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Annapurna Sriram has a lengthy showbiz resume, acting in massive series like “The Blacklist” and “Billions,” indie films and other projects. Yet, after a childhood obsessed with daring cinema from auteurs like John Waters, she didn’t feel she was living up to her creative potential.

“As an actor who is ethnically ambiguous, I was getting pigeonholed into a lot of really boring, sort of racial stereotypes,” Sriram says. “‘You’re the brown girl with a headscarf whose parents have an arranged marriage. You’re the doctor in this.’ So I felt like that didn’t excite me, and if I wanted to be a doctor, I’d just be a doctor. I’d make a lot more money, and my parents wouldn’t stress out so much.”

So began the long genesis of “Fucktoys,” her debut feature which is set to premiere tonight at the SXSW TV & Film Festival.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Banel & Adama (Ramata-Toulaye Sy)

A directorial debut programmed into the main Cannes competition is typically viewed with suspicion, if not overlooked altogether. Very rare is that lightning-in-a-bottle moment like the arrival of Son of Saul some years back. Typically, the only conversation these debuts generate is the critical debate as to why they’ve been elevated to the top of the pile when there are far more striking debuts buried deeper within the festival. This often means that accomplished films are overlooked and underappreciated by those on the ground, who may be subconsciously comparing a striking feature to the work of more established names it’s competing against for the Palme d’Or, approaching each debut with a “show me” attitude it...

Once upon a time, TV was a passive experience.

You turned it on, plopped down on the couch, and let the story unfold without lifting a finger.

But then came shows like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, which flipped the script and handed the reins to the audience.

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Netflix/Screenshot)

Suddenly, viewers were making decisions for characters, shaping outcomes, and realizing they didn’t have to sit back and watch anymore — they could steer the story.

Sure, it was a gimmick, but it planted a seed.

Now, with technology evolving and our hunger for personalized content growing, interactive TV might be the next big thing. Or is it just a passing fad?

A History of “Choose Your Own Adventure”

Before we dive into interactive TV, let’s take a moment to appreciate the Og of storytelling control: Choose Your Own Adventure books.

If you grew up reading these, you know they were the bomb.

Rue the Christmas blues no more — the Criterion Channel has you covered with plenty of great films to stream this holiday season thanks to the platform’s December lineup.

As announced on Wednesday, Criterion Channel starting December 1 will host a greatest-hits collection of “Pope of Trash” John Waters’ most iconic movies. Divine-starring classics such as “Multiple Maniacs” (1970), “Female Trouble” (1974), “Hairspray” (1988), and “Polyester” (1981) fit the bill, while you shouldn’t miss a camped-up Kathleen Turner as a murderous suburban matriarch in “Serial Mom,” a role her agents told her would ruin her career. Well, the rest is history. For a bonus, John Waters also provides interview commentary on a selection of some of his own favorite movies, including Ingmar Bergman’s 1958 “Brink of Life,” Samuel Fuller’s 1964 “The Naked Kiss,” and Barbara Loden’s influential 1970 classic “Wanda.”

Elsewhere, Criterion Channel celebrates five decades of Alfred Hitchcock’s career with a murderer’s row of all-timers,...

Now that they’ve set the year’s best film for a December 10 debut, the Criterion Channel have unveiled the rest of next month’s selection. John Waters’ films are inseparable from John Waters’ presence, making fitting Criterion’s decision to pair an eight-film retrospective (Multiple Maniacs to Cecil B. Demented) with his own “Adventures in Moviegoing” wherein the director extols virtues of Bergman, Chabrol, Barbara Loden, and Samuel Fuller. His own Polyester will have a Criterion Edition alongside the Bob Dylan doc Don’t Look Back, an iconic film in its own right and, I think, fitting companion to The Unknown with Lon Chaney, also streaming on Criterion. No Country for Old Men and Election receive likewise treatment; the latter appears in “MTV Productions,” a series featuring Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, The Original Kings of Comedy, and (coming close to Freddy Got Fingered for least-expected 2024 addition) Jackass: the Movie.

NewFest has announced the full lineup for the 36th edition of the New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival.

The largest queer film festival in the U.S., it will include more than 140 new features, shorts and episodic projects from 31 countries in addition to legacy screenings.

The festival runs Oct. 10 to Oct. 20 in theaters in Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well as on NewFest’s on-demand platform until Oct. 22, with venues including the Sva Theatre, The LGBT Community Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Nitehawk Prospect Park.

The opening film on Oct. 10 is the N.Y. City premiere of Roshan Sethi’s “A Nice Indian Boy,” which had its world premiere at SXSW. The closing night selection is Jacques Audiard’s musical drama “Emilia Pérez,” which won the Cannes Jury Prize and the best actress award for Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz.

Erin Carr’s “Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara...

John Waters is a beyond magnificent director and is a true auteur; let’s take a look at his work and how his “strangeness” has impacted the way we view Cinema itself. Weirdness is my schtick, and it’s my favorite aspect of the human condition. For us to consider something as “weird” is subjective; and even so, what we’re even classifying as such is subjective in itself. When I think of something as “weird” or “strange,” I lean more towards what itches my brain in that particular spot that can’t be quite reached by anything else. More or so, what itches my brain, even more, is when a film or TV show is considered “odd” in some way. There is so much power in the world of creating visual content, and achieving an emotional reaction that causes the audience to feel rather off in an exciting way that keeps us intrigued.

