Desperate Living

Rating:
Summary: THE ULTIMATE GROSS OUT!!
Review: a "fractured fairytale" if there ever was one!! this movie you MUST watch over and over!! The shock value is high - and the laughs are "Multiple"! A lot of scenes make you cringe - but - if you are A WATERS fan - and havent seen this - YOU ARE NOT A WATERS FAN!!! for the rest of you - watch it anyway - it is TRUE trash and if you get offended - you take yourself too seriuosly. Edith Massey was FAB as the queen! No Devine here - but still incredible. Mink Stole was wonderful as the high society lady - who , though a turn of events - gets to see how the po' half lives. great cast and all around funny! I have recommended this to more people than I can remember.

Rating:
Summary: Divine even without Divine
Review: At the time of its release, this was easily John Waters's most technically accomplished and professional-looking film. It's sort of a step or two away from his infamous trash aesthetic in that respect. The Baltimore maestro's first feature without Divine is also his strangest, basically a demented, surreal fairy tale, replete with colorful cardboard sets and colorful cardboard characters. Quite funny in places and highly original, I'd count this among his best films.

Rating:
Summary: Little Johnny Waters, what have you DONE?!?!?
Review: Hello, movie goers! I am a HUGE fan of John's work, but Desperate Living has to be my least favourite movie he's made. I didn't hate it (seeing as I gave it 4 stars), I just don't think it's as great as his others. It seems as though he was trying to rekindle the kind of decadent filth that could only be achieved through Divine's addition to the cast (a la Pink Flamingos). I think it's a great flick, just not the best! I reccommend it to round out your collection, but not to bow down to.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly Sick Fairytale from the Price of Puke !
Review: I guess you'd call Desperate Living the last of the earlier John Waters "gross out" cult classic films... He went a bit more mainstream after that (not to say that I don't like his new stuff... in fact, I dug Pecker and Cecil B. Demented majorly, but his newer stuff are simply "good movies", as opposed to "cult classics" by destiny.) - - The best way to describe Desperate Living (and I believe these are Waters' words paraphrased) is "a fairy tale for adults with the minds of children..." (well, moreso sick 12-14 year olds.) the story is as fun and entertaining as it is gross and disgusting... Getting to see Edith Massey in the roll of the evil queen and villian is also quite hillarious (especially if you've watched all his earlier films...) and getting to see what she does with the castle goons is even funnier... - - in my book however, the two most memorable scenes involve a cross dressing cop as well as a rather amusingly severed ding dong. Liz Renay, is also hillarious and really into her role... almost too much... in fact, its the sheer exhuberence of the actors in John Waters' films that make the films such a great watch... you can tell that he's definitely the type of guy that could sell you the Brooklyn Bridge (or atleast eat some poop off of it...) - - All in all, I'd have to say that along with Female Trouble its one of my favorite John Waters films... Whether you found Pink Flamingos funny or offensive, expect to laugh and puke at the same time... this is JW at his most sick and childishly best !

Rating:
Summary: Liz Renay is an old lady
Review: I loved the melodramatic acting, especially Mink Stole and Susan Lowe. It is an ugly, ugly movie, but upon multiple viewings, very cool looking at the same time.

My only complaint is the commentary, something I've always loved about Waters's DVDs. He gives such great insight into the people and movies. So why New Line (or Waters - I don't know who was responsible) got Liz Renay, who must've been in her 70's when she did this commentary, to babble nonsensically in the commentary is beyond me.

What you have is Waters talking for a while - then out of nowhere Liz Renay starts talking about how beautiful she is, or some other piece of crap about her life. Who the hell cares? Now this might not have been bad if it were John and Liz in the same room talking to each other, but they were seperate recordings. Irritating.

Rating:
Summary: The best of John Waters' early films. Mink Stole rocks
Review: In my opinion, John Water's movies have always been smarter on paper than most give him credit for. All of his work skewers the establishment was well as some of its offshoots and although intended to be shocking (in many instances just for the sake of being able to do so), my favorite moments generally involve the amazing Mink Stole and when John Waters in a very matter of fact fashion throws in something absolutely jaw-dropping as if it were just another scene.

On one hand you'll have people who will find Waters' early work to be too repulsive to watch and on the other extreme, you'll find others who worship his movies without any reservation and reject any critique as a sign that people just don't get it. My perspective is a little different as after watching Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living, my view is that while the ideas continue to be as fresh as they were made in the mid to late 1970's, his early work is much funnier when taken in little dozes rather than full length movies. Although, many may disagree I find Desperate Living to be his early best, while Female trouble is highly overrated. Pink Flamingos falls somewhere between the two.

