366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Blue Velvet (1986): Discussion begins. Read the Canonically Weird entry! The Criterion Collection upgrades their 2019 Blu-ray to 4K UHD with a new restoration (Blu-ray included). Buy Blue Velvet.

Chronicles of a Wandering Saint (2023): Discussion begins. An Argentinian woman stages a fake miracle, but real miracles (or at least, inexplicable events) soon follow. A well-reviewed magical realist feature with comedy elements. Chronicles of a Wandering Saint official site.

Family Portrait (2023): Discussion begins. A daughter attempts to gather her large family for a family portrait, but the mother has disappeared. A minimalist tale told in a festival-ready experimental style, with an uncomfortable soundtrack full of anxious drones and whispers. Family Portrait official site.

“The Game of Clones: Bruceploitation Collection Vol. 1”: Discussion begins. These seven discs from Severin thoroughly cover the 1970s “Brucesploitation” phenomenon: movies released with stars like Bruce Li and Bruce Lai, trying to trick people into thinking they were lost films from the recently deceased Bruce Lee. Notably, the set includes the wild The Dragon Lives Again (1977), where Bruce goes to hell and joins with Popeye the Sailor (!) to fight Dracula and others!  Buy “The Game of Clones: Bruceploitation Collection Vol. 1.”

L’Important C’est d’Aimer [The Important Thing Is to Love; That Most important Thing Love] (1975): Discussion begins. Read El Rob Hubbard’s review. This is, we believe, the first North American Blu-ray release of Andrzej Zulawski‘s intense melodrama, with an interview with director and an essay booklet as extras. Buy L’Important C’est d’Aimer.

“The Machine Girl Chronicles”: Discussion begins. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review of the original Machine Girl. This 2-disc Blu-ray brings together both absurd, gory, ass-kicking stories about the girl with the machine gun arm. Buy “The Machine Girl Chronicles.”

“Ozon’s Transgressive Triple”: Discussion begins. This François Ozon set includes the  Teorema-variation Sitcom, “Handel & Gretel” takeoff Criminal Lovers, and Water Drops on Burning Rocks, a gay May-December romance. Buy “Ozon’s Transgressive Triple.”

Riddle of Fire (2023): Discussion begins. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. The fun, child’s-eye fairy tale about three kids’ quest to a retrieve a speckled egg from a coven of witches arrives on Blu-ray with a director’s commentary and cast interviews among the extras. Buy Riddle of Fire.

Spider Baby (2024): Discussion begins. A fairly straightforward-looking low-budget remake of the Canonically Weird original, with Beverly Washburn along for the ride (and original director Jack Hill producing). The best news is that this Blu-ray includes the original as a bonus feature (the bonus and main features should probably be swapped, but nomenclature aside, it’s the best excuse to buy this disc). Buy Spider Baby.

The Vourdalak (2023): Discussion begins. A 19th-century French emissary finds stranded in a cabin in the woods, unknowingly awaiting the return of a vourdalak (an Eastern European vampire variant). Adapted from a Tolstoy novel, a couple of early reviews used the word “bizarre,” as well as hinting at the welcome presence of… puppets. No official site, though.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

There will be no Pod 366 next week (despite Greg incorrectly announcing one in this week’s episode) due to Independence Day celebrations. In written reviews, Shane Wilson tells you about India’s housefly revenge story Eega (2012); Giles Edwards braves The Vourdalak (see above); and Gregory J. Smalley hopes to venture out into theaters to catch Yorgos Lanthimos‘ Kinds of Kindness. Onward and weirdward!

366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

The Animal Kingdom (2023): A mysterious plague turns people into animal-human hybrids. French magical realism now on Blu-ray (and VOD).  Buy The Animal Kingdom.

DogMan (2023): Luc Besson directs Caleb Landry Jones in this thriller about a strange and damaged man obsessed with dogs. Now on Blu-ray. Buy DogMan.

Enter the Drag Dragon (2023): A drag queen detective investigates a case that involves kung fu, zombies, ninjas, ghosts, and cameo appearances. From the director of 2001’s Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter. Buy Enter the Drag Dragon.

Possession remake: Another one for the “bad idea for a remake” file:  Possession, but done by the guy who made Smile (2022). Robert Pattinson will lend his weight as a producer (no word on whether he plans to act in it). There are reports of a bidding war for the project (OK?). Appropriately, we caught the news from “Bloody Disgusting”.

Queendom (2023): A queer drag artist in Russia makes a public spectacle of herself by going out in public in surreal costumes, earning  and putting her freedom at risk. Greenwich Entertainment could have a documentary hit here (in critical terms, at least). Queendom official site.