John Waters’s Cry-Baby is the ideal companion piece to the filmmaker’s 1988 hit Hairspray. That film takes place in the early ’60s, against the backdrop of the civil rights movement, and deals in a lighthearted fashion with thorny issues of racial segregation, while Cry-Baby uses its mid-’50s setting to poke fun at class conflict in staid Eisenhower-era Baltimore. And both films are perfectly realized period pieces awash with the music of their respective eras: Hairspray focusing on soul and R&b, Cry-Baby packed with catchy rockabilly and doowop numbers.

Cry-Baby focuses on Wade Walker (Johnny Depp), the leader of a redoubtable gang of “drapes,” a Baltimorean spin on the greasers of the time. Events begin to echo Romeo and Juliet once Cry-Baby, who’s known for driving girls crazy for the way he’s able to shed a single tear, makes a play for Allison (Amy Locane), the...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSThe Truman Show.Joana Vicente has resigned from her post at the helm of the Sundance Film Festival after less than three years. Some industry sources have pointed to a contentious relationship with the board on fundraising matters as one possible explanation.This year’s Cannes Film Festival will open with Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act, a surrealist backstage comedy starring Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel, and Raphaël Quenard.Concerns about copyright, continuity, tech business models, and the uncanny valley lead industry insiders to speculate that generative AI won’t soon be making its big-screen debut, though it will increasingly be a part of pre-production workflows.Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023) has opened in Japan to mixed...

Divine's versatile talent and daring creativity made him an iconic figure in American counterculture. Divine's flamboyant and commanding presence inspired Disney's Ursula the sea witch in The Little Mermaid. Divine's impact on drag and LGBTQ+ communities led to his recognition as the "Drag Queen of the Century."

Harris Glenn Milstead, known by his stage name Divine, was an American actor, drag queen, and singer best known for his role in Hairspray. He rose to fame through his work with independent filmmaker John Waters, performing primarily female roles in both cinematic and theatrical productions. Divine's early interest in drag developed while working as a women's hairdresser, leading him to the countercultural scene of Baltimore where he met Waters. His portrayal of bold, often controversial characters, alongside his unique drag persona in his music career, made him an iconic figure in American counterculture. His career was still thriving when he passed...

When John Waters shocked audiences with “Pink Flamingos” more than 50 years ago, he probably didn’t foresee major museum exhibitions of his trashy aesthetic and irreverent filmmaking. But half a century later, he’s become the elder statesman of rebellion, and the Academy Museum is celebrating Baltimore’s treasure with a career-spanning exhibit and accompanying film retrospective.

Opening Sunday in Los Angeles, the extensive exhibit includes 400 pieces over 12 galleries. At the preview, Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said, “John Waters: Pope of Trash is a salute to an individual creative voice and the distinctive contributions he has made over the past six decades, not only to the art of film but to American pop culture.”

Among the many must-see props and costumes on display were the jackets Johnny Depp wore in the 1990 film “Cry Baby” and the prop electric chair from “Female Trouble.

John Waters is no longer a cult filmmaker. The filmmaker, author, artist, actor, and spoken-word performer has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1990 (David Lynch was his sponsor). He’s screened “Hairspray” in the museum’s theater (with a Q&a moderated by Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins). The Academy Film Archive preserved his PSA, “John Waters Doesn’t Want You to Smoke.” He’s even getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As Waters likes to note, he’s so respectable he could puke.

At this point, everyone loves John Waters. John Waters should be hosting the Oscars, an idea so commonly held that if you ask the upbeat and unerringly polite Academy CEO Bill Kramer the odds of making that happen, you can hear him doing his best not to roll his eyes. “If I had a dime for every time that question’s been asked,...

John Waters looks positive giddy as he perches on the edge of his chair at the Provincetown Film Festival, chuckling as he recalls the bad reviews Variety gave him back in the day.

I recall one from the 1974 write-up for “Female Trouble” — “‘Camp’ is too elegant a word to describe it all” — and he rolls his eyes at the word “camp.” “No one says that word anymore,” he laughs. “To me, ‘camp’ is like two older gay gentlemen talking about Tiffany lampshades in an antique shop. We were never that. We used ‘trash’ or ‘filth,’ which was more punk, to describe our style.”

Trade reviews offered a strange sort of validation for the budding “smut-eur,” who would take the put-downs and twist them to his advantage back in the early ’70s, turning bad blurbs into good publicity for his gonzo stunts. When Fine Line rereleased Waters’ most notorious film, 1972’s “Pink Flamingos,...

Cult director John Waters has produced some of the most shocking and outrageous scenes in film history that have delighted fans for over 60 years of pure filth.

He began his career with low-budget indie films and then later proceeded to push the boundaries of taste when he released Pink Flamingos in 1972 to outraged critics starring his iconic muse, drag queen Divine, who played the “filthiest person alive.” Divine continued to collaborate with Waters and featured in several of his movies, including Multiple Maniacs, Female Trouble, Polyester (alongside Tab Hunter), and Hairspray.

