"You stand convicted of Assholism!" -- in praise of John Waters

The real question in re: John Waters is a very rockist question: was the early stuff better, much better, or is that whole question bullshit? Everybody went nuts over Polyester which was good but lacked the "these people are truly insane" appeal of earlier films. Every JW movie since then has some embarassingly ham-handed moments, even the GREAT Cecil B. Demented (the scene where they sit around singing "Demented Forever" as they get branded made me cringe, it was so corny). At the same time, his eye for satire gets sharper as his audience widens. BUT AT THE VERY SAME TIME DONT'TCHA KNOW the jokes come less rapid-fire, seem more self-conscious, etc. Knowing that one has an audience & feeling obligated to same, Classic or Dud?

And his recollections live are pretty much like a standup comedy act. Very funny man in person.

Anyway, Divine's performance in Polyester, the crackup descent into booze and pills, is surely one of the greatest film performances EVER EVER EVER. The commitment and detail in it blows nearly all other movie "acting" out of the fucking pond.

"No single bullet can destroy the beauty of fascism"

Not only do I like "Female Troubles," I am also keen to "Polyesters," and "Hairsprays."

Same here. You can't top the unspeakably bizarre sensibility of the early films, but Hairspray, the greatest film of 1988, manages to keep the weirdness but add in his essentially, uh..., em,...er...sweet-- personality too. Ricki Lake was brilliant, Divine of course.

No, Homer. Ultrasuede is a miracle. This was just good timing. Or something like that.

Yeah, well agreed. And yes the movie overall is quite great!

i like how all his movies take place in baltimore.

What is the trick of being an adorable asshole?

that had me laughing for days. he gives the best sheepish little chuckle/snort as he says it.

it had a limited release for baltimore on the 17th and is nationwide (but only 100 prints!) on the 24th.

yeah i wish i liked his movies half as much as i like the guy.

"HELLO? WHAT NUMBER ARE YOU CALLING? YOU'VE DIALED THE WRONG NUMBER! SORRY?? WHAT GOOD IS THAT?? HOW CAN YOU EVER REPAY THE THIRTY SECONDS YOU HAVE STOLEN MY LIFE?? I HATE YOU, YOUR HUSBAND, YOUR CHILDREN, AND YOUR RELATIVES!!! (click)"

this is my favorite ilx post of all time, easy.

Last night I watched a torrent of an old Incredibly Strange Film Show episode on John Waters, made just after Hairspray and Divine's death. It was really good. Jonathan Ross' shoes were awful.

That brought a tear to my eye.

I just want to make you proud!

I wonder what he's thinking about Travolta following in Divine's footsteps:

http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=10546

And with the director of Bringing Down the House -- WATCH OUT!

I don't know how his post-Divine comic rhythms completely deserted him in A Dirty Shame.

Doesn't Ebert say everything before Polyester aren't "real movies," or some such? Very weird coming from a former Russ Meyer collaborator.

After his new Court TV show comes on the air, the wedding invitations will probably start drying up for filmmaker John Waters.

The pencil-mustached Waters is developing a series, "'Til Death Do Us Part," that will dramatize the events of a married couple where one spouse eventually kills the other.

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Waters will star as "the groom reaper," appearing as an unexpected guest at the couple's wedding, then guiding viewers through the story as the relationship disintegrates. The series doesn't have a start date.

Court TV General Manager Marc Juris said Tuesday that Waters is expecting some fringe benefits from the role.

"He hates going to weddings," Juris said, "and figures by doing this show he'll never get invited to weddings."

I recently bought Pink Flamingoes on DVD and am a much happier man because of it.

http://www.greencine.com/article?action=view&articleID=297&pageID=540

Also this:
An occasional actor himself, Mr. Waters will play the Groom Reaper, the Alfred Hitchcock-like host of Court TV’s first scripted series, “ ’Til Death Do Us Part,” beginning March 19.