Querelle (1982): Rainer Werner Fassbinder‘s final film was an expressionist tale of a beefcake sailor who chose to be gay do crime before it was cool. From a novel by gay criminal Jean Genet, to our knowledge this has never been released on physical media in North America until this Criterion Collection edition emerged. Buy Querelle.

Stopmotion (2023): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. Robert Morgan‘s debut feature about a stopmotion animator making a creepy stopmotion animated film arrives on Blu-ray. Buy Stopmotion.

Tuesday (2023): Julia Louis Drefuss stars as a mother whose daughter is dying from cancer; Death arrives in the form of a talking parrot. From A24, coming to theaters next week. Tuesday official site.

“Zebraman: Ultimate Z-Pack”: Includes two Takashi Miike superhero comedies: Zebraman (2004) and Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City (2010). Zebraman is not as weird or extreme as Miike’s earlier horror work, but is zany and inventive; Zebraman 2 was a flop and has rarely been seen in this country. Buy “Zebraman: Ultimate Z-Pack.”

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest is (firmly) scheduled for next week, although we could have one. Gregory J. Smalley will take the week off, and Pete Trbovich will fill in with Giles Edwards. In written reviews, Shane Wilson will revisit Cool World (1992), Giles examines microbudget Italian filmmaker Fabio Salerno’s The Other Dimension (previously unseen in America and briefly discussed in Episode 71), and Greg goes for Queendom (see above). Onward and weirdward!

366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Hanky Panky

• Interview begins
• Giles Edwards’ review
• Official site
• The Haun Solo Project

Bad Lieutenant (1992): Discussion begins. Harvey Keitel gives an unbelievable drooling, whimpering performance as a corrupt drug-addicted NYC cop investigating the rape of a nun in Abel Ferrara‘s ultra-Catholic NC-17 drama.  A new 4K upgrade from Kino Lorber, it also includes a Blu-ray, special features (including Ferrara commentary) recycled from older editions, and a new interview with cinematographer Ken Kelsch. Buy Bad Lieutenant.

“Cellophane Memories”: Discussion begins. David Lynch‘s announcement from last week turned out to be about a musical collaboration with singer Chrysta Bell (or Chrystabell). The album officially release on August 2, but David dropped a short music video showcasing the experimental audiovisual style.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998): Discussion begins. Read the Canonically Weird entry! A 4K UHD upgrade of the drug-culture satire from the Criterion Collection. No new features, just a quality and format change, but it does include a standard Blu-ray if you can’t play the UHD disc yet. Buy Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

La Chimera (2023): Discussion begins. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. Art-house magical realist antics in the unique setting of the illicit trade in Etruscan artifacts. Now on Blu-ray (no special features advertised). Buy La Chimera.

“Public Access Afterworld” (202?): Discussion begins. Jane Schoenbrun‘s next project isn’t a movie—at least, not yet—but instead a novel that concludes their “screen trilogy.” Originally pitched as a TV series, Schonebrun reconfigured it as a novel after HBO passed on the script. It’s about a mysterious secret TV network (shades of a trans Videodrome?) We would be somewhat surprised if this didn’t eventually end up on video in some capacity. They gave the scoop to IndieWire.

Tribeca Film Festival lineup (discussion begins):

• A-Frame – a quantum physicist begins ethically questionable experiments after accidentally discovering a potential cancer cure; from Calvin Reeder, so if it is not extremely strange, it will mark a major stylistic shift
  
• Daft Punk’s Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem – This is the story of an alien band who are abducted and forced to perform for Earthlings; a visual album (but with a narrative) done anime-style. The 4K remaster suggests a possible upcoming physical release.
• She Loved Blossoms More – this buzzy (around here) Greek film is about brothers who try to bring back their dead mother with a time machine; the programmer describes it as “wonderfully strange… with its acid-trip-like imagery and overall surreal vibe.”
  
• Vulcanizadora – Joel Potrykus directs (and co-stars with regular Joshua Burge) this typically low-budget affair with a close-to-the-vest plot about a pair of friends venturing into the woods for a mysterious purpose.
  

Tribeca Film Festival home page.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

We have no guest scheduled for next week’s Pod 366, but Giles and Greg will return to discuss the week’s weird movie news and releases. In written reviews, Shane Wilson is fascinated by The Beguiled (1971), a period piece set in a girls’ school that may be Clint Eastwood‘s weirdest project; Giles Edwards sticks to the vaguely Western theme with the animated experiment in alternate realities, Quantum Cowboys (2022); and Gregory J. Smalley breaks the trend to check out Bertrand Mandico‘s “incoherent” distaff Conan flick, She Is Conann (2023), with six sexy actresses portraying the mighty barbarian in different time periods. Onward and weirdward!