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Audio only link (Soundcloud download)

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Asteroid City (2023): Discussion begins. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s Apocrypha Candidate review. Wes Anderson‘s Cold War-set meta-comedy turned out to be much weirder than expected; it’s now on DVD and Blu-ray. Buy Asteroid City.

Caverna (2023): Discussion begins. Patients act out mythological scenarios as part of an experimental therapy in this Italian drama that bills itself as “dreamlike.” Just an hour long, it was released straight to video-on-demand. Caverna official site.

Fantastic Fest (Sep. 21-28, Austin, TX):

Discussion begins. The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX may be America’s coolest movie theater. Their brand grew so big that they have franchised Drafthouses across the country, and have partnered with American Genre Films Archives on a number of exploitation film re-releases. One of the Alamo’s hippest projects is Fantastic Fest, now back in full force in its eighteenth 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, we’ve already either noted or reviewed a number of these, most notably the dystopian weirdofest Divinity, the Spanish black comedy The Fantastic Golem Affairs, the Korean black comedy Killing Romance, the Stuart-Gordian Suitable Flesh, and the Adams family’s period horror Where the Devil Roams. Big-ticket revivals include the insane  Blood Diner (1987), the mysterious Messiah of Evil (1973), and the nihilistic Nowhere. Here are some newer releases we’ll be keeping an eye out for:

• “30 Coins,” Season 2 – The Fest will premiere the first two episodes of the upcoming season of Alex de la Iglesia‘s Satanic TV show (Season 1 review here).
• Caligula: The Ultimate Cut – Original cut reviewed here. This “ultimate cut” of the disgusto vanity project from Bob Guccione uses mostly B-roll footage, runs for 2.5 hours, and might be better than the original (though that’s not saying much).
  
• Conann – Conann the Barbarian as you’ve never seen her before! From the “incoherent” Bertrand Mandico.
  
• The Jar – A surrealist horror.
• The People’s Joker – The festival defies corporate bullies for a second screening of this underground hit about a trans Joker.
  
• The Toxic Avenger (2023) – A remake of Troma’s offensive original starring the actor who was born to play the role: Peter Dinklage!
  

Fantastic Fest homepage.

Last and First Men (2020): Discussion begins. Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson composes a score, illustrates it with black and white photographs of Czech brutalist architecture, and hires Tilda Swinton to read a dystopian novel over the images. This experimental movie, Jóhannsson’s only feature as director, was one of his last completed works before his death from an accidental drug overdose in 2018. On Blu-ray only.  Buy Last and First Men.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

Pat Tremblay, who has just published a fascinating new book of fake (but weird!) movies, will be our guest on next week’s Pod 366. In reviews next week, Shane Wilson will revisit Modus Operandi (2009), Giles Edwards takes the Corner Office (2023), and Gregory J. Smalley plans on shooting off something about Tommy Guns (2022). Onward and weirdward!

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

Audio only link (Soundcloud download)

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990): Discussion begins. Read the Canonically Weird entry! The Criterion Collection upgrades Kurosawa‘s elegiac late masterpiece to 4K UHD. Buy Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (4K).

Everything Everywhere all at Once (2022): Discussion begins. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s Apocrypha Candidate review. Already out on Blu-ray, this is a collector’s edition 4K UHD release with special packaging and a number of collectable tchotchkes (a multiverse map, fake receipts, a new booklet etc.). This edition can be purchased exclusively through A24’s online storefront.

Popcorn Frights Film Festival (Aug 10-20):

Discussion begins. Excuse the near-pun, but Popcorn Frights popped up out of nowhere. This Miami Beach based festival has been in existence since 2015, but really stepped up this year with a number of curious, offbeat horror films, including a few premieres. This year’s notable revivals include Blood Feast, Nightbreed, a Kenneth Anger retrospective (probably including Lucifer Rising) and The Birds. 366 favorite Hundreds of Beavers will also be continuing its festival run here. Here are the other possibilities we discussed (along with some trailers that you can’t hear on the episode):

• Abruptio – A terrorist controls a man by implanting a bomb in his neck; everyone is portrayed by puppets.

• Agatha – A post-apocalyptic thriller with a unique visual style.
  

• Bloody Bridget – Bridget becomes a Haitian vampire Richard Elfman‘s latest B-horror-comedy.
• Brightwood – A couple deals with the breakup of their marriage in the midst of an ontological crisis.
• Eldritch USA – A Lovecraft musical.
  
• Perpetrator – Jennifer Reeder‘s latest surreal high-school set horror.
• Psychosis – A schizophrenic is hired by drug dealers to chase down zombies.
  

Popcorn Frights official home page.

New Quentin Dupieux projects: While reviewing Yannick (“an absurdist delight”) at the Locarno Film Festival, Peter Debruge mentions that Dupieux has another one in the can, set to debut at the Venice Film Festival next month: DAAAAAALI!, a “Salvador Dali satire.” We will, or course, be investigating both when the time comes. Variety review of Yannick.

Street Trash remake (202?): Ryan Kruger plans to make a South African-based remake of Street Trash, the 1987 classick about poisoned hooch melting homeless people. Kruger promises “new, exciting plot elements that give the film many bizarre twists and turns.” More from Variety.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

We have no guest currently scheduled for next week’s Pod 366. In a light week of written reviews, Shane Wilson handles another one that Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue with the “Black” comedy Svidd neger (2003), while Gregory J. Smalley gives a belated report on what may be Wes Anderson‘s weirdest movie yet,  Asteroid City (2023). Onward and weirdward!

