Kontroll (2003) is on Tubi, so no subscription required, but we’ll be using Kast.tv to stream and chat. Be sure you have signed up for a free account there.
Here’s the link to join: https://s.kast.live/g/93rjk6w60k5
The show starts at 10:15 PM (ET).
See you soon!
Our project to re-rank the entire Canon of 366 Weird Movies continues, as we incorporate the newly promoted former-Apocrypha movies into a newly reordered list. (This all sounds more complicated than it really is.)
Last round, 53 voters cast ballots. Only four of the promoted Apocrypha outpaced the old Canonical entries they were pitted against ( Big Man Japan, The Happiness of the Katakuris, Celine and Julie Go Boating and Mirror [Zerkalo] fell by the wayside).
Now, let’s see how far the remaining new arrivals can climb. We’ll pit the four former Apocrypha movies that got more votes than any Canonical movies against the sixteen next most popular Canonical movies based on this 2019 poll. (It’s getting more competitive for the newbies, but if we put fewer than 20 entries per poll at a time, this will take all year—we’re only just cracking the 200s in the rankings). We’ll repeat this procedure until no new arrival proves more popular than the remaining Canonical entries.
Here’s the next round. You may choose up to four movies you feel are the most deserving. We’ll leave the poll up until midnight, February 5.
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.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
“All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror”: A major release: 20 films on 15 Blu-rays, curated by Kier-La Janisse, with a huge booklet, and CD to boot. Many of the titles are unknown to us, but it includes A Field in England (2013), the astounding Russian horror Viy (1967), a documentary on folk horror, and Penda’s Fen (1974), which is in our reader-suggested queue. Obviously, it’s pricey. Buy “All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror.”
https://youtu.be/2-5UBxgiRiQ
Arrebato (1979): A Spanish horror film about a horror film director who receives a mysterious 8MM film that leads to a hallucinogenic nightmare. A cult item in its homeland, it had never been exhibited in the U.S. until last year, and is finally on home video (DVD, Blu-ray or VOD) in North America. Buy Arrebato.
Assholes (2017): A couple of anal-obsessed drug addicts turn into literal assholes. It took the world half of a decade to finally be ready to view this gross-out spectacle on Blu-ray. Buy Assholes.
Basket Case (1982): Read our review. A special edition Blu-ray from Arrow of Frank Henenlotter‘s debut horror about a monstrously deformed Siamese twin, with a basketful of director-approved extras. Buy Basket Case.
The Deeper You Dig (2019): Read Giles Edwards’ festival review. The modest horror from the real-life Adams family makes it to Blu-ray. Buy The Deeper You Dig.
Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (2019): Read the Apocryphally Weird review! This is the same disc Arrow released two years ago, minus the bonus disc of Crumbs (which in our minds is a pretty big loss, but if you only want Jesus, here it is). Buy Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway.
New York Ninja (1984/2021): A hopefully so bad it’s weird microbudget ninja flick, originally unfinished but completed (with new dubbing) by Vinegar Syndrome. Now on standard Blu-ray, review coming next week. Buy New York Ninja.
The Scary of Sixty-First (2021): A lesbian couple finds a great deal on a NYC apartment, but fall into a conspiratorial rabbit hole when they discover the property was previously owned by Jeffery Epstein. Reviews are mixed, and even its weirdness is somewhat in question, but there’s no doubt it’s a bold premise.On VOD now, Blu-ray coming February 22. Rent or buy The Scary of Sixty-First digitally.
CANONICALLY WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:
This section will no longer be updated regularly. Instead, we direct you to our new “Repertory Cinemas Near You” page. We will continue to mention exceptional events in this space from time to time, however.
FREE ONLINE WEIRD MOVIES ON TUBI.TV:
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002): Read the Canonically Weird entry. We’re sure this tale of Elvis and black JFK fighting a mummy in a nursing home was listed as “leaving soon” on Tubi last year; looks like they got the rights back, and now it’s “leaving soon” again. Watch it now before it comes and goes again. Watch Bubba Ho-Tep free on Tubi.tv.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
Join us tomorrow night, Jan. 29, at 10:15 PM ET for our Weird Watch Party, featuring the Hungarian subway thriller Kontroll (2003). It’s on Tubi, so no subscription required, but we’ll be using Kast.tv to stream and chat, so be sure you have signed up for a free account there. The link to join will drop here, on Facebook, and on Twitter around 10 PM.
You also have until midnight to vote in our latest round of our poll ranking the incoming Apocrypha class against the old guard in the canon. Eight Apocryphal movies are still alive. Vote here.
In new reviews next week, Giles Edwards will be checking out Vinegar Syndrome’s reconstructed version of 1984’s lost trash film New York Ninja, while Gregory J. Smalley sets his sights on a different, more intentional brand of idiocy: Lars von Trier‘s The Idiots (1998). 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 Online Film Critics Society awards for 2021 are out. Two weird films did reasonably well in the nominations this year: The Green Knight and Titane each received multiple nominations, including for Best Picture, although neither won. Although hurt by its distribution strategy, Memoria nevertheless won a special technical award for Sound Design.
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 for the major categories.
