SERIAL MOM

I am in love with this movie. Yes, you heard me correctly. I do not love this movie, but I am IN love with this movie. If this movie was a heterosexual man...*clears throat*...sorry...I couldn't restrain myself. While it is truly hard for me to name one John Waters movie I like better than all, this is a top contender. In fact, Serial Mom and Polyester seem to have a constant battle for my number one spot. However, I truly believe if Divine was in this movie, it would surely always be the victor.

Serial Mom is basically a parody of the glamorization of serial killers. John Waters himself calls it a sequel to Female Trouble. Kathleen Turner stars as June Cleaver-like Beverly by day and a serial killer by night. However, what is most amusing is the reasons she has for killing people (wearing white after Labor Day is my favorite). Beverly feels she is doing good by ridding the world of people with poor etiquette. Hey, this is a John Waters movie. This ridiculous premise works, and hilariously so.

Kathleen Turner has always been a favorite of mine, and she is really in top form in this movie. Sam Waterson (you read that right. Sam Waterson in a John Waters movie) was great as the father. Not to mention a lot of the old Dreamlanders were back (those that weren't deceased). The cast was incredible, and the chemistry was top notch. Two thumbs way up for good casting.

John Waters once called this the best movie he ever made. That could possibly be due to the fact that it had the largest budget of all his pictures. Trust me, the money shows. This film looks very stylish and "professional," and it really showcases John Waters directing ability. Not to mention that this is one of the more original scripts he's done. From a cinematographer's point of view, this is truly Waters' highest point. This movie didn't look like he's videotaping a stage play. The camera moves (and often), and he actually uses camera movement to invoke humor. Again, two thumbs up.

This has been called the film for people who love wholesome family films hardboiled. While that's true about any of John Waters' fans, it's especially true here. This film is basically a spoof of "Leave it to Beaver" and it's positively hysterical. Slasher fans will fall in love with this film. Most early-Waters fans seem indifferent to it, but many of them won't be satisfied until he finally breaks down and makes Pink Flamingos 2: Flamingos Forever. If you're not a early Waters purist, a Bible thumper, or have any particular aversion to John's work, give this one a shot. It just might become one of your favorites.

"Full of grace! Full of grace!"

This quote from John Waters' smash hit, Pecker, sums up the movie very nicely. This movie is positively charming, and surprisingly deep for a director labeled "The Prince of Puke." Waters' films tend to be very tongue-in-cheek. While it is still true with Pecker, there is actually a serious morale behind this film. To true film purists, it would be easy to see that this could be the John Waters film with the highest cinematic merit.

Leave it to John Waters to come up with a movie named after a part of the male anatomy! The movie stars Edward Furlong as the optimistic young photographer, Pecker, who ends up getting lucky when a talent scout sees his interestingly mundane pictures. Pecker is skyrocketed to fame, but soon realizes fame has a very dirty price. Pecker's family is hysterical, with his sister Chrissy being addicted to sugar, his mother being a thrift store specialist, and his grandmother insisting she is speaking to the Virgin Mary (but is really performing a ventriloquist act). Christina Ricci plays Pecker's girlfriend who is slightly anal retentive regarding her job managing a Laundromat. With this cast of misfits and John Waters sense of satire, this film is wicked good fun.

I feel that this review would not be complete if I didn't mention John Waters' fabulous writing style. This film is one of the most beautifully written pieces of satirical humor I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing on the big screen. While this film is few on the laugh-out-loud perverted humor jokes that we have grown accustomed to with Waters, this film is sure to keep you smiling from beginning to end. Not to mention, that this is perhaps the only film in which we see a dramatic side of Waters. At times, this film can be very serious which allows the intended morale of the movie to shine through. This is the first time ever in a Waters film we actual see one of his character's suffer emotional pain (though slight as it might seem) without using that pain as a platform to comedy. I've seen many, many film reviewers cite this as the best Waters movie ever. Due to the spectacular writing, the sense of drama that Waters developed, the casting, and the incredibly entertaining finished product, I can't deny that claim. Nice, nice job, John.

All of John Waters' movies end pretty happily (even Female Trouble, though the happy ending is incredibly twisted, in a good way of course). The good guys win, and evil is ultimately punished. The difference with this film, is that the cast isn't divided into "good guys/bad guys," yet the Pecker gang still ends up triumphant. This film makes a lot of really good assumptions about the price of fame, and the movie ends on a spectacular note. As a Waters fan from way back, I can't say enough good things about this film. So go take your "happy-go-lucky self" to the video store and rent this gem. You'll be smiling long after the credits roll. As Memama would say, "It's a miracle!"

Are you tired of the barrage of bad movies Hollywood is putting out lately? Does the thought of The Santa Clause sequel cause your liver to produce bile? Does Forrest Gump make you want to vomit? If so, Cecil B. Demented is the movie for you.

Cecil B. Demented (which is what a reviewer once called John Waters), is a movie about a maniacal film director (played brilliantly by Stephen Dorff) who forms a group of equally loony filmmakers to make a radical underground movie. They kidnap a Hollywood starlet (played by Melanie Griffith) to star in the movie. They subject her to sadistic measures (jumping off of buildings, bleaching her hair with acid, etc.). Of course, this is all done very tongue-in-cheek, and the movie is positively hysterical. Not to mention it contains some of the best parodies this side of Kentucky Fried Movie.

John Waters really does bring out the best in people. He turned Ricki Lake into an actress. He turned Divine into an unforgettable drag queen. Finally, he turned Melanie Griffth into a first-rate comedy actress. Everyone was absolutely perfect in their roles. 'Nuff said.

The writing was top notch, again. Film fans will surely find this movie funnier than his other films; look for Kevin Nealon's Forrest Gump spoof--it's too good for words. Not to mention the Patch Adams "uncut version" was hysterical. Every single frame of this film was a riot. For the first time ever upon leaving the theater, I was actually really impatient for Waters to make another movie. With giving proper kudos to his early films that made him the director he is, I truly think he gets better with age.

I really, really loved this film because I am a huge fan of underground cinema and I hate Hollywood. This parodied underground cinema fans perfectly (the porno fans and the kung-fu fans were awesome) as it showed that us "midnight movie" freaks tend to stick together. Also, it was a wonderful parody of how Hollywood operates, my favorite line being from the Hollywood executive: "Don't shoot me! I don't even watch movies!" I've long said that Hollywood has been putting out excrement at a 90% success level since 1999. Now, finally, a movie for people like me!

Filmography links and data courtesy of The Internet Movie Database.

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