Despite not getting the requested number of RSVPs, we’ll go ahead and hold a weird Halloween watch party. Here’s the poll to vote; the watch party will start on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 10:15 PM ET and last until the Day of the Dead. If you plan on virtually attending, please vote for the movie we’ll be watching below. We’ll screen the movie that get the most votes; your host, Gregory J. Smalley, will personally break any ties. Note that unlike our other polls, you can only vote once. Poll closes at midnight ET on Thursday, October 29. You may vote for multiple movies, but not for every movie (because that would be pointless).
Kino Now: Sort of like a mini Criterion Channel, Kino has its own streaming service with a catalogue of art-house titles. To celebrate its first anniversary, they’re offering a suite of wight films for anyone to watch for free. The most notable (to us) is The Complete Metropolis; The Hitch-Hiker and Bill Morrison‘s most recent experimental documentary Dawson City: Frozen Time are also included among the freebies. The films may be viewed through November 15. Enter coupon code KNBDAY at checkout. See the complete slate and sign up at Kino Now Anniversary Binge.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Adaptation. (2002): Read the Canonically Weird entry! Shout! Factory somehow acquired the rights to Charlie Kaufman‘s meta-mind twister about a depressed Charlie Kaufman trying to adapt “The Orchid Thief.” This release seems the same as Image Entertainment’s previous version, except that it’s Blu-ray only, and substantially cheaper. Buy Adaptation.
Killdozer (1974): An alien intelligence possesses a bulldozer and sets about to killing, thus earning the clever nickname “Killdozer.” Originally a 70s made-for-TV time-filler, it gained something of a cult reputation and even made it into our reader-suggested review queue. It’s now on your choice of Blu-ray or DVD, with a commentary track! Buy Killdozer.
My Neighbor Totoro (1988): Read our review. Hayao Miyazaki‘s anime classics are constantly being re-released in new editions; Shout! Factory adds Totoro to their limited edition collectible steelbook series. Blu-ray + DVD. Buy My Neighbor Totoro.
Princess Mononoke (1997): A warrior tries to intercede in a war between a mining colony and followers of a forest god. Another Miyazaki steelbook Blu-ray and DVD release. Buy Princess Mononoke.
“The Third Day” (2020): Told in two halves, “Summer” and “Winter,” describing two separate characters visits to an barely-accessible British island where villagers practice their own peculiar form of paganism. We’ll have a review next week. Buy “The Third Day”.
Welcome to the Circle (2020): Campers get drawn into a cult after seeking help for a bear mauling. Reports say it gets weird. Blu-ray or DVD only (at the present time). Buy Welcome to the Circle.
Theaters are cautiously starting to reopen across North America at diminished capacity, and we’re seeing a trickle of new screenings. You’ll have to use your own judgment as to whether it’s safe to go to movie theaters at this time (if in doubt, try a drive-in!)
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: We’re still looking for one more RSVP/screening nomination for our Halloween Weird Amazon Prime Party. Reply here. As soon as we get it, we’ll put up a poll.
We expect to be pretty busy with reviews next week. Expect to see Gregory J. Smalley opine about Don Hertzfeldt‘s third entry in his “World of Tomorrow” series. We’ll also have overdue coverage of the neglected (even by us!) Czech animator Karel Zeman, as El Rob Hubbard pops by to cover The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962), and we’ll also give you a rundown of Criterion’s luscious Zeman box set. Plus, Shane Wilson on HBO’s pagan miniseries “The Third Day.” Onward and weirdward!
What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that we have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.
Our next scheduled Weird Watch Party on Amazon Prime will go down this upcoming Halloween Night (Oct. 31) at 10:15 PM.
As always, we’ll be looking for five movie screening nominations from people who plan to attend (for both or either session). After we get the minimum five nominations and likely attendees, we’ll put up a poll. Management will break any ties.
Amazon Prime’s catalog of movies is larger (and less exclusive) than Netflix’s. Ed Dykhuizen’s availability spreadsheet is a good resource to check for Canonically Weird movies (look for ones marked “free w/ Prime” in the “Amazon” column). Or, do your own research and come up with a title from Amazon. Eligible movies will have a “watch party” button on their Amazon page. You must be a Prime subscriber; you don’t have to download an extension or additional software.
