On a personal note, I’ll be on vacation for most of next week.  But that doesn’t mean the site won’t be updated; we’re still going to supply you guys with a full week of weird movies.  You can look forward to a review of the unjustly hated kiddie fantasy The Adventures of Sharkboy andf Lavagirl in 3D, from Robert (Sin City) Rodriguez, as the odd-movie-out entry in Radiation Scarred Review’s SHARKATHALON! blogathon.  We’ll also be unveiling two reader submissions for June’s review writing contest: recommendations for Brian Yuzna‘s Society (1989) and Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude (1971).  Alfred will also be around to review another B-Western, The Great K & A Train Robbery (1926), on Thursday.  So I don’t think I’ll  be missed too much.

By the way, there’s still plenty of time to enter the June review writing contest and win 2 DVDs… details here.

It’s another only slightly absurd week in weird search term used to locate the site.  We’ll go with “naked happening during making movie” as the one that caught our eye out of a weak field.

The exponentially-expanding reader suggested review queue, reprinted for your convenience:  Trash Humpers (we’re waiting for the DVD release); Kwaidan; Six-String Samurai; Andy Warhol’s Trash; Altered States; Memento; Nightmare Before Christmas/Vincent/Frankenweenie; The Science of Sleep; The Attic Expeditions; After Last Season; Getting Any?; Performance; Being John Malkovich; The Apple; Southland Tales; Arizona Dream; Spider (2002); Songs From The Second Floor; Singapore Sling; Alice [Neco z Alenky]; Necromentia; Hour of the Wolf; MirrorMask; Possession; Suspiria; Mary and Max; Wild Zero; 4; Nothing (2003); The Peanut Butter Solution; Ninja Scroll; Perfume: The Story of a Murderer; Danger: Diabolik; Faust; Sublime; Battle Royale; Pink Floyd: The Wall; Escanaba In Da Moonlight; Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter; Zardoz; The Films of Suzan Pitt; Toto the Hero [Toto le Héros]; Paprika; The Holy Mountain; Brazil; The Casserole Masters; Dark Crystal; Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets; The Nines; 964 Pinocchio; The Pillow Book; Final Flesh; Lunacy [Sílení]; Inmortel; Tetsuo; Dead Ringers; Kairo [AKA Pulse]; The Guatemalan Handshake; Dead Leaves; The Seventh Seal; Primer; Maniac (1934); Hausu; A Boy and His Dog; 200 Motels; Walkabout; Private Parts (1972); Possession; Saddest Music in the World; Mulholland Drive; The American Astronaut; Blood Tea and Red Strings; The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. II (for Lucifer Rising, among others); Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ; The Bride of Frank; La Grande Bouffe; Uzumaki [Spiral]; Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Even Dwarves Started Small; Bunny & the Bull; “I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney” (assuming I can find it); Cinema 16: European Short Films; Freaked; Session 9; Schizopolis; Strings; Dellamorte Dellamore [AKA Cemetery Man]; The Hour-glass Sanatorium [Saanatorium pod klepsidra]; The Addiction; Liquid Sky; The Quiet; Shock Treatment; Tuvalu; “Zombie Jesus” (if we can locate it); 3 Dev Adam; Fantastic Planet; “Twin Peaks” (TV series); Society; May; The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension; Little Otik; Final Programme; Careful; Sweet Movie; The Triplets of Belleville; “Foutaises” (short); Johnny Suede; “Jam” (TV, UK, 2000), The Tale of the Floating World, Un Chien Andalou, Bloodsucking Freaks; Fellini Satyricon; Three Crowns of the Sailor; 8 1/2; Death Race 2000; Dororo; Lost Highway; Valerie and Her Week of Wonders; Dogville; and Julien Donkey-boy; Amelie; The Ten; The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao; 1; Fast, Cheap and Out of Control; Tokyo Gore Police; At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul; The Trial [Le procès) (1962); Marquis; Hell Comes to Frogtown; Hellzapoppin’; Seom [The Isle]; Allegro Non Troppo; Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus; Lust in the Dust; Celine and Julie Go Boating; “Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life;” The Magic Christian; Black Cat, White Cat; The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T; Abnormal: The Sinema of Nick Zedd; Robot Monster; Nightdreams; and 3 Women. Wow, just wow.