Not one to shy away from the controversy, he leaned into his nickname ‘‘The Pope of Trash’ to create more campy 90’s classics like Cry-Baby starring Johnny Depp, Pecker; Cecil B. Demented; Serial Mom starring Kathleen Turner. Waters directed his last film, A Dirty Shame, in 2004, featuring Tracey Ullman, Johnny Knoxville, and Chris Isaak. He shifted his focus in...

Chicago – The legendary “Pope of Trash,” outrageous filmmaker John Waters, promoted his new novel “Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance” at the Chicago Humanities Festival (Chf) on May 7th, 2022, and HollywoodChicago.com was there.

Waters sat down for an interview with Chicago cinéaste Richard Knight Jr. at the Spring Chf, and signed his new novel afterward. Photographer Joe Arce got an Exclusive Portrait of the filmmaker, and Patrick McDonald got a bit of insight into his film film, “Hag in a Black Leather Jacket,” which Waters made on 8mm in 1964 at age 18 … see the 30 second documentary below.

John Waters at Chicago Humanities Festival, May 7th, 2022

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

John Waters was born in Baltimore, and his met his frequent collaborator Divine (Glenn Milstead) while growing up in nearby Lutherville. He absorbed the atmosphere of “Charm City” and used Baltimore as the early settings for his films,...

The pope of trash, the duke of dirt, the prince of puke. As cinema’s darling purveyor of filth, John Waters, at 76, has heard and seen it all, and he isn’t slowing down. In fact, he turns 76 on this very day, April 22, and is readying to premiere his new one-man, spoken-word special, “False Negative,” in New York and then Atlantic City this weekend. He’s also got a debut novel, “Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance,” coming out from Macmillan May 3. There may even be a new film project in the works, though Waters is loath to spill his secrets. His breakout feature, the gleefully demonic, camp-exploitation classic “Pink Flamingos,” also celebrates a birthday this year, five decades after its release in 1972.

Waters, in a phone interview from his Baltimore stomping grounds, is chuffed at the hilarity of the film landing in the National Film Registry this year. At the time,...

Happy Friday, everyone! This time last week, we celebrated the amazing independent horror films that were released throughout the 1970s, so it only makes sense that we shift our focus today to all the great indie genre movies and moviemakers that helped make the ’80s one of the most unforgettable decades in horror.

Much like the 1970s, we saw a handful of eventual Masters of Horror establish themselves as genre storytellers on the indie side of things throughout the ’80s. On the East Coast, we saw an explosion of creativity come out of New York City with filmmakers such as William Lustig, Frank Henenlotter, Larry Fessenden, and Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman making their feature debuts in the world of horror during the ’80s. And even though Troma Entertainment was founded in 1974, the company really came into its own during the 1980s as well. The indie studio founded by the aforementioned...

I’d recently been absorbed in the deep colors and heartache of Douglas Sirk's melodramas, following on from this I found myself pining for more white picket fence drama, but with a twist. This is where John Waters came back into my world, how I had missed him, so this edition of Notebooks Soundtrack Mix is a sonic ode to a pioneer of perversion. I started back with Polyester (1981) and Serial Mom (1994), which, alongside Gus Van Sant's 1995 To Die For is a double bill I’m always dreaming of. The work of John Waters ramps up the technicolor dreams of Sirk and places them in a camp world of dysfunctional misfits. His work is a reminder to not take things so seriously and that there is a place for everyone in this world which, importantly, includes the poor, repugnant and nasty! Waters is famous for his use of...

Miranda Lambert joins pop icon Barry Gibb and Rival Sons frontman Jay Buchanan on a groove-heavy new recording of “Jive Talkin’,” from Gibb’s newly released album Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook, Vol. 1. Featuring appearances by Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, and Dolly Parton, the project emphasizes the songwriting roots of the Bee Gees’ work.

With distinct vocal contributions by all three singers, the new version of “Jive Talkin’” feels positively languid by comparison to the original disco number from the blockbuster 1977 Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Dave Cobb’s production lends it an atmosphere of warmth,...

Whether it’s coming out of Nashville, New York, L.A., or points in between, there’s no shortage of fresh tunes, especially from artists who have yet to become household names. Rolling Stone Country selects some of the best new music releases from country and Americana artists.

Ross Cooper, “South of the Angels”

Bona fide cowboy Ross Cooper pays tribute to his remote slice of West Texas in this moody new ballad off his upcoming album Chasing Old Highs, due February 26th. Cooper’s voice is defiant and haunting...

It has been a terrible year for graduating classes all over the country. To pick up the spirits of grads everywhere, here is a speech that director John Waters gives today in virtual fashion to the graduating class of the School of Visual Arts. The irreverent Baltimore-based director of films from Hairspray to Pink Flamingos, Polyester and Serial Mom seemed to be determined to motivate and energize a class of grads heading into the most precarious job market in memory. But he often heads into detours, from pondering the inevitable Tiger King Porn film knockoff to a Lori Loughlin shout out, and the possibility that grads might be unique if in fact they have the distinction of possibly being the last graduating class in the world, ever. So it’s not the Braveheart speech, but it’s still pretty entertaining stuff as the offbeat filmmaker dispenses life lessons. Here is his speech.

