{image1}Now that Russ Meyer is gone, John Waters can officially ascend to the throne of sex-centric B movie directors. And in his latest film, "A Dirty Shame," he continues his trend of making stars of some of the most unlikely characters and making unlikely characters of some stars.
Many of us almost forgot about the comedic genius that Tracey Ullman (thank you for "The Simpsons" and for a rare, George Clinton TV theme song!), but we're thrilled to have her back in this new Waters film about a residential Baltimore neighborhood that rapidly falls victim to concussion-induced sex addict zombies (well, they're not really zombies, but it sounds cool, doesn't it?!).
Ullman is Sylvia Stickles, a chilly, sex-hating housewife, married to happy go luckily innocent Vaughn (Chris Isaak). Upstairs, kept under lock and key -- she's under house arrest for indecency -- is their absurdly large-breasted, daughter Caprice (Selma Blair), a former stripper, who still gets fan mail and visits from well-wishers.
On her way to work at the quickie mart owned by her mother Big Ethel (Suzanne Shepherd), Sylvia bonks her head and is initiated into the sex-crazed universe of Ray Ray (Johnny Knoxville) and his band of neighborhood residents, each of whom entered the fold after some kind of head trauma (bonked on the car door, fell down the steps, stepped on a rake, etc.).
Big Ethel is forced to round up a posse of residents who are offended by the public nudity and exhibitionist sex of the addicts, but can a small group of so-called "neuters" win a war against this salacious troupe of sex fiends in search of an entirely new sex act?
Of course, the dialogue is often crap and Isaak especially excels in that kind of stunted acting that defines the best B movies. But that's the point, silly. The story is wacky and the film combines humor and social commentary while mixing genres (musicals, horror movies, B movies) in an almost slap-dash way.
It works and you'll love it.
Waters fans will want to keep their eyes peeled for former protégé Ricki Lake, who makes an appearance, sort of.
"A Dirty Shame" opens Friday, Sept. 24 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