BEST PICTURE
Winner: The Power of the Dog
Also nominated (listed in ranked order of final votes): Drive My Car, Licorice Pizza, Dune, The Green Knight, Pig, The Worst Person in the World, Titane, West Side Story, Belfast
My pick: The Green Knight
Comments: Jane Campion’s semi-Western drama led the field with nine nominations, and was a kind of consensus pick: it was not clearly artistically miles ahead of the other contenders in a strong year, but it likely was the most widely seen (via Netflix) and had the fewest negatives attached. It was nothing too fancy or chancy, but above average in every respect, from technical aspects to screenplay to acting. I thought The Green Knight did surprisingly well in the voting considering its many negatives: it was released in July and not fresh on anyone’s mind, it was almost a genre picture (though with a literary pedigree and an art-house sensibility), and it had moments of alienating weirdness (talking foxes, random processions of giants). In this case, just being nominated was, indeed, a victory.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Winner: The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Also nominated: Encanto, Flee, Luca, Raya and the Last Dragon
My pick: The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Comments: This movie for the YouTube/Snapchat generation has it all: family drama, a cross-eyed dog, contemporary technological satire, robot-fighting action, a giant demonic Furby, subtle references to other movies, and multiple cat filters. A Sony Pictures Animation film that got shelved due to Covid—before getting snapped up by Netflix—beating out two Disney offerings: it feels like a major upset.
BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Also nominated: Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza; Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car; Steven Spielberg, West Side Story; Denis Villeneuve, Dune
Continue reading ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY 25TH ANNUAL 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…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN DEVELOPMENT:
The Thing About Cassandra (202?): An adaptation of the Neil Gaiman short story about a made-up Canadian girlfriend who turns out to be very real. Written by Siobhan Hewlett, the subject of an upcoming 366 interview. Extremely early in development, so there’s not much info on the IMDB page, but you (almost certainly) heard about it here first.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Akira (1988): Read the Canonical entry! The 4K restoration of the mindbending anime classic is finally here, on UHD plus Blu-ray (with a bonus Blu full of supplemental features), from Funimation. Buy Akira.
Deep Red (1975): Read our review. A “standard special edition” (isn’t that an oxymoron?) release of Dario Argento‘s bloody giallo precursor to Suspiria (1977) in a new 4K restoration. On Blu-ray UHD from Arrow. Buy Deep Red.
Space Vampire (2020): “A multi-media meditation on the vampire,” i.e., a non-narrative experimental film. 60 minutes of “who knows?” on Blu-ray or DVD. Buy Space Vampire.
The Stendhal Syndrome (1996): A woman (Asia Argento) tracks a killer while suffering from a condition that causes her to hallucinate and enter the works of great painters. This giallo throwback from maestro Dario Argento was previously released on Blu-ray, but this two disc special edition is remastered and promises to restore brief scenes not included in previous North American prints. Buy The Stendahl Syndrome.
Titane (2021): Read the Apocrypha Candidate review. Julia Ducournau‘s surprising sophomore feature is the story of a psychotic girl who meets a car, then meets a fireman. Buy Titane.
Tokyo Decadence (1992): The story of a sad Tokyo prostitute who services wealthy men interested in S&M, from the writer of Ôdishon. On Blu-ray for the first time (in North America) from Unearthed Films, it’s also in our reader-suggested queue. Buy Tokyo Decadence.
ARTICLES:
“Why Are Indie Films So Strange Right Now?”: We’re not sure we entirely agree with Peter Debruge’s analysis here—some of the illustrations he uses are strange because they’re not that strange—but we do like his observations that “weirdness gets noticed” and “that appetite in turn supports an indie-film environment where directors are motivated to be more original, more surprising and all around more creative.” We like to think we’ve had some small part in fostering this weird trend (if trend it is). Read “Why Are Indie Films So Strange Right Now?” at Variety.
CANONICALLY WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:
This section will no longer be updated regularly. Instead, we direct you to our new “Repertory Cinemas Near You” page. We will continue to mention exceptional events in this space from time to time, however.
FREE ONLINE WEIRD MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:
Black Hole Alien Brain Zombies! (2022): This experimental film from Dovin Melhee is just narration over psychedelic backgrounds. Very creative for a no-budget production, and we do love the tagline “this plan 9 goes to 11!”
https://youtu.be/0RprR-UY9Ww
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
We are ready for the next round of our Reordering the 366 Apocrypha Incorporation Poll (TM). Please join in the fun as eight former Apocryphally Weird movies rank themselves against the old guard.
In other announcements you may have missed, January 29’s Weird Watch Party will be Kontroll (2003). Join us at 10:15 PM ET for a group watch and chat, just over one week from now.
Next week should be quite busy around here, with a video interview with British actress Siobhan Hewlett (of Country of Hotels, The Show, and The Thing About Cassandra—see “In Development,” above). In reviews, Shane Wilson will go into the reader-suggested review queue for the 1988 comedy The Wizard of Speed and Time, while And, as often happens, we may drop another piece of bonus content on you—though we don’t want to commit to it here, so if you don’t see it, you won’t be disappointed. 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.