Luke Dick has had his biggest commercial success as a hit country songwriter for artists like Eric Church and Dierks Bentley, but his work outside of the Music Row bubble is what distinguishes him as a Nashville-based renaissance man. In January, his documentary Red Dog, about growing up as the son of a dancer in a notorious Oklahoma City strip club, arrived on streaming services and for sale. He also plays his own pop-art-inspired music in the band Steve — formerly known as Republican Hair.

In the latest installment of Chris Shiflett...

It’s 50 years since John Waters made his first feature film, “Mondo Trasho” — a scuzzy, Divine-starring underground ride that set the tone for a career of joyously offending delicate sensibilities and expanding the boundaries of U.S. indie cinema, through such now-celebrated films as “Pink Flamingos,” “Polyester” and the original, pre-Broadway incarnation of “Hairspray.” With Locarno celebrating Waters’ films with a mini-retrospective and the Pardo d’onore Manor award for career achievement, we caught up with the 73-year-old to discuss cinematic rebellion, past and present.

Half a century ago, when you were releasing your first feature, you can’t have imagined that you’d now be getting career awards and retrospectives at a major film festivals.

I know, I love it. It’s so different, though. When I was growing up, people’s parents found my films and called the police. Now people say to me, “My parents love you,...

April 9

– Exclusive: Organizers have today announced plans for the first annual Northwoods Film Festival, to be hosted on August 16 and 17, 2019 at the Lakeland Cinema 6 in Woodruff, Wisconsin. Over the course of two days, the non-for-profit festival will bring groundbreaking and dynamic programming to local audiences, aiming to create conversation and appreciation for film in Northern Wisconsin. The lineup for the festival, which will be announced in the coming months, will bring independent films showcasing thoughtful topics and engaging stories not normally available to audiences in the area.

Through its programming, “the festival aims to attract audiences from the local community of varying ages, backgrounds, and a mix of local residents and seasonal guests. The festival will showcase the warmth and hospitality of the Northern Wisconsin area to bring audiences together in a shared space to enjoy independent film.”

“We are thrilled to channel our passion for the arts and cinema...

Colombian director Cirro Guerra (Birds Of Passage) has been appointed head of jury for Critics’ Week, which runs parallel to the Cannes Film Festival and is dedicated to first and second films. The jury is rounded out by actress Amira Casar (Call Me By Your Name), Danish producer Marianne Slot (The House That Jack Built), Congolese critic Djia Mambu and Italian director Jonas Carpignano (A Ciambra). Guerra’s critically acclaimed 2015 black-and-white pic The Embrace of the Serpent won the top prize at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and was nominated for a foreign-language Oscar in 2016. His most recent film Birds Of Passage also world premiered at Directors’ Fortnight. Critics’ Week, headed by Charles Tesson, has previously helped launch the careers of Jacques Audiard, Alejandro González Iñarritu, Ken Loach, François Ozon, Wong Kar-waï and Jeff Nichols.

John Waters is to receive the Locarno Film Festival‘s highest honorary distinction, the Pardo d’Onore Manor,...

Previous recipients include Ken Loach, Werner Herzog and Agnès Varda.

Us filmmaker John Waters will receive the honorary Pardo d’onore Manor lifetime achievement award at the 72nd Locarno Film Festival this year (August 7-17).

Waters will accept the award in a special ceremony in Locarno’s Piazza Grande on August 16.

The Baltimore native has been a director for more than fifty years, making his first short film Hag In A Black Leather Jacket in 1964 and his first feature Mondo Trasho in 1969. He is renowned for embracing an irreverent style in films such as Pink Flamingos (1972), Female Trouble (1974) and Desperate Living (1977).

Waters’ 2000 feature Cecil B.

John Waters is set to receive the Pardo d’onore Manor lifetime achievement award at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, the first under new artistic director Lili Hinstin. The cult U.S. filmmaker will receive the festival’s highest distinction in Locarno’s Piazza Grande on Aug. 16.

Hinstin said Waters’ “playful” work, which was “full of boldness and joy,” offered “a symbol of freedom far removed from the political correctness ruling today.”

“For my first edition, offering John Waters the highest distinction of the festival is a perfect manifesto,” said Hinstin. “His political and aesthetic commitment is vital in these times, and I am extremely happy and honored to share his incredible work with the audience of Locarno.”

Waters’ appearance in the Piazza Grande will be followed by a ‘Crazy Midnight’ screening – the festival’s new strand introduced to the program this year – of his 2000 film “Cecil B. DeMented.

One of the most exciting genre celebrations in recent years, the Salem Horror Fest celebrated another successful gathering of horror lovers last year, and Daily Dead was thrilled to be a media sponsor of the 10-day event. This year's Salem Horror Fest looks to be even more memorable, as it's been announced that legendary filmmaker and author John Waters will be on hand to do a live performance of "This Filthy World: Filthier & More Horrible."

Waters' live performance will take place at the Peabody Essex Museum on Wednesday, October 9th. To learn more about tickets, visit Salem Horror Fest online.