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

Audio only link (Soundcloud download)

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Corner Office (2023): Discussion begins. An ambitious corporate drone finds he’s most productive when working in a corner office that no one else can see. This somewhat surreal satire sounds promising in theory; early reviews aren’t good, but you could give it a shot. In some theaters and also on VOD. Corner Office official site.

Nightbreed (1990): Discussion begins. Clive Barker’s 1990 cult horror about an encounter between a village of mutants and a serial killer. This one has been re-released many times… but this is the first time on 4K UHD! (Don’t worry, standard Blu-ray included as well). Buy Nightbreed.

Sucker Punch director’s cut?: Discussion begins. Read Alex Kittle’s Sucker Punch review. In an interview with Letterboxd, Zach Snyder reveals that he’d like to release a director’s cut of his sexy-girl-power superhero flick with the original ending restored—the one the studio insisted he cut because it was (and we quote) “too weird.” Since we found the original interesting but “not quite weird enough,” this would be a welcome excuse to revisit this piece of campy PG-13 exploitation. Read the Letterboxd interview.

The Wheel of Heaven (2022): Discussion begins. Joe Badon‘s latest feature was originally planned as a miniseries; it gets super-meta and is about many things, but the basic structure is a woman reading a choose-your-own-(surreal)-adventure book. Premiering in Badon’s hometown of New Orleans tonight (August 4th) at the New Marigny Theater, future festival dates to be announced. The Wheel of Heaven official Facebook page.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guests are scheduled for next week’s Pod 366, but we’ll be back with an unknown lineup to talk about the week’s weird movie news and releases.

In written reviews next week, Giles Edwards will continue to drop reports from Fantasia Festival 2023; Shane Wilson skates into another one that Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue with Bam Margera’s grossout slacker comedy Haggard (2023); and Gregory J. Smalley will see what’s up with the Wakaliwood doc Once Upon a Time in Uganda (2023). Onward and weirdward!

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

Audio only link (Soundcloud download)

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Anders Runstead homepage

Buy “I Cannot, Yet I Must: The True Story of the Best Bad Monster Movie of All Time, Robot Monster“

Anders Runestad interview only (YouTube)

Circus Maximus (2023?): Discussion begins. The somewhat confusing Travis Scott/Harmony Korine mystery (see the last episode of Pod 366) either deepens or resolves, depending on how you look at it. Scott has released a feature length music sequence of music videos (?) from his upcoming album “Utopia” that will play sporadically this week in L.A. AMC theaters. It is not from A24, despite the fact that the studio’s name appears on posters Scott released. Scott is listed as director, along with five impressive co-directors: Korine, Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn, Valdimar Jóhannsson, and Kahlil Joseph. The press release describes it as “a surreal and psychedelic journey.” The Korine directed action pic is a separate Scott project. Variety has the sketchy deets.

https://youtu.be/KvLg2LAg5kQ

Decorado (pre-production, est. 2025): Discussion begins. With Unicorn Wars just out this year, Spanish animator Alberto Vázquez is back already with a pre-sold new project, a feature-length adaptation of his existential short “Decorado” about a mouse who comes to believe the surreal world he lives in must be a television program. French distributor Le Pacte picked it up because it’s “even crazier” than Unicorn Wars. Read more at Variety.

Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love (2003): Discussion begins. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. Surprised to see this microbudget Canadian zom-com suddenly show up on Blu-ray 20 years after its creation, but more power to them. Buy Graveyard Alive.

Once Upon a Time in Uganda (2023): Discussion begins. Impressed by his homemade Wakaliwood action pictures, a New York film programmer travels to Uganda to meet director Isaac Nabwana. See “Wakaliwood Supa Action Volume 1” (below) to acquire the movies in question. Now on VOD. Buy or rent Once Upon a Time in Uganda.

Prague Nights (1969): Discussion begins. A previously unknown (to us) horror anthology from the Czech New Wave, involving golems, sexy medieval noblewomen, and musical numbers. Deaf Crocodile rescues and restores this obscurity. Buy Prague Nights.

Robot Monster 3D (1953): Discussion begins. Read the Canonically Weird review! The 3-D Film Archives restores Robot Monster, which can be watched in 3D Blu-ray (if supported), with blue/red anaglyph glasses, or in plain old boring 2D. With two hours of bonus material (twice the length of the actual movie!) Buy Robot Monster 3D.

Sympathy for the Devil (2023): Discussion begins. Read Giles Edwards’ festival review. Nicolas Cage is unleashed (again) in his latest gonzo vehicle, starring as a kidnapper taking an expectant father on a wild ride. In select theaters and simultaneously on VOD. Sympathy for the Devil official site.

“Wakaliwood Supa Action Volume 1”:  Discussion begins. Released some time before Once Upon a Time in Uganda (see above), but this is the perfect time to mention it: the set brings together Isaac Nabwana’s two most famous movies, Bad Black and Who Killed Captain Alex? With new interviews and fan tributes sent in from around the world. Buy “Wakaliwood Supa Action Volume 1”.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest on Pod 366 next week, but be sure to tune in anyway as El Rob Hubbard temporarily assumes co-host duties.

In written reviews, Giles Edwards will continue to pour in Fantasia Festival 2023 updates faster than his poor editor can prep them. (Teaser: he describes an upcoming black comedy as “Eraserhead as directed by Wes Anderson.”) In non-Fantasia but Barbenheimer-adjacent news, Shane Wilson will take this opportunity to tackle Christopher Nolan‘s Following (1998) (considered a lesser Nolan work, which still isn’t too bad). Finally, Gregory J. Smalley will give you the lowdown on the anime miniseries “Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan” (2021, now on Netflix). Onward and weirdward!