Miscellanea

CONTEST: HELP US KICK OFF THE APOCRYPHA SECTION AND WIN A DVD OF “RONDO”

42 Comments

After completing the List of the 366 Canonically Weird Movies at the beginning of this year, we announced that we’d open up a second list of 366 Apocryphally Weird Movies, to catch the runners-up and the new movies that will inevitably be made in 2019 and beyond.  The time has come to begin that process, and you will decide the inaugural entry—and maybe win a prize in the bargain.

Just tell us what movie you think we should put on the supplemental list in the comments below. You can see what’s already on the complete Canonical list in the sidebar to the left on desktops, or at the very bottom of your screen on mobile devices. Serious entries only; we will disregard any nominations for Pokemon Detective Pikachu, Transformers, or the like. Ideally, your choice should be available for us to screen on home video; we may make exceptions to that rule on a case-by-case basis.

After a week of nominations/contest entries, we’ll gather all the nominees and create a poll for voting for the official entries. If we receive more than eleven nominees, you’ll vote for two winners to achieve Apocrypha status; in the unlikely event we receive more than twenty-three nominations, we’ll allow you to vote three on the Apocryphal List.

You may nominate a movie even if you aren’t eligible for the contest or don’t wish to receive the prize; just mention you’re not in it for the swag when you announce your choice.

Contest eligibility rules: You must make a nomination by commenting on this post and informing us of your desire to be in the contest. To receive the DVD, you must supply us with a mailing address in the United States. (Don’t publish your address in your comment! We’ll contact the winner through email). 366 contributors are not eligible for the prize. You are not eligible for this prize if you have won a contest here in the last six months. We’ll stop accepting entries Tuesday, June 11, at midnight EST. The winner will be chosen randomly from all eligible comments. If the winner does not respond to our request for a mailing address within 48 hours we’ll email a runner-up, and so forth, until the prize is given away.

RONDO DVD Cover (2018)As for the prize:  It’s a fresh DVD copy of the newly-released revenge-sploitation feature Rondo (2018). Giles Edwards immediately nominated this one for the List when he saw it at the Fantasia Film Festival last year, gushing that he was “impressed at not only its vitality, violence, and humor, but also its incredible audacity” and concluding “In Rondo, baroque verbiage and baroque violence come together in a celebration of blood-sodden deadpan.” If you need more hype, Giles conducted an interview with the director and producer, and you can check out the NSFW trailer, too.

Now let’s get started on those 366 Apocryphal titles!

42 thoughts on “CONTEST: HELP US KICK OFF THE APOCRYPHA SECTION AND WIN A DVD OF “RONDO””

  1. I’m going to suggest 1981’s The Pit. It’s one that could easily get dismissed as simply a so-bad-it’s-good movie, but there’s something so beautifully inept about everything in that film. The punchline music cues used to punctuate lines that clearly weren’t written to be punchlines, the long repeated sequence that had no business being repeated, the happy score playing during scenes that were ostensibly supposed to be frightening, and those are only minor oddities in the film. Mentioning anything else would risk spoiling major plot points.

  2. I nominate Xtro from 1982. I think I’ve nominated it before but it’s still too weird not to be considered.

  3. It was previously suggested but didn’t make the 366, I really think THE HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS (2001) should make it because that is still one of the most out there movies I’ve seen. and please enter me for the drawing.

  4. This seems as good a time as any for me to nominate “Rondo”.

    Obviously my own copy is arriving today, so I won’t be entering this contest that I’m forbidden to enter.

  5. I want to enter this contest!
    I nominate Daft Punk’s Electroma (2006).
    Existential, musical, uncanny robot odyssey.

  7. I’ll nominate The Mask (1961). The film has some of the most surreal “mask”/ dream sequences I’ve ever seen, let alone it came out in the 1960s.

  8. I feel the need that The Last House on Dead End Street from 77 needs to be seen by this site. The film was made with $3000 and most of the crew admitted to taking heavy drugs during the shooting. It inspired the gore porns of the 2000s, but it in itself has such a weird charm to it that it’s basically its own psychological style. It’s not a gore porn, by the way, not that $3k could even make that happen. It feels like a psychedelic trip, and shows from the filmmakers.