Salem Horror Fest 2019 will begin on Thursday, October 3rd and run through Sunday, October 13th. If you're looking to book a hotel or secure an Airbnb, then you'll want to do it here sooner rather than later, as space is limited.

We'll be sure to keep Daily Dead readers updated...

Every year, the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys must choose which notable performers and creators to memorialize in their In Memoriam segments, and the three organizations will have many talented entertainers to remember at 2019’s ceremonies.

The past year saw the loss of celebrated stars of the big screen, such “Smokey and the Bandit” star Burt Reynolds, who died Sept. 6. Reynolds, who was 82, earned an Oscar nom for “Boogie Nights” and also appeared on television in “Evening Shade.”

Among the other notable movie performers lost this year were “Superman” and “Smallville” actress Margot Kidder, who died May 13; “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” star Sondra Locke, who was also a film director and died Nov. 3; and Susan Anspach, who starred in “Five Easy Pieces” and “Blume in Love” and died April 2.

Several stars known for their work in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s passed away in 2018, including Dorothy Malone, who starred...

With just six weeks left for 2018, Gold Derby celebrates over 40 celebrities and entertainers who died in the past 12 months. Tour our photo gallery above as we feature tributes to 25 losses from this year so far.

Stan Lee, co-creator of many iconic superheroes, died on November 12 at age 95. For Marvel Comics and later many films and TV programs, his characters included Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and the Avengers.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen died on October 15 at age 65. He and Bill Gates helped start the microcomputer revolution in the mid-1970s by creating the world’s largest PC software company.

Burt Reynolds died on September 6 at age 82 in Florida. He was an Oscar nominee for “Boogie Nights” and an Emmy winner for “Evening Shade.” He was one of the top box office stars of the 1970s with movies such as “Deliverance,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “The Longest Yard,...

“To ask ‘Whatever happened to Tab Hunter?'” a reporter for The New York Times once wrote, “is to ask ‘Whatever happened to America?'”

As we remember Hunter — the Hollywood heartthrob who died this week a few days shy of his 87th birthday — it’s clear that his own career and personal path follows America’s (and Hollywood’s) arc of understanding homosexuality in the post-wwii era. A performer who was once deeply closeted in the industry could, in his later years, make two outrageous comedies in which his romantic co-lead was played by legendary drag queen Divine.

Born Arthur Gelien, Tab Hunter was one of a stable of performers groomed for stardom by agent Henry Willson, who gave the neophyte performer his name and his first forays onto the big screen.

Hunter made his big-screen debut in 1950 and would become one of the decade’s biggest stars, both...

With his blonde hair and all-American good looks, Tab Hunter was the picture of a 1950s heartthrob. At the height of his career, he made waves as a wholesome boy next door in films like “Battle Cry” (1955), “The Burning Hills” (1956) with Natalie Wood, and “Damn Yankees” (1958). He enjoyed a short career resurgence in the ’80s, after playing Divine’s love interest in John Waters’ “Polyester” (1981). On Monday, July 9, a Facebook post announced that Hunter had died. He was 86.

Hunter wrote candidly about his life as a closeted man in Hollywood in a 2005 memoir “Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star,” including his relationships with Olympic figure skater Ronnie Roberston and “Psycho” star Anthony Perkins. Their romance is the subject of a film from J.J. Abrams and Zachary Quinto in the early stages of development at Paramount, tentatively titled “Tab & Tony.” Hunter’s memoir was adapted into a documentary in 2015, directed by Jeffrey Schwarz.

Fans of Tab Hunter, who died at the age of 86 on Sunday, have taken to social media to pay tribute to the late actor.

“Rip to the most handsome and special man. ‘Young Love’ forever. #RIPTabHunter E xx,” legend Elton John posted on Twitter.

Actor Zachary Quinto, who is producing and starring in a film about Hunter, wrote, “so sad to wake up to the news of the passing of tab hunter. i was honored to get to know him in the past year and am so grateful to have experienced his sheer joy and love of life.”

Also Read: Tab Hunter, Actor and '50s Hollywood Golden Boy, Dies at 86

“Tab passed away tonight three days shy of his 87th birthday,” his Facebook page announced late Sunday night. “Please honor his memory by saying a prayer on his behalf. He would have liked that.”

Hunter, who starred in such films as 1955’s “Battle Cry,...

Tab Hunter as seen in documentary Tab Hunter Confidential

Tab Hunter, actor, singer, producer and Hollywood legend, has died just three days before what would have been his 87th birthday, it emerged today. The star of Damn Yankees, The Virginian and Polyester had previously survived a heart attack and stroke, but died from a blood clot.

Hunter first came to public attention in 1955 when he appeared alongside Robert Mitchum in Track Of The Cat. In 1956, he had a number one hit record with Young Love.

A committed Catholic, Hunter was uncomfortable with press interest in his sexuality at a time when homosexuality was strictly taboo in Hollywood, and considered marrying a woman but didn't feel he could make it work. He had a long term relationship with fellow actor Anthony Perkins which was recently announced as the subject of a new film being made by Zachary Quinto. Despite the challenges he faced,...

Tab Hunter, a former on-screen heartthrob and gay icon, has died. He was 86.

