Superstarlet A.D.

Once again, J Michael McCarthy has delivered a funny, titillating, strangely poignant cinematic comic book vision of the apocalypse. For JMM, this happened in about 1966, and I tend to agree. Superstarlet A.D. is set in Femmephis, where men have reverted to Neanderthals, and the only clothes that were strong enough to survive the apocalypse are vintage womens' undergarments. There are three beauty cults: redheads, blonds, and brunettes who are constantly in a petty, backstabbing war of gossip, snide insults and occasional murder. Except for the Superstarlets, whose members consist of all hair colors. Their mission is to seek out their ancestral stag reels of their grandmothers in the many decaying movie theaters. Everybody hates them, but they love each other.

Even if you don't usually go in for this kind of high-brow sci-fi kind of stuff, Superstarlet's worth it for it's views on American culture. Most of the dialog is actually voice-overs by the Superstarlets. These consist of esoteric essays which philosophize poetically on things that made America great when it was. These internal monologs are way to funny to ever come across as didactic, though. And the sight of beautiful women in vintage bras, panties, stockings, and high heels, carrying machine guns while they explore broken down movie theaters provides more than enough eye candy.

Troma's DVD packaging itself rates about two and a half stars. The movie is presented full frame instead of the slight letterboxing the 16mm footage deserves. There are, however, a short interview from what looks like a public access show, and a news piece on JMM. There are also a photo gallery and a couple of other cast and crew interviews, and a director commentary, where JMM expounds on his motto of : Never get permission, shoot until they make you stop, and deny everything later. Unless it's an easter egg I didn't find, the original teaser film advertised on the package is nowhere to be found, though.

But if you're into truly independent filmmaking, vintage Americana, or hot looking babes, I strongly advise you to check this flick out!

You'll love this flick if your head doesn't explode while viewing! A thrill ride of black and white images with bursts of exploding reds to tickle your gonads and fondle your funny-bone. Bona-fide freak direcktor/writer: JMM(The Sore Losers, Shine On Sweet Starlet, Teenage Tupelo) and producer/asst. director: Emmy Collins(HeadShot, Jack the Dipper, 'Cept Jim) wallop the viewer once again with a film so convoluted you'll hope it never ends.

Can't hardly wait for their next epic!!

After a devastating holocaust in the lost city of Femphis, men have evolved into primitives and women have become physically beautiful, armed with heavy artillery, sporting vintage undergarments and carrying film reels of their grandmothers' striptease films over their backs. They have formed gangs on the basis of hair color (blonde, brunette, and redhead) and are at war with each other. Why can't they all just get along?

Offbeat post-apocalyptic romp (from Troma) boasts some style and humor as well as beautiful women, but writer/director John Michael McCarthy doesn't know what to do with the women. With most of the film shot in black and white, how can you tell a brunette from a redhead?

My evaluation: ** out of ****

I bought this movie on a whim for several reasons.

A: I love glam, and it was compared to Hedwig and the Angry Inch {fav movie} in preview.

B: I'm a feminist and I thought the synopsis {"when man turns to ape, woman turns to woman"} was rather amusing.

C: I LOVE TROMA!

It was everything I could have hoped for and more! Beautiful glamorous women killing neanderthal-like men ,and women who get in their way. It was beautifully shot in color and black and white, in 16 days with $16,000. Combine the unique vision of John Cameron Mitchel + Wes Anderson + Oliver Stone + Baz Luhrman and you might have an idea of John Michael McCarthy. Wrap all that together with a dash of Troma and you have Superstarlet A.D.!

Congratulations. It takes effort to make an unwatchable movie with this many good-looking women fighting and making out in and out of their underwear. The movie is poorly written, extremely slow and largely nonsensical, but these are not the main problems. These are par for the Troma course.

No. The big problem is that this movie is EXTREMELY POMPOUS. That's right. The characters are constantly spewing long vapid soliloquies.

I gave it a 3, rather than a 1 for the above-mentioned good-looking women living in a world where "there are no more clothes". I also give them credit for trying to make something good. Unfortunately, they did not pull it off.