Pink Flamingos
Say what you will about John Waters but this film has aged quite well. I wasn't sure it would. Anything about "the most shocking person alive" seems doomed on paper. A 14 year old cracked jokes about scat porn at me the other day. Last time I partied with a college kid, the "highlight" discussing the most obscure fetishes we knew of then scouring the Internet for video. Yet, Pink Flamingos presents its world well enough to still be dirty and shocking. Give it another ten years, though, and I figure people will say "Huh. She's eating dog shit! It's so weird to eat non-human feces!"
Mommie Dearest
This one is nowhere near as bad as people have assured me over the years. Yeah, there are bits that go way over the top. However, most of it is a competently made bio-pic with a couple great performances from the leads. According to the commentary track, the studio heard people were laughing at the really extreme bits and planted drag queens in the audience to scream along. Decades later, they continued trying to position the film as campy trash by having John Waters record a commentary track. It's like they really, really want something that isn't wretched to be god awful in the quest for more money. Ah well. Hollywood.
Rochard PS3
It's weird. The Dig is a notorious turd. It helped accelerate the death of point and click adventures. Yet, Rochard seems to hark to it in art style and plot. Gameplay wise, it's a different animal though. One must fight off enemies while solving puzzles using a variety of tools and skills. It's enjoyable enough right up until the crashes start. Maybe it's my copy but if I screw up and die a lot, the thing keeps hanging on a load screen. Shame, really. I was enjoying it but now seem to have forcibly quit the thing once per room.
Surrender the Pink Carrie Fisher
I liked Postcards From the Edge well enough but found myself skimming this one a bit. It felt like more of a typical romance novel for most of the book. The "twist" was that the female lead grew as a person instead of simply remarrying and lording it over her ex. Had some nice turns of phrase and Carrie Fisher-isms throughout.
Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters John Waters
This one feels a bit like a series of magazine articles whose only real connection is the author. Which it is. I much prefer the unity of Role Models but this one isn't crap by any stretch.
If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) Betty White
Pretty much what you'd expect from a Betty White memoir: high levels of likability, no cynicism, and a nice dash of humor. Not sure I'd pay cover price for this but it's pretty enjoyable.
The Loved One Evelyn Waugh
Take the average author to Hollywood to discuss an ill-advised movie adaptation and you get a shit movie. Do it with Evelyn Waugh, however, and there's a downright hysterical mockery of American culture. I laughed. I cried (mostly because the particular copy I acquired as full of printing errors with lines getting cut off by the right margin and letters near the left being partially cropped). A delightful romp!
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