News

Night on Trash Mountain.

After wrapping up August with journeys into the weird and wonderful world of Australian myths in Picnic at Hanging Rock (listen) and John Waters’ version of suburbia in Serial Mom (listen), we’re kicking off September by celebrating the release of Macon Blair’s reboot of The Toxic Avenger with a look at the original Troma trashterpiece!

The Toxic Avenger sees nerdy gym janitor Melvin Ferd (Mark Torgl) fall prey to a cruel prank that sends him head-first into a barrel full of toxic waste. Said toxic waste transforms Melvin into a super-powered monster (Mitch Cohen) who uses his powers to destroy evil in his hometown of Tromaville.

A Killer Satire.

In August we’ve already been to the beach with Robert Lee King’s camp classic Psycho Beach Party (listen) and to Australia with Peter Weir’s 1975 adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock (listen). Now it’s time to head to the suburbs of Baltimore to tackle Serial Mom, John Waters‘ satirical take-down of true crime and fashion faux-pas.

In the film, Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) is a regular, happy housewife and mom. She sorts her recycling, attends PTA meetings, and is an avid bird-watcher with her husband Eugene (Sam Waterson).

She’s also a compulsive serial killer who has no qualms about dispatching an offending neighbor...

With everyone’s still raving about “Weapons,” TheWrap has compiled a list of films that scratch the same itch as Zach Cregger’s wildly original, tense and surprisingly funny film that’s lighting up the box office.

Whether it’s an element of mystery, a horror film with droplets of comedy, or even Cregger’s very first feature film, we’ve curated a list of unique films that deliver the same amount of fun, quirkiness and originality as “Weapons.”

Here’s our curated list of movies like “Weapons” to watch next.

(20th Century) “Barbarian” (2022)

Of course Zach Cregger’s feature directorial debut makes it first on the list. Just like with “Weapons,” Cregger seamlessly weaves comedy into the story without it overtaking the the film’s horror foundation. “Barbarian” is centered on a young woman who meets a stranger after the two of them book the same rental home. Reluctantly,...

Comedy Central has announced that Season 27 of South Park will now premiere on Wednesday, July 23, at 10:00 p.m. Et/Pt. The second season of Digman! will premiere immediately following at 10:30 p.m. Et/Pt.

South Park, the hit animated franchise that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022, debuted on Comedy Central on August 13, 1997. Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny were first introduced in the animated short The Spirit of Christmas, and from there, they were launched into television history.

Co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone (who shared their opinion about the new premiere date) are the show’s executive producers, along with Anne Garefino and Frank C. Agnone II.

Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell, and Vernon Chatman are the producers. Christopher Brion is the Creative Director of South Park Digital Studios.

Season one of Digman! marked the first to be written and produced by Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor...

If you’re craving more adventures with Andy Samberg‘s Rip Digman, you’ll need to wait a little longer for the antics to begin. The release date shift for Digman! Season 2 comes after Comedy Central pushed the Season 27 premiere date of South Park from July 9 to July 23. The sophomore season of Digman! will do the same, with the animated series created by Samberg and Neil Campbell debuting on Wednesday, July 23 at 10:30 p.m.

Digman! takes place in a world where archaeologists are massive celebrities and the coolest people on the planet. Andy Samberg voices Rip Digman, the protagonist with an explorer’s spirit, Nathan Drake’s dashing good looks, and Frank Drebin’s knack for stumbling into disaster. Samberg wrote and produced Season 1, and a cast of familiar voices return for Digman! Season 2!

Digman! Season 2 stars Andy Samberg as Rip Digman, Mitra Jouhari as Saltine, Tim Robinson as Swooper,...

Where South Park goes, Digman! follows — literally.

The season two premiere of Andy Samberg’s Digman! is being pushed out two weeks to Wednesday, July 23, just like the season 27 premiere of South Park. Digman! airs in Comedy Central’s 10:30 p.m. time slot, immediately after South Park at 10.

South Park’s season 27 premiere was delayed on Wednesday. The news came amid a streaming-rights battle between the creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and the channel’s parent company, Paramount Global.

Parker and Stone are not happy about the delay, and they made that known.

“In response to the press release from Comedy Central about the change in premiere date for South Park Trey Parker & Matt Stone said — ‘This merger is a shitshow and it’s fucking up South Park. We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope the fans get to see them somehow,’” a...

Matthew Lillard contains multitudes. Across decades, the actor and entrepreneur has needled a distinct tattoo of himself onto the chest of popular culture. His boisterous character work in early films like Hackers, Scream, Slc Punk, and Serial Mom quickly left a permanent imprint on both genre and alternative cinema.

Yet, as his career turned the page toward more mainstream fare, it left no less of a cult residue for generations of weirdos. His perfect casting as Shaggy, the stoner-coded sweetheart of the Scooby-Doo franchise, remains a key figure in the zeitgeist. And Thirteen Ghosts, where he completely steals the show, is a stone-cold horror classic and an all-time personal favorite.

