Another vote for Female Trouble. Don't know that much of the really early stuff, but I like pretty much everything from the '70s on except A Dirty Shame. Seem to recall Pecker being a little disappointing but still not terrible.
― emil.y, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 03:07 (eleven years ago) link
it would but tbh i'd be perfectly fine with him just writing books for the remainder of his life xp
― TOP FEMALE LAWYER & CARTOONIST FOR 2011: (donna rouge), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 03:08 (eleven years ago) link
Hey Waters fans, I just read ASK DR. MUELLER, the book of Cookie Mueller's writing, and it's a good read. Real raw and engaging writing. Gets kind of sad at the end when she's writing some health column (full of pretty bad health advice) in the '80s, with all her rants about how doctors will fuck you up bad if you're not straight (not even heterosexual but just 'straight' like not a normal). Followed by a little epilogue on how she died of AIDS. Cookie Mueller: ultimate wkiw
― The Most Typical and Popular Girl Rider (Crabbits), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 03:08 (eleven years ago) link
this guy is awesome but i wish i liked his movies more.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 03:08 (eleven years ago) link
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h20/bitter69uk/Female-Trouble-Susan-Walsh-Cookie-Mueller-4.jpg
love you Cookie
― The Most Typical and Popular Girl Rider (Crabbits), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 03:09 (eleven years ago) link
such a treasure. i really need to read that book!!
― TOP FEMALE LAWYER & CARTOONIST FOR 2011: (donna rouge), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 03:10 (eleven years ago) link
a john waters dreamland stable poll might be fun
When I was at Occupy Bmore the queer camp called themselves Mortville and we spent a lot of time quoting "Desperate Living" to each other
― gwenguthrie gwen ross (Stevie D(eux)), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 03:11 (eleven years ago) link
oh man I love me some Cookie, esp Nan Goldin's photos of her
― gwenguthrie gwen ross (Stevie D(eux)), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 03:12 (eleven years ago) link
Only have seen Flamingos and the 5 from the 80s-90s (and I guess some painful minutes of A Dirty Shame). Voting for Polyester over Hairspray.
― da croupier, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 03:13 (eleven years ago) link
tbh i'd be perfectly fine with him just writing books for the remainder of his life
I would be happy to see all working film critics replaced by just him.
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 03:24 (eleven years ago) link
ditto
― balls, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 03:27 (eleven years ago) link
stan vote for cry-baby
― NASCAR, surfing, raising chickens, owning land (zachlyon), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 05:20 (eleven years ago) link
I think I'll watch them all in order now. I mean not this very minute but now generally and as a result of this thread.
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Wednesday, September 19, 2012 2:11 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
watching them in random order would probably be more fun
― Matt Armstrong, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 05:40 (eleven years ago) link
serial mom
― Hungry4Ass, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 05:47 (eleven years ago) link
Probably Cry-Baby b/c I loved the music so much and thought Amy Locane looked perfect
― Fiendish Doctor Wu (kingfish), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 05:58 (eleven years ago) link
If this was post pink flamingos my vote would be serial mom with no reservations.
― O_o-O_O-o_O (jjjusten), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 06:03 (eleven years ago) link
Polyester was my intro to the world of John Waters and i still think it stands up, also the Baltimore Foot Stomper makes me lol a lot
― syntax evasion (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 06:16 (eleven years ago) link
have always preferred FT to PF
― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 06:19 (eleven years ago) link
The legacy of Hairspray is kind of a bummer, but that movie is really awesome. The production design is amazing.
― Walter Galt, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 08:38 (eleven years ago) link
Yes. And the bit where they leave the 'studio' and go downtown, and suddenly it looks like they went to somewhere real.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 09:18 (eleven years ago) link
Desperate Living is so incredible, but the bleakness is so overwhelming
super-fond of Cecil B.
― Inconceivable (to the entire world) (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 13:13 (eleven years ago) link
Voted for "auto in-DUS-try".
― stURGEON & musKEY (how's life), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 13:23 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-XTsXNufYQ
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 13:40 (eleven years ago) link
An Oscar clip if I've ever seen one.
Desperate Living because:
Most of the dialogue consists of screamingMink Stole is the star of the showIt is his most disgusting film
― Moodles, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 13:55 (eleven years ago) link
"I don't want no white man looking at my Tampax!!"
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 14:03 (eleven years ago) link
I'm going with Desperate Living just ahead of Female Trouble-I think DL is funnier and more well sustained. And I would put them both well ahead of Pink Flamingos.
