4v291o

Watched on Friday May 30, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 30, 2025.

Watched on Thursday May 29, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday May 28, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday May 27, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday May 27, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday May 27, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday May 27, 2025.

jeannie berlin deserved that oscar nom

bulle ogier playing a civillian who just really wants to see some films at cannes (the 1981 remake of 'the postman always rings twice', 'she dances alone', and 'heaven's gate'). bonus sightings of juliet berto's neige on the tv, a brialy cameo, and pascale sitting in the auditorium of a press conference. i've not been to cannes but i bet it's even worse now, 44 years later. thank you daniel schmid and renato berta.

Watched on Saturday May 24, 2025.

truly incredible hair and makeup in this

Watched on Thursday May 22, 2025.

Watched on Thursday May 22, 2025.

vicesploitation in which 4 out of 5 crew are exceedingly guilty of white yank ignorance and exceptionalism, to their own severe detriment. chloë sevigny takes up a significant amount of her limited luggage capacity with multiple miu miu bags, and walks around rural argentina in white tabi ballerinas. i enjoyed seeing all the dogs.

Watched on Sunday May 18, 2025.

Watched on Sunday May 18, 2025.

Watched on Thursday May 15, 2025.

finally seeing this six months after everyone else because when i actually tried to get tickets to see it on release (multiple nights in glasgow and newcastle respectively) the screeings were sold out, and then the film was spoiled for me, so i gave up. turns out it's up on prime video now (one of the streaming services i leech off), but it felt far too gauche (and frankly anti-catholic) to watch it during the actual conclave, so i waited a few days.

Watched on Friday May 9, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 9, 2025.

Watched on Monday May 5, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 2, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday April 29, 2025.

Watched on Monday April 28, 2025.

Watched on Monday April 28, 2025.

i intended to rewatch films elaine may was either in, wrote and/or directed last year (inspired by the carrie courogen biography of her), but didn't prioritise them, nor did i set off watching them in order. in hindsight that was really stupid of me.

Watched on Friday April 18, 2025.

hard labour is set in salford - and clearly influenced by leigh's childhood spent there. really interested in leigh (famously jewish, famously described his childhood as lower middle class in a working class community/environment) depicting catholicism (in this, liz smith's devoutly catholic mrs thornley cleans for a jewish family).

a film about juxtapositions, paid and unpaid domestic labour, class, gender and intimacy, with slightly offbeat pacing and editing for a play for today - it naturally made me think about akerman, but also fassbinder, especially the present yet silent, looming catholicism lurking in homes of some of his 70s output - crucifixes, a pope portrait and iconography were ever present in the home of the thornleys, and they seemed the type to be constantly scolding each other about mass attendance despite none of them actually bothering to go besides their matriarch (we witness some bickering of the sort taking place).

scoreless and sobering, i loved the scene at church. and hearing alison stean's scouse twinge.

Watched on Saturday April 19, 2025.

Watched on Saturday April 19, 2025.

could have watched another hour of them narrowing down the list of potential names in the workshop, and another hour of mike leigh talking about brook, artaud and the rsc

Watched on Sunday April 13, 2025.

alison stean giving what would be the performance of a lifetime for any other comedic actor (mostly the scenes of betty at home with charlene) in a 17 minute short film for channel 4

will never get over those last two stean and horrocks scenes

watching the film that has a thatcher dartboard felt appropriate

Watched on Tuesday April 8, 2025.

Watched on Saturday April 5, 2025.

alright? okay?

Watched on Thursday April 3, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday April 2, 2025.

been meaning to rewatch mike leigh's campsite satire for years, what with the popularity of the weird walkification of the great outdoors amongst the middle class (esoteric folk revival with neopaganist tendancies, with a uniform of walking boots and fleeces from end clothing and nts nalgenes), and the current day craze for raw milk.

nuts in may was highly influential to so much of the '90s and early '00s british comedy i grew up with (something acknowledged at the time by the likes of vic and bob). this might be a satire from the '70s, but the quiet vitriol in the observations leigh makes on class and gender relations aren't exactly irrelevant, nor are communal camp sites exactly unlike like this fifty years later - the inevitable disappointment of camping holidays that come with the inability to control all aspects of the environment, and inability to harmoniously commune with strangers (across class divides or otherwise).