Now, with The Life of Chuck, Mike Flanagan’s latest theatrical adaptation of a Stephen King tale, Lillard embarks on yet another new chapter creatively. The film is a genre-bending story about three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.

Andy Serkis has assembled an all-star voice cast for his animated adaptation of George Orwell’s classic novel “Animal Farm.” It includes Seth Rogen, Gaten Matarazzo, Steve Buscemi, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox, Kieran Culkin, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons, Kathleen Turner, and Iman Vellani. In addition to directing “Animal Farm,” Serkis will also lend his vocal talents.

Nick Stoller, whose screenwriting credits include “The Muppets” and “Storks,” adapts the story of a group of animals who rebel against their human owners and take over the farm. Their uprising over, they are presented with a fresh set of challenges under the rule of a cunning pig named Napoleon (Rogen). It’s a situation that forces them to find the courage to stand up to Napoleon.

Aniventure and Imaginarium are producing with Adam Nagle, Dave Rosenbaum, Jonathan Cavendish, and Serkis. Harrelson also serves as executive producer alongside Matt Reeves, who worked with Serkis...

Baltimore native John Waters is filmdom’s pencil-mustached titan of trash who has spent a lifetime of dumpster-diving into a vat of bad taste, sleaze, kinky gross-outs, over-the-top camp, maudlin melodramatics, sick jokes, taboo sexuality, vulgarity and bizarre personalities. At least he has a fabulous sense of humor. The director is a New York University film school dropout who instead became a scholar of transgressive, envelope-shredding cinema, influenced by the directorial likes of Herschell Gordon Lewis, Federico Fellini, William Castle, Douglas Sirk and Ingmar Bergman. Early on, Waters assembled a stock company of players from suburban Baltimore who he would the Dreamlanders, including Mink Stole and Edith Massey.

But Waters would find his true muse and favorite leading lady in his childhood friend, Glenn Milstead, a drag queen whose alter-ego was known as Divine. When Milstead died at age 42 from an enlarged heart in 1988, Waters' output went more mainstream, with...

Here are ten movie moms you would not want as your parent.Mega'Psycho' – Norma Bates Movieclips/YouTube

Norma Bates got into son Norman's (Anthony Perkins) head so deeply that she lived in his psyche long after Norman killed her and mummified her body to be with her forever.

'The Graduate' – Mrs. Robinson Mega

Anne Bancroft's portrayal of Mrs. Robinson seducing Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) was so great that the name has become synonymous with older women preying on younger men.

'Mommie Dearest' – Joan Crawford Mega

Faye Dunaway was scarier than any movie monster playing Crawford, who allegedly terrified adopted daughter Christina and screamed, “No wire hangers!”

'Carrie' – Margaret White Mega

Piper Laurie's unstable religious fanatic mother put Carrie (Sissy Spacek) through h--- — and ended up going there when Carrie unleashed her supernatural powers and killed her!

'I, Tonya' – Lavona Golden Mega

Tonya Harding...

Van Smith, who worked on all of John Waters’ films for more than 30 years, is headed to the Costume Designers Guild’s Edith Piaf Hall of Fame. Smith will be inducted posthumously by his longtime director at the CDG Awards ceremony on February 6 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.

Considered one of the “Dreamlanders,” Waters’ ensemble of regular cast and crew members, Smith first worked with the quirky filmmaker on Pink Flamingos (1972), including the famous and often copied look of the film’s star Divine. Their legacy includes the extreme outfits of the flamboyant criminals and hairdressers in Female Trouble (1974) and the grotesque Mortvillians in Desperate Living (1977) Smith to Polyester (1982) and Hairspray (1988) to more mainstream films such as Cry-Baby (1990) and Serial Mom (1994).

Pink Flamingos and Hairspray were inducted into the National Film Registry in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Related: 2025 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Oscars, Spirits, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More...

Ed. Note: When I first started at Film Independent, I met with Josh Welsh, he said one thing he wanted to do was to reach out to people beyond the LA and New York film-scenes, because there were film lovers everywhere. He asked me for ways the blog could highlight all the great work that independent film lovers are doing across the country.

This new feature was my way of attempting that. Much like our Theater Crawl feature, Disk Jockeys will feature video stores across the country that fight the good fight and provide their communities with access to DVDs, Blu-Rays and VHS that can and can’t be found anywhere else. These stores preserve independent film history. This inaugural post is dedicated to our former president Josh Welsh.

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Beyond Video in Baltimore didn’t pick an easy path. They opened in 2018, long after video stores had become a thing...

Many well-known stars have been impacted by the recent Los Angeles wildfires. Actress and television personality Ricki Lake, however, recently talked about a supernatural warning she may have received. Notably, this prediction was made by another television personality.