Hunter died Sunday night in Santa Barbara after a blood clot in his leg caused cardiac arrest, Allan Glaser, Hunter’s partner for more than three decades, confirmed to Variety.

With his All-American good looks, wavy blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and toothy smile, Hunter rose to the top ranks of Hollywood leading men in the 1950’s and early ’60’s. He appeared in the likes of “Damn Yankees” and “Battle Cry,” and had chart-topping records such as “Young Love.” But at the height of his popularity, he was dogged by rumors that he was gay, a potentially career-ending rumor during that culturally conservative era. At one point, he was “outed” by the gossip rag, Confidential.

Hunter fell out of favor as the 1960s continued and a new breed of stars such as Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino,...

Tab Hunter, who rose to fame as a movie star in 1950s Hollywood with his California surfer-boy looks, has died at age 86, according to a Facebook page closely tied to the star.

The cause of death was not disclosed. A rep for the actor did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Hunter, who starred in such films as 1955’s “Battle Cry,” 1956’s “The Burning Hills” and the 1958 musical “Damn Yankees,” also parlayed his onscreen success into music, scoring a Billboard hit with the 1956 single “Young Love.”

Also Read: Tab Hunter Remembered by Elton John, Zachary Quinto and More: 'Most Handsome and Special Man'

The star later found a younger cult audience playing opposite the drag queen Divine in John Waters’ 1981 film “Polyester” and Paul Bartel’s 1985 film “Lust in the Dust.”

In his 2005 memoir “Tab Hunter Confidential,” he disclosed that he had remained a closeted gay man...

The lineup of the ten shorts set to debut at Etheria Film Night 2018 have been released as well as a stellar list of guests and the recipient of the 2018 Inspiration Award. Also in today's Highlights: Film Independent at Lacma's Night of the Living Dead Bring the Noise event, a look at the Distorted trailer, new Luz photos, first details for The Haunting of Mia Moss, and The Hollow Child's theatrical release.

Etheria Film Night 2018: Press Release: "(Hollywood, CA – May 9, 2018) Etheria Film Night (www.etheriafilmnight.com) is proud to present the 2018 Official Lineup of Shorts on Saturday, June 16. Ten Short Films will be screened at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, CA followed by a Q&A with directors Maria Alice Arida (“Instinct”), Devi Snively (“Bride of Frankie”), Naledi Jackson (“The Drop In”), Mac Montero ("The Agency"), Anca Vlasan (“C U Later Tuesday”), Cidney Hue (“Ovum”), Jocelyn Stamat (“Laboratory...

Although until now they’ve only been known as fashion designers, cinema has always been part of Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s work. The siblings often use films as inspiration for their collections and have delivered runway shows dedicated to the likes of Japanese horror movie Kuroneko among others, their elaborate, stunning designs are also staples of awards season red carpets with actresses like Kirsten Dunst and Natalie Portman wearing them to festivals and ceremonies. In fact, Portman collected her first Best Actress Oscar in a purple Rodarte gown, after Kate and Laura had designed many of the costumes for Black Swan. After being so immersed in the world of cinema, it seems that making a film was the logical next step, and so they’ve done with Woodshock, a hallucinatory journey into the mind of Theresa (Dunst) a young woman battling depression after the death of her mother.

The...

Multiple Maniacs

Blu-ray

1970 / Black and White /96 Min. / 1:66 / Street Date March 21, 2017

Starring: Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce and Mink Stole.

Cinematography: John Waters

Film Editor: John Waters

Written by John Waters

Produced by John Waters

Directed by John Waters

Andy Warhol was nothing if not a multi-media maven. Along with his ubiquitous silkscreens and sculpture, he embraced movie-making beginning as early as 1963 with such literal-minded efforts as Haircut (a haircut) and Taylor Mead’s Ass (one hour of exactly what you think) and pretty much closed shop with 1968’s Lonesome Cowboys, a 109 minute western satire that, of all his films, came closest to approximating a traditional tinseltown production.

Essentially Warhol was parodying the Hollywood studio system, rounding up his acolytes and hangers-on, from supermodels to pushers, and casting them as regular performers in a series of deadpan documentaries. Meanwhile in the wilds of Baltimore, Warhol fan John Waters...

It’s a twofer this week, folks. I have two things that are obsessing me, neither of which really qualifies for a full column, but both are so interesting (to me, anyway) that I must opine.

Hey! There’s a new movie format!

It’s called 4Dx, and it’s not a better picture or more frames per second or three dimensional. Instead, it involves seats that vibrate and sometimes move, fans that mimic wind, and sometimes water and aroma effects.

Apparently, this format has been around for a few months, but I only found out about it this past weekend. My friend Renee and I went to see The Magnificent Seven. When we got to the theater, we found out that the show we had planned to see was in this funky new format. It was going to be another 45 minutes before the next show in a normal theater.