Watched on Tuesday March 25, 2025.

my guy clocked the bourgeoisie, and the gay bourgeoisie, in a way only one of their own could. thinking about what those closest to him perceived as deep self-hatred for being born into the middle class, and thinking about which of his films are, permissably, at least partial apologies or ittance of wrongdoing (as a result will probably revisit thirteen moons, and maybe i only want you to love me, next). but i swear by this song, and by all that i have done wrong, i will make it all up to thee.

Watched on Thursday March 20, 2025.

Watched on Thursday March 20, 2025.

Watched on Thursday March 20, 2025.

Watched on Thursday March 20, 2025.

" I HAVE NEVER AND WILL NEVER APOLOGISE FOR MY SEX LIFE ! GAY SEX IS NATURAL, GAY SEX IS GOOD! NOT EVERYBODY DOES IT, BUT.....HA HA!"
- george michael, 1:47 AM, may 13 2011

each man kills the thing he loves! realised whilst (re)watching this that his first (surviving) short and final film both feature cottaging (of course it's also in fox, and satan's brew, and the intertitles of the third generation, etc.). bookended! think this guy really likes tearooms.

endless stuff to dissect here, obviously - the tension between sincerity and camp, between fassbinder adopting hollywood affect amidst a backdrop of third reich kitsch (and intermittently revisiting his obsession with gangster films), his desire to make 'hollywood films in ' (is this him realising that, with this film purposefully engineered in english?), the self-referencing, the editing, the amounts of cocaine he was consuming at this point of his life ans career, his readily expressed beliefs on the matter of and art, and what this film says about intention and interpretation and weaponisiation of art re: propaganda, ... i was also thinking about his fascination with visconti's the damned, about sirk, about brecht. the zooms to close up in the first act made me think about eight hours don't make a day, as did the jump cut and schygulla's delivery of "i already had lunch... with your father".

the sirk homages are pure magic - of those the scene in the trees outside the recording studio might be my favourite (endlessly glad he lived to make lola). is the shoehorned-in reveal ten minutes before the end better than the actual climax of the film? much to think about (i finally bought a copy of elsaesser's 'fassbinder's ' after putting it off for years and am eager to read what it says about this film).

wild to me that this, fassbinder's second english language film, ended up doing what both his previous film made in the english language, despair, and the internationally-acclaimed fear eats the soul and the marriage of maria braun had failed to do: it was his first to be put forward by west for the oscars (no doubt an indication of his international profile following berlin alexanderplatz and maria braun - perhaps this says a lot about the west german film industry, also).

complete list of all programming across all four years, as listed on the american cinematheque's website, and partner programming for bleak week 4 - just missing the mystery film at the prince charles cinema in london.

• Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

  bleak week year 1: loz feliz theatre, los angeles (intro by buddy giovinazzo)
  bleak week year 1: encore: loz feliz theatre, los angeles
  bleak week year 3: paris theatre, new york
  bleak week year 4: hollywood theatre, portland
  bleak week year 4: texas theatre, dallas

• Ratcatcher

  bleak week year 1: aero theatre, santa monica (intro by katie walsh, double bill with 'vagabond')
  bleak week year 3: egyptian theatre, los angeles (q&a with lynne ramsay, moderated by mark olsen. also part of ‘lynne ramsay: an american cinematheque retrospective’)
  bleak week year 4: coolidge corner theatre, brookline (double bill with 'we need to talk about kevin')

• Vagabond

  bleak week year 1: aero theatre, santa monica (intro by gwen deglise, double bill with 'ratcatcher')

• Threads

  bleak week year 1: loz feliz theatre, los angeles
  bleak week year 4: trylon cinema, minneapolis
  bleak week year 4: prince charles cinema, london

• Bastards

  bleak week year 1: loz feliz theatre, los angeles (intro by tim grierson)
  bleak week year 4: aero theatre, santa monica (q&a with claire denis. double bill with 'white material', also part of ‘claire denis: an american cinematheque retrospective’)

• Chinatown

  bleak week year 1: aero theatre, santa monica (intro by joshua rothkopf, double bill with sorcerer')
  bleak week year 1: encore: loz feliz theatre, los angeles
  bleak week year 4: hollywood theatre, portland
  bleak week year 4: music box theatre, chicago