Ricki Lake Recently Lost Her Home In The Pacific Palisades Fire

Lake’s breakout role was arguably Tracy Turnblad in John Waters’ 1988 film, Hairspray. She would later appear in a ew other of Waters’ projects, such as Cry-Baby and Serial Mom. Other notable films Lake appeared in include Mrs. Winterbourne and Last Exit to Brooklyn.

In 1993, Lake would go on to host her own talk show, which ran until 2004. Lake also briefly hosted a revival series in 2012.

Ricki Lake – Instagram

According to Us Weekly, Lake was one of many stars to have been impacted by the recent Los Angeles wildfires. However, the star claims to have had some eerie warning about what was to happen.

As 2024 winds to a close, film fans and critics alike begin to assemble their best of the year lists. And what list would be complete without at least one surprising entry, a film that sticks out like a sore thumb from its brethren. That's certainly the case with John Waters, the Pope of Trash himself and the creator of such gloriously quirky and even disgusting cinematic experiences, like Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, and Serial Mom.

The filmmaker released his annual top 10 list via Vulture, and amid some of the more expected titles, coming in at number six is Todd Phillips' much-maligned musical sequel Joker: Folie à Deux. It's not impossible, but the likelihood the vehicle for Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga will make many any other best-of lists this year is pretty slim. It boasts both a 32% critics and audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, with Glenn Kenney of RogerEbert.com saying...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Banel & Adama (Ramata-Toulaye Sy)

A directorial debut programmed into the main Cannes competition is typically viewed with suspicion, if not overlooked altogether. Very rare is that lightning-in-a-bottle moment like the arrival of Son of Saul some years back. Typically, the only conversation these debuts generate is the critical debate as to why they’ve been elevated to the top of the pile when there are far more striking debuts buried deeper within the festival. This often means that accomplished films are overlooked and underappreciated by those on the ground, who may be subconsciously comparing a striking feature to the work of more established names it’s competing against for the Palme d’Or, approaching each debut with a “show me” attitude it...

“My films were never mainstream, but they always had an audience.”

From Pink Flamingos and Hairspray to Cry-Baby, Serial Mom, and beyond, John Waters has been shocking viewers with his signature brand of satirical camp that toes the line between arthouse and exploitation for more than half a century.

On November 21, Waters was presented with the 2024 Coolidge Award from Brookline, Massachusetts’ historic Coolidge Corner Theatre, an honor previously bestowed upon the likes of Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas, Julianne Moore, and Werner Herzog.

Launched in 2004, the Coolidge Award recognizes a film artist whose work advances the spirit of original and challenging cinema; an acknowledgment certainly befitting of Waters. The award’s 20th anniversary also marks the first presentation in the Coolidge’s recently expanded space, which opened last spring.

Following a tribute reel highlighting Waters’ work, Emmy award-winning GBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen took the stage to lead a 45-minute...

Aubrey Plaza has been everywhere this year, from films like My Old Ass and Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, to her role in the witchy Disney+ series Agatha All Along. In a recent video with Alamo Drafthouse in which she explores Kims Video Underground, Plaza recounted her experience working at a video store as a teenager and discovering the work of John Waters (who she names as one of her biggest inspirations), specifically shouting out his 1994 film Serial Mom. Written and directed by Waters, Serial Mom is a dark comedy slasher about a suburban housewife turned serial killer who uses her charm to evade the consequences of her killing spree and becomes a media darling in the process. Plaza has become known for her dry, deadpan sense of humor, so its no surprise she would be drawn to the work of John Waters, and especially his film Serial Mom, which...

Liarmouth was set to star Aubrey Plaza, and be the first John Waters film for 20 years. It’s now not set to be.

John Waters hasn’t made a film in 20 years, so it was exciting to hear back in 2022 that he was set to bring his demented brand of comedy back to the silver screen, along with Aubrey Plaza, a gifted comic actor with whom the filmmaker would surely have created something special.

Sadly, that’s not to be as Waters has revealed (courtesy of World Of Reel) that the project is no longer happening. Funding seems to be the source of the issue, with Waters telling Indie Wire that:

“I wrote the script, they liked it, Aubrey [Plaza] likes the script, wants to be in it, I want her to be in it, and every person said, “No, we don’t have a penny of the budget.” That is where it is today.

Aubrey Plaza has been waiting to wade into John Waters’ filmography for decades, ever since she first watched his 1994 satirical film “Serial Mom.”

During a visit alongside director Sean Price Williams to Kim’s Video at Alamo Drafthouse in Downtown Manhattan for its web series, Plaza credited Waters for inspiring her comedy taste in film.

“John Waters blew my mind with ‘Serial Mom,'” she said, adding that working in a video store while in high school was how she “learned about independent films.”