― MrDasher, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 14:07 (eleven years ago) link
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Wednesday, September 19, 2012 9:03 AM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
^^^^^
― gwenguthrie gwen ross (Stevie D(eux)), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 14:17 (eleven years ago) link
u guys sure like your sassy 600-pound mamas
― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 14:29 (eleven years ago) link
desperate living although female trouble is a close second, thouhg I will say I still would prefer a neuter version of each film
― Brian Eno's Mother (Latham Green), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 14:35 (eleven years ago) link
" Uh OH , here come the honkies already!" w/ Turkey Joe =- so many classic lines
― Brian Eno's Mother (Latham Green), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 14:37 (eleven years ago) link
"Desperate living" is the only film of his I haven't seen(and "Mondo trasho")
― E.I.E.I. (Ówen P.), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 14:39 (eleven years ago) link
So ... A Dirty Shame then?
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 14:42 (eleven years ago) link
xp oh man you are in for a treat
"treat"
― gwenguthrie gwen ross (Stevie D(eux)), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 14:43 (eleven years ago) link
omg the Gator leaves for Detroit scene
Desperate Living is like the darkest funniest thing ever
― Inconceivable (to the entire world) (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 15:03 (eleven years ago) link
Was torn among Mondo Trasho, Desperate Living and Female Trouble; Mondo wins because of Mink Stole's topless dance and this, the greatest scene in all cinema: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVCCFF8BTkc
― Three Word Username, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 15:19 (eleven years ago) link
Cry-Baby is one of my favorite movies. So so many things to love. Rikki Lake, for one thing. "He likes his women bad, not cheap." And the way he escapes from prison, by way of the easily removed grate in the floor of his cell. It's so funny and so campy and so meta and so absurd. And also Iggy Pop.
― flavor blasted (kenan), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 15:25 (eleven years ago) link
re: CryBaby, my little girl riding on a duck from Enchanted Forest this weekend
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/207975_531057790253059_184226875_n.jpg
(@0:37)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDYSsntMVsQ
― stURGEON & musKEY (how's life), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 15:30 (eleven years ago) link
I don't know, I'm trippin.
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 15:40 (eleven years ago) link
Definitely prefer Cry-Baby to Hairspray, among the John Waters movies most likely to be stocked at Wal-Mart.
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 15:41 (eleven years ago) link
wow, just realized a lot of childhood photos of me are from visits to the Enchanted Forest
― Sadly, 99.99 percent of sheeple will never wake up (I DIED), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 15:46 (eleven years ago) link
Divine's performance in Female Trouble makes me anxious.
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 15:57 (eleven years ago) link
Pink Flamingos would not be obvious answer for me at all. Of the early, grossout stuff (which I honestly don't have the inclination to revisit anymore) I would rank Female Trouble > Desperate Living > Flamingos. I can barely remember Multiple Maniacs, but Mortville set and overall production design of Female Trouble are seared in my brain forever.
Of the more mainstream films, Hairspray and Cry Baby are a deadlocked tie for me; love them both, more than Polyester. And nothing from Serial Mom on really clicked for me.
― The specifics are these, which is those principles I described (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 16:23 (eleven years ago) link
I wish I could find video or images, but the first time you see the rickety slum village of Mortville, the scene is amazingly similar (in my memory) to the Joads' arrival in a migrant worker camp in The Grapes of Wrath. I'm sure that was only my reading, though.
― The specifics are these, which is those principles I described (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 16:58 (eleven years ago) link
I really really love John Waters but Hairspray does seem like a pinnacle to me, the midway point between the guerilla gross-out low budget films and his latter more restrained efforts. probably his best ever cast too.
― stop swearing and start windmilling (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 17:04 (eleven years ago) link
Hairspray and Cry-Baby are a hell of a lot more restrained than Serial Mom
― gwenguthrie gwen ross (Stevie D(eux)), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 17:29 (eleven years ago) link
But they're both very funny, it should be noted.
― flavor blasted (kenan), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 17:34 (eleven years ago) link
Anyone know of any plans to put these films out on blu-ray?
― Moodles, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 17:49 (eleven years ago) link
Not sure many of them "need" 1080p, tbh.
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 18:13 (eleven years ago) link
You're right. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-01-16/news/9113000505_1_enchanted-forest-cry-baby-gosling
― Three Word Username, Friday, 21 September 2012 09:46 (eleven years ago) link
Back in high school, I told this girl I was making out with that I thought she looked like Ricki Lake. I meant the skinny Ricki Lake who hosted the talk show. I had not yet seen Hairspray or Crybaby.
