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 (LIMITED RELEASE):

Assassination 33 A.D. (2020): Islamic terrorists develop a time machine to go back to the Holy Land and assassinate Jesus Christ before he can be crucified; devout Christians rig up their own machine and race back to stop them. It all sounds, as Life of Brian‘s Pontius Pilate might say, “wisible.” Assassination 33 A.D. official site.

Color out of Space (2019): Read our review. Richard Stanley + H.P. Lovecraft + Nicolas Cage = the first cult movie event of 2020. Producer SpectreVision’s official Facebook page.

IN DEVELOPMENT (post-production):

Deep Astronomy and the Romantic Sciences (2020): Cory McAbee‘s movie apparently begins when a man approaches a robot at a party and discovers he must justify humankind. This has been in production for years, with McAbee publicly performing the character he plays in the movie (a singing New Age motivational speaker); it seems to be either finalized, or at least complete enough to release the teaser trailer below. Deep Astronomy and the Romantic Sciences official site.

Dunwich Horror (202?): Speaking of Color out of Space (above), SpectreVision has reportedly already greenlit another Richard Stanley Lovecraft adaptation. It’s “The Dunwich Horror,” about a mysterious monster sequestered in an Arkham farmhouse. There may be a third Stanley/Lovecraft movie after that (title not yet revealed). Stanley intends to connect the stories (slightly), in the trendy “extended universe” style. The news comes straight from Stanley via an interview with Rue Morgue magazine.

NEW ON NETFLIX:

“What Did Jack Do?” (2017): Detective David Lynch interrogates a monkey suspected of murder for 17 minutes. Netflix dropped this short, made for an art installation in 2017 and rarely screened since, as a surprise on Lynch’s 74th birthday. “What Did Jack Do?” on Netflix.

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We’ll only list irregularly scheduled one-time screenings of this audience-participation classic below. You can use this page to find a regular weekly screening near you.

• Austin, TX
  • Alamo Drafthouse (South Lamar) – Carnival of Souls (1962) (1/28)
• Boston, MA
  • The Brattle
    • Metropolis (1927) with Aelita: The Queen of Mars (1924) (double feature) (1/25)
    • L’Inhumaine (1924) (1/29)
• Los Angeles, CA
  • The New Beverly – Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) (1/25-26)
• Nashville, TN
  • The Belcourt – Fight Club (1999) (1/25) (midnight)
• New York City, NY
  • IFC Center
    • Un Chien Andalou (1929) with L’Age d’Or (1930) (double feature) (1/24-26)
    • Mulholland Drive (2001) (1/24-25) (midnights)
    • Suspiria (1977) (1/24-25) (midnights)
  • The Metrograph – Branded to Kill (1967) (1/27)
  • Spectacle – Reflections of Evil (2002) (1/27)
• Omaha, NB
  • Alamo Drafthouse – Santa Sangre (1989) (1/28)
• Pittsburgh, PA
  • Row House Cinema – Fantastic Planet [La Planète Sauvage] (1973) (1/24-30)
• San Diego, CA
  • Ken Cinema – Wild at Heart (1990) (1/25) (midnight)
• Schenectady, NY
  • Proctor’s Theatre –Phantasm (1979) (1/28)
• Toronto, ON
  • The Royal – The Taste of Tea (2004) (1/26)
• Washington, DC
  • Smoke & Barrel – After Hours (1985)(screening with unspecified “short films of Martin Scorsese“) (1/27)

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: With the 2020 movie season yet to crank up, out writers will spend next week taking a crack at that massive (and actually still-growing) reader-suggested queue. To that end, look for reviews of Guy Ritchie‘s mystical gangster goof, Revolver; the sado-sexy Norwegian psychothriller Naboer (AKA Next Door); and Rian Johnson‘s high school noir, Brick. (There’s a common theme to these selections; does anyone see it?) At any rate, so as long as readers don’t add three new titles to the request queue next week, we will have whittled it down just a tad.

Meanwhile, you can continue voting for the 2019 Weirdcademy Awards, where The Lighthouse currently has a big lead in every category it was nominated in (Weirdest Actress is a tighter race, and the Weirdest Short poll is still anyone’s game). 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.

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 (LIMITED RELEASE):

My Hindu Friend (2015): A filmmaker, dying of cancer, is visited by death. Despite being made in 2015 and garnering festival awards for Willem Dafoe, the film was never properly released when director Hector Babenco died soon after making it (he survived cancer, then succumbed to a heart attack). Rock Salt Releasing is giving it a second life in specialty venues. My Hindu Friend official Facebook page.

