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Pod 366: A Weird Movies Podcast

POD 366, EPISODE 53: SLAMDANCING TO ZEB HARADON’S ETERNAL RECURRENCE

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Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

The Eternal Recurrence (2023): Interview begins. In guest ‘s latest movie (available sometime in 2024), Jim recounts his dreams, which include aliens, monsters, bad parents, and a visit from Friedrich Nietzsche, all realized by A.I.

Zeb Haradon’s YouTube channel

Zeb Haradon’s homepage

“Chantal Akerman Masterpieces, 1968-1978”: Discussion begins. The Criterion Collection boxes up Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles with eight other rarely seen movies (many shorts). A few might be interesting experiments to those who can endure Akerman’s punishing minimalism. Buy “Chantal Akerman Masterpieces, 1968-1978.”

Curse of the Dog God (1977): Discussion begins. A uranium miner accidentally releases the Dog God, who curses everyone. From Mondo Macabro, it’s another reputedly bizarre Japanese exploitation horror in the vein of A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse. Buy Curse of the Dog God.

Hundreds of Beavers (2022): Discussion begins. Read El Rob Hubbard’s review and listen to Giles Edwards’ interview. The absurdist silent comedy featuring has a 100% positive on Rotten Tomatoes (as well as a “must see” from us). and is on a “Great Lakes Roadshow” tour of the Midwest. Trailer and screening dates available on the Hundreds of Beavers official website.

Impossible Object [AKA Story of a Love Story] (1973): Discussion begins. A married writer has an affair, but it may be all in his imagination. This reputedly surreal effort barely got a release outside of France and has been largely forgotten; the Indicator label rescues it from complete obscurity. Buy Impossible Object.

Slamdance 2024: Discussion begins.

Triplets of Belleville (2003): Discussion begins. Read the Canonically Weird entry! There doesn’t appear to be anything special about this re-release of Sylvain Chomet’s dialogue-free, jazz age animated musical. Buy Triplets of Belleville.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest is scheduled for next week’s Pod 366 (although it’s possible someone could pop up at the last minute), but either way Greg and Giles will have a lot to talk about as there are a ton of odd movies released next week. Pete Trbovich will be bringing you another Weird View Crew video review as he check outs Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death. Coincidentally, perhaps, Cannibal Women is (Cannibal Women are?) in our reader-suggested review queue, and Shane Wilson will kick off our written reviews with another one that Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue with the strange Russian tank movie White Tiger. Rounding things out, Giles Edwards handles some Slamdance 2024 leftovers, and Gregory J. Smalley checks out the new New Age vision-quest movie Reflect (2023). Onward and weirdward!

Interviews

WINNIPEG LEGEND JOHN PAIZS CHATS WITH 366

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Director , best known for his Canadian cult comedy Crime Wave (in which a silent screenwriter played by the director struggles to pen the ultimate “colour crime” movie in his quest to reach “the Top!”), graciously agreed to answer some questions for 366 Weird Movies about his homegrown Winnipeg masterpiece and other topics.

Questions from Gregory J. Smalley:

You, , and now are all Winnipeg natives, and all of you make movies that reinvent the styles of older films, with nostalgic irony but also genuine appreciation. Can we say there’s an actual “Winnipeg school” of filmmaking? If so, what brought this style about—is there something in the water in Winnipeg?

That’s a good question. Yes, it does appear to have become something of a thing regarding Winnipeg, this particular style of filmmaking. As for what brought it about, if not something in the water (which is an entirely reasonable supposition!), my next best guess would be possibly something to do with our winters. Have you ever spent a winter in Winnipeg? Though now thanks to climate change, this may never be provable, unfortunately!

What are “colour crime movies” in Crime Wave’s world? Any real-life examples of the genre you were thinking of?

Crime Wave (1985)
Behind-the-scenes photo from Crime Wave, courtesy John Paizs

The colour crime movie was simply the kind of movie that Crime Wave’s movie-maker protagonist, Steven Penny, aspired to make. Inspired by classic-era “noirs” movies, his idea was to reinvent them—supercharge them if you will—and all importantly, add colour! They were to be in colour, unlike almost all the real-life examples of the genre of course. As for any I may have been thinking of myself, none specifically. Though just last year I happened to catch one that if I had seen it back when I was first cooking up Crime Wave may very well have become key to my own inspiration. And its poster actually, coincidentally, hangs in Steven Penny’s apartment over the garage in Crime Wave! It’s a punchy little noir from 1955 called Hell’s Island. It’s packed with all the clichés of the genre, which of course we all love, and, very rare for a classic-era noir (and probably a lot closer to nonexistent at this one’s obviously a lot closer to nonexistent budget level), it’s in colour!

