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Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Cannes Film Festival (May 14-May 25): Discussion begins. Normally, Cannes is not a major event on the weird movie calendar, although there are usually one or two titles of interest debuting there. That changes this year, with a record number of strange films from major talents on tap:

• • C’est Pas Moi [It’s Not Me] – A surprise entry from the eccentric Leos Carax, it’s an experimental autobiographical essay film under an hour in length.
  • Kinds of Kindness – The debut of Yorgos Lanthimos‘ anticipated triptych film will play in competition.
  • Le Deuxième acte [The Second Act] – Quentin Dupieux‘s latest absurd comedy, starring Léa Seydoux as a woman introducing her reluctant boyfriend to her father, will open the festival (although it’s not in competition).
  • Megalopolis – While it has been previewed already, this is the first chance for the public to see Francis Ford Coppola‘s reportedly batshit all-star dystopian satire. It’s sure to be one of the Festival’s main talking points.
  • Rumours – Guy Maddin (and protege Evan Johnson) get their biggest stars yet—Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander—-in a movie about a G7 conference (unusually contemporary subject matter for cinematic antiquarian Maddin).
  • The Shrouds – Vincent Cassel stars as a businessman who runs a service allowing grieving families to watch the bodies of their loved ones decompose on closed circuit television in David Cronenberg‘s latest (and potentially last) film.
  • The Surfer – Described as a psychological thriller, little is known about the plot of Lorcan Finnegan‘s Midnight entry, except that it’s set in Australia, involves surfing, and stars Nicolas Cage.

Cannes Film Festival official homepage.

Hanky Panky (2024): Discussion begins. The logline explains why we chose to spotlight this low-budget comedy: “A man and a talking napkin save the world from an evil top-hat, and also learn to love.” Straight to VOD for 4/20 weekend. Hanky Panky official site.

Hundreds of Beavers (2023): Discussion begins. Read El Rob Hubbard’s Apocrypha Candidate review. Hundreds of Beavers comes to a wider audience this week with its video-on-demand debut; we promise, we won’t be talking this one up again until it hits Blu-ray. Rent (or buy) Hundreds of Beavers on VOD.

The Invisible Fight (2023): Discussion begins. Read Giles Edwards’ Apocrypha Candidate review. Kung fu monks (Orthodox Christian monks, that is) populate Rainer Sarnet‘s potentially cult comedy, now on Blu-ray. Buy The Invisible Fight.

Werckmeister Harmonies (2000): Discussion begins. Read the Canonically Weird entry! The Canonized slowcore classic finally finds its expected home in the Criterion Collection’s empire, on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD, or streaming; Bela Tarr‘s first film, Family Nest (1979), is included as a hefty bonus feature on the physical media releases. Buy Werckmeister Harmonies.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

Next week’s Pod 366 guest will be Acidemic‘s Erich Kuersten, who will join us to discuss the week’s new releases. In written reviews, Shane Wilson finally writes a review that makes Perfect Sense (2011) comprehensible; Rafael Moreira does not avoid the Pitfall of Hiroshi Teshigahara‘s 1962 existential thriller; Giles Edwards sinks his teeth into the low-budget lycanthropy of Fang (2022); and Gregory J. Smalley investigates Oldrich Lipský‘s Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians (1981). Onward and weirdward!