The “Megalopolis” actress added, “I was getting really into John Waters. I was getting really into ‘Waiting for Guffman’ and Christopher Guest movies. [But] ‘Serial Mom’ for me was like, oh my god…I was laughing so much. I thought it was the funniest shit I’ve ever seen. Of course I watch all those other movies and I just think he just doesn’t care. It...

Rue the Christmas blues no more — the Criterion Channel has you covered with plenty of great films to stream this holiday season thanks to the platform’s December lineup.

As announced on Wednesday, Criterion Channel starting December 1 will host a greatest-hits collection of “Pope of Trash” John Waters’ most iconic movies. Divine-starring classics such as “Multiple Maniacs” (1970), “Female Trouble” (1974), “Hairspray” (1988), and “Polyester” (1981) fit the bill, while you shouldn’t miss a camped-up Kathleen Turner as a murderous suburban matriarch in “Serial Mom,” a role her agents told her would ruin her career. Well, the rest is history. For a bonus, John Waters also provides interview commentary on a selection of some of his own favorite movies, including Ingmar Bergman’s 1958 “Brink of Life,” Samuel Fuller’s 1964 “The Naked Kiss,” and Barbara Loden’s influential 1970 classic “Wanda.”

Elsewhere, Criterion Channel celebrates five decades of Alfred Hitchcock’s career with a murderer’s row of all-timers,...

Now that they’ve set the year’s best film for a December 10 debut, the Criterion Channel have unveiled the rest of next month’s selection. John Waters’ films are inseparable from John Waters’ presence, making fitting Criterion’s decision to pair an eight-film retrospective (Multiple Maniacs to Cecil B. Demented) with his own “Adventures in Moviegoing” wherein the director extols virtues of Bergman, Chabrol, Barbara Loden, and Samuel Fuller. His own Polyester will have a Criterion Edition alongside the Bob Dylan doc Don’t Look Back, an iconic film in its own right and, I think, fitting companion to The Unknown with Lon Chaney, also streaming on Criterion. No Country for Old Men and Election receive likewise treatment; the latter appears in “MTV Productions,” a series featuring Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, The Original Kings of Comedy, and (coming close to Freddy Got Fingered for least-expected 2024 addition) Jackass: the Movie.

By the time he landed his role in Wes Cravens 1996 film, Scream, Matthew Lillard had already broken onto the scene through his work in other classics of the decade like John Waters Serial Mom and Iain Softleys Hackers. Still, when it came to the slashers call sheet, Lillard wasnt one of its top-billed performers. Those honors would go to its two leading ladies, Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, who had already established themselves as stars of the small screen thanks to their main roles in Party of Five and Friends, respectively. For his fellow up-and-coming co-stars like Skeet Ulrich and Rose McGowan, its easy to see how Scream changed their lives, putting them on a fast track to land more gigs, so one would presume that the same could be said for Lillard, right? Well, according to the Five Nights at Freddys Star, that couldnt be further from the truth.

John Waters made a cult classic movie called Serial Mom, where a suburban mother from Baltimore ends up on an impromptu killing spree. Waters took the suburban mom trope and flipped it on its head. Beverly Sutphin, played by Kathleen Turner, doesn't need deep motivations to take murderous action. Her darkly hilarious kills and torturous behavior were motivated mostly by disrespect and inconveniences. While her actions were extreme, the audience could relate to the emotions behind her rash decisions. The police and her family are suspicious of her acts but don't confirm anything until the film's end.

In Serial Mom, Beverly focuses her malicious mind on her neighbors and Suzanne Somers. She kills seven people throughout the film, in different degrees of gruesomeness. Serial Mom explores a satirical approach to fanaticism, suburban home living, and America's obsession with all things true crime. While Beverly's violent behavior is extreme, it's hard...

Through his provocative, original style, John Waters has made many films that garnered cult followings. In the majority of his mainstream movies, the characters and plot are usually exaggerated, creating a campy style of entertainment. Still bound in reality somewhat, this creates room for brilliant comedic stories. He satirized themes like suburban living, celebrity culture and gender roles. Even when aiming for gross-out or comedy, Waters reflects on the darker sides of society. In his film Crybaby, this is prevalent, and it's even more so in his hilariously dark comedy Serial Mom.

Serial Mom follows Beverly Sutphin, a suburban mother who seems normal, but has a gross infatuation with all things murderous. She quickly transforms from what the police call her, "Beaver Cleaver's mother," to a grand suspect in multiple murders in their suburban Baltimore town. Initially, Beverly seems like a typical suburban mom who audiences have seen in every classic sitcom.

When you hear the name John Waters, Serial Mom probably isn't the first of his films to pop into your head. You might think of one of his earlier cult films like Pink Flamingos and Multiple Maniacs or his musical comedy Hairspray, but his foray into the slasher genre with Serial Mom was ahead of its time in ways even Waters couldn't have imagined. Kathleen Turner gives a pitch-perfect performance as Beverly Sutphin, a devoted housewife who goes on a killing spree in her idyllic suburban neighborhood, turning her into a national celebrity and earning her the titular nickname, Serial Mom. On the surface, Beverly is the last woman you'd expect to see chasing a teenage boy down the street with a kitchen knife, but Beverly is not your average serial killer. She doesn't kill for no reason, but in retaliation against those who break social norms, exhibit bad manners,...