• Sorcerer

  bleak week year 1: aero theatre, santa monica (video intro by william friedkin, moderated by josh olson, double bill with 'chinatown')
  bleak week year 3: paris theatre, new york
  bleak week year 4: prince charles cinema, london

• Shame

  bleak week year 1: loz feliz theatre, los angeles (intro by courtney howard)
  bleak week year 3: paris theatre, new york
  bleak week year 4: prince charles cinema, london

• The Young and the Damned

  bleak week year 1: loz feliz theatre, los angeles (intro by carlos aguilar)
  bleak week year 1: encore: loz feliz theatre, los angeles

• Man of the West

  bleak week year 1: loz feliz theatre, los angeles (intro by j.d. connor)
  bleak week year 1: encore: aero theatre, santa monica (double bill with 'the seventh victim')

...plus 198 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

collated from lists, articles, interviews, books and specific programming by john waters (most of these picks were initially sourced in 2013, but i will continue to update with yearly favourites).

see also references in his work.

• The Green Pastures
• The Wizard of Oz
• Rope
• Wild Weed
• Cinderella
• Gun Crazy
• Song of Love
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• Eaux d'artifice
• Sawdust and Tinsel

...plus 424 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

not on letterboxd:
• devices and desires (dir. giles foster, 1974, 56 mins)

• intimate reflections (dir. don boyd, 1975, 86 mins)

• brown ale (also listed as 'brown ale with gertie') (dir alan brown, 1974, 32 mins)

• england home and beauty (dir. christopher mason, 1976, 38 mins)

• the lindsay kemp circus (dir. celestino coronado, 1973, 30 mins)

taken from the april 1978 programme.

• The Moon and the Sledgehammer

  screened with 'devices and desires' (dir. giles foster, 1974, 56 mins)

• Praise Marx and the Ammunition
• Bronco Bullfrog
• Bartleby

  screened with 'the burning'

• The Burning

  screened with 'bartleby'

• Requiem for a Village

  screened with 'children'

• Children

  screened with 'requiem for a village'

• It Happened Here
• Akenfield
• Tunde's Film

  screened with 'knots'

...plus 18 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

titles mentioned in the first four issues of radiance's zine series

• Immoral Tales
• Last Tango in Paris
• That Most Important Thing: Love
• The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
• The Night Porter
• Swept Away
• Liza
• Belle de Jour
• Blind Beast
• Woman in Chains

...plus 217 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

titles taken from his own writing, interviews, and biographies (see notes).

• Destiny

  mentioned by ursula strätz as a film fassbinder claimed was a favourite when they first met.

• The Blue Angel

  inspiration for 'lola' (christian braad thomsen, 1991)

• Dishonored

  #7 on a favourites list written in 1980

• 20,000 Years in Sing Sing

  the last film he saw

• Alexander Nevsky

  "i don't like eisenstein, particularly 'ivan...', 'alexander nevsky' i rather like" - film comment, 1975

• Dodge City

  on the internationale being drowned out by the nazi party anthem during 'berlin alexanderplatz' closing credits: "no doubt borrowed from michael curtiz, about whom fassbinder was preparing a long essay at this time" - in 'dodge city', "where he confronts a union song with a confederate one", and a 'casablanca', in which nazis officers sing 'die wacht am rhein' and the french "reply with the marseillaise". (christian braad thomsen, 1991)

• High Sierra

  walsh's surname allegedly inspired the 'walsch' in fassbinder's pseudonym franz walsch.

• Suspicion

  in 1974 he remarked that 'suspicion' is "the most extreme attack on the bourgeois institution of marriage i know" when talking about his desires to be powerful enough to make "beautiful" and "wonderful" german films that were afforded the ability to be critical of society, the way that certain directors historically could in hollywood (something he claimed multiple times was difficult to achieve in the BRD, as films critical of the state and society prevented distribution and funding opportunities, and critical appraise and awards consideration).

  that same year he also told tony rayns that after viewing "you leave the cinema feeling that the marriage is an impossibility".