The protagonist of Crime Wave, Steven Penny, has no trouble writing the beginnings and endings of screenplays, but struggles with middles. So of course the obvious question is, is this an autobiographical comment?

In terms of screenplays in their totality—not just struggling with middles!—yes, very much an autobiographical comment. In fact completely. Just prior to writing Crime Wave I’d written a handful of feature-length screenplays, all of which did not work out for one reason or another. And on the night that I was sitting at my kitchen Continue reading WINNIPEG LEGEND JOHN PAIZS CHATS WITH 366 →

Capsules

POD 366, EPISODE 53: INSIDE THE MIND OF IAN JANE AS HE GOES INSIDE “INSIDE THE MIND OF COFFIN JOE”

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Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Ian Jane’s Rock! Shock! Pop!

Queens Comic Podcast

“Inside the Mind of Coffin Joe”: All new 4K restorations, and packed with extras, this Arrow box set gathers nearly all of cinematic appearances as his amoral “Coffin Joe” (“Zé do Caixão”) character: At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (1964); This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse (1967); The Strange World of Coffin Joe (1968); The Awakening of the Beast (1970); The End of Man (1971); When the Gods Fall Asleep (1972); The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures (1976); Hellish Flesh (1977); Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind (1978); and Embodiment of Evil (2008). Released just this week and already listed as “out of stock” last we checked (although secondary markets have copies); per Ian Jane on our podcast, Arrow may have temporarily withdrawn it to fix a subtitling issue on one of the discs. Buy “Inside the Mind of Coffin Joe.”

Radio On (1979): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. “Standard Special Edition” sounds like a contradiction in terms, but that’s how this Blu-ray release of the British cult film about 1970s alienation bills itself. Includes new interviews and a commentary track not on the previous DVD release. Buy Radio On.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

Next week on Pod 366, (Elevator Movie) will join us to discuss his latest dream-based, A.I.-generated feature film, The Eternal Recurrence. And more YouTube channel content as Pete Trbovich puts out the second in his new series of video reviews, “Weird View Crew,” unlocking the mysteries of Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972). In written content, we have a real treat: kindly consented to answer some questions for 366 Weird Movies to help illuminate his Canonically Weird Crime Wave (1985) (and other topics). Also, Shane Wilson calls an audible to review the Brian De Palma flop/oddity Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972), Giles Edwards begins his Slamdance 2024 coverage with the Italian paranormal thriller The Complex Forms (and potentially other movies), and Gregory J. Smalley shares the winners of the Online Film Critics Society’s 2024 Awards (and reveals what he voted for). Another packed week! Onward and weirdward!

Pod 366: A Weird Movies Podcast

POD 366: SUN/SLAMDANCE 2024 PREVIEW

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Megalopolis (2024): Discussion begins. announces his latest passion project, made with his own fortune, will screen in early 2024. The logline elliptically suggests “the fate of Rome haunts a modern world unable to solve its own social problems in this epic story of political ambition, genius, and dangerous love.” Coppola calls it “unusual” and star hints it “takes a risk.” We remain intrigued. Indiewire has more details.

Reflect (2023): Discussion begins. Trippy “New Age thriller” follows five women on a retreat at Sedona who find themselves menaced by shadow people. Now available on VOD. Reflect official site.

Sundance Film Festival (Park City, Utah, Jan. 18-28): Discussion begins. The 2024 film season officially kicks off at Sundance. Weird films will occasionally debut here, but it’s no sure thing; last year gave us only Infinity Pool, and this year’s feature slate does not look especially promising. Still, we’d take a flyer on the items below:

  • I Saw the TV Glow – (We’re All Going to the World’s Fair) returns with another examination of modern technology’s influence on youth—this time, a late-night TV show that introduces kids to a supernatural world. Midnight section.
  • It’s What’s Inside – A man shows up at a party with a mysterious suitcase that holds ” an existential nightmare.” Midnight section.
  • Little Death – the story of a screenwriter undergoing a midlife crisis and two opioid-addicted taco truck operators collide in an “idiosyncratic debut feature” with “bursts of surreal montage and oddball AI animation.” Screens in the NEXT section.
  • “The Rainbow Bridge” – This short by 366-interview victim Dmitri Simakis (of ) and Suki-Rose is about human-pet telepathy and is certain to be one of the weirdest things playing at Sundance.

