Rating: 3.5/5
Cult Movie Challenge 2017 | 44/52 | John Waters
Ah, Baltimore, the city of stars. We all recognize its iconic skyline. Honey Whitlock, that lovable ingenue, stars in the upcoming romcom Some Kind of Happiness, which is premiering in Baltimore, so Whitlock is in town. But what Baltimore doesn’t know is that Whitlock is a diva. Little does Honey know that, among the hotel and theater staff, is a group of underground filmmakers armed with guns and explosives. They kidnap Honey to force her to star in their movie.
We're gonna make our first film, Miss Whitlock, and nobody's gonna stop us. Lots of kids dream of making a movie, but only the ones willing to die for it succeed.
The film is loosely based on Patty Hearst’s kidnapping by left-wing guerrillas, except they want to make a movie instead of leveraging her family’s political influence. Hearst even makes a cameo! The movie is classic Waters raunch, where everyone’s an asshole. It’s also Waters giving us his worldview through the Sprocket Holes. Perhaps in the year 2000, when major studios had “indie” offshoots to put out “indie” films, this movie didn’t hit. But in today’s movie hellscape, the need for independent film is higher than ever.
🎶 Demented forever!
** Stray Thoughts / Spoilers **
- The opening music is so insane. It’s a bunch of iconic music stings set to a drum sample.
- Honey forces her publicist to call the front desk of the hotel and ask them if Pat Nixon got fucked there.
- The director tattoos are fun. I hope some kids checked out some new directors because of this movie.
- “What? Pasolini’s playing, and we have an empty theater?!”
- “Tell me about Mel Gibson’s dick and balls!”
- Patch Adams: The Director’s Cut
- “[terrified] Oh my god, it’s Honey Whitlock!”
- “Petey loves me, and I can’t love him back. I’ve tried. […] I’m ashamed of my heterosexuality!”
- — Didn’t you just green-light another movie based on a video game? — It wasn’t my idea! I’m just the vice president of creative affairs!
- “Action fans! Help us!”
- Kevin Nealon stars as Forest Gump in Forest Gump 2: Gump Happens, filmed entirely in Baltimore.
- Is Cecil B. Demented supposed to look like Toby Dammit?