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.

FILM FESTIVALS – SWSX (Austin, TX, Mar. 9-17):

If you can’t get your indie film into Sundance, the massive SXSW festival in Austin, Texas is your next best bet. With the continued mainstreaming of Sundance, and the increasingly homogenized “indie” product spotlighted there, if your movie’s a bit on the weirder side, SWSX may even be a better fit. There are a few repeats from other festivals, such as Bruno Dumont‘s rock opera Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc and the alternate-reality telemarketing satire Sorry to Bother You, but here are some of this year’s weirder-looking “new to us” offerings:

• Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story – The true story behind the giant-headed performance artist responsible for the character depicted in Frank. Screens Mar 13, 14 & 17.
• The Field Guide to Evil – An anthology horror film, so who knows? But it features directors who’ve gone weird in the past like Peter Strickland, Agnieszka Smoczynska and Calvin Reeder. Screening near midnight on Mar 11, 12 & 16.
• Paradox– The Man in the Black Hat hides out with Jail Time and the Particle Kid in this western/musical/fantasy starring Neil Young and directed by—Daryl Hannah?? Screens Mar. 15 only.
• Perfect – Set in a “vaguely science fictional world,” a boy uses implants to seek perfection; executive produced by Steven Soderbergh and Flying Lotus. Mar 11, 13 & 15.
  

SWSX home page.

NEW ON HOME VIDEO:

Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy (1968): Read the Certified Weird review! Jane Fonda tramps across a campy universe; this new Paramount release is not remastered or filled with extras, but does come in the popular steelbox format. In a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Buy Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy.

Donnie Darko (2001): Read the Certified Weird review! With two editions in 2017 and one (so far) this year, it seems like we’re announcing a new Special/Limited/Definitive release of Donnie Darko every six months. Are we caught in some kind of time loop? On Blu-ray via Arrow Video. Buy Donnie Darko [Special Edition].

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We won’t list all the screenings of this audience-participation classic separately. You can use this page to find a screening near you.

• Bloomington, IN, 3/9 – The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971). At Indiana University Cinema.
• Dallas, TX, 3/16 – Hour of the Wolf [Vargtimmen] (1968). At the Texas Theater.
• Denver, CO, 3/10 – Fantastic Planet [La Planète Sauvage] (1973). At the Alamo Drafthouse.
• Los Angeles, CA, 3/10 – The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984) with Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) (double feature). At the Aero Theater.
• Nashville, TN, 3/13 – Brazil (1985). At the Belcourt Theater.
• New York City, NY, 3/10-11 – Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012). At Nitehawk Cinema.
• New York City, NY, 3/11 – Blue Velvet (1986). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, NY, 3/14 – Dementia (1955).  At the Museum of Modern Art.
• New York City, NY, 3/14 – Death Laid an Egg [La morte ha fatto l’uovo] (1968).  At the Museum of Modern Art.
• New York City, NY, 3/15 – The Woman in the Dunes (1964). At the Museum of Modern Art.
• Vancouver, BC, Canada, 3/9 – Perfect Blue (1997). At the Rio Theater.
• Yonkers, NY, 3/10 – Alice [Neco Z Alenky] (1988). At the Alamo Drafthouse.

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON TUBI.TV:

Dogville (2003): Read the Certified Weird entry! Lars von Trier‘s anti-American, perverted version of “Our Town,” on a minimalist set with no walls and sex slaves. Listed as “leaving soon.” Watch Dogville free on Tubi.TV.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

In just a few hours, the telecast of the Oscars (or, as we refer to them, the “Weirdcademy Awards for squares”) will begin. We are happy to steal the Academy’s Thunder by announcing cinema’s weirdest winners of 2017 now.

In the category of “Weirdest Short Film,” the winner is Kirsten Lepore for her strangely erotic (?) “Hi Stranger.” It’s OK, you can look at his butt.

In the category of “Weirdest Scene,” the Weirdcademy Award goes to mother! for the scene where Jennifer Lawrence’s unwanted houseguests send her newborn baby crowd surfing. No clip, because we wouldn’t want to spoil this for anyone who has yet to see the movie.

In the category of “Weirdest Actress,” the Award goes to… Jennifer Lawrence, for drinking a urine-colored beverage, flushing a heart, and generally risking her entire career in a transgressive environmentalist psychological horror movie that’s also a Biblical allegory.

In the category of “Weirdest Actor,” the Award goes to Casey Affleck, for performing almost all of A Ghost Story under a sheet with eyeholes cut out.

And, completing a dominant showing that was almost the first clean sweep in Weirdcademy Award history, the award for Weirdest Movie of 2017 goes to mother!, the most divisive film of 2017.

Thanks to all members of the Weirdcademy, and see you again next year!

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):

Foxtrot (2017): An Israeli father grieves for his dead soldier son in a film structured as an absurdist triptych. The arthouse critics love it, and Sony Pictures Classics even picked it up. Foxtrot official site.