Sundance official homepage

Slamdance Film Festival (Jan. 19-25): Discussion begins. Slamdance, Sundance’s punk cousin, runs concurrently and, featuring lower-budgeted films from less well-established filmmakers, tends to make bolder programming choices. The downside, of course, is that Slamdance offerings are less likely to find meaningful distribution. Here’s what looks weird at this dance:

  • The Bitcoin Car – A goat farmer faces the consequences of lending out her parent’s grave to a bitcoin miner. You read that right.
  • The Complex Forms – A group of mostly elderly men pass time in a lavish villa, waiting for the unknown creatures to whom they have contractually sold their bodies to arrive.
  • Darla in Space – Darla teams up with a sentient kombucha scoby…. and there’s more weird stuff.
  • Love and Work – Two rebels seek jobs in an absurdist dystopia where work is illegal.
  • Slide – Animated Western musical from , sure to be one of the most hotly sought-after tickets at the dance.

Slamdance official homepage

NEPOTISM CORNER:

Deadoaks Mall: This new audio drama from Pete Trbovich, Giles Edwards and others is an absurdist/”Twilight Zone” type anthology set in an infinite, purgatorial mall with the slogan “you can find anything here…. except the exit!” Listen to “Dead Oaks Mall.”

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

Next week’s Pod 366 will largely focus on the films of , with the help of Rock! Shock! Pop!‘s Ian Jane. Our YouTube channel (please subscribe!) will become more crowded with the first of what will hopefully be a continuing series, as Pete Trbovich serves up a “Weird View Crew” video review of Space Is the Place (1974). In written reviews, Shane Wilson expands on our (almost complete) coverage of with a review of his episodic experiment “Rabbits” (2002), Gregory J. Smalley gives you a somewhat late review of ‘ weird Oscar contender Poor Things, and Giles Edwards takes an equally delayed gander at ‘s collaborative freebie Deep Astronomy and the Romantic Sciences (available to watch free here, and check out our McAbee interview here). It’s another busy week at 366 Weird Movies! Onward and weirdward!

Pod 366: A Weird Movies Podcast

POD 366: ALOHA! ANIMATION EDITION WITH GUEST G.B. HAJIM

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Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

G.B. Hajim’s Mermaids’ Lament official Facebook page

The Congress (2013): Discussion begins. Read the Apocryphally Weird entry! A new Blu-ray and DVD release of ‘s half-animated dystopian parable The Congress was announced in late 2023, then pushed back, and then the listing disappeared completely. There is a new Region B Blu for Europeans, but we’re still waiting for news on Region A. We discuss the film anyway.

“Masaaki Yuasa: Five Films – Collector’s Edition”: Discussion begins. A major release from Shout! Factory in collaboration with GKIDS. The five fantastic features are the Canonically Weird Mind Game; the Apocryphally Weird Night Is Short, Walk on Girl; the kid-friendly Lu Over the Wall; Ride Your Wave; and his latest, the anachronistic historical musical Inu-Oh. Plus rare shorts, the previously unreleased-on-disc English-language dub of Night Is Short, and more extras. A truly special collector’s edition. This set dropped while the Pod was on hiatus, but we thought it merited additional discussion/notice.  Buy “Masaaki Yuasa: Five Films – Collector’s Edition.”

Some Other Woman (2023): Discussion begins. A woman moves to an island paradise with her husband, but then some other woman replaces her as her reality bends. Not much info on this limited-release indie psychological thriller beyond what you can see in the trailer. Some Other Woman official site.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

Next week’s Pod 366 will be a preview of the Sundance/Slamdance slate, as we officially kick off the 2023 movie season.

In written reviews, Shane Wilson takes on Netflix’s Scott Pilgrim anime spinoff, “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” for Channel 366; Gregory J. Smalley gives you a somewhat delayed take on ‘s animated fantasy The Boy and the Heron; and Giles Edwards goes deep underground for an online movie called molkipolki, a one-man film with dialogue in a nonsense language (which you can watch ahead of Giles’ report here if you so wish). Onward and weirdward!