Saw Pink Flamingoes tonight, it was fantastic! I wasn't quite sure I'd like it but it was way better than its rating on imdb would have you believe. I've heard about John Waters films for years, but just never got around to trying any. That's great stuff. I'm not familiar with his other films, only heard about them. I did however see the insane scene of the insect raping Divine in the "...Maniacs" flick on You Tube. I feel bad I didn't get that one at the video shop, though, cause I thought at first I would get that, and then I switched to Pink Flamingoes.

I remember seeing Divine perform a song on some British TV programme in the 80's.

way better than its rating on imdb would have you believe

Imagine that. Desperate Living and Female Trouble for you, next.

I presume he'd make an exception for invading armies.

If you're traveling, you can't be racist... You can't be homophobic. I think the only way you can be racist or homophobic is if you never leave the neighborhood you were born in, and you hang around with stupid people. So I've always thought that someone who was really racist should be sentenced to travel, but that's not very practical."

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A160709

Somehow I'd not heard of blossoms.

Yesterday I was working and had This Filthy World playing on Netflix On-Demand, and was interrupted by a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses.

did they join you?

No. Which was probably a good thing since they looked a little sickly already. Besides, they just wanted to read... ALOUD. They gave me some little booklets and I tossed them onto the stack of Playboys, Road & Tracks, Exotics, and Crawls in the bathroom.

How had I forgotten Maggie Gyllenhaal was in Cecil B. Demented?

That was the first movie I ever saw her in.

next, a Christmas movie.

By Gregg Goldstein

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Johnny Knoxville and Parker Posey are attached to star in John Waters' Christmas film "Fruitcake."

The plot is under wraps but is said to center on the title character, a boy named after his favorite dessert. He runs away from home during the holidays after he and his parents are caught shoplifting meat, then meets a runaway girl raised by two gay men and searching for her birth mother.

He runs away from home during the holidays after he and his parents are caught shoplifting meat

Of course!

There never needs to be a greater justification than that.

I met John Waters on Saturday in Provincetown! We were there for a friends bachelorette party and said bachelorette happens to be a HUGE JW fan. We were drinking outside on a patio when I saw him leave the restaurant so I went up to him, explained the situation and asked for a photo. He was very nice and agreed but sadly wouldn't pose with Big Joe our blow up doll companion for the night. Will post pic when I get a copy.

how have i never been to p-town? :( :(
i want to meet john waters

No posing with Big Joe! Well perhaps he wasn't in the mood.

x-post! It was my first time in P-town and it was awesome. The town is seriously cute and charming and so much fun. You should definitely go if you a chance. The John Waters thing was great esp since my friend and I are huge fans. It was perfect.

He said he was sure it would end up photoshopped and on the internet if he posted with Big Joe. Hahaha.

hahahaha - posted. I meant posed, of course.

Hahaha, a VERY wise man. Can't put a foot wrong!

I have never been to P'town either, but as I've read that he's a(n) habitue that would be a primary reason for ever going.

You're in NY right? Have you ever been to Cherry Grove or The Pines on Fire Island? Very similar feel although P-town is a lot bigger. It was pretty tame this weekend because the weather wasn't great but I hear that in the summer it's just mobbed.

I was in Cherry Grove for about 36 hours, ten years ago. Couldn't wait to leave.

Ha, really? I grew up in another community on FI but have been to The Grove/Pines many times. I guess it is a little full on esp mid-season. Overall I got the feeling that P-town is quieter but like I said it was def a slow weekend.

his dad passed away

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bal-md.ob.waters12jun12,0,1592699.story

Very sad but a long and successful life. The bits with him in Divine Trash are great -- you can tell he's bemused by it all but also proud; I think it's telling that he remembers both John's persistence and the fact that he paid back the loan used to make Pink Flamingos within about a year.

And this does say it all:

"He made us always feel safe," said another son, filmmaker John S. Waters Jr. "Is that not the most important thing a parent could do for their children?"

He's actually in the Baltimore Sun again today!

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-te.to.hon13jun13,0,3043558.story

Honfest, this weekend's kitschy celebration of beehive hairdos, cat's-eye glasses and pearls, may be the city's biggest neighborhood festival.

