It’s that time of year again: time for the movies with the largest online fan bases to organize campaigns to stuff our ballot boxes. Last week, the Academy Awards released their nominees for the Most Conventional Movies of 2012.  This week, we reveal our nominees for the 3rd Annual Weirdcademy Awards.  This is the award given to the weirdest movie, actor, actress and scene of the previous year, as voted by the members of the Weirdcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Weirdness.

Who makes up the Weirdcademy, you ask? Membership is open to all readers of 366 Weird Movies. The rules for joining the Weirdcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Weirdness remain the same as last year. To officially join the Weirdcademy, locate the official online ballot (below) and hover your mouse pointer over the radial button representing the choice of movie you would like to see win the award in any category. Then, simply depress the left button of your mouse to make your selection. Selections made using the right mouse button will be disregarded, and you will be forced to reapply. If your application for membership is provisionally approved, a dot will appear next to your choice. You are not done with the application procedure yet, so continue reading. To be certified as a voting member of the Weirdcademy, at some point subsequent to making your selection, you must navigate your mouse button to the box marked “vote.” Now, again depress your left mouse button to confirm your membership as a voting member of the Weirdcademy.

(Vote as many times as you like, but only once per day. We’ll keep voting open until February 24 at 1:00 PM EST, so we can announce our results before the Academy Awards, thus making their announcement superfluous).  Just as with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, there is no requirement that you have to actually see the movies in any category before voting.

We have also opened voting for the Weirdest Short Film of the Year.  To watch all ten nominees and to cast your vote, please click here. It’s like a mini-film festival of weirdness on your computer!

Without further delay, here are the nominees for the 2012 Weirdcademy awards (below the break):

Continue reading 3RD ANNUAL WEIRDCADEMY AWARDS →

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 on the official site links.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

“Channel 2020” (coming 2013): A web series devoted to exposing the “interstellar shape-shifting reptilian overlords” of the very near future through a glimpse at their very own TV network. This is a co-production by Everything is Terrible! (late of the Certified Weird Doggiewoggiez! Poochiewoochiez!) and David Krofta, co-writer/puppeteer of IFC’s “Food Party.” “Channel 2020” official site.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjLpWMc-Lxo]

“Sex City” (coming 2013): OK, the guys at Everything Is Terrible are super-busy trying to top DW! PW! by expanding into the realm of web series. This one involves teenagers who plant porno mags in the woods and come back years later to discover these seeds have grown into a full-fledged Sex City, and they are considered its gods. “Sex City” production journal.

NEW ON DVD:

The Spirit of the Beehive (1973): A seven-year old girl in Franco’s Spain sees Frankenstein (1931) and believes the Monster is real. This celebrated Spanish drama mixing reality and fantasy was an obvious inspiration for Pan’s Labyrinth. Buy The Spirit of the Beehive (Criterion Collection).

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971): This existential road movie from eccentric director Monte Hellman has two aimless gearheads (called “the Driver” and “the Engineer”) racing cars across the endless American highway, until a girl comes between them. The Criterion Collection upgrades this cult favorite to Blu-ray. Buy Two-Lane Blacktop (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray].

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

It’s the end of the year, and you know what that means—we’ll be filling out our article quotas with year end top 10 lists. Next week you can expect to see two separate film rankings, one for weird movies and one recognizing the somewhat valid efforts of mainstream filmmakers. While we’re at it we’ll sneak in one last (?) 2012 review, for Leos Carax‘ star-studded and much anticipated French fantasia Holy Motors.

As we scan the server logs looking for weird search terms for our Weirdest Search Term of the Week contest, we often come across queries that aren’t deranged in and of themselves, but can appear strange in context. Such is the case with this week’s search for “movies where black guys get killed,” which on its face is just a little bit depressing—until you see that someone else out there on the Internet this week was looking for “movies with white girls who get killed,” which seems to balance out the cosmic karma in some sick way. Of course, people also search for weird movie lists, like the fella looking for a “list of movies where a teen boy becomes a humaniod do to a strange sphere.” (You wanna do a strange sphere, you gotta become a humanoid). In a little category we like to call “weird marketplace” we note two items this week: “shirley garcia weirdos for sale” and “selling used panties in xenia ohio.” But this time around, our Weirdest Search Term of the Week was a no-brainer: “videofilm what enter action price for prostitute): real man prostitute suck the boobs for the woman like after born to logical end (video where is the hero!)” This search term has got everything: broken English, emoticons, and sexual perversion. It’s a fittingly odd verbal cap for 2012.

Here’s how the long-neglected, ridiculously-long-and-ever-growing reader-suggested review queue stands: Holy Motors (next week!); The Hour-glass Sanatorium [Saanatorium pod klepsidra]; Liquid Sky (re-review); Society; Final Programme; “Foutaises”; Bloodsucking Freaks; Lost Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE →

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 on the official site links.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Tabu (2012): A Portuguese tale about an old dying woman with a secret past, which is told in a dialogue-free (but not silent) flashback that makes up the bulk of the film. It’s getting excellent reviews (and being called “bizarre”) by the usual arthouse aficionados, but Miguel Gomes’ movie arrives at an awkward time of year to get any sort of awards consideration. Tabu official site.

NEW ON DVD:

Killer Joe (2011): This black comedy/film noir from William Friedkin revolves around a father and son who take out a contract on their wife/mother, and leave their daughter/sister with the hit man as collateral until they can pay. Not necessarily super-weird but it is pitch-black and offbeat, and one of our readers did suggest we review it. Buy Killer Joe.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Killer Joe (2011): See description in DVD above. Buy Killer Joe [Blu-ray].

The Room (2003): This drama, considered by many to be the worst ever, is about—well, no one’s ever been able to explain to us exactly what it’s about. Maybe it’s about a room? Whatever it concerns, it’s in our reader-suggested review queue. Actor/director/distributor Tommy Wiseau self-released this Blu-ray, and it contains, for the first time ever in history, the option to have subtitles in multiple languages occupy the screen at the same time. Buy The Room [Blu-ray].

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.