A 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.

Well, the summer blockbuster season is upon us, which means that there will be even less chance for weird or unusual films to get a major release.  If your dead set on seeing something in a theater this week, you may want to check out Winter’s Bone, a “hillbilly noir” that, while not weird, is drawing almost universal praise and early Oscar buzz for star Jennifer Lawrence.  Here’s the official site .

NEW ON DVD:

Long Pigs (2007): Fake documentary about a camera crew documenting the life of a cannibalistic serial killer. Sound familiar? Buy Long Pigs.

Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy) (2009): Heads up, casual Monty Python fans! (Hardcore fans will have already pre-ordered this). Not the Messiah is a comic oratorio (riffing off Handel’s “Messiah”) that retells the story of the famous not-messiah Brian through newly written songs (and some old favorites). From a Royal Albert Hall concert, starring Eric Idle with guest appearances by the surviving Pythons (including Terry Gilliam, but minus John Cleese). Buy Not the Messiah.

Shutter Island (2010): Read our capsule review. Atmospheric psychothriller from Martin Scorsese, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Buy Shutter Island.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Shutter Island (2010): See entry in DVD above. Buy Shutter Island [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE

Baby Geniuses (1999): OK, so it’s an incredibly stupid comedy, not a weird movie, but we mention it for those bad movie lovers who enjoy torturing themselves. This movie about talking babies who disco-dance and deliver karate chops made Roger Ebert cry. With embarrassed Christopher Lloyd and Kathleen Turner. Followed by the even worse Superbabies: Baby Geniuses II (2004). You couldn’t pay me to watch it, but you can watch it for free! Watch Baby Geniuses free on YouTube.

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.

First off, don’t forget about our latest DVD contest: details here.   We’ve already got a new contest in the works for July, with a special twist: it will be open to UK residents only.

Next week, look for a review of the recently released Alice in Wonderland variation, Malice in Wonderland, set in an underworld of quirky London gangsters; the surreal new indie horror Burning Inside; Julie Taymor’s oft-trippy Beatles musical, Across the Universe (2007) (this one could get bumped for a surprise new release); and Edward G. Ulmer’s expressionist horror masterpiece, The Black Cat, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.

It was a good week for weird search terms used to locate the site.  We like the fact that someone came here looking for the straight dope on “psychotronic KGB,” and where else but here would you go to get the lowdown on “very bizarre malice sur tube”?  Still, as far as weird search terms go, it’s hard to beat our favorite, “weird colourful round parasitic things on a wall in an asian village.”

And, in the we-shouldn’t-be-laughing-at-others-misfortune-but-we-will-anyway department, we have to mention that a spammer tried to post a comment from a domain delightfully titled www.i-have-blood-in-my-stool.com.  If you do have blood in your stool, you might go there for comfort.  Or, try a crazy alternative therapy, like seeing a doctor.