John Waters' satirical black comedy horror Serial Mom led many viewers to believe that the movie was based on a true story, though that claim is not entirely true. One of John Waters' classic movies, Serial Mom, stars Kathleen Turner as Beverly Sutphin, an unassuming upper-middle-class housewife who has a dark secret: she is a serial killer. The targets of her murders are anyone she feels has offended her or broken the unsaid rules about quiet, suburban life. As the police get closer to catching her, Beverly doubles down on the killing.

Though Serial Mom flopped at the box office, it has grown into a cult classic. The dedicated performances by Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, and a young Matthew Lillard as well as some clever kills make Serial Mom a film that's a joy to watch from start to finish. The film is not just an excuse for Waters...

John Waters is a beyond magnificent director and is a true auteur; let’s take a look at his work and how his “strangeness” has impacted the way we view Cinema itself. Weirdness is my schtick, and it’s my favorite aspect of the human condition. For us to consider something as “weird” is subjective; and even so, what we’re even classifying as such is subjective in itself. When I think of something as “weird” or “strange,” I lean more towards what itches my brain in that particular spot that can’t be quite reached by anything else. More or so, what itches my brain, even more, is when a film or TV show is considered “odd” in some way. There is so much power in the world of creating visual content, and achieving an emotional reaction that causes the audience to feel rather off in an exciting way that keeps us intrigued.

Forgotten 90s comedies like "Quick Change" deserve to be rediscovered for their unique humor and clever storytelling. Gems like "Serial Mom" and "Multiplicity" were underrated, blending dark humor and satire with lighthearted comedy. Cult favorites like "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" and "BASEketball" may have been forgotten but still offer plenty of heart and laughs.

The 1990s were a great time for comedy movies, although plenty of releases have been forgotten entirely by modern viewers. While this was the heyday for stars like Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, and Robin Williams, who led massive box office hits that people know and love to this day, many more comedy movies were produced that have been doomed to obscurity. While Mike Myers may have hit big with the Austin Powers and Waynes World films during the 1990s, he also starred in movies that aren't as well remembered.

The best comedies of the...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Roxy Cinema

Fidelio, our four-film program with Chapo Trap House’s Movie Mindset, closes with Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer and Clint Eastwood’s Absolute Power on 35mm, both introduced by myself, Will Menaker, and Hesse Deni this Friday, and with discounted $12 tickets by mentioning our program at the box office.

Museum of the Moving Image

70mm prints of 2001, Lawrence of Arabia, Tenet, and Far and Away screen; Sherlock Jr. plays on Saturday and Sunday.

Film at Lincoln Center

A new restoration of Shinji Sōmai’s Moving continues.

Film Forum

Restorations of Seven Samurai and Army of Shadows continue playing.

Anthology Film Archives

Films by James N. Kienitz Wilkins, Clio Barnard, and more screen in “Verbatim.”

Bam

Devil in a Blue Dress, Coming to America, a 35mm print of Sylvia Scarlett, and more screen in “Passing You By.”

Museum of Modern Art...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Roxy Cinema

Fidelio, our four-film program with Chapo Trap House’s Movie Mindset, begins this Saturday with Eyes Wide Shut on 35mm, which plays again on Sunday.

Museum of the Moving Image

70mm prints of 2001 and Lawrence of Arabia screen.

Film at Lincoln Center

A retrospective of Mexican popular cinema from the 1940s to the 1960s continues and a new restoration of Shinji Sōmai’s Moving opens.

Film Forum

A career-spanning Jean-Pierre Melville retrospective continues, as do restorations of Les Blank’s Burden of Dreams and Seven Samurai.

Anthology Film Archives

Films by James Benning, Robert Bresson, and Jean Eustache screen in “Verbatim“; films by James Broughton play in “Essential Cinema.”

Bam

Claire Denis’ monumental No Fear, No Die and Mapantsula continue screening in new restorations.

Museum of Modern Art

“Silent Movie Week 2024” begins

IFC Center

“Defamed to Acclaimed” brings films by the Wachowskis,...

From ‘Good Morning Baltimore’ to ‘good night Los Angeles,’ Ricki Lake is paying tribute to her beloved longtime collaborator John Waters.

The Hairspray star will host ‘Let’s Talk w/ Ricki Lake‘ along with the curators of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures‘ ‘John Waters: Pope of Trash‘ to close out the exhibit on August 3.

The conversation with senior exhibitions curator Jenny He and associate curator Dara Jaffe will touch on Lake’s decades-spanning career of work with Waters, who directed her in such cult classics as Hairspray (1988), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Cecil B. Demented (2000) and A Dirty Shame (2004).

