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Quick links/Discussed in this episode:
A Different Man (2024): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. A man has miracle surgery to correct his facial disfigurement, then regrets his decision when a pseudo-doppelganger of his old self steals the role he was born to play. A24 puts out this excellent, if decidedly noncommercial, film on VOD this week; as always with A24, it’s offered at a premium on release, so if you’re a renter you may want to wait for the price to come down. Buy or rent A Different Man.
Don Hertzfeldt projects: We’re a little behind on officially announcing the debut of a new Hertzfeldt short (although we did promote it on social media). It’s called “Me,” it’s a musical (recut from a different musical that fell apart), and it features his usual blend of stick figures, witty existentialism, and psychedelic visuals. It’s available to rent (and will probably eventually appear on some physical media compilation.) In other Hertzfeld news, he has his first true feature-length project (called Antarctica) in the works, and he’ll be collaborating with other animators for the first time. Antarctica has been in development for decades, but Ari Aster now is on board as producer, so it’s about to get real. Learn more in this new, long interview with Sam Adams of Slate.
Hippo (2023): Read Giles Edwards’ Hippo Apocrypha candidate review and interview with star Kimball Farley and DP William Babcock. The black comedy about siblings home-schooled by a UFO believer gets a limited theatrical release this week in NY, with LA dates next week; VOD announcements expected to come son. The Myspace-style official site is interesting.
Once Within a Time (2023): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s Apocrypha Candidate review. Our editor’s choice for Weirdest Film of 2023, Godfrey Reggio‘s 45-minute surrealist romp is an apocalyptic-yet-hopeful dream that almost no one had seen—until now. It releases on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD this week, so hearken to the call of its oddly recognizable tattooed saxophonist. Buy Once Within a Time.
Suspiria (2018): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. OK, this is the (interesting in itself) remake, not the Canonically Weird original. But it’s one hell of a limited edition set from Australia’s Imprint label: a 4K UHD disc, an (all-region) Blu-ray housing the movie, a new commentary track (from author Miranda Corcoran), and a third Blu-ray housing nothing but special feature after special feature. Buy Suspiria (2018).
Wizard of Oz (1939): Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. OK, you’ve seen this (if you haven’t, rush to see it now, youngster) and it’s been re-released on home video a billion times already. This is the current “ultimate” edition: a 4K UHD disc plus a Blu-ray with lots of extras (most of which we believe have been seen before). The selling point on this one (besides the 4K disc) are the steelbook format and the physical collectibles: 12 lobby cards/posters and reproductions of the original invitation, recreation of an original program, and a replica ticket from Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Wizheads take note! Buy Wizard of Oz (4K Steelbook).
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
We’ll be back with Pod 366 next week, although as mentioned potential guests and co-hosts are still up in the air. Things are more settled in terms of written review, as Shane Wilson braves one that Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue in Nicolas Winding Refn‘s mall-cop mystery Fear X (2003); Giles Edwards enters the Solar System by Slinghsot (2024); and Gregroy J. Smalley heads to Africa (virtually) to investigate The Omen (2023). Onward and weirdward!
I hate to badger you about stuff you’re probably working on, but will there be any new additions to the apocrypha in the future? It’s been a while since Shiver of the Vampire and I was just wondering.
Yes there will be! Before the next year dawns, at least. Maybe before December.