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Discussed in this episode:
Brick (2005): Read Shane Wilson’s review. Joseph Gordon-Levitt starred in Rian Johnson‘s debut, playing a hard-boiled teen detective who talks like someone out of Mike Hammer story. Buy Brick.
Caligula: the Ultimate Cut (1979/2023): Various versions of the refashioned Caligula keep tricking out like blood from a decapitation machine. This week, it’s on VOD; there is likely another 4K UHD release (an American version to match Umbrella’s already-available Australian 4K) coming eventually (there’s a Canadian 4K releasing next week from Unobstructed View). We’re going to assume you’re up to speed now and stop talking about Caligula Ultimate Cut releases for the time being. Buy or rent Caligula: The Ultimate Cut on VOD.
Demon Pond (1979): A traveler investigates a mysterious pond which holds numerous spirits who control the lives of a nearby town. The Criterion Collection found and restored this seldom-seen Japanese fantasy, which to our knowledge has never been released in the U.S. on home video before. Buy Demon Pond.
Once Again (For the Very First Time) (2024): An experimental/impressionistic love story of a street dancer and a poet/rapper. Dubbed a “hip-hop fantasia,” as the trailer will confirm. Once Again (For the Very First Time) official site.
Resurrection (2025?): Bi Gan‘s new project, which has already been in production for over a year, has garnered more international funding and will continue shooting this year. The plot, which involves a woman trapped in a dreamscape while undergoing a medical procedure who tells stories to an android corpse, sounds terrifically weird, and may help solidify Gan as the Chinese Tarkovsky. Read more at Variety.
Rumours (2024): Guy Maddin‘s latest (with collaborators Galen and Evan Johnson) has big name stars Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander as G7 leaders who encounter a sudden apocalyptic crisis (and find zombies and a giant brain). While this did not make as big a splash as we hoped on the festival circuit, reviewers have been kind, calling it “odd,” “surreal,” and yes, “weird.” Rumours official site.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
Next week’s Pod 366 guest will be Paolo Zelati, author of the book “American Nightmares“, which collects his interviews with horror directors like Jack Hill, David Cronenberg, and Don Coscarelli. In other video content, Pete Trbovich brings us a special “Halloweird” edition of Weird View Crew with 1984’s Dreamscape (and possibly more video surprises to come). In written reviews, Shane Wilson tackles the Halloween sign-language oddity Deafula (1975), Giles Edwards is confounded by the Buñuelian scenario of Mother, Couch (2023), and rumor has it Gregory J. Smalley will be headed to the theater to catch Rumours (see above). Onward and weirdward!
Onward and weirdward!
Greg and Giles have correctly divined my thinking about “Brick” at the time I published my review: perhaps not weird enough for our purposes, but a unique and potent film that demands to be seen. (To be fair, our review of “The Wizard of Oz” has that same dichotomy.) If it helps, though, I have worried over the years that I sold it short in the weirdness department.