The Wave (2019): Read our review. A corporate lawyer impulsively takes a mysterious drug that, among other disorienting effects, causes him to skip forward randomly in time. In select cinemas and contemporaneously out on video-on-demand; a physical media release should follow later in the year. The Wave official site.

FILM FESTIVALS – Sundance Film Festival (Park City, UT, Jan 23-Feb 2):

The 2020 movie season will officially kick off with Sundance, where a hundred hopeful independent movies, including a few off-the-wall ones, come to vie for a handful of distribution contracts. In recent years, Sundance added the “Next” and “Midnight” screening sections to add some weirdness to the otherwise tame lineup of dramas about privileged white people and their problems. There is usually at least one memorably strange film that sneaks by the screeners: 2019 brought us the Groundhogian grief nightmare Koko-di, Koko-da. Here are a few titles we’ll be keeping our eyes on this year:

• The Nowhere Inn – Singer St. Vincent creates a fictional documentary described as “distorted and bizarre” and slated for the Midnight category. Screens 1/25-26, 1/30-2/1.
• Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia – Portmanteau feature centered around a Miami speedboat; it counts Swiss Army Man directing team Daniels among the contributors. On 1/26, 28-29, 31, or 2/1.
• Wendy – Benh Zeitlin‘s second feature film comes 8 years after Beasts of the Southern Wild; it’s a retelling of Peter Pan set in Neverland and told from Wendy’s perspective. 1/26-28, 2/1-2.

Sundance Film Festival official site.

NEW ON HOME VIDEO:

Iron Sky: The Coming Race (2019): Read Giles Edwards’ review. The Nazis-on-the-moon sequel is now on Blu-ray after being strictly VOD. Buy Iron Sky: The Coming Race.

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We’ll only list irregularly scheduled one-time screenings of this audience-participation classic below. You can use this page to find a regular weekly screening near you.

• Chicago, IL
  • Gene Siskel Film Center – Millennium Actress (2001) (1/17, 23)
  • The Music Box – Mandy (2018) (1/17-18) (midnights)
• Dallas, TX
  • Texas Theatre
    • Santa Sangre (1989) (1/17-18)
    • Metropolis (1927), with live score by David DiDonato (1/18)
• Los Angeles, CA
  • The Nuart – Pink Floyd the Wall (1982) (1/18) (midnight)
• Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
  • The Uptown – Fantastic Planet [La Planète Sauvage] (1973) (1/17-18) (midnights)
• New York City, NY
  • IFC Center
    • The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) (1/17-20)
    • Eraserhead (1977) (1/17-19) (midnights)
    • Mulholland Drive (2001) (1/17-19) (midnights)
  • Lincoln Center – mother! (2017) (1/17)
  • The Metrograph – Branded to Kill (1967) (1/17-19)
• Oakland, CA
  • The New Parkway – Repo Man (1984) (1/17)
• San Francisco, CA
  • The Castro – A Woman Is a Woman (1961) with Pierrot le Fou (1965) (double feature) (1/23)
• Seattle, WA
  • Central Cinema – Freaks (1932) (1/17-22)
• Tuscon, AZ
  • The Loft – Mulholland Drive (2001) (1/17-18)
• Vancouver, BC
  • The Rio – Blue Velvet (1986) (1/17) (midnight)

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Before announcing next week’s lineup, we’ll remind you to vote in our 2019 Weirdcademy Awards poll (and also in the Weirdest Short Film of 2019 poll). These polls usually show some separation early, and this year it’s The Lighthouse that’s pulled far ahead in the Weirdest Actor and Weirdest Scene races, and also leading (though not necessarily dominating) the Weirdest Movie category. Weirdest Actress is still a contest, however, and Weirdest Short is anyone’s game. Polls close February 9.

Moving on, we’ll have a busy week of reviews next week as we give you the scoop on the highly anticipated Richard Stanley–H.P. Lovecraft–Nicolas Cage collaboration The Color out of Space. We’ll also have reviews of a couple of not-quite-as-fresh-but-still-newish offerings as El Rob Hubbard enters The Shasta Triangle and Shane Wilson finds I Lost My Hand. We’ll even throw in one from the reader-suggestion queue, as Giles Edwards celebrates the post-apocalyptic punk madness of Derek Jarman‘s Jubilee. That’s a pretty busy week for us. 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.