Janus Films and the Criterion Collection have restored John Waters's "gloriously grotesque, unavailable-for-decades second feature," Multiple Maniacs (1970), and they're rolling it out to theaters starting today. "But is it some kind of lost masterpiece?" asks Neil Genzlinger in the New York Times. "No. It’s merely an interesting milestone on the path to Mr. Waters’s better-known works, like Pink Flamingos (1972), Polyester (1981) and the original Hairspray (1988)." But at Slant, Clayton Dillard notes that the "politics of personal sexual preference underscore nearly every scene." The Voice's Bilge Ebiri: "Waters knows it's bad and revels in it." We've got more reviews, interviews and the trailer. » - David Hudson...

Janus Films and the Criterion Collection have restored John Waters's "gloriously grotesque, unavailable-for-decades second feature," Multiple Maniacs (1970), and they're rolling it out to theaters starting today. "But is it some kind of lost masterpiece?" asks Neil Genzlinger in the New York Times. "No. It’s merely an interesting milestone on the path to Mr. Waters’s better-known works, like Pink Flamingos (1972), Polyester (1981) and the original Hairspray (1988)." But at Slant, Clayton Dillard notes that the "politics of personal sexual preference underscore nearly every scene." The Voice's Bilge Ebiri: "Waters knows it's bad and revels in it." We've got more reviews, interviews and the trailer. » - David Hudson...

John Waters has made 16 films over the course of his nearly 50-year career, one of which has remained elusive for years: 1970’s “Multiple Maniacs.” Janus Films recently restored the cult icon’s second feature, and Waters spoke to us about the film’s re-release, the filmmakers of today he most admires and why he hasn’t directed in more than 10 years.

There’s a funny coincidence because our TV team is at the TCAs. NBC is promoting “Hairspray Live” as part of their upfronts. It’s like Must See TV for the Whole Family. Meanwhile, your “Multiple Maniacs” restoration is going to promote rosary jobs for a whole new generation. Is this your idea of a balanced life?

It is, because I felt the same thing. I did in June a thing with the Baltimore Symphony, where they do “Hairspray,” and I’m sort of like Victor Borge and I...

The Danish-born director, Nicolas Winding Refn, has helmed a few popular movies such as Drive (2011), Bronson (2008), and the Pusher trilogy. This success has been only slightly marred by a handful of far-less-favored works including Fear X (2003) and Only God Forgives (2013) starring Ryan Gosling.

Ironically, that latter disaster supplied grist for one of the best scenes in the documentary, My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, which was helmed by Refn's wife, the talented but put-upon Liz Corfixen. Near the end of her engaging feature on her self-absorbed spouse, Refn, lying on his bed after the Cannes opening of Only God Forgives, mutters, "Why do critics have to be so cruel?" Then he reads aloud off his cell phone this Hollywood Elsewhere critique by Jeffrey Wells:

"Movies really don't get much worse... It's a shit macho fantasy -- hyperviolent, ethically repulsive, sad, nonsensical, deathly dull, snail-paced, idiotic, possibly woman-hating, visually suffocating, pretentious... [T]his is a defecation by an over-praised, over-indulged director who thinks anything he craps out is worthy of your time. I felt violated, shat upon, sedated, narcotized, appalled and bored stiff."

What I found so fascinating here, besides Refn's reaction to such verbiage ("That's how you know when you made great cinema. When half love and half hate it."), was that Mr. Wells will be able to reuse his review word for word for The Neon Demon.

This tale focuses upon a sixteen-year-old virgin, Jesse (Elle Fanning), who arrives in Los Angeles to begin a modeling career. Her first job is to lie on a couch with her neck supposedly slit and the fake blood streaming everywhere. The photographer is the young, kind-hearted Dean (Karl Glusman, who exposed his erection throughout Gaspar Noé's equally dull Love (2015)). The chap instantly falls in love with her.

Please don't ask why a nice guy would have a young woman pose with her body mutilated, other than it is a striking visual to open a film with. Anyway, Jesse has no time for love. Admitting herself talentless except for being pretty, she has only one item on her bucket list: to be a top model. Seemingly, she will succeed because when this young woman enters a room, everyone stares. Men. Women. Goats. Chimpanzees.

The very next day she's hired by a modeling agency. Twenty-four hours later she's posing for a top brooding photographer (Desmond Harrington), who after spotting her, has everyone leave the studio, orders Jesse to strip, then rubs metallic paint all over her body. Hopefully, it's not lead-based.

Soon every blonde model in L.A. with an Olive-Oyl physique hates her for stealing their jobs, and to top it off, the manager (Keanu Reeves) of the cruddy motel she's staying in is a rapist with a Lolita fixation. Uh-oh. Can there be more? Poorly directed party scenes, stray wildcats and eyeballs, cannibalism, a vile depiction of a horny lesbian, necrophilia in a mortuary, and a dastardly over-the-top performance by Alessandro Nivola as a shallow fashion designer just scrape the top layer of the slime that slithers about as The Neon Demon.

Mr. Refn has noted his goal was to make a satire about the modeling industry and America's facile addiction to externals. He also wanted to explore the 16-year-old girl that resides within himself. As if that weren't enough inspiration, he's spouted, "One morning I woke and realized I was both surrounded and dominated by women. Strangely, a sudden urge was planted in me to make a horror film about vicious beauty."