NEW ON HOME VIDEO:

Basket Case (1982): Read our review. Arrow Video obtains the rights (appropriately, from Something Weird) to this midnight monster classic and releases one of their grindhouse special editions, highlighted by a new transfer and new commentary from director Frank Henenlotter and star Kevin Van Hentenryck, and including a commemorative booklet for the first pressing only. Blu-ray only. Buy Basket Case [Limited Edition].

NEW BOOKS:

“Cult Epics: Comprehensive Guide to Cult Cinema”: A hardbound book celebrating Cult Epics catalog of releases, with ample stills and essays both new and old. The small specialty label has a surprisingly high ratio of Certified Weird picks on its roster: Death Bed: The Bed That Eats, Death Laid an Egg, I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse, Nuit Noire [Black Night], and Viva la Muerte. Buy “Cult Epics” Comprehensive Guide to Cult Cinema”.

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We won’t list all the screenings of this audience-participation classic separately. You can use this page to find a screening near you.

• Dallas, TX, 3/8 – Persona (1966). At the Texas Theater.
• New York City, 3/2-3/3 – A Clockwork Orange (1971). At IFC Center.
• New York City, 3/2-3/3 (midnights) – El Topo (1970). At IFC Center.
• New York City. 3/2-3/3 (midnights) – Suspiria (1977). At IFC Center.

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON VIMEO:

Rejected (2000): Don Hertzfeldt‘s hilariously surreal (and somewhat gory) collection of stick-figure animated shorts supposedly commissioned, and then rejected (for obvious reasons), by the Family Learning Channel and other sponsors. Incredibly, this was nominated for an Academy Award. Ten minutes long: click on Watch Trailer to view the series in its entirety. Hertzfeld will also allow you purchase and download them, should you want to. Watch Rejected free on Vimeo.

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

So Casey Affleck gets a Most Conventional Actor Oscar for mooning around New England looking like he got served a bad bowl of clam chowder, but when he does an entire movie with a sheet over his head with eyeholes cut out watching Rooney Mara eat a pie, he doesn’t even get a sniff from the Academy? Cast Jennifer Lawrence in any old romantic comedy as a quirky pixie who reinvigorates some dude’s shattered love life and they toss nominations at her sight unseen, but let her act in just one Biblical allegory where she gets her face stomped in by a bajillion rowdy houseguests, and suddenly she’s not good enough for a Most Conventional Actress award? So what retreads did the Academy of Arts and Sciences see fit to nominate for the Most Conventional Picture Oscar of 2017? This year’s movie about a white high school senior fretting about her future? This year’s Stephen Spielberg/Tom Hanks/Meryl Streep snoozer? This year’s historical reenactment society drama (two of them in 2017, and they chose the exact same subject)? This year’s gay romance movie? This year’s movie about a kidnapped Amazonian lizard man who has sex with a mute woman while on the run from Commie spies? (Actually, maybe they were awake for that one).

Yes, the Oscars are a joke, and everyone knows it. You, my friend, aren’t content with the same-old same-old, new wine in a familiar old glass. 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 a Polish killer mermaid musical.

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. The rules for joining the Weirdcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Weirdness are as follows. To officially join, locate an official online ballot (such as the one below) and hover your mouse pointer over the radial button representing the choice of movie you would like to see win any award in any category. Then, simply depress the left button of your mouse to make your selection. Selections made using the right mouse button will be disregarded, and you will be forced to reapply. If your application for membership is approved, a dot will appear next to your choice. You are not done yet, so continue reading. To be certified as a voting member of the Weirdcademy, at some point subsequent to making your selection, you must navigate your mouse button to the box marked “vote.” Now, again depress your left mouse button to confirm your membership as a voting member of the Weirdcademy.

(Vote as many times as you like, but only once per day, please. We’ll keep voting open until March 4 at 12:00 Noon EST, so we can announce our results before the Academy Awards and steal their thunder).

There is no requirement that you’ve have to actually see all the movies in any category before voting.

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 2017 Weirdcademy Awards below:
Continue reading YOUR VOTE DETERMINES THE WINNERS OF THE 8TH ANNUAL WEIRDCADEMY AWARDS →

It’s time for the 2017 edition of the Weirdcademy Awards, the premier (only) awards contest focused on weird films, chosen by weird film fans. That means shorts as well as features. We’ve collected all five nominees for 2017′s Weirdest Short of the Year together in one place, for ease of voting. Just click “continued” for a mini film-festival of weirdness. Be sure to vote for your favorite! (You can cast a vote once every 24 hours). Polls close March 4 at 12:00 Noon EST. Cameron Jorgensen, 366 Weird Movies under-appreciated shorts Czar, discovered and selected these unusual films through his own research. This year’s lineup includes sinister panaceas, futuristic droughts, stop-motion rear nudity, lizard obsessions, and dogsitting nightmares. Click below to view all the nominees and vote.

Continue reading VOTE FOR THE WEIRDEST SHORT FILM OF 2017 →