John Waters is presenting a collection of 13 movies on Here! network (which on Comcast is available On Demand for me). He’s providing commentary before and after each movie as well.
Here’s the list of movies:[ol]
[li]Freeway (1996, Dir. Matthew Bright)[/li][li] L.I.E. (2001, Dir. Michael Cuesta)[/li][li] Fuego (1969, Dir. Armando Bo)[/li][li]Baxter (1989, Dir. Jerome Boivin)[/li][li]The Fluffer (2001, Dir. Wash Westmoreland, Richard Glatzer)[/li][li]Clean, Shaven (1994, Dir. Lodge H. Kerrigan)[/li][li]Beefcake (1998, Dir. Thom Fitzgerald)[/li][li] Criminal Lovers (1999, Dir. Francois Ozon)[/li][li]The Hours and Times (1991, Dir. Christopher Munch)[/li][li]Pink Narcissus (1971, Dir. James Bidgood)[/li][li]Who Killed Pasolini? (1995, Dir. Marco Tullio Giordana)[/li][li]Porn Theater (2002, Dir. Jacques Nolot)[/li][li]Irreversible (2002, Dir. Gaspar Noe)[/li][/ol]
Going through that list, I haven’t seen any of them. So, where should I start? (Or where should I avoid?)
Huh. There aren’t many movie lists that I haven’t seen the majority of, but… of that list, I’ve only seen one:
The Fluffer.
Good movie. It’s kind of like The Dresser, only more… hardcore. 
See Freeway. Excellent movie, with great performances from Reese Witherspoon, Dan Hedaya, Keifer Sutherland, and (yes!) Brooke Shields.
Really good black comedy.
Freeway- The juvenile delinquent who curses, steals, and assaults the police is the heroine. The scene where she stands by the side of the street and calls “Sexo? Sexo?” is forever etched in my brain.
Re Beefcake
I haven’t seen it. But, I am familiar with the subject. Physique etc pretended to be fitness or bodybuilding magazines. There were no gay porn magazines at the time. But, the speedos in Physique dissolved with a little water revealing that the models had been photographed in the nude.
I’ve only seen Fluffer and Freeway, ooh that sounds like a double feature, and they’re both good, if not exactly pick me ups, but I would give the nod to Freeway. For me it’s the scene where Sutherland walks into court and she says Look who got hit with the ugly stick.
I saw Irreversible (as well as Freeway, L.I.E. and Clean, Shaven), and found it basically an exercise in pointless sadism. A five-minute rape scene and a horribly gruesome revenge scene are the only memorable things about it, if that tells you anything. Oh, and it’s shown in reverse chronological order, for some reason.
Have seen Fluffer and it was so-so, but L.I.E. is an amazing story about a pedophile that is really quite good, and nowhere near as icky as you might think…it got rave reviews when it first ran in theaters. Brian Cox (Hannibal Lector in Manhunter) stars in it and gives an amazing performance.
I just recently noticed we too have the Here On Demand channel, and was contemplating signing up. My problem is that it is $6.95 per month, and because it is “on demand”, I can’t tape the films…still, they seem to have a very interesting selection - better than Logo - but Logo is free with my channel line-up. Let me know what you think of Here On Demand…maybe I will break down and give it a try for a month or two.
My version of Here on Demand is pay-per-movie. Which kinda sucks because Logo is so disappointing, but at least when I break down and order something I can tape it.
I’ve seen Freeway, L.I.E., Fluffer and Beefcake. I thought Freeway was amazing. L.I.E. didn’t really make much of an impression although I have it sitting in my re-watch video stack. Fluffer and Beefcake were both “meh” movies for me, worth seeing if they’re on but I wouldn’t go out of my way for either of them.
Pink Narcissus is very unconventional. It’s abstract erotica. It’s misty images and entirely plotless. It’s kind of like an extended music video, only with naked boys. From the sixties. It is actually very beautiful, but it’s pretty “experimental” and definitely not for everyone.
*Irreversible *is garbage.
Here are a couple images from Pink Narcissus, to give you an idea. The entire movie is basically a stream of such imagery.
These are safe for work, although the second one is borderline if you work in a church.
http://www.seattlequeerfilm.com/01/schedule/films/film_assets/james_pink.jpg
Oh dang, didn’t find the best* Pink Narcissus *image till after I hit submit:
(also safe for work)
http://clampart.com/inventory/inventoryimages/imagebidgood03.htm
. . . Thought this thread was going to be about films made by John Waters . . .
Only one on the list I’ve seen was Freeway. First film I can recall seeing with Reese Witherspoon. Was that her breakout role?
To me she ‘broke out’ with The Man in the Moon. A gem of a movie if you haven’t seen it.
Otto - didn’t want to hijack this thread, but have a question regarding you being able to tape On Demand movies and started this thread if you wouldn’t mind explaining it to me.
And now that I have seen some of the photos, I think I actually did see Pink Narcissus ages ago, but the fact that I had forgotten it makes me think it might be a forgettable, but pleasant diversion.
I agree. Great movie.