The reader-suggested review queue is still growing at an exponential rate.  Here’s how it stands: Trash Humpers (waiting for DVD release); Malice in Wonderland (jumping in line for a review this week); Kwaidan; Six-String Samurai; Andy Warhol’s Trash; Altered States; Memento; Nightmare Before Christmas/Vincent/Frankenweenie; The Science of Sleep; The Attic Expeditions; After Last Season; Getting Any?; Performance; Being John Malkovich; The Apple; Southland Tales; Arizona Dream; Spider (2002); Songs From The Second Floor; Singapore Sling; Alice [Neco z Alenky]; Necromentia; Hour of the Wolf; MirrorMask; Possession; Suspiria; Mary and Max; Wild Zero; 4; Nothing (2003); The Peanut Butter Solution; Ninja Scroll; Perfume: The Story of a Murderer; Danger: Diabolik; Faust; Sublime; Battle Royale; Pink Floyd: The Wall; Escanaba In Da Moonlight; Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter; Zardoz; The Films of Suzan Pitt; Toto the Hero [Toto le Héros]; Paprika; The Holy Mountain; Brazil; The Casserole Masters; Dark Crystal; Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets; The Nines; 964 Pinocchio; The Pillow Book; Final Flesh; Lunacy [Sílení]; Inmortel; Tetsuo; Dead Ringers; Kairo [AKA Pulse]; The Guatemalan Handshake; Dead Leaves; The Seventh Seal; Primer; Maniac (1934); Hausu; A Boy and His Dog; 200 Motels; Walkabout; Private Parts (1972); Possession; Saddest Music in the World; Mulholland Drive; The American Astronaut; Blood Tea and Red Strings; The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. II (for Lucifer Rising, among others); Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ; The Bride of Frank; La Grande Bouffe; Uzumaki [Spiral]; Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Even Dwarves Started Small; Bunny & the Bull; “I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney” (assuming I can find it); Cinema 16: European Short Films; Freaked; Session 9; Schizopolis; Strings; Dellamorte Dellamore [AKA Cemetery Man]; The Hour-glass Sanatorium [Saanatorium pod klepsidra]; The Addiction; Liquid Sky; The Quiet; Shock Treatment; Tuvalu; “Zombie Jesus” (if we can locate it); 3 Dev Adam; Fantastic Planet; “Twin Peaks” (TV series); Society; May; The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension; Little Otik; Final Programme; Careful; Sweet Movie; The Triplets of Belleville; “Foutaises” (short); Johnny Suede; “Jam” (TV, UK, 2000), The Tale of the Floating World, Un Chien Andalou, Bloodsucking Freaks; Fellini Satyricon; Three Crowns of the Sailor; 8 1/2; Death Race 2000; Dororo; Lost Highway; Valerie and Her Week of Wonders; Dogville; and Julien Donkey-boy; Amelie; The Ten; The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao; 1; Fast, Cheap and Out of Control; Tokyo Gore Police; At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul; The Trial [Le procès) (1962); Marquis; Hell Comes to Frogtown; Hellzapoppin’; Seom [The Isle]; Allegro Non Troppo; Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus; and Lust in the Dust.

A 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 (WIDE RELEASE):

Splice:  A speculative strand of genetic horror/science fiction about DNA splicing experiments in the near future.  Unlikely to be truly weird, but it is from a visionary director (Vincenzo Natali, of Cube fame), and it has creepy, alien looking mutant kids; that counts for something.  Starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley.  Splice official site.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Double Take:  Archival footage of Alfred Hitchcock and a body double are used to create a new story involving the Master of Suspense meeting an evil doppelgänger during the Cold War.  Sounds utterly fascinating.  Opening in New York City this week, with scattered dates around the US until January 2011; hopefully more will be added.  Double Take official site.

Gone with the Pope (1975/2010):  Here’s an odd story: an ex-con plans to kidnap the Pope in order to extort one dollar from every Catholic in the world.  Now for the strange part: this movie was shot in 1975 by a nightclub singer as a vanity project, but never released; the old raw footage has been pieced by Sam Raimi‘s editor.  Supposedly, it’s a previously undiscovered camp classic that’s as tasteless as a John Waters flick in parts; either that, or it’s one of the best movie hoaxes ever.  It’s been playing for a while but we’ve only just learned about it.  Showing this week in New York City, with screenings to follow in Minneapolis, Houston, Dallas, Austin, and St. Louis.  Gone with the Pope official site.

Ondine: An Irish Fisherman (Colin Farrel) falls in love with a woman he catches in his fishing nets, whom he comes to believe might be a creature from a fairy tale.  Mild, sentimental-looking magical realism from sometimes-weird director Neil (The Company of Wolves, The Butcher Boy) Jordan.  Ondine official site.