There are scenes in Desperate Living that had me laughing so hard that I cried. In fact, the first half hour of the film is absolutely hilarious. Every scene involving Jean Hill who plays the hilarious Grizelda Brown and/or Mink Stole who plays the crazed Peggy Gravel, is a gag waiting to happen. There is a scene that takes place after something horrible happens (like I am going to tell you what happened) when Peggy is driving away with Grizelda that is worth the price of owning this movie. Said scene has Mink Stole going off like a madwoman regarding her hatred of nature, and it never fails to surprise me how funny she is. As happens with most of Waters' early films, it ultimately runs out of steam and starts relying too much on shock value and by now almost any Waters fan is hard to shock visually so it better be funny too. Desperate Living is my favorite early John Waters film, although many find it to be his most grim and depressing.

Female Trouble is one of the early Waters movies that most fans tend to like, and I just did not like it at all. Of course no John Waters film can ever be made without having hilarious moments, but they are far and few in between and I was mostly bored. Mink Stole as usual steals every scene that she is in and she does a variation on her "I hate nature" soliloquy from "Desperate Living," this time involving humans. Although I could not get enough of Edith Massey as the egg lady Pink Flamingos or as Queen Carlotta in desperate living, her role in Female Trouble made me feel for her as I was not laughing with her or could not bring myself to laugh at her. While she has her moments and awesome potty mouth, Waters (possibly without meaning to) takes her costumes to a point where you want to hug her instead of laughing. Divine has the opposite effect as the cruder and ruder that she is, the more that I loved her in this movie.

Pink Flamingos, which is Waters' breakout movie, without a doubt uses shock value more than any of his subsequent films. It is supposedly centered around defining who is the filthiest person alive in Waters' beloved Phoenix, Maryland. Since this was Waters' first fully realized early picture, he went for the jugular in trying to get away with as much gross out material as possible. The story, as is the case with Female Trouble, is not worth following and starts to get old quickly, but there are MANY scenes that will shock the numbest person alive. In many instances, the shock is not a bad thing as my motto is if it's funny, bring it on. Edith Massey as the egg lady is so funny that I can't help seeing her scenes over and over again. There are little touches as the manner in which Divine steals some ham, or apparently throwaway scenes involving dealing drugs and a baby selling ring, that are too funny to describe.

In a nutshell, I think that John Waters in hilarious and is responsible for some of the funniest movies of our time (as is the case with Serial Mom, just to name one), but these early exercises in guerilla filmmaking work better as boundary pushers than fully realized self contained movies. Those who enjoyed Jackass - The Movie, said movie would probably never have seen the light of day if it were not for John Waters, and although some may wish that such were the case, I for one think that Jackass - The Movie is one of the funniest movies ever. Part of that success is due to Johnny Knoxville not attempting to create a linear narrative or a storyline but intertwining bigger and smaller ideas just for the sake of making us laugh. Maybe it was not a choice at the time, but all of Waters' early movies would have worked much better with extensive editing and bypassing the narrative to focus on being funny.

I give Desperate Living 3.5 stars, Pink Flamingos 3 stars, and Female Trouble 1 stars. New Line home videos has released several two-packs of John Waters' films, but none that I know of that have Desperate Living and Pink Flamingos on the same package.

Rating:
Summary: "I have never found the antics of deviants amusing."
Review: In the perverted, sick fairy tale, "Desperate Living" from the genius director, John Waters, neurotic society wife, Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) accidentally kills her husband with the assistance of her 300lb out-of-control maid, Grizelda. The two desperate women are on the run from the law, when a kinky policeman insists on taking the fugitives' underwear, and then generously allows the women to escape to that notorious haven for criminals and lowlifes--Mortville.

Mortville is full of deliciously disgusting types, and the evil and despotic Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey) rules over all. Elite bodyguards--young leather-clad biker boys, surround Carlotta day AND night. Carlotta's daughter--the Princess Coo Coo (Mary Vivian Pearce) is currently out of Carlotta's favour because the princess insists on consorting with a commoner. But in a land of desperate people who will stop at nothing, there are many ready to vie for power, and soon Peggy Gravel's natural nastiness promotes her to top of the pile of human rejects who inhabit Mortville.