Now if Mr. Refn had an iota of wit (visual or otherwise) or if he respected women (his wife says he just wants her around as a housewife) or if his half-baked ideas spent ten more minutes in the oven, this offering could have been a gas. Paul Morrisey, John Waters, or even Greg Araki might have shaped this hodgepodge into a tongue-in-cheek funfest. But if Refn is aiming for intentional laughs, he fails. He seems to have been treading more into David Lynch territory but was swallowed up by the quicksand of his own dullardry. More Blue Polyester than Blue Velvet.

That Refn had no idea what he was creating with Demon was not a new occurrence for this vanquished auteur. He has said of a previous effort, "I've spent three years on this movie, and I don't really know what it's about." Then after the filming and the editing of Only God Forgives was completed, he observed to his wife," I wasted six months of our lives." Happily, for us, with his latest, our wasted time clocks in at one hour and 57 minutes. It just feels like six months.

(The Neon Demon, which had its world premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival to several boos, opens in theaters on June 24th.) - Brandon Judell

Mr. Judell has written on film for The Village Voice, indieWire.com, the New York Daily News, Soho Style, and The Advocate, and is anthologized in Cynthia Fuchs's Spike Lee Interviews (University Press of Mississippi) and John Preston's A Member of the Family (Dutton). He is also a member of the performance/writing group FlashPoint.

Robert Mapplethorpe decided he was an important artist long before he was even making important art. Growing up in 1950s Queens, New York, he escaped to art school in Brooklyn, searching for a way to transform himself. He was the outcast who took drugs and dressed weird, until he found his path to stardom. That ambition shines through in the new HBO documentary, Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures. Directed by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey — the producers of RuPaul's Drag Race who have also examined oddballs and outliers in documentaries such as Party Monster,...

World’s second longest-serving film festival director died last week while attending Graz film festival.

Filmmakers in Germany and beyond are mourning the passing of Heinz Badewitz, the founder of the Hof Film Days, who died unexpectedly last week at the age of 74 whilst attending last week’s Diagonale - Festival of Austrian Film in Graz.

Badewitz was the world’s second longest-serving film festival director after Chicago’s Michael Kutza (who launched his festival in 1964) and was planning Hof’s 50th anniversary in October.

Hailing from Hof in Northern Franconia, Badewitz had moved to Munich in the early 1960s to train as a cameraman and soon became part of the Munich film scene, later working as location manager on such films as Wim Wenders’ Kings Of The Road and The American Friend, and assistant director for Bob Fosse’s Cabaret and Norman Jewison’s Rollerball.

In addition, he was involved in the selection of German films for...

The Waking Dreams of Wojciech Has, a retrospective of 14 films including The Hourglass Sanatorium and The Saragossa Manuscript, opens today at BAMcinématek and runs through October 27. Also in New York, the Japan Society will be screening three new restorations of films by Kon Ichikawa this weekend and, next week, Film Forum presents John Waters's Polyester in glorious Odorama. More goings on: A Jean Grémillon retrospective in Los Angeles, an evening of short films by Curtis Harrington in Nashville and a discussion of John Berger’s life and work in London. » - David Hudson...

The Waking Dreams of Wojciech Has, a retrospective of 14 films including The Hourglass Sanatorium and The Saragossa Manuscript, opens today at BAMcinématek and runs through October 27. Also in New York, the Japan Society will be screening three new restorations of films by Kon Ichikawa this weekend and, next week, Film Forum presents John Waters's Polyester in glorious Odorama. More goings on: A Jean Grémillon retrospective in Los Angeles, an evening of short films by Curtis Harrington in Nashville and a discussion of John Berger’s life and work in London. » - David Hudson...

Tab Hunter Confidential now screens Monday, April 27th at 7pm at Landmark’s Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar) as part of this year’s QFest St. Louis. For ticket information, go Here

Hollywood can destroy people. For every survivor of the Hollywood system, whether from years ago or any current actors, there are dozens of actors and other artists who crashed and burned, had serious substance abuse issues, committed suicide or never made it at all.

Just from memory I can name Barbara Payton, Jayne Mansfield, Jeanne Eagles, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Diana Sands and Montgomery Clift. For a complete rundown you can’t do much better than Kenneth Anger’s incredible book Hollywood Babylon and it’s even more depressing sequel Hollywood Babylon Part Two. Vincent Price called Hollywood “the most evil place on Earth!” And Vincent Price would know something about evil!

A few short years ago I read Tab Hunter...

Tab Hunter Confidential screens Monday, April 20th at 7pm at Landmark’s Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar) as part if this year’s QFest St. Louis. For ticket information, go Here

Hollywood can destroy people. For every survivor of the Hollywood system, whether from years ago or any current actors, there are dozens of actors and other artists who crashed and burned, had serious substance abuse issues, committed suicide or never made it at all.

Just from memory I can name Barbara Payton, Jayne Mansfield, Jeanne Eagles, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Diana Sands and Montgomery Clift. For a complete rundown you can’t do much better than Kenneth Anger’s incredible book Hollywood Babylon and it’s even more depressing sequel Hollywood Babylon Part Two. Vincent Price called Hollywood “the most evil place on Earth!” And Vincent Price would know something about evil!

A few short years ago I read Tab Hunter...