Category Archives: Miscellanea

Miscellanea

SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: CARTOON CORNER (2026)

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Why, yes I watched thirteen films today…

Wan Wan (dir. Mayuko Kobayashi; 8 min.)—A kaleidoscopic grapeshot blast of vibrantly vague memories. I suspect this font of imagery—trees, water, pigeons, noodle pan, fireworks—flows directly from Mayuko Kobayashi’s memories, but there is a universality. Beginning with home-video of a matriarch, we dive into a series of child-drawings in constant motion. There’s also a cute dog.

Transitional Object (dir. Shayna Strype; 7 min.)—D’aww, that was adorable. Shayna Strype uses stop-motion, traditional, and a combination of the two animations to honor a girl’s stuffed toy as it watches over her through the years, before passing her along to the afterlife. Lo-fi synth keyboarding provides a chirpy, nostalgic soundtrack.

Play Fight! (dir. Katrina Larner; 8 min.)—There are countless gaps in my personal experience, and one reason I’m drawn to animated shorts is in order to fill those gaps. Herein, Katrina Larner explores the vagaries of ‘tween girl sleepovers, and the mental impact of homosexual preferences at that age. A 5th-wheel girl is dropped off for a night of party-playing, and so we observe a cavalcade of cacophonous color and craziness. A giant mother mother shoots a knife and fork from her eyes and pursues what she views as wayward behavior. But!, things wrap up well enough for our pentad of party people, ’cause it’s only a play fight.

blinks in mimi’s singing voice (dir. Natalie Xie; 6 min.)—Is this but an elaborate series of notebook doodles brought to life? Perhaps, but maybe not. I can’t say I understood just what this was or where it was going, but Natalie Xie kept my eyes occupied throughout as the image shifted from clusters of kitty faces to jumping jacks to desks, chairs, and birds. On its one-and-a-half second course across the screen, a green dot kept my rapt attention.

A Flame the Color of Air (dir. Emily Pelstring; 7 min.)—Words, lines, color, and voice all flow and spin across a black backdrop, shifting and never taking full form for long. Pelstring’s study of womanhood focuses on the ineffable, drawing from a medieval Continue reading SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: CARTOON CORNER (2026) →

Capsules, Miscellanea

“KRAZEE KIDZ VIDEO PARTY”

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Let’s get this out of the way first: despite containing five “films” (although one is only 25 minutes long and two others are under an hour), “Krazee Kidz Video Party” is not a box set. There’s no box. There’s no booklet. There are no meaningful special features: a few drive-in “snipes,” ads and intermission notices, serve as the sole extra, unless you consider the option to watch all the features end-to-end in “slumber party mode” a bonus. And—get this—all this content—301 minutes—is crammed onto one (1) disc. Forget 4K transfers: these VHS-y resolutions hover closer to the quarter-K level.

Needless to say, this collaborative release from Something Weird and American Genre Film Archives isn’t exactly Criterion Collection quality. That does not mean, however, that it is not recommended—highly recommended, in fact, to the right oddballs, many of whom are regular readers of this site. That is because of the quality (can that be the right word?) of the curiosities on display here. True to the title, it’s children’s entertainment at its most deranged: a treasure trove of the cynical subgenre that has come to be known as children’s grindhouse. Well, at least some of it is. The rest of it is just, well, kinda weird—with one legitimate exotic egg hidden inside this dime-store Easter basket.

Still from The big bad wolf (1957)

That crackerjack isn’t the set’s first offering, 1957’s The Big Bad Wolf [Der Wolf und die sieben jungen Geißlein, AKA The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats], although this opener sports the highest uncanny valley quotient—which is really saying something in this collection. From the first time Mother Goat appears in her Satanist-adjacent horned mask as a talking crow demands the unseen narrator recite the names of her ritual sacrifices cute kids, you’ll wonder if you’ve stumbled into a badly deteriorated, repurposed short. Ultimately, this German movie (the dubbing was unobtrusive, thanks to the masks worn by 90% of the cast) is more of a live-action cartoon, of the kind Hanna-Barbera would have executed in a crisp 5 minutes, but stretched out to almost an hour’s running time. Still, there is something endearing about this material being played earnestly by adults in inarticulate fuzzy masks. The cast really commits to the bits: the wolf’s involuntary plummet in a wheelbarrow down a very slight incline, for example, goes hard. There are also a couple of memorable moments where the lupine-headed monster interacts with live actors, ruthlessly bullying a grocer and a flour merchant (who fights back with his trademark good). And it ends with a note of genuine horrifying folk surrealism straight from the Grimm Brothers’ source material: the wolf eats six of the seven kids, then, as he sleeps off his meal, the lone survivor slices open his belly (with scissors, but without anesthetic) to save his kin. Overall, it’s a highly watchable oddity, and a nice way to start your marathon of Continue reading “KRAZEE KIDZ VIDEO PARTY” →

Miscellanea

ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY 29TH ANNUAL AWARDS (2025) (WITH OUR VOTES)

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The Online Film Critics Society awards for 2025 are in the books. It was a 2-movie race between One Battle After Another and Sinners, with One Battle snapping up the most prestigious categories and Sinners wiping up nearly everything else. It was a terrible season for movies from within our weird movie coverage universe. Universal Language was snubbed completely, and Bugonia was only nominated for Best Actress and Adapted Screenplay, losing both times. Better luck next year, I guess.

