Tag Archives: John Waters

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf + Desperate Living

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf + Desperate Living

And just who is Virginia Woolf, anyways? Being afraid of Virginia Woolf – you’re already talking about it and you don’t even know it. Classic Hollywood actresses terrify Michael Koester. Sex then, sex now. The power play. Oh, what language! What Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf has in common with Mortal Kombat 2. John Waters returns for Desperate Living! Eat some rats, change some sex, and roll around in garbage. Who’s having the most fun? A reminder on the topic of despicable cinema and human progress. A John Waters film without John Waters. Continue reading →

Cecil B Demented + The Royal Tenenbaums

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
Cecil B Demented + The Royal Tenenbaums

Diving right in to the pairing experiment. John Waters and Wes Anderson, best friends forever. Michael and Alice get excited about introduction to color theory! Cecil B Demented takes back the cinema. That punk metal resistance. The man who fought dogma and taboo sets his sights on the film industry. Kidnap, torture, and farce. The problems of cinema yesterday. Don’t hold back! John Waters raps songs. Go on, read that sentence again. Jerome Dillon. The Royal Tenenbaums introduces the cast. This time, with Baldwin. Redemption, take two. The Wes Anderson color palette. How to learn. Why color is more important than how important you probably think it is. Color coded characters. Break your rules and make your point. Continue reading →

Palindromes + Female Trouble

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
Palindromes + Female Trouble

A completely fucked look at pregnancy and sexuality in America. Super young kids having sex. Dawn. Aviva. Henrietta Aviva. Many actors playing one character! Talking about the thing you’re supposed to talk about. Mama Sunshine’s house of horrors. Where to buy zip disks. Palindromes are like characters are like Palindromes. Jesus music and true believers. Richard is back! Are abortion picketers monsters? Divine creates some Female Trouble. Literally fucking yourself. The Female Trouble theme song! What this one should be known for. Mink Stole, Edith Massey, and the glorious Dreamlanders. Spending some time in the backyard. An ending you’d never expect unless you thought about it literally at all. Continue reading →

Gummo + Pink Flamingos

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Alice Thirteen
Gummo + Pink Flamingos

Competing looks at trash culture. Gummo and Harmony Korine. Comparisons to Larry Clark and Kids. What are the similarities and why do they exist? Storytelling sans story. Michael tries to add artistic credibility to mumblecore. Filmmaking nihilism. Making an audience ask “Why?” Answering the dangerous question. Humanists consider the opposition. The best of the worst, the making of a hero. The power of your surroundings. Self-image. Finding Gummo in reality. The Zef side! Die Antwoord. South Africa. Pink Flamingos is sooo mainstream. The classic John Waters dreamlanders. The infamy of Pink Flamingos. An incredible film-generating attic. The allure of poop. Prime lenses fix your poor filmmaking. Stop giving a fuck and start making films. Moments of genius amongst the filth. The filthiest filth. Fucking a chicken to death o-screen. Surprise trial! Continue reading →

Cry-Baby + Roadracers

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Alice Thirteen
Cry-Baby + Roadracers

50’s throw-back films! Greasers. John Waters after Devine. A bit on Iggy Pop. Who is Traci Lords? A confused opinion on hatchet-face. Johnny Depp?! Entire budget of Cry-Baby: $12 Million. Depp’s average Pirates salary: $88 Million per film. Faux jazz lounge scene! Coupling and single characters. Drapes and squares. Bases and religious tattoos. The alphabet bomber movie. Is Cry-Baby a musical? Adaptations of adaptations. Courtroom scenes. Use the manhole! Roadracers: The Making of a Degenerate Hot Rod Flick. Showtime’s Rebel Highway series. An Invasion of the Body Snatchers metaphor. John Hawkes’ character. Building around icons. The long-awaited Roadracers DVD release! Continue reading →

Hairspray + The Little Shop of Horrors

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Alice Thirteen
Hairspray + The Little Shop of Horrors

Cult films that later spawned colossal musicals. Chicago violently floods. John Waters, Hairspray (1988), and Hypnotherapy. What inspires John Waters? The last John Waters Divine film. John Waters without Divine. Competing counterculture. A different type of parent. Finally, other people can understand! MTV’s The Grind. Racism! Double Feature gets super political. Leslie Gore and Leslie Powers. The colorized version of The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)! Public domain. Roger Corman. The Little Shop of Horrors relationship with Bucket of Blood. Budget. Chiropractors and faith healors. Man eating chicken! Continue reading →

To Die For + Serial Mom

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Alice Thirteen
To Die For + Serial Mom

So-called “true stories” of women and crimes. To Die For and Pamela Smart. Gus Van Sant. What was Danny Elfman up to? Tonal shifts. Documentary/mockumentary style. Wait, we’re killing? Idolizing TV life. Questioning motivation. David Cronenberg?! Pretending things are dark comedies. References to horror and exploitation films. More on housewife exploitation. More somewhat harmless fun. John Waters brings new sexual terms to middle America! Soundbank. Capital Punishment. Patty Hearst: convicted felon and John Waters actor. Trials, court rooms and a fetish for trials. It’s finally happening! Continue reading →

Look + Pecker

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Alice Thirteen
Look + Pecker

Photography and voyeurism. Where are the cameras?! What people do when no one is looking. The misadventures of Adam Rifkin. The average person vs one example of a person. If you could see the big picture. Events you missed out on. Giuseppe Andrews is getting electrocuted. Original music. Sony CineAlta cameras. Unnatural cinematography. Defying the rule of thirds. Wide open depth of field and heightened senses. Lying. Morality. Look is also a TV series on Showtime (you can watch it here: Look TV Series). Pecker as the last of the first mainstream John Waters films. Which is the real John Waters underdog? Christina Ricci. The career of Martha Plimpto. Women in Pecker. Go out to stores and take photos of unsuspecting customers. Children and ADHD. Critics are fucking idiots. Continue reading →

Polyester + Secretary

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Alice Thirteen
Polyester + Secretary

Bored women surround themselves with deviants! Two films helping society cope with taboos. John Waters exposes America to the unsettling. A rarely talked about sub-genre of exploitation: Women’s Pictures. Odorama, Smell-O-Vision and William Castle. The smells on the Polyester Odorama card are as follow: Roses, A Fart, Glue, Pizza, Gasoline, Skunk, Gas, New Car Smell, Old Sneakers, Air Freshener. What led to the breakout success of Polyester in comparison to earlier John Waters’ films? The central taboos. Why stomp feet? Secretary and feminism. Maggie Gyllenhaal and the qualities of Lee Holloway. Contrasting James Spader’s character Mr. Grey. The surprising common ground between sub and dom. Secretary and sexploitation. Continue reading →

Fur + A Dirty Shame

Posted on November 6, 2008 by Alice Thirteen
Fur + A Dirty Shame

Arizona Iced Tea. Taboos. Sexual fetishes. Lifestyle fetishes. Non linear story telling. Things you can do with a 50s biopic. Photography. Romanticizing previous eras. 30s sideshows. The 50s family myth. Finding yourself. Flashing back to an even older era in your period film. Robert Downey Jr. Warm and creepy. Establishing a feeling of trust in a technical medium. Further information upon additional viewing. John Waters. Trash films. Censorship. Importance of character names. Blasphemy. 12 Step. The M word. When satire is just reality. A creative way to sidestep pornography! Continue reading →