criterionforum.org

Pink Flamingos



John Waters made bad taste perversely transcendent with the forever shocking counterculture sensation Pink Flamingos, his most infamous and daring cinematic transgression. Outré diva Divine is iconic as the wanted criminal hiding out with her family of degenerates in a trailer outside Baltimore while reveling in her tabloid notoriety as the “Filthiest Person Alive.” When a pair of sociopaths (Mink Stole and David Lochary) with a habit of kidnapping women in order to impregnate them attempt to challenge her title, Divine resolves to show them and the world the true meaning of the word filthy. Incest, cannibalism, shrimping, and film history’s most legendary gross-out ending—Waters and his merry band of Dreamlanders leave no taboo unsmashed in this gleefully subversive ode to outsiderhood, in which camp spectacle and pitch-black satire are wielded in an all-out assault on respectability.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director John Waters, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Two audio commentaries featuring Waters, from the 1997 Criterion laserdisc and the 2001 DVD release
• New conversation between Waters and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch
• Tour of the film’s Baltimore locations, led by Waters
• Deleted scenes, alternate takes, and on-set footage
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• And more!

PLUS: An essay by critic Howard Hampton and a piece by actor and author Cookie Mueller about the making of the film, from her 1990 book Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black

yoloswegmaster wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 1:11 pm According to someone on the other forum who was at a John Waters' show laat night, John Waters had said that Criterion "might" be releasing 'Pink Flamingos.

When I saw Mink Stole a few years ago, she had said that we would anticipate the early films out, including Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living. I don’t know how much Mink is involved compared to John but to have the trash trilogy on blu ray (dare I say UHD) I would be ecstatic.

I think it was before Criterion's Polyester, John Waters said that WB were going to release Pink Flamingos themselves, so I assume a suit got cold feet and they've decided to pass it on to Criterion.

Pink Flamingos has now been confirmed as forthcoming in June:

For those of us who grew up loving him, it’s gratifying to see Waters, in his filth-elder era, enjoy the same open-mindedness he’s promoted for decades. Call him an accepted radical, cherished by cinephiles and cultists as well as the little kids who flock to him at airports following his cameo in an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Waters had a recurring role in the recent final season of madcap millennial self-parody Search Party; one of its stars, John Early, told Seth Meyers that the director “created the entire sensibility that the show lives in.” Waters says he’s flattered by the comparison—and he gets it. “Millennium Maniacs would be a great title” for the show, he jokes, pointing out that his character, who sells babies to gay couples, parallels a story line in Flamingos. (Once banned in multiple countries, that movie entered the National Film Registry last year and will get a 50th-anniversary Criterion Collection reissue in June.)

Surely a UHD title?

dwk wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 7:32 pm I think it was before Criterion's Polyester, John Waters said that WB were going to release Pink Flamingos themselves, so I assume a suit got cold feet and they've decided to pass it on to Criterion.

I'm sure Waters was bluffing. there's no way WB would've cared to release Pink Flamingos, they haven't even released Casablanca on 4K, I highly doubt it would ever be a priority for them to revisit a catalog title they probably forgot they even released!

I see no reason to doubt him--Pink Flamingos is roughly as iconic as Willy Wonka or A Clockwork Orange, even if it doesn't hold a candle to the grotesqueries of the former

I’m curious to see what version gets pressed to disc. The 25th anniversary version they did on laserdisc is poorly cropped to 1.85 to satisfy what the restoration DID look like along with having a 5.1 mix for the songs that’s quite jarring against the low-fi quality of everything else. I believe to this day, this is still the version Warner Bros. sends when theaters run this movie. Additionally, due to rights issues, a few songs were changed from their original release. I could live with the odd 5.1 mix, but I’d be much happier if this goes back to being 1.33, but neither are make it or break it for a sale from me.

If it is in 4k it will be the world's first physical release of a non pornographic film to feature an anal prolapse in 4k.