  9. I’m going to keep encouraging Big Man Japan (2007) to get a look from this site!

    I live in Canada, which is reward enough so I’m not eligible for the prize.

  11. Not in for prize, but I want to nominate Cattet & Forzani’s surreal giallo The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears (2013).

  12. If only I could think of another weird 70’s British horror film to truly start the Apocrypha list anew. At any rate, I combed through some of the candidates floating in the archives (only considering ones I’ve seen), and found one that I think wouldn’t be half bad for a starter (I realize that I don’t have to be persuasive this time around, but hey it’s fun and healthy for me).

    Tim Burton is an oddity even among odd filmmakers, in that he carved a unique style of filmmaking that was 100% his, yet remained palatable for general audiences without so much as a bat of an eye whether it was too weird (aside from, of course, the one film of his in the canon). Still, Burton’s unique worldview and truly inimitable vision (even by the director himself in his later days) prove that there’s more to this weirdo that deserves special recognition, and that extends to his most personal film in his library, Edward Scissorhands.

    Edward Scissorhands is in many ways a modern fairy tale, reaching that same innocence and acceptance of unusual imagery that define so many of the most famous in this field, while being unafraid to show the dark, ambiguous nature of social perception that leads into something bittersweet, a perfect meld of the two clashing worlds of fantasy and reality. A deceptively simple story that holds deep thematic questions regard society, an array of cast and crew on their A-game, a fitting end to the major screen presence of 366 alumni Vincent Price, it is a tragic story that remains a classic for good reason.

    So that’s what makes it good, and you probably don’t need me to know that. What makes it weird is the blend of 30’s horror-era mad scientist lair, 50’s suburbia, 70’s vehicles, and early 90’s technology that makes the film truly defy time by never giving us a true frame of reference. There’s also moments like the barbecue scene, which manage to feel bizarre in its normalcy and familiarity compared to Edward’s unconventional creation, due to the inclusion of the pale-faced Edward and a neighbor’s non-platonic fascination with the misfit contrasting heavily with the colorfully bland suburbs. Finally, there’s the obvious scissorhands themselves, a strange and bizarre part of Edward that is met with initial nonchalance that, in its design and reaction, could only come from a mind like Tim Burton.

    Burton has remained on the fringe of 366 Weird Movies, and his sole entry in the canon was met with questionable uproar as to whether he fit within the same leagues of arthouse experimenters like Lynch and Bunuel (nevermind the presence of successful failures like Ed Wood, whom Burton is an admitted fan of). The Apocrypha list suggests a good home for most of Burton’s pre-Planet of the Apes works, and the film where he was given the most free reign that didn’t result in parents being upset makes for a good reminder that at one point Burton’s weirdness could be wonderfully poetic. Edward Scissorhands to me is a good enough launching point towards discovering and appreciating a new batch of the best weird films that the world has to offer.

    (btw, I’m not eligible for the contest. I think I’m one or two weeks shy of being six months away from the last time I won. Oh well, no skin off my nose).

  13. I’m going to suggest Beetlejuice. It’s one of Tim Burton’s weirdest films, especially with how the world of the dead and the living seem to blur the lines with each other and the designs of the sets, especially the Underworld Hallway scene are some of the weirdest images ever put on film.

    I’m not entering the contest for the DVD giveaway, just giving out a recommendation for the list.

  15. We have fourteen nominees already, so when we set up the poll you’ll be able to vote for two entries to make the Apocrypha list.

    Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to specify whether you’re in or out of the contest. It’s helpful. I’m assuming you’re in if you say nothing.

  16. I nominate Celine and Julie go Boating. The best weird movie I’ve seen not on this list and one of my favourite of all time.
    I live in the UK so not eligible for the contest.

  18. “The Spirit”: though I wouldn’t call that piece of cinema a good movie, I have to admit – it’s certainly unusual. Frank Miller decided to adapt Will Eisner classic comic as a bizarre mix of noir, slapstick, supernatural mumbo-jumbo, and, well, borderline-misogyny. The effect, although flawed, is undoubtably weird and deserves a place on the List.

