Monday, April 06, 2020

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Cry-Baby (1990)

Allison: What's the matter, Cry-Baby?
Cry-Baby: Everything's the matter!
Allison: It's just the thunderstorm. 
Heat lightening. It's sexy.
Cry-Baby: It's not sexy! 
Electricity makes me insane!

John Waters' Cry-Baby came out thirty years ago today. I'm pretty sure that Cry-Baby was the first John Waters movie I ever saw (either it or Serial Mom) -- Johnny Depp's sweet face on the videocassette cover would've made it an acceptable pick-up at the video-store for a 12-year-old... little did my parents know! Not that Cry-Baby is Waters' dirtiest movie, by any means -- I guess I'll admit here that I've never felt a deep affection for it? 

Johnny Depp is at his absolute prettiest in it, which is definitely a plus in the plus column, but it kind of always feels like Waters is in automatic pilot to me. It's mildly amusing, but I'm never scandalized or gasping from air from chuckles. But please tell me how wrong I am in the comments, and share what you love about the movie, if indeed anything. I think we can all agree on Hatchet Face:

5 comments:

Tom M said...

I think the "Please Mr. Jailer" musical sequence may have pushed me into puberty. So the movie can't be all bad.

DCameron said...

I definitely agree with the "autopilot" assessment. Almost like it was made by an imitator.

triggerua said...

I don't remember much about the movie except for Hatchet Face and Johnny Depp slipping through a hole in his tighty whities. I think I loved Hairspray and Polyester so much that Cry-Baby was a bit of a let down.

Chip Chandler said...

Never my favorite either, but it could never have lived up to Hairspray (my first Waters)

FoxVerde said...

i like that part in one of john waters recent books about how all the girls would flock to the set and leave johnny notes saying they wanted to suck his cock through a garden hose. talk about mixing up metaphors/bawdy things you hear second hand about movies on the schoolyard. hahahaha