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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…
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.
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.
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…
Post-Christmas, the movie world tends to take a breather. Things pick up again in January with Sundance Film Festival. Until then, there will be little news and few new releases, but we’ll still keep you up to date.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Monos (2019): Read our review. The enigmatic Colombian film about a purposeless group of teenage soldiers camped came to Blu-ray (no DVD release) with little fanfare. Buy Monos.
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.
Black Christmas (1974), with Dial Code Santa Claus (1989) and Santa Claus (1959) (triple feature), 12/27
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Next week, Giles Edwards takes another crack at unraveling what happened Under the Silver Lake (you can likely guess why). Plus, we reveal our Top 10 Weird Movies of 2019 (although you already know them if you ordered our 2019 Yearbook, like you should have). Finally, Pete Trbovich weighs in on the first of two Kurt Vonnegut adaptations by covering the forgotten-yet-reviled Slapstick of Another Kind (1982) as an appetizer for a tastier main course (which should appear the following week). 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.
It’s Christmas Day, and we’re in the spirit of giving. This year we’re giving the gift every blogger wants—free traffic and backlinks—to WeirdChristmas.com (no relation). This site is light on weird Christmas movie content, but hosts a podcast describing weird Christmas traditions around the world (including a survey of Christmas pickles and the skinny on Frau Perchta, Krampus’ eviler cousin who rips out bad children’s guts and replaces them with garbage). There’s also a selection of weird Christmas music, and their specialty: weird Christmas postcards from the Victorian era. We’ve reprinted our favorites below, but if you like them be sure to give WeirdChristmas.com a seasonal visit. Then come back to us tomorrow for more weird movie reviews and news.
TheHawkline Monster (202?): For decades, Hal Ashby, and later Tim Burton, sought to adapt Richard Brautigan’s “The Hawkline Monster,” a “Gothic Western” novel about gunslingers sent on a mission to kill a monster that lives in Miss Hawkline’s basement. Regency Pictures has now acquired the rights and is giving it another go. The big news is that Yorgos Lanthimos is in negotiations to direct. Even though The Favorite was a huge step backwards (in terms of weirdness) for the Greek director, this one could be promising. More information at Variety.
IN DEVELOPMENT: POST-PRODUCTION:
Sister Tempest (2020): Joe Badon strikes again with another crowdfunded surrealist epic. This one is a psychological thriller-type tale taking place in a dreamspace equally inspired by Jodorowsky and Zardoz. We can 100% guarantee this will be weird; it’s now looking for $6,000 in post-production funds. Sister Tempest at Indiegogo.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
“Boogiepop Phantom”: Mind-bending 12-episode anime about a mysterious angel of death. The series was written by Satoshi Kon collaborator Sadayuki Murai and recommended to us by 366 reader Chie. On Blu-ray from a distributor called “Right Stuf.” Buy “Boogiepop Phantom”.
Long Day’s Journey into Night (2018): Read our review. Gan Bi‘s Tarkovskian drama about a man’s dreamlike search for a lost woman has been available on DVD and VOD (and Kanopy); here it is on Blu-ray (with a second 3D Blu-ray disk so you can see it as originally filmed—if you have the equipment). Will not ship by Christmas. Buy Long Day’s Journey into Night.
NEW ON NETFLIX:
“Twice Upon a Time” [“Il était une seconde fois”] (2019): A man finds a mysterious box that allows him to travel back in time to a date before his girlfriend broke up with him. Uncertain weirdness, but “TV Guide” suggests this is a “Charlie Kaufman-esque conceit,” so this four-episode French miniseries many be worth taking a flier on. “Twice Upon a Time” 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.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: We’ll have a slight slate for the upcoming holiday week: all we promise is a review of the odd Colombian teen-soldier drama Monos, although we may throw something else your way as a surprise gift. We’ll be taking some time off as we prep for a year-end festivities the following week. So keep Christmas weird and enjoy your day(s) off. 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.
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. Of the recently announced titles (full list via Variety), here are the few we’ll be keeping our eyes on:
The Nowhere Inn – Singer St. Vincent creates a fictional documentary described as “distorted and bizarre” and slated for the Midnight category.
Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia – Portmanteau feature centered around a Miami speedboat; it counts Swiss Army Man directing team Daniels among the contributors.
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.
“Sick ‘n’ Wrong Film Festival”: This is the first time we’ve ever seen a crowdfunding campaign for a film festival, but it’s a worthy one. This small Orlando festival “delirious celebration of cinematic weirdness” (mostly shorts) that’s been running for four years now and is looking for a fifth in May 2020. At the time of this writing the campaign had raised just over a thousand dollars; it runs for almost another three weeks. Perks include t-shirts, totes, hats, pins and ads. “Sick ‘n’ Wrong Film Festival” on indiegogo.
The Death of Dick Long (2019): Bandmates try to cover up the demise of the title character in this offering from Swiss Army Man‘s Daniel Scheinert. Beware spoilers for this bizarre black comedy. DVD, Blu-ray or VOD. Buy The Death of Dick Long.
The Limits of Control (2009): Read our review. Arrow Academy gathers together new and archival material for this Blu-ray Special Edition of Jim Jarmusch‘s odd, inconclusive anti-thriller. Buy The Limits of Control.
Millennium Actress (2001): Read the Certified Weird entry! This DVD/Blu-ray combo pack from Shout! Factory surprisingly marks the first time Satoshi Kon‘s retrospective of Japanese cinema seen through the eyes of a dying actress has been released to Blu-ray. It’s also a new restoration. Buy Millennium Actress.
Monos (2019): Enigmatic Colombian film about a purposeless group of soldiers camped in a fog-shrouded jungle, often compared to Apocalypse Now. Neon releases it to VOD (the Blu-ray has been delayed for a couple of weeks) with little fanfare, but we’re excited to finally see it. Buy or rent Monos.
The Peanut Butter Solution (1985): Read our review. This bizarro Canadian kiddie flick about a boy who loses his hair after being frightened by ghosts finally makes it to DVD, Blu-ray and VOD, thanks to the good folks at Severin Films. (Per Amazon’s delivery times, Blu-rays ordered today may not arrive by Christmas, though DVDs might make it.) Buy The Peanut Butter Solution.
The Sore Losers (1997): An alien sent to the American south to complete a killing spree hooks up with some delinquents and inadvertently messes up his kill count. Unclassifiable punk/rockablilly/trash/surrealism feature from Memphis’ own Mike McCarthy, in a 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD/soundtrack CD set. Only available directly from the director. Get your ordering instructions at the Sore Losers official Facebook page.
“Twin Peaks: From Z to A”: There have been a lot of repackagings of “Twin Peaks” over the years, but this may be the ultimate set. The original series, Fire Walk with Me (1992) (with deleted scenes), “The Return,” and new behind-the-scenes featurettes, spread across twenty-one Blu-rays, in an innovative box that turns into a “red room display.” Buy “Twin Peaks: from Z to A”.
Until the End of the World (1991): Wim Wenders‘ apocalyptic road movie includes a subplot about a machine that can make the blind see and bring dreams to life; too bad the world’s about to end. The movie flopped in the two-and-a-half hour cut released to cinemas, but here it is in all of its almost five-hour long glory, courtesy of Criterion on two Blu-rays or three DVDs. Buy Until the End of the World.
Viy (1967): Read our review. The masterpiece of Soviet horror, from a Gogol story about a seminarian who must pray over a witch’s corpse, finally gets a decent DVD and Blu-ray release, courtesy of Severin. Buy Viy.
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.
The Teenage Tasteless Tourist Tape (2019): Got an hour to spend on some no-budget experimental cinema? The director of The Teenage Tasteless Tourist Tape (below) explains this one is “supposed to be watched alone in the middle of the night, not knowing what the hell this is.” I bet he wouldn’t be upset if you watched it during the day.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Have you bought your copy of the 2019 Yearbook yet? No? Just here for the free content? That’s fine. Next week we’ll alert you to a couple more pieces of odd culture you may not be aware of: Canada’s “Paul Anthony’s Talent Time” (at least, the episodes that are available to Americans via Amazon Prime) and Chinese mystic Gan Bi‘s latest technical marvel, Long Day’s Journey into Night. But if you’re looking for a last minute stocking stuffer, there’s still time to order a copy of that Yearbook… 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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