Launching last September, ‘John Waters: Pope of Trash’ is “the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the artist’s contributions to cinema. The exhibition delves into his filmmaking process, key themes, and unmatched style. Works on view include costumes, set decoration, props, handwritten scripts, posters, concept designs, correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, film clips, and more.

Fido is not your typical zombie movie. Set in an alternate 1950s dystopian reality where space radiation has caused the reanimation of the dead, this 2007 satirical horror comedy, directed by Andrew Currie, is a gory tongue-in-cheek commentary that touches on uniquely American values such as consumerism, gun culture, the nuclear family, and outsourced labor. Its also one of the nicest, sweetest zombie movies ever. Fido is a mix between Night of the Living Dead and Lassie, with the same satirical sensibilities as The Stepford Wives and Serial Mom. There is a stark contrast between the movie's dull gray zombies and its technicolor world, and it carries a sweet comedic tone like fellow zom-coms Warm Bodies and My Boyfriends Back. Though it made less than half a million at the box office, in the era of corporate monopolies, this boy-and-his-zombie satire feels more poignant and relevant than ever: Americans will commodify just about anything,...

Despite the inclusion of a "based on a true story" card at the beginning of the film, many fans don't know what is real vs. fake about Serial Mom.

John Waters' Serial Mom was released in 1994 and starred Kathleen Turner as a mother whose deepest, darkest secret is that she was a serial killer.

With the film's popularity rising once again 30 years after its release due to its addition to Netflix, many want to know more about the exact real-life case that it was based on and where the victims, their families, and the murderous mother are today.

Read full article on The Direct.

Back in October of 2022, it was announced that legendary filmmaker John Waters, who has brought us such films as Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, Cry-Baby, Serial Mom, Cecil B. Demented, and Pecker (among others), was teaming up with Village Roadshow Pictures for an adaptation of his “craziest” novel, Liarmouth. We’ve since heard that Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) is up for the lead role in the film, which would mark Waters’ first time directing since 2004’s A Dirty Shame… but if you’ve been wondering why Liarmouth still hasn’t made it into production a year and a half after it was announced, Waters gives an answer in a new interview with IndieWire: he hasn’t been able to get funding for it.

When asked for a Liarmouth status update, Waters said, “I’m not going to… [Starts to laugh.] Every time I comment on that, some article comes out that causes me hell,...

John Waters earlier this yearPhoto: CraSH/imageSPACE/Shutterstock (Shutterstock)

Freaks, sickos, and perverts the world over breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced in October 2022 that John Waters would be adapting his novel Liarmouth into a feature film. For one thing, the film would be his first since 2004's A Dirty Shame.

Jeff Harris and Bernie Kukoff's sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" debuted in 1978 and ran 189 episodes over a whopping eight seasons. The series starred Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, two impoverished kids from Harlem whose mother had recently died. They were adopted by the wealthy Mr. Drummond (Conrad Bain), a Park Avenue millionaire. The series revolved around the relationship Arnold and Willis developed with their adopted father, new sister Kimberly (Dana Plato), and one of three kindly housekeepers. In the 1984 season, Mr. Drummond married a woman named Maggie, and she was played by Dixie Carter for two years before being replaced by Mary Ann Mobley.

"Diff'rent Strokes" wasn't just overwhelmingly popular, but it also served as a template for a decade's worth of booming sitcoms. It was "Diff'rent Strokes" that famously presented "very special episodes" about serious issues like drug addiction, homelessness, eating disorders, and looking out...

Nicole Richie has been a “diehard fan” of the 1991 cult comedy “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead” for as long as she can remember.

“I’ve been quoting this movie my whole life,” she says.

And now, life has come full circle because the former “Simple Life” reality television icon stars in director Wade Allain-Marcus’ “Don’t Tell Mom” remake as fashion company boss Rose.

The new film stars Simone Joy Jones as Tanya, a 17-year-old whose summer plans are upended when her mom (“Ms. Pat” star Patricia Williams) checks herself into a health retreat. Things completely unravel when the babysitter, played by Oscar nominee June Squibb, hired to take care of Tanya and her siblings suddenly dies.

“When I heard it was going to be a remake, I was like, ‘What does this mean?’” she says. “So I jumped on a Zoom with Wade and he was like, ‘This...

The Calgary Underground Film Festival (Cuff) is Western Canada’s largest genre film festival which showcases everything from horror and sci-fi to indie comedies and music and fan docs. The 21st Edition of Cuff runs from April 18-28 and will open with I Saw the TV Glow; the Canadian premiere of the A24 release from visionary filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun (We're All Going to the World's Fair) follows a lonely teenager whom a classmate introduces to a mysterious late-night TV show, and soon the world within the show begins to feel more real than real life. Cult favourite John Waters will be in attendance for one night only, with his new live spoken word show Devil's Advocate, followed by a 30th Anniversary screening of his film Serial Mom....