But as Honfest grows, so does the backlash against it. Some Hampden dwellers, local fashionistas and even John Waters - who helped perpetuate the image of the Hon as a Baltimore icon - are fed up with the 50,000-strong festival that began as a simple beauty pageant.

Waters frowns on all the Hon hype. He said he won't use the word or the image in any of his scripts these days, and he doesn't think the city should get behind it either.

"To me, it's used up," Waters said of the Hon. "It's condescending now. The people that celebrate it are not from it. I feel that in some weird way they're looking slightly down on it. I only celebrate something I can look up to."

Apparently this ruffled some feathers because there's a bit in the comments:

I just heard John Waters called the owner of Cafe Hon/HonFest creater to apologize for the quote. He was interviewed 5 weeks ago and not about HonFest. He has proven himself to be a truly nice gentleman.

i'm watching pecker right now and everytime that old lady says "full of grace!" i laughed out loud! it's so hilaaarious, kinda reminds me of david lynch brand of humor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_KyuUtbKQQ

John Water's Curated Collection at the Strand

He picked a book by my grandma's friend/former neighbor!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd6EO6SGGU8

http://dcist.com/2012/05/hitchhiking_director_john_waters_pi.php

Earlier this afternoon, somewhere "in the middle of Ohio," groundbreaking indie director John Waters was found hitchhiking on the side of a road. We're trying to find out just what the Baltimore-based director of Pink Flamingos was doing begging for a lift in the middle of the Buckeye State—indie rock band Here We Go Magic says they picked him up! And he's currently riding around in their van.

http://dcist.com/attachments/nyc_arts_john/051612waters.jpg

http://distilleryimage5.instagram.com/bb4547969f9411e1abb01231382049c1_7.jpg

http://instagr.am/p/Ks2P0mHCIh/

dcist commenter beat me to NOTHING BUT THESE FUCKING JERKOFF HIPPIES ON THE ROAD

Hahah

is the band any good? nothing on ilm that i can see!

Well, uh...

http://www.allmusic.com/album/a-different-ship-r2433665/review

They're a motorik version of Tom Petty. I like them fine

I have never been to P'town either, but as I've read that he's a(n) habitue that would be a primary reason for ever going.

― Dr Morbius, Monday, June 2, 2008 2:42 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm reading his book Role Models, in which he writes: "Since I love minorities and Provincetown is a gay fishing village, I hang out in the two straight bars."

Aw man. Jean E. Hill -- aka Grizelda from Desperate Living -- RIP

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/john_waters_star_and_plus-size_greeting_card_model_jean_e._hill_rip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfqFdE-bXMg

Honestly amazed that she made it that long after seeing how she looked in A Dirty Shame.

so he's written this book after hitchhiking across America.

“There is no such thing as a $5 million independent movie. They want me to go make it like I used to, but I have no desire to do that. I did that. I have 17 movies, they’re all playing everywhere in the world, more than ever. I’ve spoken.”

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-05-30/entertainment/bs-sc-john-waters-carsick-20140531_1_john-waters-carsick-east-baltimore

"The main thing is, when DVDs overnight died, that ended the safety net. That was profit. All foreign deals fell through. Nobody wants any movie that can't play in China. Nobody wants any movie that has to have any subtitles. They just want explosions. They want $100 million movies that are tentpole movies.

The worst thing they want … is a comedy based on wit. And if I was doing something, that's what I'd try to do.

Thank God I have five other careers."

Complete NYC retro in Sept, featuring several Waters intros/Q&As, plus 8 films programmed by JW (four of which I haven't seen):

The Mother
Roger Michell, USA, 2003, 35mm, 112m
A recently widowed grandmother turns horny and has a secret affair with her daughter’s much younger, loutish boyfriend (played by pre-Bond Daniel Craig). Gerontophilia never seemed so exciting.

Of Unknown Origin
George P. Cosmatos, Canada/USA, 1983, 35mm, 88m
The best rat movie ever. Period. End of discussion.

