We’re doing things a little differently with our Weird Watch Parties this month. We’re going to schedule two Amazon Prime watch parties in a row. Assuming there’s enough interest, our next parties will be scheduled for Saturday, September 19 and September 26 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. We’ll then schedule the poll’s second place vote-getter to be screened on September 19 and the first place contestant on September 26. 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 #18—I’m Thinking of Ending Things—starts in fifteen minutes.
Please install the Netflix Party extension if you haven’t already. You must have a U.S. Nextflix account (we think) 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.
“The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection”: Another Hitchcock anthology from Universal, with classics Rear Window, the canonically weird Vertigo, Psycho, and The Birds. Eight discs (four Blu-rays, four Ultra-HDs), but the big draw is the original theatrical version of Psycho, previously unavailable on home video. (The uncut Psycho is also being released separately on a single Blu-ray, should that be all you require.) Buy “The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection”.
The Comic (1985): Set in a future dystopia, the story involves an orange-haired comedian who kills a rival to get a gig. Another oddity uncovered by Arrow Video, who promote it with the claim “From the annals of bizarre cinema comes perhaps the most bizarre one of them all!” IMDB rating: 3.2. Blu-ray only. Buy The Comic.
Ghost in the Shell (1995): Read our review. A 4K restoration/re-release of the seminal cyberpunk anime, on Blu-ray + Ultra HD. Buy Ghost in the Shell.
Independent theaters are cautiously starting to reopen across North America at diminished capacity, and we’re seeing a trickle of new screenings. We expect this section to grow slowly throughout the fall. You’ll have to use your own judgment as to whether it’s safe to go to movie theaters at this time.
Adpaptation. (2002): Read the Canonically Weird entry. If I’m Thinking of Ending Things has put you in the mood for more mind-bending, Charlie Kaufman style, then this quintessential Kaufman meta-movie about Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) suffering writer’s block will fit the ticket. “Leaving Soon” from Tubi. Watch Adpaptation. free on Tubi.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Reminder: on Saturday night we’ll be screening I’m Thinking of Ending Things as our Netflix Weird Watch party. We’re expecting/hoping for a decent turnout for this one, so look for the link to join around 10 PM here, on Facebook, or on Twitter. We’ll provide our own views on the film in the following week—maybe your observations from the chat will make it into our analysis. There will likely be another review or article next week to accompany that one, but we won’t swear to it. (We do have a couple of print projects to work on that we’ve been neglecting.) At any rate, 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.
As the title states, Netflix Watch Party #17—I Lost My Body (2007)—starts in fifteen minutes.
Please install the Netflix Party extension if you haven’t already. You must have a U.S. Nextflix account (we think) 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 THEATERS (WIDE RELEASE):
Tenet (2020): The plot was kept under wraps for months, but we no know the scenario involves a CIA agent known as “the Protagonist” fighting to save the world from a calamity. Probably not legitimately weird, but Christopher Nolan‘s twisty thriller is leaving a lot of critics and focus groups confused as hell. Tenet official site.
NETFLIX EXCLUSIVE (Sep. 4):
I’m Thinking of Ending Things: Charlie Kaufman‘s breakup movie concerns a woman who’s thinking of ending things while trapped in a farmhouse with her boyfriend and his parents during a snowstorm. Incredible buzz around this one (especially in these parts). If you’re thinking of breaking up with Netflix, stick around for just a bit longer. (And watch it with our crew September 12.) I’m Thinking of Ending Things on Netflix.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
“Barry J. Gillis Triple Threat Collection”: Starts off with the surreally bad Things (1989, Gillis produces, writes and acts) and adds previously unknown-to-us title The Killing Games (2012) and the new release House of Many Sorrows (Gillis acts, writes, produces and directs the latter two). DVD or Blu-ray. Buy “Barry J. Gillis Triple Threat Collection”.
Britannia Hospital (1982): Read our review. The third part of Lindsay Anderson and Malcolm McDowell‘s “Mick Travis” trilogy is the least of the three (and has the least McDowell), but it’s still worth seeing. From Kino on DVD or Blu-ray, with a McDowell interview and a commentary track from Samm Deighan. Buy Britannia Hospital.
Murder Death Koreatown (2020): Read our review. They probably need to sell about a dozen of these discs to make back the budget of the film. The DVD or Blu-ray offers the option to watch with or without the musical soundtrack (which, while effective, did undercut the film’s found footage stance). Buy Murder Death Koreatown.
Independent theaters are cautiously starting to reopen across North America at diminished capacity, and we’re seeing a trickle of new screenings. We expect this section to grow slowly throughout the fall. You’ll have to use your own judgment as to whether it’s safe to go to movie theaters at this time.
“The Completists”: Casino Royale: The Completists (our own Shane Wilson and affable outsider Ted Price) continue their survey of the entire run of James Bond films. This week, it’s the least canonical, least sensical, most hashish-inspired 007 adventure: Casino Royale (1967). Since this is the weirdest Bond film, we get a guest appearance by Gregory J. Smalley. The episode goes live Saturday, Sep. 5 at 7 PM ET, and will be available on demand soon afterwards. “The Completists” home page.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Our Weird Netflix party slate is set for the next two weeks: we’ll screen the severed hand animated romance I Lost My Body tomorrow, Saturday 5, at 10:15, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things (see above) will be the feature for September 12. As always, we’ll post the link to join around 10 PM here, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
In digital print, next week El Rob Hubbard will report on Lars von Trier‘s The House that Jack Built (2018) and Gregory J. Smalley will cover Shinya Tsukamoto‘s 1999 doppelganger horror, Gemini. We wouldn’t rule out (or promise) a surprise pop-up review to accompany those. 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!
is also being released separately on a single Blu-ray, should that be all you require.)