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Aubrey Plaza will lead the cast of ‘Feel-Bad’ romance Liarmouth, which marks John Waters’ first directorial outing in two decades.

John Waters hasn’t made a film in 20 years, but he’s set to bring his demented brand of comedy back to the silver screen, along with a leading actor who should prove equal to his ambitions.

Waters’ last film was 2004’s A Dirty Shame which starred Tracy Ullman, Johnny Knoxville and Chris Isaak. That was his comedy about sex addiction. In the 1990s alone, Waters also gave us Pecker, which featured Edward Furlong taking pictures of perverts, and Serial Mom, the 1994 black comedy featuring the mighty Kathleen Turner as a mother who doubles as a serial killer.

Waters’ style is certainly unique and the idea of a new film from him after all this time is a welcome one. What’s more, he’s found a leading actor to...

Filmmaker John Waters picks his Top-10 films from 2023. The only big-budget blockbuster to be found on Waters' list is Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. Beau Is Afraid and a number of other intriguing titles populate Waters' eclectic selection of movies.

There are many amazing auteurs in the annals of Hollywood history… and then there’s John Waters. The world-renowned filmmaker, aka the "Pope of Trash," is arguably best known for his work in Pink Flamingos and Hairspray. But It's hard to reminisce about the 1990s and not think of Johnny Depp’s wildly underrated performance in Cry-Baby or Kathleen Turner’s killer — pun most definitely intended — portrayal of the titular character in Serial Mom. And as 2023 fades away, and cinephiles prepare to welcome 2024, Waters has composed his Top-10 list of this year’s best movies. Waters said in a story he wrote for Vulture:

“When most people hear my name, they...

Tom Holland's 1988 film "Child's Play" was about a serial killer named Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) who was fatally wounded by a cop (Chris Sarandon) during a shootout in a toy warehouse. As he lay dying, Charles, a.k.a. Chucky, used voodoo magic to shunt his consciousness into a nearby Good Guy doll, a talking plastic child about a foot tall. In the body of the doll, Chucky continues his reign of terror. "Child's Play" was clearly a spoof of the Cabbage Patch Kids phenomenon a few years previous, positing that the year's difficult-to-obtain ultra-hot Christmas toy could possibly contain the soul of a murderer. 

To date, there have been six sequels to "Child's Play," a remake, and a spinoff series called "Chucky," which concluded part one of its third season in October of 2023. The series became increasingly wild as it went on, tilting heavily into camp and comedy.

This post contains spoilers for "Five Nights at Freddy's."

Matthew Lillard is a horror legend and we don't say it enough. We know him and we love him from films like "She's All That," "Slc Punk," "Without a Paddle" ... any "Love's Labour's Lost" fans out there? But the man got his start in horror and his irrepressible comic spirit and fearless willingness to switch to pitch-black menace on a dime have made him an extremely effective and underrated horror star, as you can see in films like "Scream," "Scooby Doo," and "Thirteen Ghosts." 

Lillard has just added another glinting badge to his vest in the form of "Five Nights at Freddy's." We meet him as Steve Raglan, the career counselor that our hero, Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), is sent to after he beats up a dad in front of his son while on the job. Mike is a man of few words,...

The Simpsons season 35, episode 3 is dedicated to Suzanne Somers, a late guest star who made a hilarious cameo appearance in season 7. Somers once guest-starred in The Simpsons season 7, episode 18, playing a fictionalized version of herself. Suzanne Somers was a sitcom veteran known for her roles in Three's Company, Step By Step, and more, and she played a self-effacing version of herself on The Simpsons in a satirical episode.

While The Simpsons season 35, episode 3 is dedicated to Suzanne Somers, viewers might wonder who this actor is and why the outing is dedicated to her memory. The Simpsons has been around for over thirty-five years, so it is no surprise that the show has dedicated many of its episodes to late guest stars. Throughout the show’s long run, The Simpsons has been able to acquire the services of some truly impressive guest actors, and since the show has been on the air so long,...

Amazon is running a massive sale on over 100 Scream Factory titles today, including some of the lowest-ever prices on their 4K UHDs and Blu-rays. Now is the time to stock up!