• Casablanca

  repeatedly complimented, despite proclaiming that there "are more important things (films) by michael curtiz" in 1980

  on the internationale being drowned out by the nazi party anthem during 'berlin alexanderplatz' closing credits: "no doubt borrowed from michael curtiz, about whom fassbinder was preparing a long essay at this time" - in 'dodge city', "where he confronts a union song with a confederate one", and a 'casablanca', in which nazis officers sing 'die wacht am rhein' and the french "reply with the marseillaise". (christian braad thomsen, 1991)

• Obsession

  referenced as an example of a great film in his rave of schroeter (/hit piece on von praunheim) in 1979.

...plus 89 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

kim has also described claire denis, catherine breillat, olivier assayas, todd haynes, and gus van sant as her favourite working directors.

sources
• variety - "kim gordon talks about her eight top film influences"
• le cinema club - "in the cinéma of... kim gordon"
• "capturing a kind of bravado: kim gordon on catherine breillat and the music in last summer" by anne-katrin titze
• sonic youth's top 10 - criterion collection
• curated by kim gordon - galerie

• Morvern Callar
• Clouds of Sils Maria
• My Brother's Wedding
• Personal Shopper
• The Last Mistress
• The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
• Bastards
• The Housemaid
• Red Desert
• Control

...plus 11 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

from the index of 'little joe: a book about queers and cinema, mostly', edited by sam ashby and published by spbh editions/mack books. also includes programming from screenings presented by little joe.

not on LB:
• brandon (shu lea cheang, 1998-9)
• death of monroe (andrius venclova & vladislav mamyshev-monroe, 1991)
• the denunciation of stan brakhage (kenneth anger, 1979)
• matelots en menottes/sailor's in handcuffs (kenneth anger, 1977)
• new york sisters (rosa von praunheim, 2012)
• pirate television (yuris lesnik, timur novikov & vladislav mamyshev-monroe, 1989-91)
• professor khliustin (yuris lesnik, vladislav mamyshev-monroe & timur novikov, 1991)
• six months (andy warhol, 1964)
• starbound (mike kuchar, 2012)
• tarnished utopia (mike kuchar, 2008)
• those fluttering objects of desire (shu lea cheang, 1992)
• tortures that laugh (john maybury, 1981)
• wildblood (jonesy, listed as 2009, but 2011?) (programmed by little joe for butt magazine's 'club butt' at the institute or contemporary arts, london, in march 2023)

documentaries
• angry initiatives, defiant strategies (john greyson, 1989)
• arena: tales of rock n roll: take a walk on the wild side (james marsh, 1993)
• living with AIDS (jean carlomusto & gregg bordowiz, 1985-94)
• living with AIDS (public access show by gay men's health crisis, featuring segments by carlomusto & bordowiz, 1987-97)
• treatments - adventures in AIDS & media (michael balser, 1996)
• video against AIDS (curated by john greyson & bill horrigan, 1989)

porn
• close shave 2 (ray zor, 1990)
• doin' hard time (brian brennan, 1993)
• raiders of the lost arse (chris ward, 2001)
• sissy squad (anton wagner, 2001)

tv series
• beverly hills, 90210 (1990-2000)
• the big bang theory (2007-19)
• dallas (1978-91)
• dawson's creek (1998-2003) +
• girls (2012-17)
• glee (2009-15)
• jackass (2000-2)
• lindenstraße (1985-2000) +
• my so-called life (1994-5) +
• one life to live (1968-2013) +
• queer as folk (UK, 1999-2000) +
• queer as folk (USA/canada, 2000-5) +
• sesame street (1969-present)
• the smurfs (1981-90)
• the twilight zone (1959-64, 1985-89, 2002-3)
• 'world news' coverage of the murder of matthew shepard (1997) +
+ from 'gay teens on tv' by matt wolf

books
• hollywood babylon - kenneth anger
• cruising the movies - boyd mcdonald

magazines and journals
• cinim
• after image
• films and filming (1950s-70s, "covertly gay")
• after dark (1960s-80s)
• BUTT magazine

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'the little joe clubhouse' at the fringe! gay film festival, east london, april 2012