NEW ON DVD:

Alice in Wonderland (2010): Read our capsule review.  Tim Burton’s “meh” vision of Wonderland arrives on home video.  Aimed at today’s kids, not Lewis Carrol fans. Buy Alice in Wonderland.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Vol 7:  A new volume of the popular Adult Swim cartoon.  Eleven short episodes from seasons 7 and 8, with extras to pad the runtime to two hours.  Fast food surrealism, in every sense of the coinage. Buy “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” Vol. 7.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Alice in Wonderland (2010): See entry in DVD above. Buy Alice in Wonderland [Blu-ray].

Pale Rider (1985): A treasure trove of Clint Eastwood movies are being released on Blu-ray this week, but as much as we love the Man With No Name, the guy’s frankly just not that weird.  The closest the legend’s ever come to making a “weird” movie is this Western with mystical overtones about a mysterious rider known only as “Preacher” who rescues miners from a greedy tycoon. Buy Pale Rider [Blu-ray].

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

Our first review writing contest went fabulously: we landed Pamela de Graff, who’s turned into a valuable contributor for the site.

Our second review-writing contest went as badly as the first went well.  We got zero responses.

We’re upping the ante this time.  Last time, we offered a review copy of the experimental, surreal horror movie Frankenstein’s Bloody Nightmare.  We’re holding that offer over, and adding a review copy of the surreal indie horror Burning Inside (2010).  So, you can win two rare screener DVDs with a single review!

The rules of the contest are simple:

1. Write a review of a movie that you think should be on the List of the 366 Best Weird Movies, but that hasn’t been covered here yet.  Including the following sections: DIRECTOR, FEATURING (listing the most important actors), PLOT (a one sentence synopsis), WHY IT DESERVES TO MAKE THE LIST (a one sentence to one paragraph description of why you think the movie is weird), COMMENTS (one to two paragraphs describing the movie in more detail). If you have a suggestion for a still to represent the movie and/or a quote from a critic on the film, you can include those, but they are not required.
2. In rare cases, a well-thought out “second opinion” on a movie that we have already considered, but that you think we got wrong (either by putting it on the List when it shouldn’t have made it, or rejecting a film that should have made it), will be an acceptable subject for a review.  We would still prefer reviews of movies we haven’t yet covered.
3. Submit your work on our contact form. By submitting your entry on this form, you agree to allow 366weirdmovies.com to publish your work, either whole or in edited form, on this website. Your work may be selected for publication even if you are not chosen as the winner.
4. The contest is open to anyone whose work has not previously been published on 366weirdmovies.com.  If you submitted a review to the last contest and did not win, you are still eligible to enter this contest even if we published your review.
5. You may not write a review promoting a film which you were involved in the production of, or in which you have a financial interest.
6. This site strives to remain “PG” rated; do not use profanity in your review.
7. The contest will remain open for one month, until June 30, 2010, at which time the editor will select the best entry. The winner will be chosen on the basis of writing style, insight, and appropriateness of the movie chosen. The deadline may be extended, depending on the number of entries received.
8. In order to be eligible to receive the prize, you must supply a valid email address and a valid mailing address. International addresses are acceptable. If the winning entrant does not supply a valid mailing address, or declines the prize, the DVD will be given to a randomly selected entry with a mailing address in the United States. If no entries are from the United States, then the deadline to complete the contest will be extended.

TIPS: Avoid merely summarizing the plot in your comments. Avoid giving away “spoilers” in your descriptions that might ruin the enjoyment of the film. Obscure titles are fine—in fact, they may be worth bonus points—but try to pick a film that is available on DVD, or is at least likely to be released. If you write on a film no one will be able to view or locate, the movie may be judged as inappropriate.

One final tip: don’t be scared away by thinking you have to write something profoundly insightful. Simply consider it as a chance to describe and recommend a film to that narrow audience of people who are interested in the same kind of weird movies as you are.

Have fun! The winner, and even the runners-up, may be invited to become regular contributors to the site!