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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
These Movies are a Riot!, July 23, 2001
This review is from: John Waters Collection #3: Pink Flamingos/ Female Trouble (DVD)
You have NO idea how happy I am that Female Trouble is finally being released on DVD. It has to be my all time favorite cult movie ever. John Waters brings so much of his trade-mark trash to the movie that it stands-out as one of his most signature early pieces, even though he had already made movies such as Pink Flamingos, Mondo Trasho and Eat Your Make-Up. Divine definately shines in the staring role as Dawn Davenport. Tired of her common social life at home, Dawn decides that she will make her own mark on the world and does so as no other woman can! Dawn goes from a high school misfit, to a go-go dancer, a cafe waitress, a theif, a high-fashion crime model, and a serial killer, all while trying to be a loving mother to her obnoxious retarded daughter Taffy, played by another John Waters star regular Mink Stole. And let's not forget about the third star of the movie who you won't be able to forget no matter how hard you try: Edith Massey! Edith, the grotesque diva that also stars in a number of John's films, plays Aunt Ida, the aunt to Divine's worthless hairdresser husband. John gives her more of a 'glamorous' role compared to her earlier character in Pink Flamingos. In Female Trouble, just give Edith a glass of Sherry and she becomes a black spandex wearing diva who can put Olivia Newton-John to shame! While this is definately NOT a movie for everyone, it is very high on humor and camp. So, if you're a big cult classic fan, and not prudish or weak-of-stomach, this is one DVD you should NOT miss out on!
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Say it! Say "Liquid Eyeliner!", January 10, 2002
This review is from: John Waters Collection #3: Pink Flamingos/ Female Trouble (DVD)
Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble are among the best films by director John Waters, and to have them TOGETHER and on DVD is a thrill. Since I bought the disks, my life has been like a vacation! There are one or two things, however, which probably need to be said about the DVD. Because Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble were originated on 16mm. film, the current wide-screen transfer is somewhat of a violation. Most of the time it isn't really a problem -- especially in Pink Flamingos. But there are scenes in Female Trouble when the reframing necessary to approximate a wide-screen image has almost eliminated important visual information at the top and bottom of the frame. In the Christmas Tree scene, for example, one can now only barely glimpse Dawn's slippers as she goes on her elephantesque rampage. The scene is still funny, but not as much so. There are several other examples, but I leave them for you to discover. I wish that NewLine had the courage to "Window Box" these films, or at least used standard TV screen ratio instead of cropping them into a widescreen ratio they were never meant to have. I am puzzled, too, by some of the soundtrack from Pink Flamingos. My ancient VHS copy (and all the film copies I have seen) use music cues from "The Planets" for those shots where the Marbles spy on Divine's birthday party. Though the party music itself remains the same on the DVD (and on the previous Laser-Disk), the intercut shots now have a different musical accompanyment. What happened? I am very pleased that the end credit sequence in Female Trouble has been _restored_ so to speak (actually, it was re-created rather than truly restored. But it's nice all the same). Now that I have that out of my system, let me go on to say that I am looking forward to the day when ALL of the works of John's are on DVD. Wouldn't a disk set of Multiple Maniacs and Mondo Trasho be especially nice? Maybe they could throw in The Diane Linkletter Story as an extra feature. Or how about a reissue of Polyester, complete with the Scratch and Sniff cards? I could personally really go for a disk combining Water's VERY EARLY films - such as Roman Candles, Hag in a Black Leather Jacket and Eat Your Makeup. Watch with: Each other, of course! What else could you possibly need? But if you wanted to make a marathon of it, why not: "Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill", "Blood Feast", "2,000 Maniacs", Querelle, or anything starring Jayne Mansfield.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
John Waters at His Shocking Best, December 5, 2003
This review is from: John Waters Collection #3: Pink Flamingos/ Female Trouble (DVD)
As an opening disclaimer, if you are a big fan of "Hairspray" (in either ints movie or musical form), these films are not necessarily for you. Even after the films of the Farrelly Brothers, MTV's "Jackass," and countless other bits of media that suggest the fall of Western Civilization, "Pink Flamingos" and "Female Trouble" remain the crowning gems of shock cinema. These films have not only crossed the line of good taste; they've taken a paid vacation to a tropical island that sits 3,000 miles past the line. "Pink Flamingos" is the generally recognized classic. The film features infamous scenes of feces eating, meat smuggling, and singing rectums among its accomplishments of sleeze. Amazing, there is still a plot that involves two families vying to earn the title of "the filthiest people alive." What makes the movie work amidst its vile setpieces is the sense of fun behind it all, and the strangest delivery of some of the stranges lines ever. "Female Trouble" is even better. The convoluted but followable story revolves around Dawn Davenport and her lifelong attempts to become notorious, culminating in her completely insane presentation of murder as art. All of Waters' regulars appear once again, and the film trumps the disgustingness of "Pink Flamingos" (even if it has nothing quite as vomit inducing as eating dog poo). The commentaries on these discs are as great as the movie. I'm not a big fan of commentaries, but I always take the extra effort to give John Waters' rants a listen. Much of the info for these films may also be found in Waters' book "Shock Value" (which is also wonderful), but his speaking style is really infectious and captivating.
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