Joaquin Phoenix can play a pot-smoking detective investigating a dental cabal (or something like that, who can follow the plot?) in Inherent Vice and not get a sniff from the Academy; but get D.C.’s blessing to dress up like an angsty sociopathic clown, and suddenly it’s Oscar time? Scarlett Johansson plays a Scottish alien who sinks her victims into black goo and it’s like she’s not even in the room, but cast her as an actress with a hit TV show going through a messy divorce—like a third of the Academy’s female voters—and its nomination city, baby.  Laura Dern‘s been in about fifty David Lynch movies without Oscar raising a gilded eyebrow, so her agent begged them to cast her as a spunky lawyer in a Noah Baumbach snoozer so she could finally get some recognition. Movies about European dancers taking LSD got zero nominations this year. Feminist comedies about suburban adults wearing braces and giving birth to soccer balls? The same. Movies about how the Homeless King secretly rules Hollywood… well, maybe that one hits too close to home for the Academy. So what do you have to do to get a Most Conventional Picture nomination from the Academy in 2019? Does Martin Scorsese have to make the same movie he’s been making for 50 years now again, only this time cast a bunch of 90-year-old actors to play gangsters in their twenties, and have it run for five hours?

Yes, the Oscars are a joke, and everyone knows it. (Just try finding someone willing to host the ceremony.) But you, my friend, you aren’t content with the same-old same-old. You want weird in your movies. The Weirdcademy Awards are for you, the moviegoer whose friends roll their eyes and sigh loudly when you suggest buying tickets to that movie starring the guy from Twilight having sex with a mermaid.

Although the editors of 366 Weird Movies select the nominees from the pool of available movies, the Awards themselves are a naked popularity contest, and do not necessarily reflect either the artistic merit or intrinsic weirdness of the films involved. The Weirdcademy Awards are tongue-in-cheek and for fun only. Ballot-stuffing is a frequent occurrence. Please, no wagering.

The Weirdcademy Awards are given to the Weirdest Movie, Actor, Actress and Scene of the previous year, as voted by the members of the Weirdcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Weirdness.

Who makes up the Weirdcademy? Membership is open to all readers of 366 Weird Movies. If you can figure out how to vote in the poll, you are smart enough to join. You can not be turned down because of your age, sex, religious affiliation, pronoun, or number of appendages. There is no requirement that you’ve have to actually see any of the movies listed before voting. You can vote for any or all categories.

Vote as many times as you like, but only once per day, please. We’ll keep voting open until February 9 at 12:00 Noon EST, so we can announce our results before the Academy Awards and steal their thunder.

Be sure to also vote for Weirdest Short Film of the Year. To watch all five nominees and to cast your vote, please click here.

Without further delay, we unveil the nominees for the 2018 Weirdcademy Awards below:

Direct links (if you can’t see the embedded polls in your browser):
Weirdest Picture of 2019
Weirdest Actor (Best Actor in a Weird Movie) of 2019
Weirdest Actress (Best Actress in a Weird Movie)
Weirdest Scene of 2019

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 (LIMITED RELEASE):

VHYes (2019): A 12-year-old boy accidentally records a series of 1987 television programs, and his own ghost-hunting adventures, over his parents’ wedding tape. A retro-comedy reminiscent of sketch format movies like The Groove Tube, but with a weird twist; review coming soon. VHYes official site.

NEW ON HOME VIDEO:

Brick (2005): A modern noir film set in a high school. Looks like the success of Knives Out rekindled interest in Rian Johnson‘s directorial debut (which was offbeat enough to find its way into our reader-suggested queue). Buy Brick.

Chained for Life (2018): Read Giles Edwards’ review and our interview with director Aaron Schimberg. Beautiful Mabel makes the acquaintance of the “freaks” brought onto a horror film set set for authenticity—especially Rosenthal, whose charisma shines through his neurofibromatosis tumors. DVD, Blu-ray or VOD. Buy Chained for Life.

The Final Programme (1973): Read our review. An international man of mystery searches for a computer programme written by his recently deceased father which will create a new Messiah. Long unavailable in the U.S. it’s now on Blu-ray (and VOD) from Shout! Factory. Buy The Final Programme.

The Lighthouse (2019): Read the Apocrypha Candidate review! If you missed Robert Eggers claustrophobic nautical horror in theaters, now’s your chance to catch it on your choice of DVD, Blu-ray or VOD. Buy The Lighthouse.

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We’ll only list irregularly scheduled one-time screenings of this audience-participation classic below. You can use this page to find a regular weekly screening near you.

