366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.
Quick links/Discussed in this episode:
Sundance Film Festival: Normally, we would preview this festival before it started, but this year we lost track and waited until it was over to start our coverage. That’s probably a better procedure anyway, as we can now read the early returns and get a better sense of what’s meaningfully weird at what remains America’s most significant indie movie festival. Here’s a bunch of premieres we’ll be looking for in the coming year:
- By Design – Juliette Lewis turns into a chair (seriously, that’s the plot). From Amanda Kramer, so you know it’s weird.
- Dead Lover – A gravedigger reanimates her dream man in what is described as a campy and gonzo spin on Frankenstein with some cult movie potential.
- OBEX – A man travels into a video game to save his abducted dog. From Albert Birney, so you know it’s weird.
- Rabbit Trap – Two musicians record a mystical sound which drives them mad in this Welsh folk horror.
- The Thing with Feathers – A grieving father is haunted by a giant talking crow.
Punch-Drunk Love (2002): Read the reader recommendation. Paul Thomas Anderson‘s “off kilter” romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler gets an upgrade to 4K UHD from the Criterion Collection. Buy Punch-Drunk Love.
The Sacrifice (1986): Read Alfred Eaker’s review. Andrei Tarkovsky‘s final film (he was dying of cancer as he filmed it) is a typically austere and challenging spiritual tale of a man who wishes to sacrifice himself to save his family from an apocalypse. This is the 4K UHD release of a previous Blu-ray (also included). Buy The Sacrifice.
“Twin Peaks: From Z to A”: Probably the ultimate Twin Peaks collection (although all of this material has been available in various previous editions). Includes all three TV seasons and Fire Walk with Me, a 4K UHD of the pilot and the notorious “Gotta Light?” episode from Season 3, along with 20+ hours of (all previously released) bonus material. Buy “Twin Peaks: From Z to A”.
FREE ONLINE WEIRD MOVIES:
Warner Brothers quietly dumped released a slew of back catalog titles on ad-supported free YouTube streams this week. The most notable, for our purposes, are Canonically Weird titles True Stories (1986) (our review, viewing link) and The Science of Sleep (2006) (our review, viewing link). No idea how long these will be available, so enjoy while you can!
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
No guest is currently scheduled for next week’s Pod 366, but Giles Edwards and Gregory J. Smalley plan to return with a look at what’s weird in news and new releases. Of course, on Sunday the Weirdcademy Awards voting opens to everyone, so be sure to get your votes end (voting ends on March 1, the day before Hollywood’s Most Conventional Movie Awards airs.) In written reviews, Shane Wilson takes on one that Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue in Hanzo the Razor (1972), about a Tokugawa-era lawman with an unusual crime-fighting tool; Giles Edwards also dives into the queue for the 2007 English horror The Devil’s Chair; and Gregory J. Smalley gives another answer to the eternally-recurring question If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? Onward and weirdward!
I don´t see any of the movies mentioned yet but I feel a little bit astonished by the similarities between the stories and letimotivs of “Dead Lover” with “Lisa Frankenstein” and of “Rabbit Trap” with “All You Need is Death”… It sounds like the arthouse versions of more conventional weird movies with some indi twists. Can you comment something about? Thanks!
Haven’t seen them yet so I can’t comment on the actual as opposed to apparent similarities. I did mention apparent similarities between “The Thing with Feathers” and “Tuesday,” and “Rabbit Trap” and “Enys Men.” I do hope “Dead Lover” is an improved version of “Lisa Frankenstein”!
Thanks! I really like “Lisa Frankenstein” but I hope to see soon this bunch of weird movies too.