    (I’m not eligible to receive the prize.)

  19. Am I allowed to reiterate my nomination for Sono’s Tag? I know it was already reviewed, but perhaps the Canon’s loss is the Apocrpypha’s gain.

    I’m eligible, though I’m not heartbroken if the movie’s ineligible.

  20. I think there could be an entire 366 list devoted to Japanese weirdery, but, seeing as how this has not been on any list I’ve seen so far, I would nominate 1995’s ‘Weather Woman’.

  21. Since I want to enter this contest, I’ll nominate The Phantom Tollbooth, a 1970 animated/live-action hybrid based on the book of the same name. Long appreciated by cult animation fans, the film was a mainstay of VHS shelves but was only recently released on DVD by Warner Archive. It’s too bad that it hasn’t been ingrained in our collective culture – it’s what would have happened had Mary Blair and John Hubley directed a Dr. Seuss and Madeline L’Engle screenplay under the Looney Tunes banner.

    One of the few feature-length films actually directed by Chuck Jones, this underrated gem initially breaks the weird-rule that was set in stone with your Coraline and Wizard of Oz reviews: don’t be a logical fantasy unless you can add danger and Wonka-approved weirdness to your world. Then, our film invents a universe that’s formed on the same wordplay nonsense that the Marx Brothers helped popularize – literally every single character/creature is an out of whack pun [the Weather Man, the Awful Dinn, the Spelling Bee]. Even our seemingly normal MacGuffins, the admittedly-boring princesses Rhyme and Reason, live in an expressionistic castle-in-the-sky that’s surrounded by all the monsters in the kingdom. The helpful characters only add to the non-conformist rebellion – how many films do you know of that features a talking dog with a wind-up clock for an internal system?

    Now, all that builds up and up the film’s quiet insanity until the ending initially breaks it before starting it up again a la 5000 Fingers of Dr. T! While the film’s sadly dated, it also has caused more nightmares, more confusion and more imagination for my generation than most of Disney’s neutered media combined. It pointed the way for other animated films/media to take great leaps of logic and play – Twice Upon A Time, Gravity Falls, Adventure Time and Spongebob Squarepants secretly owe The Phantom Tollbooth money. It also managed to make Norman Juster upset, a further plus considering that literal-minded authors, such as Roald Dahl and Stephen King, never like it when their beloved work gets weirded up.

    On a personal note, I asked all my peers – who all grew up on the movie with me- what their thoughts were on The Phantom Tollbooth. They kept bringing up the fact that it’s a literal mind-screw, proof that it has kept a lasting power over us all. Beside, who doesn’t love a movie where a kid messes up the night sky via conducting extremely poorly?

    1. I still nurse unsettling memories of Terrible Trivium. Been years since I’ve even thought about that movie. Good nomination.

  22. I suggest Split, the 1990 indie sci-film written and directed by Chris Shaw. It’s about paranoia, the surveillance state, and breaking free from social constraints. It recently had a Blu-ray release from Verboden Video and is worth a look.

  23. I’ll nominate Eating Raoul. The montage where the main characters kill kinky people has always stayed with me. This off-kilter satire introduced me to weird movies back when I was in high school, and I’m forever thankful.

  24. I’m going to nominate Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 disaster piece “The Room”. It’s so often mentioned as just a “bad movie” but I would go as far as calling it ” so bad it’s weird”. It feels like Aliens disguised as humans making a movie.

  25. I’d like to enter the contest and nominate my favorite movie of all time: Frankenhooker! More than just a Mary Shelley knockoff, it’s both very strange (Drill-bit idea generation, crack that makes people explode when smoked, a plate full of boobs) and funny as hell. It also does a good job of criticizing male attitudes toward women (“I’m only interested in…parts…”) without being preachy or condescending.