• Austin, TX
  • Austin Film Society – Belladonna of Sadness (1973) (11/10-11)
• Chicago, IL
  • The Music Box – Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) (1/11-12)
• Columbus, OH
  • Gateway Film Center – Santa Sangre (1989) (1/11)
• Kansas City, MO
  • Screenland (Armour) – The Complete Metropolis (1927) (1/12, 15)
• Los Angeles, CA
  • The Nuart – Fantastic Planet [La Planète Sauvage] (1973) (1/10, midnight)
• Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
  • Alamo Drafthouse – Mandy (2018) (1/16)
• New York City, NY
  • IFC Center
    • Spirited Away (2001) (1/10, 12, 15-16)
    • Eraserhead (1977) (1/10-11) (midnights)
    • Mulholland Drive (2001) (1/10-11) (midnights)
  • Museum of Modern Art – Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) (11/16)
  • The Nitehawk (Williamsburg) – Audition [Ôdishon] (1999) (1/10-11) (midnight)
  • Spectacle – Reflections of Evil (2002) (1/12)
• Portland, OR
  • The Hollywood – Vampire’s Kiss (1988) (1/13)
• San Francisco, CA
  • The Castro – The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (“45th Anniversary Peaches Christ Experience”) (1/11)
• Santa Rosa, CA
  • The Roxy 14 – Wild at Heart (1990) with Lost Highway (1997) (double feature) (1/16)

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Next week we’ll have reviews of a couple of upcoming limited release features: the 80s nostalgia flick VHYes (see above) and the psychedelic something-or-other, The Wave (2019). Then, Giles Edwards races into the reader-suggested queue for a look at another would-be-blockbuster-turned-cult-item in Speed Racer (2008). It’s a busy week ’round here as 2020 gears up. 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.

The 2019 Online Film Critics Society awards are out. Weird films didn’t fare well in the nominations this year. I Lost My Body was nominated for Best Animated Film; Florence Pugh for Best Actress in Midsommar; and we saw a Best Supporting actor nom for Willem Dafoe and a Best Cinematography bid, both for The Lighthouse. (The Lighthouse should have at least earned a Best Original Screenplay nod, too, but whatever). None of them won, but it’s some consolation that John Waters received a Lifetime Achievement Award.

As always, despite the levity in my tone, I take my voting responsibility very seriously, and I do not put forward weird films at the expense of worthier mainstream candidates just because it’s “my thing.” Here is the list of this year’s winners, along with my choices and a touch of personal commentary.

BEST PICTURE

Winner: Parasite

Also nominated: 1917, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Knives Out, Marriage Story, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Uncut Gems, Us

My pick: Knives Out

Comments: Parasite‘s win is in no way a surprise; since winning the Palme d’Or, it’s been fending off all contenders in critical repute. The movie is excellent, a black comedy that becomes a thriller, set in a background of South Korean economic despair and inequality. I thought Knives Out, on the other hand, was the crowd-pleaser of the season, and one of the very few Hollywood films of recent years that hits on all cylinders. Parasite had best foreign offering locked up anyway, but I can’t complain about losing to a Bong Joon-ho joint.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Winner: Toy Story 4

Also nominated: Frozen II, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, I Lost My Body, Missing Link

My pick: I Lost My Body

Comments: The unnecessary but unexpectedly confident Toy Story 4 would be my second choice, but I Lost My Body was legitimately thrilling in its Pixar-meets-Buñuel adventures of a severed hand fending off pigeons and rats; and moving, too. A close call.

BEST DIRECTOR

Winner: Bong Joon-ho, Parasite

Also nominated: Sam Mendes – 1917, Celine Sciamma – Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Martin Scorsese – The Irishman, Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

My pick: Quentin Tarantino

Comments: It’s hard to split up the Best Picture/Best Director combo. I went with Tarantino largely to acknowledge his at times underrated talent at working with actors—from Leonardo DiCaprio’s falling cowboy star to Bard Pitt’s tough guy to Margo Robbie’s star-eyed Sharon Tate to the entire Manson clan, he wrings nothing but Continue reading ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY 2019 AWARDS (WITH OUR VOTES) →

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…

We’re still in the off-season for movie releases. Things will start to pick up later in January.

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We’ll only list irregularly scheduled one-time screenings of this audience-participation classic below. You can use this page to find a regular weekly screening near you.

• New York City, NY
  • IFC Center
    • Eraserhead (1977) (1/3-4) (midnights)
    • Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) (1/3,1/7)
    • Mulholland Drive (2001) (1/3-4) (midnights)
    • Spirited Away (2001) (1/3-4, 6, 9)
  • Museum of Modern Art – Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) (1/3)
  • Spectacle – Reflections of Evil (2002) (1/3)
• Portland, OR
  • NW Film Center – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) (1/5)
• Santa Ana, CA
  • The Frida – Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) (1/8)

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: The movie industry is in its annual pre-Sundance hiatus, and so, it appears, are we. Next week, all we promise to have for you is Pete Trbovich‘s third-time’s-the-charm review of a Kurt Vonnegut movie. Is Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) the one he’s been looking for? Besides that, we have no reviews planned—although we can never dismiss the possibility of a pop-up review. 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.