• games (picked by kevin killian)
• la paloma (picked by bruce hainley)
• star (picked by shanay jhaveri)
• king's cross (picked by ben campkin)
• looking for langston (picked by ben campkin)
• loads (picked by william e jones)
• the queen is dead (picked by scott treleavan)
• grace jones: a one man show (picked by bradford nordeen)
• bob mizer (picked by billy miller)
• framed youth: revenge of the teenage perverts (picked by patrick staff & ed webb-ingall)
• forrest bess: the key to the riddle (picked by mark turner)
• blue (picked by matt wolf)
• anthology of american folk song (picked by jon davies)
• meeting strangers: red light, green light (picked by ed halter)
• amphetamine (picked by stuart comer)
• tortures that laugh (picked by james mackay)
• les minets sauvages (picked by james mackay)
• un chant d'amour (picked by jonathan kemp)
• poison (picked by liz rosenfeld)
• last address (picked by r justin hunt)
• third known nest (picked by tom kalin)
• lost lake (picked by a.l. stelner)
• je t'aime moi non plus (picked by a.l. stelner)
• charming for the revolution (picked by a.k. burns)
• nights in the gardens of ???? (picked by edward thomasson)
• kamikaze hearts (picked by jeni olson)
• fear of fear (picked by wayne koestenbaum)

• Four Stars
• The Thirteen Most Beautiful Boys
• 1313: Giant Killer Bees!
• 1990: The Bronx Warriors
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• 3 Women

  'video library' pick by john cameron mitchell

• 3x3x6
• 5 Broken Cameras

  'video library' pick by sarah schulman

• AIDS: A Family Affair
• Aliens

...plus 494 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

see also:
• list of films referenced in the works of john waters
• list of films recommended by john waters may also be of interest.

notes:
figurines of count dracula, frankenstein's monster and the wolf man are visible in chip's room. a couple of videos seen at the store are not on letterboxd - they are performances by paul mccartney and paul simon that aired as tv specials.

• Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

  chip asks eugene if he has seen it over the breakfast table.

• Blood Feast

  watched by chip, birdie and scotty, and later chip and beverly. a poster also appears on chip's bedroom walls, and it is declared by him as "the 'citizen kane' of gore movies".

• Citizen Kane

  referenced by chip when he declares 'blood feast' the "the citizen kane of gore movies".

• Marathon Man

  ralph refers to eugene as being "worse than the dentist in 'marathon man'.

• Annie

  rented and watched by mrs jenson, 'tomorrow' plays digetically.

• Ghost Dad

  the un-rewound tape mrs jenson returns.

• Pee-wee's Big Adventure

  pee-wee doll

• Big Top Pee-wee

  pee-wee doll

• Strait-Jacket

  plays in the video store.

• Deadly Weapons

  the film scotty watches in his room.

...plus 253 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

posters on walls, explicit references and nods to other films in the works of john waters - see notes for information.

• list of films recommended by waters
• list of films that exist in the 'serial mom' universe

• Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

  waters credits tura satana's 'monotone yelling' in this film with inspiring his direction in general, though he also credits theatre of cruelty and the fact that logistics meant he initially required all cast to shout. inspired dancing scenes in 'female trouble'. poster visible in 'polyester'.

• The Creature Walks Among Us

  footage used in 'roman candles'

• Chelsea Girls

  the dual projection directly inspired 'roman candles'

• The Wizard of Oz

  parodied by 'dorothy, the kansas city pothead', and referenced by the heel-clicking scene and usage of 'we're off to see the wizard' in 'mondo trasho'. referenced in 'cecil b. demented'.

• Mondo Cane

  the first film of the mondo genre to include the word in it's title, referenced by 'mondo trasho'. 'life savers girls' by riz ortolani from the film is also used.

• Mondo Topless

  referenced by 'mondo trasho'

• The Girl Can't Help It

  the theme plays throughout during 'mondo trasho', and again during the street scene in 'pink flamingos', that directly references the film. this reference is reused in 'female trouble'. the set design was allegedly also an influence on the set design in 'female trouble'.

• College Rhythm

  lyda roberti's rendition of 'take a number from one to ten' from the film features on the soundtrack to 'mondo trasho'

• Two Thousand Maniacs!

  title of 'multiple maniacs' is a direct reference. poster visible in chip's room in 'serial mom'

• Inga

  mentioned in 'multiple maniacs', poster visible in 'polyester'.

...plus 146 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.