There's also a Mondo Trasho/Multiple Maniacs/The Diane Linkletter Story on 9/11 for holiday fun.

http://www.filmlinc.com/daily/entry/john-waters-retrospective-film-society-of-lincoln-center-2014

Did we ever have a thread on the I Am Divine documentary? It's on Netflix, enjoyed it very much.

S&M is dying too. There are very few leather bars left in the country. Gay bars are disappearing. It's getting uncomfortable. It's like having "black bars." They just hang out with everybody. Which I'm for. My message is that I've always been very against separatism. To me, I still like the biker culture, but all bikers are old now. And many of them are fat....

And if they are young, and dressing in leather, you'd think they're gay. They look sort of like the Eagles. But I guess that people tell me that the new, young S&M boys dress like fake skinheads. Non-racist skin heads. That's the look. I guess, I don't see it that much. But I don't go to the bars that much. I live at the beach, and S&M really looks stupid at the beach.

http://gothamist.com/2014/09/02/john_waters_justin_bieber.php

Great new interview:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/03/john-waters-multiple-maniacs-baltimore-criterion

Even with A Dirty Shame my father said after, “It was funny but I hope as hell I never see it again!” That’s a pretty good quote!

watched this at bma, didn't disappoint
http://www.nytimes.com/video/t-magazine/100000003435098/teaser-john-waters-kiddie-flamingos.html

Found a complete version of Desperate Living on YouTube last night and it fucking killed me again. So many totally insane characters and scenes. I never really noticed it b4 but its definitely his lesbian/dyke film. Of course, there are other um "avenues" explored but that one is most prominent. The low budget sets are fantastic! The buildings in Mortville are near psychedelic in their coloring. Just beautiful. And also of note, was the absence of Divine, fortunately the other Dreamlanders rise to the occasion. Definitely his darkest film by a considerable margin. I fucking love it!

"SEIZE her and FUCK her!"

LOL! Yeah, there are so many great lines in DL."look at that pelt", "every word I utter is to be taken as a direct, royal proclamation", the aforementioned white man/tampax line. It just goes on and on. The scene wherein Mo emasculates herself, tosses it and some random dog grabs it up. It's truly remarkable how successful it is even without The Divine Miss Divine. And its definitely a film whose appeal to me would never be explainable to my parents ala Warhols Trash and many other favorites.

For some reason, I can't get my library to stock the Criterion of Multiple Maniacs.

TELL HER this isn't some communist daycare center!!!

can't tell you how many times i've thought about the title of this thread re: current administration and basically every single news day about it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9P_sxaaMJE

this is pretty priceless btw; the two tone collar is dope and waters is sharp as a tack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEzk1DqTaaQ

amazed no one goes to waters these days with an open checkbook, seems like it would be printing money... has he said he's just not making anything anymore?

I remembered a funny John Waters anecdote yesterday that I told to friends

I saw him speak on my college campus, probably fifteen years ago, and he was joking about how after he'd mentioned poppers a number of times, one of the manufacturers had gifted him a "lifetime supply"

I saw him again a couple years ago, and the topic came up. He said he'd nearly run out! Either they underestimated him or he's lived longer than expected

It’s a good thing I’m not relying on making movies. That’s the only one of the careers I have today that isn’t going so great. In the independent film world now, they want you to make it for $2 million and I don’t want to go backwards. I don’t want to be a faux anarchist underground filmmaker at 71 years old. People say, ‘Well, why don’t you raise money on Kickstarter?’ I own three homes. I’m not panhandling. So that’s fine because I have different ways to tell stories.

Do you miss filmmaking?

No. I mean, I do. I miss it, but not completely. I would make another movie in a minute, but I don’t know when I would make it. I am scheduled for the next year already! I made a lot of movies. It’s not like they’re hard to see. I know I would miss it if I didn’t write. I would miss it if I didn’t do spoken word. I would miss it if I didn’t have a photography career. I’d be happy to make one, but if I don’t make another one, I’m fine with that too.

https://www.fastcompany.com/40480667/john-waters-is-done-being-a-faux-anarchist-underground-filmmaker

I own three homes. I’m not panhandling.

God bless him.

