POD 366, EP. 99: THE BEST AND WEIRDEST AND BEST WEIRD MOVIES OF 2024

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Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Adult Swim Yule Log (2022): Read the Apocryphally Weird  entry! ‘s original gonzo Christmas horror flick, now out of limited release and available to everyone in a standard Blu-ray edition; you’ll miss out on the special lenticular slipcase but score all the other extra features (commentaries, FX descriptions, actual Yule log, etc). Buy Adult Swim Yule Log.

EPISODE SPOILER! The 366 Weird Movies’ staff consensus top 10 Weird Movies of 2024.

9/10 (tie).  The Eternal Recurrence/Katernica

8. Daaaaaali!: “A journalist attempts to interview Salvador Dalí, but the painter’s erratic behavior and demands constantly cut her attempts short… While other directors resort to bemused realism to tackle the Surrealist icon’s notoriously slippery persona, Dupieux is a kindred spirit who fearlessly jumps right in to what makes Dalí tick: the irrational, the nonsensical, the dreamlike.–Gregory J. Smalley

7. Abruptio: “Recovering alcoholic Les Hackels finds himself compelled to follow murderous instructions or a bomb implanted in his neck will detonate… Violent twists accumulate to breaking point as the plot lurches toward a supernatural conspiracy, with all its hapless character-victims played by humans-as-puppets.”–Giles Edwards

6. Kinds of Kindness: “A triptych of twisted modern fables from Yorgos Lanthimos: a boss dictates every aspect of his employee’s life; after his missing wife returns, a police officer suspects that she’s been replaced by a close copy; two cult members search for their messiah… John McEnroe’s broken racket will be gifted (and stolen), Emma Stone will cry ‘lick me again!’ (not what you think), and dogs will (mostly) have a blast on the beach.”–Gregory J. Smalley

5. The Absence of Milk in the Mouths of the Lost: “A mysterious milkman helps a grieving mother deal with the loss of her child… Some of the imagery is arresting: the cigar-smoking demons are as brilliantly conceived as they are easily achieved, and sequences like the woman who pierces her milk-bag bra (!) with a knife are hard to forget.”–Gregory J. Smalley

4. I Saw the TV Glow: “Two misfit teenagers become obsessed with a paranormal TV show, leading them into delusions that persist into adulthood… By the film’s end, imagery merging humans and TVs, reminiscent of Videodrome, reinforces the focus on pathological fandom in the face of pervasive media—but leaves a crack for Schoenbrun’s underlying metaphor to shine through.”–Gregory J. Smalley


3. Megalopolis: “In mythical New Rome, inventor Caesar Catalina can stop time and has invented some kind of miracle substance called ‘Megalon,’ but demagogues and rivals scheme to ruin him… a bizarre mashup of Titus (1999), Southland Tales (2006), and Metropolis (1927), and if the entire city of New Rome constantly glows with a golden hue, it’s because the movie’s bananas.”–Gregory J. Smalley

2. The Substance: “An aging actress loses her job as hostess of an aerobics show on her 50th birthday and is recruited into trying a bizarre underground “anti-aging” substance, with instructions and regimens that must be followed precisely to avoid unwanted side effects… Incredibly, everything in Coralie Fargeat’s sophomore film—which mixes sledgehammer satire and comedy with clean Kubrickian interiors, squicky Cronenbergian body horror, and a third act tonal shift often described as ‘bonkers’—works.”–Gregory J. Smalley

1. Hundreds of Beavers: “Somewhere in the Frozen Northland, successful Applejack salesman and functioning alcoholic Jean Kayak loses his business in a tragic disaster and rebuilds his life to become legendary fur-trapper Jean Kayak, ultimate foe to… hundreds of beavers!… wildly inventive visually…. [and] layers multiple influences and keeps the gags flowing, all supporting the plot, while remaining funny from start to end credits.”–El Rob Hubbard

Here’s the tabular breakdown of how the three voters cast their ballots:

WEIRDEST MOVIES OF 2024
Giles EdwardsEl Rob HubbardGregory J. Smalley
The Absence of Milk in the Mouths of the LostThe SubstanceThe Absence of Milk in the Mouths of the Lost
KaternicaKinds of KindnessThe Eternal Recurrence
AbruptioI Saw the TV GlowThe Blue Rose
MegalopolisHundreds of BeaversDream Team
Psycho Ape Part 2: The Wrath of KongMegalopolisDaaaaaali!
Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the RainAdult Swim Yule Log 2: Branchin' OutRumours
The VourdalakShe Is ConannShe Is Conann
Ghost Cat AnzuQuantum CowboysI Saw the TV Glow
The Invisible FightThe Invisible FightAbruptio
OzmaThe VourdalakKinds of Kindness
BEST WEIRD MOVIES OF 2020
Hundreds of BeaversHundreds of BeaversThe Substance
Ghost Cat AnzuThe SubstanceHundreds of Beavers
CuckooI Saw the TV GlowA Different Man
MegalopolisMegalopolisI Saw the TV Glow
Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the RainKinds of KindnessDaaaaaali!
The People's JokerThe Invisible FightKinds of Kindness
Mother, CouchThe VourdalakAnimalia
OzmaQuantum CowboysMegalopolis
Quantum CowboysDeep Astronomy and the Romantic SciencesRumours
Crumb CatcherShe Is ConannRiddle of FIre

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

If you listened to the Pod, you’ll know that Gregory J. Smalley is going on an overseas semi-working vacation for the next two weeks and Giles Edwards and Pete Trbovich will be hosting next week’s Pod 366. With Greg out of the country and working off third world wi-fi under severe jet lag, posting may be erratic. Nevertheless, you can still expect to see Shane Wilson‘s review of the reader-suggested obscurity The Sea That Thinks (2000) and El Rob Hubbard‘s defense of queer noir Love Lies Bleeding (2024) as a weird movie. And Giles may try to sneak something yet undecided in, as well. Stay tuned. Onward and weirdward!

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