The film is full of outrageous characters--there's Mole McHenry (a vicious female wrestler) and Muffy St Jacques--fellow inhabitants of Mortville, and their tragic tales are both hilarious. Some of the lines are pure genius--sick and twisted--but still genius. Two of my favourite lines are: "This'll teach you to arouse royalty," and "she thinks the toilet I sit on is competition." Warning--this film is not for the faint-hearted. The film has many, many completely outrageous scenes involving male and female nudity, 'sexual reassignments', spanking, and many perversions too numerous to name here. John Waters fans will love this tacky, trashy classic--many other viewers will not. Definitely NOT a date film (unless it's some sort of test), and it's definitely not for the kiddies. If you want to watch this with anyone else in the room, be sure you know your fellow viewer well. Keep your eyes open for the late great Cookie Mueller. "Desperate Living"--made on a $65,000 budget is camp at its best and lowest--displacedhuman.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, but way overrated!
Review: It's a pity that John Waters' Female Trouble is not available on video at this time so Waters' fans could see it, because that is his best film! Desperate Living is a pretty good film, but the screenplay falls apart in the middle of the movie. John, I love you, you're a genius, but what happened?! I do agree that Edith Massey is brilliant, I love every performance she has given, and Mink Stole, Jean Hill, Mary Vivian Pearce, and Susan Lowe give shine to their roles. But Liz Renay is not very good at all! Her character is a throw-away to any true talent she might have had, like a 1970's Mamie Van Doren. Mink Stole did better in Female Trouble as Taffy, Jean Hill is one of John's best actresses who disappeared too soon (look for her in Polyester!), Mary Vivian Pearce has her best acting as Princess Coo Coo, and Susan Lowe's only recognizable role is as Mole McHenry, even though she does a hilarious turn as a secretary in Female Trouble. Wait for Female Trouble's re-release this year to see Mink's best role ever!!!! This is a must for Waters fans everywhere, but even John and Mink don't think this is their best work! John prefers Multiple Maniacs and Mink Female Trouble!

Rating:
Summary: I Honor You, Queen Carlotta!
Review: It's hard for me to believe that there could be John Waters fans who know only his mainstream films. They're pretty good movies, don't get me wrong; but they walk meekly in the shadow cast by his amazing Trash Trio (this, FEMALE TROUBLE & PINK FLAMINGOS). This one is his all-time best, partly because of Divine's absence. Had he been available, he would not only have nabbed the Queen Carlotta role, but become the focus of every viewer's attention as he usually did. (Well, nobody cites FEMALE TROUBLE for the Donald Dasher role, right?) The way DESPERATE LIVING worked out, you finally get a chance to see how good Waters' other Dreamland divas really were. Here, they're VERY good. Fact, DESPERATE features some of the most inspired, OTT female acting ever featured in a movie, "trash" or otherwise. It's as if a heroin-addicted George Cukor decided to remake THE WOMEN in a Maryland junkyard.

Mink Stole is unbeLIEVABLE as Peggy Gravel; she seethes with constant neurotic dementia throughout. Her portrayal of misery to the power of ten is less overacting than it is finding the perfect pitch for the role, and settling in on the very spot. The movie-opening running tantrum she spews is one of the funniest things I've ever seen - every third or fourth word is shouted for maniacal emphasis ("The CHILDREN are having SEX!! Beth is PREGNANT!! And I NARROWLY escaped an ASSASSINATION attempt!!") Brilliant. But she's matched, step for weaving step, by Susan Lowe's unforgettable diesel-dyke Mole and the nonpareil Edith Massey as the evil Queen of the criminal shanty-kingdom, Mortville. (If you've never experienced Edith Massey, nothing I can say could possibly prepare you for her....unique...greatness. Let's just leave it at that, okay?) And that's not to discount the typically outre work by Mary Vivian Pearce - who plays her character as if she'd gotten lost on her way to the set of a Julie Andrews musical - or the CGI effect that is Miss Jean Hill. This assembly of female firepower results in one incredible movie that STILL has the power to make you squirt liquid out your nose in helpless laughter, Farrelly Brothers or no Farrelly Brothers. As a matter of fact, the more Waters' early assaults on good taste have become absorbed into mainstream entertainment, the better and more shocking his films look for it. When DESPERATE LIVING stood alone, one hardly knew what to make of it. Now that every lesser talent in show-biz is trying to finance a swimming pool by imitating the Waters touch, it's easy to see, and appreciate, who the innovator and true original is. When Waters made this movie, he was a pariah with nothing to lose...he knew better, but still didn't care. Thus, there's an intoxicating power and thrift-shop integrity to DESPERATE LIVING that none of the Johnny-come-latelies can approach, now that "bad taste" is boxoffice, and safe as milk. If you're gonna wallow in slime, then accept no substitutes, folks: demand DESPERATE LIVING.

Rating:
Summary: Desperately Depraved
Review: One more fithy movie from John Waters' perverted mind. It is most trashy with mediocre acting, cheep cardbord settings, most unrealistic fairytale-like story and bizarre situations degrading of humans. I failed to see the art involved here and for me it was a waste of time and my hard-earned money.