― stURGEON & musKEY (how's life), Friday, 21 September 2012 11:41 (eleven years ago) link
Ricki Lake in John Waters' films >>>>>>>>>> talk show Ricki Lake
― emil.y, Friday, 21 September 2012 11:53 (eleven years ago) link
My compliment was inept either way, but I got some very definite feedback at the time about telling a girl she looked like Ricki Lake and which version of Ricki Lake she presumed me to mean. The makeouts diminished significantly.
― stURGEON & musKEY (how's life), Friday, 21 September 2012 12:01 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, I'm fairly sure going "but, uh, fat Ricki is way cooler" would not really help anybody's cause. Oh well.
― emil.y, Friday, 21 September 2012 12:04 (eleven years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Saturday, 22 September 2012 00:01 (eleven years ago) link
this guy is awesome but i wish i liked his movies more.― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, September 19, 2012 3:08 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, September 19, 2012 3:08 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark
^^^ this. i'd rather re-read his interview in butt magazine that watch these films. If serial mom is one of his best i'd loathe to see one of the lesser ones. that film is completely inept and unfunny.
― jed_, Saturday, 22 September 2012 00:13 (eleven years ago) link
tbh i would attend a JW-curated fashion show or photography exhibit over watching his films any day of the week, tho I still like him OK as a director.
― Broney, Pt. 1 (Pillbox), Saturday, 22 September 2012 01:03 (eleven years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Sunday, 23 September 2012 00:01 (eleven years ago) link
good turnout!
― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 23 September 2012 00:03 (eleven years ago) link
Surprised Cry-Baby had a pretty weak showing. Also, my late-period reclamation film is Cecil B. Demented, which nobody seemed to rep for as hard as Serial Mom, which I think is good, but not as good as CBD.
― emil.y, Sunday, 23 September 2012 00:39 (eleven years ago) link
i love cecil b demented and got a signed copy for my birthday (after my parents ran into him @ borders)
― NASCAR, surfing, raising chickens, owning land (zachlyon), Sunday, 23 September 2012 01:27 (eleven years ago) link
Will rep for basically every single one of his films of his except Hairspray (doesn't need my help) and A Dirty Shame (doesn't deserve it).
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Sunday, 23 September 2012 04:50 (eleven years ago) link
Don't watch this again if you haven't seen multiple maniacs because seeing this in context as the climactic scene is what makes it the best of all of his many great films who wants to die for art
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mPUVciF6TE
― Milton Parker, Sunday, 23 September 2012 05:08 (eleven years ago) link
And by again I mean AGAIN
― Milton Parker, Sunday, 23 September 2012 05:11 (eleven years ago) link
Ha, I liked "A dirty shame", it was so tasteless and stupid and amazing. The closing scene when the trees start turning into genitals and the dancers on the street spell out "SEX" felt charming in this old-school version of risqué.
― whiter than... this? (Ówen P.), Sunday, 23 September 2012 13:04 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, I was quite partial to A Dirty Shame too, though it suffers from the Tracy Ullman on a film screen problem...
― Pete, Sunday, 23 September 2012 15:45 (eleven years ago) link
I've got a ticket for this on the weekend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJqw0hTAhXY
Maybe John Waters will show up.
― clemenza, Monday, 27 May 2013 23:03 (ten years ago) link
Very entertaining, very moving at times. Funniest moment: the juxtaposition of something Divine's mom says with the ending of Multiple Maniacs.
― clemenza, Sunday, 2 June 2013 02:01 (ten years ago) link
I'm pretty sure it's the actual Enchanted Forest in Ellicott City. Also, zachlyon: my wife reports that not everything had made it out to the farm yet, so it's possible that suburban youth still make pilgrimages to drink 40s (or 4Loko, these days) among the thorny brambles and derelict amusements.― stURGEON & musKEY (how's life), Friday, September 21, 2012 4:54 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― stURGEON & musKEY (how's life), Friday, September 21, 2012 4:54 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
R.I.P.
http://ellicottcity.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/former-enchanted-forest-site-being-cleared?a_dgi=aolshare_facebook
― how's life, Wednesday, 30 October 2013 23:08 (ten years ago) link
also in 2004: watched 'female trouble' to console myself on election night
― TOP FEMALE LAWYER & CARTOONIST FOR 2011: (donna rouge), Tuesday, September 18, 2012 10:02 PM (five years ago) Bookmark
I just watched Female Trouble and found it oddly comforting in our current florid hellscape
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Sunday, 12 August 2018 18:39 (five years ago) link
my favorite has always been Serial Mom, but you can't fuck with the consecutive run of Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingoes, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living.
― flappy bird, Sunday, 12 August 2018 20:24 (five years ago) link