As always, despite the occasional levity in my tone, I take my voting responsibility seriously. 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. I did a decent job of catching movies this year, screening all of the Best Picture and Best Foreign Language candidates, and only skimping on Animation and Documentary categories.

BEST PICTURE

Winner: One Battle After Another

Poster for one battle after another Also nominated (listed ranked in final order of votes): Sinners, Sentimental Value, It Was Just an Accident, The Secret Agent, Marty Supreme, Weapons, No Other Choice, Hamnet, Train Dreams

My vote: Bugonia (not nominated), One Battle After Another (of the nominees)

Comments: I was surprised and disappointed that Bugonia did not finish in the top 10 in the first round of voting (it did make the Academy Awards list). On the other hand, at least we didn’t embarrass ourselves by nominating F1! While not perfect, One Battle After Another was the best option of the slate that was nominated.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Still from little amelie of the character of rainWinner: KPop Demon Hunters

Also nominated (in alphabetical order): Arco, Elio, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, Zootopia 2

My vote: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Comments: This is one of the two sections I typically skimp on (the other being documentaries). Of the five nominees, I only saw Arco and the lightly surreal childhood bildungsroman Little Amélie. Amélie got a nomination from me for Best Picture, though, so I have trouble Continue reading ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY 29TH ANNUAL AWARDS (2025) (WITH OUR VOTES) →

Miscellanea

WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 12/26/2025

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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.

NEW ON HOME VIDEO:

Bugonia (2025): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s Apocrypha Candidate review. The Bugonia Blu-ray dropped two days before Christmas (showing you just how much big studios value new-releases on physical media these days). Buy Bugonia. Also available in 4K UHD or 4K Steelbook editions (both come with standard Blu-rays included).

Dream Story [Traumnovelle] (2024): A man attends an erotic ball put on by a secret society of debauchees. A low-budget German based on (but more faithful to) the same source material as ‘s Eyes Wide Shut, starring Nikolai “son of Klaus” Kinski. Click here for the NSFW trailer. On VOD only. Rent or buy Dream Story.

Perfect Blue (1997): Read the Canonically Weird entry! Shout! Factory’s lavish 4K edition of ‘s anime psychological horror (released two days before Christmas, sadly) includes a 4K UHD disc, standard Blu-ray, booklet, art cards, poster, almost two hours of never-before-seen lectures from Kon, and more. Buy Perfect Blue.

NEPOTISM CORNER:

Davy & the Goblin: Giles Edwards (as Orson Bennet portraying Old Reuben Hayseed) narrates this “odd little children’s novel from 1884” (audio only).

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

We resume Pod 366 next week after Christmas break with our official unveiling of the staff’s consensus picks for Weirdest Movies of 2025. Meanwhile, we continue with written content: Micheal Diamades addresses the post-socialist, pre-Satanist Working Class Goes to Hell, Enar Clarke chews on the Criterion Collection’s selection of Man Ray shorts,  Return to Reason, Shane Wilson dives back into the reader-suggestion queue for 1999’s The Adolescence of Utena, and (alongside that staff list of weird movies) Gregory J. Smalley shares his list of his personal top 10 of his favorite mainstream movies of 2025 with you. Happy Boxing Day to all who celebrate!

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.

Miscellanea

WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 11/28/2025

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

Pod 366 is on vacation this week, but here’s our weekly update on 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.

NEW ON HOME VIDEO:

Berberian Sound Studio (2012): Read Giles Edwards’ review. Surprisingly, Peter Strickland‘s breakthrough feature about a sound designer working on a giallo was not available on Blu-ray in the US before now; IFC films corrects the omission. Buy Berberian Sound Studio.

Bugonia (2025): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s Apocrypha Candidate review. ‘ remake of the Koran sci-fi conspiracy cult film Save the Green Planet!  is the rare remake that improves on the original. It debuts on VOD this week at premium pricing (the price should drop in a month or so if you can wait that long). Rent or buy Bugonia (premium pricing).

The Demon’s Rook (2013): Read Giles Edwards’ review. The self-described “surreal” DIY occult splatter flick arrives on Blu-ray more than a decade after its creation. Buy The Demon’s Rook.

“Galaxy Express 999: The TV Series Collection” (1978-1981): An orphaned boy rides a space train hoping to become immortal by obtaining a mechanical body. The complete 113 episode run of the anime series on Blu-ray. Buy “Galaxy Express 999: The TV Series Collection.”

The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001): Read the Apocryphally Weird entry! ‘s musical black comedy about a cursed bed and breakfast is out in a bare-bones budget Blu-ray for those unwilling to splurge on the out-of-print Arrow edition. Buy The Happiness of the Katakuris.

Tromeo and Juliet (1996): Read the Canonically Weird entry! Among the multitude of extra features in this 4K UHD/Blu-ray set is an interview with “stunt nipple Sandee Brockwell,” so you know this Troma/Vinegar Syndrome collaborative release truly covers all the bases. Buy Tromeo & Juliet.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, Americans! Greg and Giles will return on next week’s Pod 366 to discuss the week’s weird news and releases. In written content, Shane Wilson decides whether Lakki… the Boy Who Grew Wings is for the birds, Enar Clarke considers the “Last Year at Marienbad/The Magic Flute mash-up”Zoo zéro (1979), and Gregory J. Smalley bears the sins of the -led Jesus horror The Carpenter’s Son (2025).

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.