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Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs and Blu-rays (and hot off the server VODs), and on more distant horizons…

Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.

FILM FESTIVALS –(Göteborg Film Festival, Göteborg, Sweden, Jan. 28-Feb. 6):

We normally wouldn’t cover this relatively minor festival, but big props to them for a novel marketing ploy that may actually be more than a stunt. For three movies screening at the festival, the audience will be put under hypnosis by a professional hypnotist. The three movies selected for this experiment all sound worthily weird: Apichatpong Weerasethakul‘s ethereal Memoria; Land of Dreams (another dream-auditing movie, this time co-written by Jean-Claude Carrière); and Speak No Evil, a psychological horror film debuting in Sundance’s Midnight section a week before. Might we suggest adding a double feature revival of Heart of Glass and The Element of Crime to the slate at the last minute? It’s a wonderful cinematic enhancement: it either works to increase your appreciation of the films, or works as the art-house version of a William Castle gimmick. The only hitch is possible Covid cancellation. The trailer is definitely worth a watch for devotees of the surreal. Variety has a nice article on the experiment.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

King Car (2020): Read Giles Edwards’ festival review. Another 2021 film in which people have sex with cars, only this car is really more into being a cult leader than getting laid. It’s playing in theaters somewhere (Alamo Drafthouses?), and simultaneously on demand from Alamo. No official site found.

NEW STREAMING (ARROW VIDEO, SUBSCRIPTION):

Hotel Poseidon (2021): Read our festival review. If previous Arrow streaming debuts are any indication, this nearly plotless triumph of soggy art design will be released on Blu-ray and alternate VOD channels soon. Hotel Poseidon at Arrow.

CANONICALLY WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

This section will no longer be updated regularly. Instead, we direct you to our new “Repertory Cinemas Near You” page. We will continue to mention exceptional events in this space from time to time, however.

YOU LINK US! YOU REALLY LINK US!:

Criterion Reflections – Episode 110 – Robert Altman’s Images – The podcast cites Shane Wilson‘s review of Images among their supplemental reading.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

You can still make a nomination or vote for January 15’s Weird Watch Party through this weekend. And if you haven’t voted yet in our latest round of re-ranking the 366 Canon to account for the List’s newest additions, you can do so here.

Next week Gregory J. Smalley will be taking care of some personal business. In the meantime, you will be able to read Shane Wilson‘s informative musings on Saul Bass’ psychedelic killer ant movie, Phase IV (in the reader-suggested queue), while Giles Edwards will brave Béla Tarr‘s Damnation (1988) for your edification. And the next round of 366 re-ranking will begin on Thursday, as the incoming class of weird movies faces off against challengers from the old guard. And we hope to make our brief preview of which movies look promisingly weird at Sundance 2022 (a project originally scheduled for this week, until the festival took their schedule temporarily offline for retooling because omicron convinced them to scrap all live screenings and go full virtual.) Onward and weirdward!

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that we have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.