    1. I bet the Hennenlotter fans will stuff the ballots on this one

  27. Canadian, so not eligible for the contest.

    There is only one movie that stands out to me as absolutely needing to be on the list and that is Singapore Sling. This is kind of a shameless plug but I actually made a video review explaining why I love it so much :

    https://youtu.be/H7wGGyO_LzA

  28. I’ll nominate Ag-o (Crocodile), the 1996 debut of Kim Ki-Duk. I haven’t seen it yet but a friend of mine (who is an indie intellectual and a lover of weird films) highly recommended it.

    And this is the plot, according to Wikipedia: “The film tells the story of a man living at the edge of the Han River in Seoul, who saves a woman trying to commit suicide. He then proceeds to rape and abuse her until an odd relationship develops between them.”

    I’m not eligible for the prize cause I’m from Germany… 🙁

  29. I nominate The Adolescence of Utena AKA Revolutionary Girl Utena: the movie. Weirdness-wise the film is probably best known for the inexplicable transformation sequence that kicks off the third act but the entire film is awash with evocative and surreal imagery that any weirdophile would appreciate.

    Utena is directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara who is otherwise best known for his work on Sailor Moon, Mawaru Penguindrum, and the Revolutionary Girl Utena TV series (Utena having largely originated from ideas he had for Sailor Moon that were shot down for being too weird). The film plays out as an abridged reimagining of the series and works best as a companion piece to the anime; it can be somewhat unapproachable to a non-fan.

    Also this movie is Gay AF which in pride month should count for bonus points.

  30. I nominate The Act of Killing; surely the “sliding scale” rule should push it on for its quality. Plus, the List has only four documentaries. While it makes sense that most films in the genre are too conventional to belong here, Joshua Oppenheimer gives his genocidal subjects free reign to display their weirdness. By letting the inmates run the asylum (so to speak), he strips bare the insanity of the Indonesian government.
    And I’m entering the contest, thank you very much.

  31. I’ve unfortunately only seen 17 of the present 282 films marked as Apocrypha candidates (thanks to Val Santos on Letterboxd), and I’m not eligible due to winning a few months back, but I’d like to go to bat for Inferno and Alice in Wonderland as good candidates. I’d think they qualify on the sliding scale, being among the absolute best films in their respective catalogs (Argento’s filmography and Disney’s animated canon), and the one’s pure nightmare logic depiction of a curse tearing through everyone you’ve ever touched and the other’s pre-psychadelia craze psychadelic imagery should make them solid entries for the apocrypha.

    Looking at films marked for Capsules, I’d make secondary recommendatinos for Derek Jarman’s Blue, and POSSIBLY Jesus Christ Superstar. I don’t have any good reasoning for the latter, it’s just one of my favorite films and I’d like to see it receive the full 366 treatment.

    1. Gargus, please pick just one of those choices to add to the poll.

      P.S. I always thought Jesus Christ Superstar was a weird movie adaptation of the already odd Broadway musical, and I was somewhat surprised that no one else agreed with me. I mean, Judas chased by tanks?

    2. Smalley, if it must be just one, then despite it being a mere capsule, I’m going to seize on your agreement and go to bat for Jesus Christ Superstar.

  32. I’m not in for the contest, but I do want to heartily second the nomination for Celine and Julie Go Boating. Can’t understand why a film of its stature and reputation STILL hasn’t received a proper R1 release.

    And speaking of unreleased, but highly deserving, films, I would like to nominate Onirica: Field of Dogs (a film I was made aware of when another person recommended it on this site a few years ago). How weird is it? Check out the English-subtitled trailer on YouTube:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tusAGxCnyss

  34. Nominated for future consideration: a case of a blockbuster franchise that was poised to collapse into merely bad, but instead took a left turn into weird: the 14th 007 film, A View to a Kill (1985). With a decrepit Roger Moore, and talentless love interest Tonya Roberts, this was never going to be one of the better Bond films, but villain Christopher Walken delivers a truly mind-bending performance that must be seen to be believed. Even by his standards, Walken’s line readings are unbelievably, hilariously odd. Every time he’s on screen, it’s like seeing two films collide: a banal action thriller, and whatever the hell film Walken thought he was in. Add in Grace Jones’ henchwoman drifting in and out of the film like a spectre from a fever dream, and what would have just been a limp action sequel instead becomes ineffably weird.

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