Beyond Fest); whether they can recapture the “magic” remains to be seen, but Wiseasu is never ordinary. Sep 30, in a double feature with The Room, with Wiseau, Sestero and Justin MacGregor in attendance. Understandably, it is sold out already.
David Lynch: The Art Life (2016): Documentary about 366 fave David Lynch, focusing on his formative years and on his painting. We’re (pleasantly) surprised that the Criterion Collection snapped up this one, though they bring few extra features this time (an interview with the director is the only item of note). Buy David Lynch: The Art Life.
Los Angeles, 10/1 – Suspiria (1977). Q&A after with Dario Argento, Udo Kier, and Barbara Magnolfi. Two showings: 7:00 and 10:00; the early screening is sold-out and standby only. Part of Beyond Fest. At the Egyptian Theater.
Los Angeles, 10/2 – Suspiria (1977) and Opera (1987) (double feature). With Dario Argento, Barbara Magnolfi and William McNamara. Sold out; standby only. Part of Beyond Fest. At the Egyptian Theater.
With only 66 spots left open on the List of the 366 Weirdest Movies, last week we opened up nominations for readers to submit movies they could not bear to be left off the List. We announced that this would be the last chance for readers to directly vote movies onto the List, but since the response was so strong we decided it might be appropriate to give you all one final shot when we get within sight of the finish line. So what you see below is now officially the Penultimate Readers Choice Poll rather than the final one.
The rules are simple, as always. You may vote for two of your favorites from the list below, and you may only vote once per day. We trust you are an honorable bunch so no shenanigans, please. The poll includes a short quote from the reader who nominated the film or seconded the nomination. You are encouraged to continue to campaign for your favorite in the comments on this post. Voting closes on October 7 at midnight, U.S. Eastern Standard time. Enjoy!
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Woodshock (2017): A grieving woman (Kirsten Dunst) smokes synthetic cannabinoids in the woods and hallucinates a lot. It’s savaging by critics makes it possibly A24’s first critical flop. Woodshock official site.
FILM FESTIVALS – Fantastic Fest (Austin, TX, 9/21-9/28):
The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX may be America’s coolest theater. Their brand has grown so big that now they have franchised Drafthouses, and even distribute their own (generally weird) movies. One of the Alamo’s hippest projects is Fantastic Fest, going into its thirteenth year. As per usual, there is a fantastic slate of weird movies and some neato revivals here. Coming at the tail end of the film festival season, much of the movies are retreads, but the Drafthouse folks always find a way to save some surprise debuts. We won’t do more than mention films we’ve already mentioned from other festivals, including the surreal resort feature All You Can Eat Buddha, the mindbending “cult” film The Endless, Giorgos Lanthimos‘ highly awaitedThe Killing of a Sacred Deer, Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani‘s poliziotteschi tribute Let the Corpses Tan, Selma Blair and Nicolas Cage as the killers Mom and Dad, and Palme d’Or winner The Square. Here’s what we’ll be tracking down the road:
Anna and the Apocalypse – A Scottish Christmas zombie-invasion musical. Screens Sep. 22 & 26.
Anyab (1981) – Per the description, this is an Egyptian rip-off of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (sans cross-dressing). Sep. 24 & 26.
Applecart – Vacationers are disturbed by an odd woman (Barbara Crampton) in a midnight movie the programmers describe as “weird, wild and blood-soaked.” Sep. 22 & 27.
Blue in My Mind – A Swiss teenage girl finds her body transforming (in a Cronenbergian way) and, per the trailer, also eats goldfish. Screens Sep. 27 only.
Gerald’s Game – During a sex game a man dies leaving his wife handcuffed to the bed; hallucinations ensue in this feature adapted from a Stephen King story. Sep. 24 & 26.
Ichi the Killer (2001) – A restored print of Takashi Miike‘s sadomasochistic yakuza hit. Catch it Sep. 27.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower – A girl becomes a witch for a day in this anime from Studio Ghibli refugees that brings to mind Kiki’s Delivery Service with flying whales. Sep. 22 & 27.
The Nude Vampire (1970) – A special screening of Jean Rollin‘s batty sex/vampire mashup (and List Candidate) to celebrate the release of Kier La-Janisse’s book “Lost Girls: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin.” On Sep. 24, hosted by La-Janisse.
The Originals – Reality (and time)-bending Egyptian film about a banker recruited into a secret society. Sep 22 & 26.
Pin Cushion – A mother and daughter in a new town retreat into fantasy when targeted by bullies. Sep. 22 & 26.
Topknot Detective – Mockumentary (?) about a brief Japanese cult TV series starring a samurai detective. Sep. 23 & 25.
Vidar the Vampire – A Norwegian farmer is vampirized by a bloodsucker claiming to be Jesus Christ. Sep. 24 & 28.
World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts – The 40-minute sequel to Don Hertzfeldt brilliant short “World of Tomorrow“; the original will also be shown, and Hertzfeld will lead a discussion during the intermission. World premiere Sep. 23, encore Sep. 28.
“Jean-Luc Godard + Jean-Pierre Gorin: Five Films, 1968-1971”: Five rare films (A Film Like Any Other, See You at Mao, Wind from the East, Struggles in Italy, Vladimir and Rosa) from Jean-Luc Godard‘s “Dziga Vertov” period. These experimental, avant-garde hippie-era Marxist screeds are dated and an acquired taste. Buy “Jean Luc-Godard + Jean-Pierre Gorin: Five Films, 1968-1971 {Blu-ray + DVD].”
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (WIDE RELEASE):
mother!: A series of uninvited guests disturb Jennifer Lawrence’s tranquillity in Darren Aronofsky‘s latest psychological thriller. Critics have been divided but generally positive, though it did earn a smattering of “boos” from the Venice Film Festival crowd (which is often a good gauge of a movie’s weirdness). mother! official Facebook page.
FILM FESTIVALS – AFI Latin American Film Festival (Silver Spring, MD., Sep 14-Oct 4):
This year, AFI’s showcase of Latin American (or at least Spanish language) film features a couple of movies we’ve seen around the festival circuit: the List-worthy animation Birdboy: The Forgotten Children [AKA Psychonauts, The Forgotten Children] and the Mexican psychosexual horror The Untamed. There’s also one new title of interest:
Don’t Swallow My Heart, Alligator Girl! – A Brazilian boy falls in love with a Paraguayan girl in this magical realist take on “Romeo and Juliet.” Screens Sep. 17 & 19.
Phenomena (1985): A young girl who can speak to insects solves a mystery at a girls’ school. Synapse puts out a deluxe two Blu-ray set of Dario Argento‘s buggy horror with three cuts of the film, an Argento doc, and more surprises. Buy Phenomena [Blu-ray].
“Horror legend Dee Wallace (The Hills Have Eyes, The Howling, E.T., Cujo) stars as the mother of a family, gathered together in a remote house on Christmas night. When a mysterious, deformed young man appears at their door, holiday cheer quickly turns to bloody, imaginatively orchestrated violence as the family members fight off the vengeful intruder. The film infuses comedy, dark family secrets with outlandish gore and adds the controversial subjects of religion and abortion into its blood-stained mix.”
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