What a time to be alive

black&huge wrote: Thu Feb 17, 2022 6:06 pm If it is in 4k it will be the world's first physical release of a non pornographic film to feature an anal prolapse in 4k.

A+ username/post combo

For those unfamiliar and want to be spared some of the most notorious (but not all!) of all the set pieces through strategically placed YouTube-placating censorship bars during the chicken choking, familial fellatio and prostrated prolapses, here's the Red Letter Media take on the film.

Yes!!! Finally! I'm continually amazed, yet delighted that Criterion continues to release and give the royal treatment to films by John Waters. While this one isn't as good as Waters latter efforts, particularly Female Trouble and Desperate Living, it's definitely a lot of fun and Mink Stole and Edith Massey completely steal the show. Hopefully since the special features are not done, they manage to finally include some of Waters early shorts.
Now, release Desperate Living next!!!

Gerald Christie wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 5:32 pm Yes!!! Finally! I'm continually amazed, yet delighted that Criterion continues to release and give the royal treatment to films by John Waters. While this one isn't as good as Waters latter efforts, particularly Female Trouble and Desperate Living, it's definitely a lot of fun and Mink Stole and Edith Massey completely steal the show. Hopefully since the special features are not done, they manage to finally include some of Waters early shorts.
Now, release Desperate Living next!!!

Desperate Living has to be next, but I’m wondering if they’re planning on releasing any of his later films after that. I’d personally love to see a release for Cecil B. Demented at some point, but I’m not sure if that era of John Waters has the same cache as his earlier films. Maybe a box set featuring the six films he made from 1988-2004 is more of a possibility than each of them getting individual releases?

Hairspray might be commercially viable enough for a UHD..? I'd like to see them release Pecker, a film that's received little attention on home video. Cry Baby is accounted for through Kino's upcoming UHD and Serial Mom has had a recent-ish Shout Factory Blu-Ray. That does leave Cecil B. Demented and A Dirty Shame from the later years.

Looking at the 92-minute running time, this looks like the first version since the VHS era that isn't the re-release presentation with the Waters-introduced deleted scenes at the end. Those were always rumoured to be a bare smattering of all the extra footage he found, so I imagine we'll get a much more comprehensive showcase of that material now.

Also, Criterion first released this in 1997 for its 25th anniversary. It is now its 50th.

Any word on whether the old music cues have been restored? I always miss THE RITE OF SPRING.

The version on the Criterion Channel didn't have the original soundtrack, so I'm not hopeful the physical edition will. But then the Criterion Channel used a different master (4:3 instead of 1.66:1) and Criterion was evidently able to clear all the music for Multiple Maniacs, so who knows?

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:Criterion was evidently able to clear all the music for Multiple Maniacs, so who knows?

I think somewhere on Criterion’s release Waters talks about replacing some of the original music with sound-alike instrumentals. If Criterion were able to clear the complete original soundtrack, they would probably be drawing some attention to it. It seems like, as with Multiple Maniacs, they’re hoping most viewers won’t notice or care.

EDIT: IMDb sez “The re-mastered Criterion version of Multiple Maniacs has had some songs replaced/substituted. The Elvis Presley songs "Jailhouse Rock" and "Just Because" have been taken out and replaced by similar pieces by George S. Clinton, as has the music on the opening credits.”

Can't wait to find out about what the "And more" entails. Seems like it would be a real missed opportunity not to include the feature length arthouse experiment "Kiddie Flamingos." I would have assumed Waters had the rights to that but I could be wrong. Would be cool to see a piece dedicated to the unmade sequel Flamingos Forever too.

An extra has been added, while still having "And More!" listed:

Divine Trash, a feature-length 1998 documentary by Steve Yeager about Waters and the making of Pink Flamingos, featuring interviews with cast and crew

magnificent. Keep adding on, Criterion

I was wondering about that one since the laserdisc had a few clips from Divine Trash (which was still in production at the time).

black&huge wrote: Thu Apr 14, 2022 7:18 am magnificent. Keep adding on, Criterion

And more! has been dropped, with nothing else added on.