John Waters

The Pope of Trash, the kitsch-lovin' guy with a pencil moustache and fun hatred of suburbia.

Pink Flamingos (1972) -- A great punk rock movie and a different kind of horror movie. This film, as they say, certainly isn't for everyone's tastes, and in fact it's not even for my tastes if you know what I mean, but I admire it anyway and think it's pretty funny and great. Like Werner Herzog, John Waters realizes that the images we have as a culture aren't that interesting so he needs to create some new ones. In the case of this movie, we get a woman getting raped with a chicken, a man who squeezes his colon out of his gaping asshole, Divine sucking her son's dick and later eating dog shit, and -- my favorite -- Divine's 300 pound mother in a baby crib. The premise of the movie -- Divine and Mink Stole competing to be the Filthiest Person Alive -- is kind of funny and is reminiscent of The Addams Family (and of course Snow White). It entertains throughout by showing you something you probably haven't seen before.

Female Trouble (1975) -- This one contains slightly-less overt gross-out elements (though there are a few of those) than Pink Flamingos and pays even more attention to story, character development, and social commentary. Devine plays an extreme example of what people do for celebrity, and this movie seems about twenty or thirty years ahead of its time for that reason. Just as funny and energy-filled as John Waters' first movie.

Serial Mom (1994) -- Not-that-funny movie that takes one kinda obvious joke about a perfect housewife whose perfection and suburban ideals makes her a serial killer. It's trying to do something, which I guess it does, but not in a new or funny way. A few laughs and watchable, but that's about it.