Am I alone ?

I like Polyester, too, but I don't think it equals Female Trouble. I kind of agree with what someone told me once, that Female Trouble is kind of a transitional film. After it, his films get more "mainstream," whereas before it, they're real hard to take, so disgusting they're almost unbearable. Female Trouble takes you to your limits as far as grossness goes, but you can laugh at all of it. I suppose you just might have a different sense of humor than I. I think FT might be the funniest movie ever made. As a lot of people have said, it's like one long series of memorable lines. I often have lines in my head from FT.

I hope to see Desperate Living sometime soon. One reviewer said he thought it was even better than FT. But I wonder if anything could top it.

When I saw Waters speak recently, he seemed to mention Cecil B. Demented a lot, as if he hoped more people would see it. So I'll try to get it.

A great thing about Polyester is that it shows Divine's acting range. Francine Fishpaw is a very different character from Dawn Davenport.

"Extremism in the pursuit of moderation is no vice."

I don't think this is his worst movie, but it was the last of his mainstream films I'd seen (Cecil B. Demented, Pecker, Serial Mom, Cry-Baby, Hairspray, Polyester, Desperate Living, Pink Flamingos) and though I wouldn't say I was disappointed, I will say I didn't enjoy it and I don't like it. There are parts to it that I liked, as I do in all his films.

I think Cry-Baby was definitely and by-far Waters' worst film. That film is just criminally awful. Bad characters, below average music, atrocious acting from a cast of actors who should know better than to screw up like this (and if this was Waters' intentional decision, than it's his fault), and just his absolutely least interesting, funny, smart script. But he did have a precious few strokes of genius on that film- Traci Lords and Patty Hearst. And yes, I've seen all those films I mentioned and several times each. Cry-Baby was just painful.


"Carol, one word of advice: send Cindy to a special school"

[deleted]

I put Hairspray ('88, of course) as the dividing line between the old John Waters and the new. Everything after Polyester (save for a few moments in Serial Mom, his first film with decent production values -- and I can't completely diss anything with the amazing Kathleen Turner in it) is either pretty boring, or pretty awful.

For the record, in my book Cecil B. Demented is his absolute worst. Cry Baby sucked almost as badly.

A Dirty Shame, while I wouldn't exactly recommend it, did have more a feel of the sort of films that made Waters (in)famous.

Oh, and FT is my all-time fave, followed closely by PF, with Multiple Maniacs a distant third. Mondo Trasho has its moments, but mostly just gives me a headache.

Desperate Living is a frigging riot for the first scene, then slows way down after they get to Mortville. I'm not too crazy about Polyester -- I like my Divine evil, not as the put-upon victim.


Movie Spoilers: http://www.amuseyourself.com

My favorite John Waters' films are:

Female Trouble
Polyester
Hairspray
Pink Flamingos

Starting with Cry Baby, his films got progressively worse. Serial Mom was mediocre, Pecker was lousy and A Dirty Shame was absolutely terrible.

His films just aren't the same without Divine.

Call the manager! Call the President! Call the FIRE DEPT!