We will not provide tech support; you’re on your own. Help each other.
When the party is set to begin we’ll announce it in three places:
On this site (if you’ve signed up for regular email alerts via the sidebar you’ll also get a notice that way)
As the title states, Netflix Watch Party #19—We Have Always Lived in the Castle—starts in fifteen minutes.
Please install the Netflix Party extension (now officially called “teleparty”) if you haven’t already. You must have a U.S. Nextflix account and a Chrome-based browser to participate.
There will be no pausing or rewinding except for technical reasons.
We are offering no technical support, so help each other out if needed.
366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs and Blu-rays (and hot off the server VODs), and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN DEVELOPMENT (announced):
The Memory Game (2020?): Charlie Kaufman will adapt Yōko Ogawa’s 1994 dystopian/surreal science fiction novel “The Memory Police,” about a secret force that ensures what has been erased from the world remains forgotten. Amazon Studios will produce and Reed Morano (TV’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”) will direct. Deadline broke the news.
IN DEVELOPMENT (completed):
Jiu Jitsu (Nov. 2020): Since there aren’t a lot of weird new releases to report on this week, we’re sharing this trailer of the latest bit of nonsense from 366-icon Nicolas Cage. This one casts him in what appears to be the role of a mystical jiu jitsu teacher lecturing a group of five jiu jitsu chosen ones about how to defeat an alien jiu jitsu master (who’s apparently also “a poet warrior in the sci-fi sense”). No official site found, but The Hollywood Reporter analyzed the trailer.
DVR ALERT (Turner Classic Movies, 10/16):
TCM’s October horror features two Canonically Weird films today: the spooky Carnival of Soulsat 12:15 PM ET (that’s just an hour away!) and the deranged Spider Baby at 4:45. We’ll keep you up to date on the weirdest of the weird on TCM this month, but you can also check out Watching Forever’s handy October TCM schedule.
ONLINE DEBUTS:
“The World of Tomorrow Episode 3: The Absent Destinations of David Prime”: Don Hertzfeldt springs the third installment of his melancholy, comic philosophical stick-figure sci-fi cartoon on the world. It’s a hearty 30 minutes long and only available on Vimeo at the moment. Fans of the series will want to check it out, but a minor caution: precocious moppet Winona Mae appears to have outgrown the series, and it’s heading in different directions. Hertzfeld has neither confirmed nor ruled out plans for an Episode 4. Rent “The World of Tomorrow Episode 3: The Absent Destinations of David Prime.”
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Motel Hell (1980): “It takes all kind of critters to make Farmer Vincent’s fritters!” This cult cannibal comedy has been released on Blu-ray before; this is a collectible steelbook with new cover artwork featuring the chainsaw-wielding pig-man. Buy Motel Hell.
Theaters are cautiously starting to reopen across North America at diminished capacity, and we’re seeing a trickle of new screenings. You’ll have to use your own judgment as to whether it’s safe to go to movie theaters at this time (if in doubt, try a drive-in!)
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Reminder: tomorrow we’ll be meeting up virtually on Netflix to watch Crispin Glover in the 2018 adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. As usual, we’ll post the link to join around 10 PM here, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Please join us! If you can’t make it tomorrow, our next weird watch party will be held on Amazon Prime and will occur on Halloween night.
As for next week’s reviews, Gregory J. Smalley will cover a couple of new releases in the Turkish dystopian horror The Antenna and Justin Benson andAaron Moorhead‘s latest, the sci-fi oriented Synchronic. Giles Edwards, meanwhile, digs into the long-neglected reader-suggested review queue fora look at (and listen to) Peter Strickland‘s 2012 breakthrough horror film, Berberian Sound Studio. Onward and weirdward!
What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that we have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.
Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, strange, psychedelic, and the just plain WEIRD!
,” about a secret force that ensures what has been erased from the world remains forgotten. Amazon Studios will produce and Reed Morano (TV’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”) will direct.