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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:
Man with a Movie Camera (1929): Read our review. Kino’s Blu-ray reissue of this influential Soviet experiment in cinematography and editing includes the extras from the British “Masters of Cinema” Blu-ray (so they’re not new, except in the US). Buy Man with a Movie Camera.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Amazon Prime subscribers, please join us tomorrow at 10:15 PM for our screening of Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970). As always, the link to join will appear here, on Facebook, and on Twitter around 10 PM ET. Join us! People are dreading it already.
Next week we have a light slate of reviews. Currently, all we have scheduled is Giles Edwards‘ omnibus report on the remaining films playing at Slamdance (which turns off its servers Feb. 25) and Gregory J. Smalley‘s review/reflection on Mark Fisher’s short book, “The Weird and the Eerie” (a topic near and dear to our hearts). 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.
Here’s the poll to vote for Febrary’s Amazon Prime Weird Watch Party, which will start on Feb. 20 at 10:15 PM ET. If you plan on virtually attending, please vote for the movie we’ll be watching below. We’ll screen the movie that get the most votes; your host, Gregory J. Smalley, will personally break any ties. Note that unlike our other polls, you can only vote once. Poll closes at midnight ET on Wednesday, Feb. 17. You may vote for multiple movies, but not for every movie (because that would be pointless).
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.
FILM FESTIVALS –(South by Southwest [SWSX], online, 3/16 to 3/20):
Just as we’re about to launch into our coverage of Slamdance (which starts today), the South by Southwest festival announces its lineup, which will be all virtual this year. In recent years, South by Southwest has grown into the second most important of the early season film festivals, and you can often find films that were too weird to be selected by Sundance there. Having said that, based purely on the short descriptions described in the announcement, there’s nothing at SWSX this year that jumps out at us as obviously weird. You can check out the list yourself, however, and let us know if anything sings to you.
Poor Things (202?): Giorgos Lanthimos‘ next movie will star Emma Stone as a woman who has a fetus’ brain implanted in her head. Thanks to Paste for the news.
CROWDFUNDING:
“‘World of Tomorrow: The First Three Episodes’ on Blu-ray”: Don Hertzfeldt is raising money for an independent release of the “World of Tomorrow” trilogy on Blu-ray. The disc will also include the seldom-seen short “intro” (2017) and other features to be named later. If you’re nervous about this project being funded, just know that, with 27 days to go, it’s raised over $255,000 of a requested $30,000. So no need to pledge to make it happen, but you can still get the backer rewards, including stickers, a jigsaw puzzle, signed art, etc. “World of Tomorrow: The First Three Episodes” on Blu-ray Kickstarter page.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Queens of Evil [Le regine] (1970): A hippie flees a deadly crash and runs into a nest of three beautiful sisters, who have been waiting for him. Fantastique Eurotrash that Cinema Sojourns called “weird.” From Mondo Macabro, on Blu-ray only. Buy Queens of Evil.
ONLINE CANONICALLY WEIRD SCREENINGS:
8 1/2 (1963) – 2/18 at 7 PM ET. With introductory comments. Free, but registration required and limited to 100 viewers. Sponsored by Indiana University. Register here.
Weird movie screenings remain sparse in a Covid world, unless you happen to live in Winchester, VA, which decided to pick up the slack for the rest of the continent. By the end of the year (or, fingers crossed, this summer) we should be back to normal.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Next week we’ll be looking at Slamdance releases. Gregory J. Smalley will cover one, and Giles Edwards will tell you about pretty much everything else. Expect to see individual reviews of the Lanthimosian Ukrainian comedy A Family and the dystopian indie comedy Man Under Table, along with omnibus columns addressing the supplemental films. (Remember, this festival is entirely online this year for an extremely affordable $10 pass—$5 for college students!—so you have little excuse not to watch along with 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.
Please install the Netflix Party extension (now officially called “teleparty”) if you haven’t already. You must have a U.S. Nextflix account and a Chrome-based browser to participate.
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.
FILM FESTIVALS –(Slamdance, online, 2/12-25):
Sundance is in the bag, with no weird movies emerging with heavy buzz—although we are curious about seeing the dream-tax collector in Strawberry Mansion, and of course we’ll cover Ben Wheatley‘s latest horror film when it arrives on screens later in the year. We now turn our attention to the low-budget alternative Slamdance, which we will be covering. We’ll be especially focused on the dystopian indie Man Under Table, Canada’s Lanthimosian-premised drama A Family, and a few others; and, since they’re available to view for a change, we’ll even give you a heads up on the weirder shorts on offer. Slamdance is far more affordable, too: free, in fact, if you followed the link we provided weeks ago. It’s $10 for the entire slate of 20+ features and shorts if you sign up today. Join us on our journey through microbudget cinema!
The Wanting Mare (2020): Set in a fantasy world (created digitally by a small team of first-timers on a low budget), the slow-paced story involves a dream of horses shared by generations of women. Critics have been universally positive. Due to the pandemic, the movie seems to be debuting in virtual cinemas only (for the time being, at least), and is also being released contemporaneously on Blu-ray. The Wanting Mare official site.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Sky Sharks (2020): Another absurdist shark B-comedy, this time featuring flying sharks piloted by Nazi zombies. On Blu-ray, DVD or VOD. Buy Sky Sharks.
Screenings remain sparse in a Covid world, except for one very busy southern California drive-in. By the end of the year (or, fingers crossed, this summer) we should be back to normal.
FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) WEIRD MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:
Night of the Hunter (1955): Read the Certified Weird review! Beware false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but don’t beware watching (or re-watching) this expressionist/noir classic about a serial-killing misogynist preacher chasing a couple of kids across depression-era West Virginia looking for their father’s stolen money.
https://youtu.be/4kgZd8jeVyQ
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Netflix subscribers, be sure to join us tomorrow at 10:15 PM (ET) for our screening of the absurd comic cartoon My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea. Look for the link around 10 PM in the usual places (here, Facebook, Twitter).
As far as next week’s reviews go, we’re dedicating ourselves to a trio of titles currently languishing in the reader-suggested queue. First up, one reader grew weary of us procrastinating on reviewing Tom Green’s flop comedy Freddy Got Fingered (2001) for all these years, and took it on herself to cover it for us. Thanks! Next up, Gregory J. Smalley takes Insidious (2010) out of contention, while Giles Edwards handles the beefiest assignment, reporting on Hans-Jürgen Syberberg’s 7+ hour experimental documentary Hitler: A Film from Germany (1977). And heck, why not offer you some timely bonus content: through four episodes, Shane Wilson considers whether Disney+’s “WandaVision” may be worthy of your weird attention, despite its Marvel Universe setting. 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!
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