Here are some of the top horror highlights from the sale…

Halloween 4K UHDs:

Halloween – $22.99 Halloween II – $20.99 Halloween III – $20.99 Halloween 4 – $20.99 Halloween 5 – $19.99 Halloween 6 / Halloween H20 / Halloween: Resurrection – $59.99

John Carpenter 4K UHDs:

They Live – $18.99 They Live [Steelbook] – $23.99 The Fog – $19.99 The Fog [Steelbook] – $25.99 Prince of Darkness – $19.99 Escape From New York – $20.99 Halloween – $22.99

4K UHDs:

Child’s Play – $22.99 Child’s Play 2 – $20.99 Child’s Play 3 – $19.99 The Howling – $19.99 The Funhouse – $19.99 Slumber Party Massacre / Slumber Party Massacre II – $20.99 Carrie – $20.99 Carrie [Steelbook] – $22.17 Brotherhood of the Wolf – $20.99 Cat People – $20.99 Happy Death Day – $20.99 Happy Death Day 2U – $20.99 Army of Darkness – $21.99 Evil Dead (2013) – $21.99 Dog Soldiers – $21.99 The Haunting of Julia – $21.99 Lifeforce – $21.99 Krampus: The Naughty Cut – $21.99 Alligator – $21.99 The People Under the Stairs -$22.99 Bubba Ho-Tep – $22.99 The Exorcist III – $22.99 Dawn of the Dead (2004) – $22.99 Motel Hell – $22.99 Dead Silence – $22.99 The Return of the Living Dead...

Suzanne Somers, who perfected the bimbo blonde and helped turn a fitness fad into a surefire phenomenon, has died after a battle with cancer. Somers was 76.

A statement issued by Suzanne Somers’ publicity announced the death on Sunday. “Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of October 15th. She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years…Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family…Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on October 16th. Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly.”

As noted in the announcement, Suzanne Somers would have celebrated her birthday on Monday. Ahead of this, the actress even told People that she was looking forward to spending the day with family, including her husband of 45+ years,...

Actress and fitness guru Suzanne Somers has passed away.

THR reports that Somers died on Sunday, Oct. 15, while surrounded by loving family members in her California home. This follows a battle with breast cancer that had gone on for more 23 years. Somers' publicist, R. Couri Hay, confirmed the news with a statement shared on behalf of the family. She was 76 years old, passing just one day shy of turning 77.

“She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years," the statement noted. "Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family. Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on Oct. 16th. Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly.”

Somers was born Suzanne Marie Mahoney on Oct. 16, 1946. She began her acting career in the late 1960 and early 1970s,...

Suzanne Somers, the Emmy nominee and star of hit shows like Three’s Company and Step by Step, died Sunday. She was 76.

Somers died peacefully of breast cancer at her home in Palm Springs, her longtime publicist, R. Couri Hay, announced.

“She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years. Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband, Alan, her son, Bruce, and her immediate family,” the statement read. “Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on Oct. 16th. Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and they want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly.”

The actress also was known for her roles on She’s the Sheriff and Serial Mom.

Born in San Bruno, California, on Oct. 16, 1946, Suzanne Marie Mahoney was the third of four children in an Irish-American Catholic family. Her father, Frank, was a laborer, and her mother, Marion, a medical secretary.

When John Waters touched down in Hollywood decades ago, he immediately had a run-in with authorities. “I got out of my vehicle in 1970 at Hollywood and Vine and darted across the street and got a jaywalking ticket, the first one, and I never looked back,” recalled the filmmaker while standing at the podium Monday to receive a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

Waters, surrounded by throngs of fans and well-wishers, found himself not far from that famous intersection, but on the other side of a Hollywood career that has produced such films as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Desperate Living, Hairspray, Cry-Baby, Serial Mom, Pecker, Cecil B. Demented and others. And he couldn’t be happier with the gritty Hollywood setting. “God, here I am, closer to the gutter than ever,” quipped the 77-year-old, who has long been referred to as a maestro of “trash” films or the “king of filth.

A new exhibition at the Academy of Motion Pictures celebrates the director - and Waters is taking the elevation in stride

For a man who made his name with gleefully hilarious guerrilla films populated by drag queens, provocateurs, foot fetishists, misguided egomaniacs, furtive suburban psychos and assorted criminal lowlifes, John Waters is taking his elevation to the Hollywood stratosphere in stride.

The 77-year-old director of Pink Flamingos, Hairspray and Serial Mom has never come close to winning an Oscar – Oscars are not what you get when you delight in bad taste and write that someone vomiting during one of your films is “like getting a standing ovation”. Yet this weekend in Los Angeles, the museum run by the Academy of Motion Pictures is opening a lavish, lovingly curated exhibit that chronicles Waters’ extraordinary life and work.

When John Waters shocked audiences with “Pink Flamingos” more than 50 years ago, he probably didn’t foresee major museum exhibitions of his trashy aesthetic and irreverent filmmaking. But half a century later, he’s become the elder statesman of rebellion, and the Academy Museum is celebrating Baltimore’s treasure with a career-spanning exhibit and accompanying film retrospective.

Opening Sunday in Los Angeles, the extensive exhibit includes 400 pieces over 12 galleries. At the preview, Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said, “John Waters: Pope of Trash is a salute to an individual creative voice and the distinctive contributions he has made over the past six decades, not only to the art of film but to American pop culture.”

Among the many must-see props and costumes on display were the jackets Johnny Depp wore in the 1990 film “Cry Baby” and the prop electric chair from “Female Trouble.