The Surprising Year-End Aesthetics of John Waters
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at 12:29PM For a filmmaker whose movies are so instantly recognizably HIS and his alone, John Waters's annual top ten list adventure at Artforum is not what you'd expect... until you've followed it for a few years that is. It's not the crazy comic camp-fest his movies would suggest. There's usually a mix of outre movies, risque movies, documentaries, and the highbrow dramas. He's all over the place. Literally. Though the 66 year old director hasn't made a movie in eight years he recently hitchhiked across the country and is writing a book about it ("Carsick") to be published next year.
John ♥ Rachel
His number one choice is The Deep Blue Sea... and after Rachel Weisz's win at the NYFCC that movie is suddenly being talked up again.
1 The Deep Blue Sea
2 Paradise: Faith
3 Paradise: Love
4 Amour
Misery is really in this year. “Hurts! Hurts! Hurts!” yells out the dying elderly wife to her longtime-caretaker husband, and ticket buyers will agree. Makes Saw seem like a romantic comedy.
Hee.
5 Killer Joe
6 Beasts of the Southern Wild
7 Compliance
8 Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present
9 Beloved
Another crackpot Umbrellas of Cherbourg homage by the French director who adores unrequited love, cigarettes, Catherine Deneuve, and especially Louis Garrel. Yes, it’s L-O-N-G, but I wished the characters would have kept on singing in the theater even after the projectionist had gone home for the night.
I include this bit about Beloved because I was so curious as to what he saw in it. I tend to like Christophe Honore's films -- possibly because I share his love of love, cigarettes, musicals, and actresses ... but this film loses its way after a terrific start. Or maybe it finds too many ways after a terrific start. It's all over the place. Very first drafty, every idea included.
10 The Imposter (on the documentary finalist list for Oscar)