Month: November 2008

um hi

Here is a review i wrote for amazon.com for a john waters’ book :

Crackpot, December 28, 2007

Amazon actually asked me to write a review of this book. Some people must have found my last review useful (I’ve only written two previously).
Anyway, I’ve only given the book 4 stars instead of five because its neither comprehensive nor definitive, but I value just about anything pertaining to John Waters. So, let’s see. John Waters lives in a real city (Baltimore), and goes to new York and L.A. on business (expenses paid). Living in Baltimore gives John Waters a wonderful slant on events. (Baltimore is associated with E. A. Poe — I don’t even like verse except for “The Raven!”) So, we know from reading the book that John Waters will subscribe to any publication that has published an article he has written. The early days of his films must have been desperate times, requiring Divine to eat dog excrement. Can’t say enough about the importance of Divine

to some of John Waters’ films. So far the best movie seems to be “Hair Spray”. Divine and Riki Lake were incredible! Can’t imagine John Travolta as Tracy’s mom in the new picture directed by someone else, but the actress playing Tracy looks very good from what I have seen of the trailers. So, the book is definitely worth reading just to find out more about John Waters. For instance really good to know that he steaks-out the locations of his films in his tuna boat car like a detective before filming in Baltimore. Imagining John Waters in his comfortable apartment pondering his next move, while drinking Ovaltine.

******

In the movie “Nearly 18” 21 year-old Gale Storm (don’t confuse with Ann Sothern!) impersonates a  14 year-old girl to gain admission into an elite  singing and dancing school. Gale swipes a suit case from a rich girl and puts on her girlie clothes. Better yet though, another movie (“Major and Minor”), which came out a year before, has  31 year-old Ginger Rogers impersonating a 12 year-old girl!!!!!!  In this movie Ginger doesn’t have enough money for a train ticket. So, she has to dress like a 12 year-old girl to get a half price child’s ticket. Cleverly, she takes a scissors to gloves, cutting off the fingers, thereby creating instant bobby socks, breaks off the heels of her pumps making school girl loafers, then she cuts the top half of her skirt off, and fastening it with a tight belt somehow, obtains a short skirt. Finally, fixing her hair in bangs (like mine) and pigtails finishes the transformation:

brie as Velma:

Jinkies!