Odorama cards this Fri night in NYC

https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/6341

I still have my card from when I saw it in the 80s. Haven't sniffed it recently, wonder if it's still got the aromas.

A hero has passed.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/obituaries/bs-md-ob-david-gluck-20200619-tgunh2dcazbl5pvymnvho2ecvy-story.html

Also rewatched Female Trouble the other day having finally gotten the Criterion Blu-ray and man, that thing's more crazily prescient than ever.

But of course

John Waters bequeaths his art collection to Baltimore Museum of Art, whose bathrooms will be named in his honor https://t.co/BqVZPKx74z

— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) November 12, 2020

perfect

my house appeared in pecker for two seconds and i am trying to remember if the house at the end of my street was pecker's house or if i made that up, either way i feel part of this

Lovely new feature

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a37460247/john-waters-cover-story-interview-2021/

Just saw the first date of this year’s Christmas tour here in SF, great as ever. Some news:

*4K of Cry-baby on Kino Lorber next year

* Possible Criterion of Pink Flamingos in the works.

* First novel next year! Liarmouth — about a woman who steals luggage from airports.

Seeing the Xmas show tonight

And it's happening

https://www.criterion.com/films/31320-pink-flamingos

Pink Flamingos is one of the films, like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, that I saw numerous times when I was younger, and agree is culturally or historically significant (!) yet have no desire to watch again.

I have Pink Flamingos on a VHS videotape somewhere and honestly watching it on a 4K Blu-Ray seems like an example of comically missing the point.

Luckily it's just a normal BR.

New book, new interview etc.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/scaachikoul/john-waters-book-liarmouth

Great read! Thanks Ned!

omg omg omg

John Waters to make first film in 20 years with Aubrey Plaza set to star

Here's hoping!

Wow, can't believe it's been that long. By a weird coincidence I am currently reading Liarmouth and it very much feels like one of his films.

JW does an Amoeba "what's in my bag?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AOk8cSrZAY

man with a midas touch

HAIRSPRAY

(coming on Criterion along with Female Trouble, why has nobody bumped that thread)

Desperate Living, not FT, but also exciting news!

FT was already released by Criterion so yay that too.

oh right sorry, mixed 'em up in my breathless excitement

Turning EIGHTY tomorrow??

Happy 80th, John! See you at Mosswood Meltdown

This came out late last year, so maybe not the freshest news, but I was excited to see his cameo in the intro to Sarah Squirm's HBO special.

Mosswood Meltdown

this sounds so fun

It's a treat of a festival, attended the past few years now. (Had to miss last year but definitely in for it again this time out.) He introduces literally each act and does so with poetic glee. That and our own Chaki regularly handles the backstage streaming stuff.

yeah I was out of town last year but should be around this summer

For a few years, we just set up blankets right outside the paid area, bottles of wine and picnic stuff... you can people-watch the folks going in, more or less hear the bands, and sit in the shade with cheap beer. (I'm also usually pretty good at just walking right in like I own the place lol)

“Some call it “The Warped Woodstock’ or ‘An Asshole-free Altamont’ while others holler ‘Coachella, Go-To Hella’. We’re Mosswood Meltdown and we’re going to lose our musical marbles again this year with a line up of lunatic acts that will make even the angriest punk- rocker pogo their way to paradise with a twisted smile on their dirty little faces.”

— John Waters

Pavement?!?!

https://mosswoodmeltdown.com/

Yeah, slightly separate show this time as normally it's just Saturday and Sunday. I'm sure people will have a good time, but as I've already seen Wednesday I'm skipping that part.

the festival was actually started by the defunct and disgraced Burger Records but has been it's own thing for the last few

And it streams on twitch and youtube (most acts).

This came out late last year, so maybe not the freshest news, but I was excited to see his cameo in the intro to Sarah Squirm's HBO special.

― peace, man, Wednesday, April 22, 2026 2:56 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

And of course she had shared the clip on her instagram yesterday.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXcLp_jA8lG/

Heard from a friend who experienced it that his Camp John Waters in Connecticut is a total blast and will leave you loving the guy even more. This is apparently the last year they're doing it, in September.