October '97: It's official! The movie is "Pecker" and it's begun filming in Hampden, Baltimore (of course), starring little Eddie Furlong of "Terminator 2" fame. Other supposed cast members are Christina Ricci (The Ice Storm, The Adams Family), Lili Taylor (I Shot Andy Warhol), Martha Plimpton (Pulp Fiction) and Ricki Lake. Production officially started on Monday, October 20. Many thanks to Skully, and Bal'morian Marc for spying the set on my behalf. And thanks to my dad for the clipping from the Baltimore Sun you see above. There are a few more details at Aint It Cool News, an online magazine compiled by Harry Jay Knowles (thanks to JoshD for the ref). There's also an article at memphisflyer.com featuring an interview focusing on Pink Flamingos, but also mentioning Pecker.

September '97: Rumour has it that production on "Pecker" has begun! I know very little details, except that it's rumoured to be budgeted at $35m and that filming starts October 1. This tidbit is not firsthand, secondhand or thirdhand, so take it with a grain of salt please. What is conifirmed is that John was spotted shopping at the extremely expensive, trendy clothing designer, Comme des Garçons, yesterday in SoHo - NYC. A friend spotted him and told me, but I didn't chase after him. Maybe he's taken that $35m and gone shopping!

Summer '97: It's been a lazy summer for me, but I'm back for another update on what's happening in the life of my fave filmmaker. Pink Flamingos was released on video by New Line in July with the bonus footage at the end. And The Voyager Company has released a laserdisc version as well. There have been several more interviews, including one with Rolling Stone's Jancee Dunn, and my favorite from Ray Gun with the retro-rockers Redd Kross.

A fan of Mink Stole by the name of Amy Irons has been keeping me up to date on all of Mink's projects, like three independent films called "Leather Jacket Love Story," "Crazysitter" in which she plays a nurse, and "Pink as the Day She Was Born." Mink also did a guest spot as a shoe-buyer on Married With Children - an ironic twist to the Divine saga. Some of her older non-Waters work includes "Frankenstein Sings a/k/a Monster Mash: The Movie" and a major role as a demented porno director in "Liquid Dreams."

Check out mysterease's web site. He's got some videos to trade, if you're looking for those hard to find Waters films.

A recent request came to me via email asking if I knew the lyrics to "Female Trouble." Seems this nice band of boys wants to cover it. The only trouble is, no one can seem to decipher the words from our worn out old videotapes. If you've got any ideas, check out the new Do You Know the Lyrics to Female Trouble page, and send me an email.



John Waters received the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chicago Underground Film Festival on August 17th. Mink Stole was also on hand at the festival, as she was starring in a new underground film by Laurie Pike, "The Baby Haters." Highlights of the day included a screening of Female Trouble (introduced by John), a "Making of Pink Flamingos" panel discussion with John, Mink, Elizabeth Coffey (the flasher from Pink Flamingos), and the director of "Love Letter to Edie", Robert Maier. John also did his "Shock Value" spoken word program, and took questions from the audience. He disclosed that "Pecker" will begin shooting in the Fall, and that Female Trouble will not be re-released on video too soon because, as he put it, "We're holding that one back like Disney did with Fantasia." He also said that "Michael Jackson is the filthiest person alive." A special thanks to Marguerite Spaulding for this bit of news.



The often-asked-about 14 minute short film "Love Letter to Edie" (1974) is now available for purchase at videos.com in a special collectors' VHS edition, made from a restored 16mm original film print. It features John and many other Dreamlanders.



Now back to John: he has produced 17 color and black and white prints to create "Directors Cut," a series of movie stills arranged in a story board format. It showed in Los Angeles' Pace/Wildenstein gallery a couple months ago. Apparantly very well received, it featured pieces such as "Zapruder" starring Divine, and "Frances," a picture of Francis the Mule and of Frances Farmer (as played by Jessica Lange. Thanks to Dorian for this update. To see more of these images, check out this page.



And Finally, John sells out! He's featured above in one of those sunglasses ads we've all seen in a million magazines. I wonder how many people will recognize him?



May '97: I didn't believe it until I saw it in the stores last week - the soundtrack to Pink Flamingos was released by Hip-O Records, distributed by Universal Music. So bug the local record shop to get it so you can hear what John Waters calls "filth music" in the liner notes. It has all the songs, from Link Wray's "The Swag," the groovy opening number, through to Patti Page's "How Much is That Doggie In The Window," and you know what scene that goes with. And something I forgot to mention last month - Mr. Waters was interviewed on National Public Radio about the rerelease.



April '97: Well, it's out! The infamous re-release of the trash classic, Pink Flamingos, has hit theaters in major US cities. And with it comes a wave of John Waters publicity. For hungry fans, check out the May 1997 issue of US magazine (why do they pre-date these magazines so far in advance?) with the X-Files cover story. Inside is a mouth-watering interview with Mr. Waters - plus a bonus recipe for Seafood Pasta! No kidding! There's also an essay by infamous queer director, Gus Van Sant in this month's Advocate. If you live in New York, make sure to find this week's (April 11) issue of Next magazine. They've also got an interview to share. Another more widely know NY publication, Time Out New York, also featured John on their cover, Martini in hand, with a swank interview to match.

In other news, albeit on a much more personal level, I finally met John Waters at a book signing here in Manhattan. Last Thursday, he stopped by Borders near the World Trade Center to sign copies of his books, two of which are recently re-released: Trash Trio and Shock Value. Look for them in any good bookstore.





February '97: Fox Television recently aired an episode of The Simpsons featuring special guest, John Waters. In the episode, John befriends the Simpson family for their sheer camp value. While he's treating open-minded Marge, Lisa and Bart to a seedy tour of Springfield, Homer questions his son's sexuality and confesses that he doesn't like fags. Not that he can explain why! This may be a cartoon first - queer politics in animated prime-time. It is also implied that John has had some sort of "relationship" with Wayland Smithers, although the details are sketchy.



Get that camera out of my face, can't you see I'm reading! - John Waters at Sundance.

February '97: I recently read that Mr. Waters was honored at the annual Sundance Film Festival with a party celebrating the 25th anniversary of his notorious classic, Pink Flamingos. Before the midnight tribute to this shit-eating masterpiece, John hitchhiked around town with the rest of the celebs. He had this to say about the Festival: "It's the same thing as a shoe convention, only it's more glamorous."

Pink Flamingos is supposedly being rereleased this Spring in major cities only. John has been quoted as saying "this is one rerelease that is definitely not coming to a neighborhood theater near you." It will include a prologue of John smoking a cigarette as he tells the audience that they may not (previously seen on the laserdisc for Polyester from the Voyager Company) and an epilogue with previously unseen footage from Pink Flamingos.

January '97: This month, John is featured in two magazines. First, he's on the cover of a tabloid size publication called Index. There's a lengthy interview and some recent photos of Sir Waters, photos he's taken and some stills from his films. The discussion centers around his previously unexposed talent as a photographer. The second publication is Grand Street No.58. This is a far more glossy, artsy periodical which features a strip of photos John has taken of actress Dorothy Malone's collar. The piece is titled, appropriately enough, Dorothy Malone's Collar, 1996.

1995–96 News