Filmmaker John Waters achieved what he calls a “sort-of fame” based on his bad taste and others’ bad reviews. “If someone vomits watching one of my films, it’s like getting a standing ovation, ” he once wrote. Sincerely shameless during the 1970s, when the obscenity of movies such as Pink Flamingos shocked audiences, Waters seems to have softened into his 70s; the latest role in his filmography was a part in Alvin and the Chipmunks. His darkly subversive humor—a lifelong This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty Buy Now Related Stories Films Issue 43 Ita O’Brien On the urgency of intimacy coordinators on set. Arts & Culture Films Music Issue 42 Peer Review Iranian artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat pays homage to the iconic Egyptian singer Oum Kulthum. Films Issue 41 Isabel Sandoval On the limits of autobiography. Films Issue 41 Mike Leigh The remarkable director discusses starting from nothing, over and over again. Arts & Culture Films Issue 40 Fan Bingbing The woman who changed the face of China. Films Issue 40 Bad Idea: Smell-o-Vision The quixotic history of an improbable, impossible machine.
Arts & Culture Films Music Issue 42 Peer Review Iranian artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat pays homage to the iconic Egyptian singer Oum Kulthum.
Films Issue 41 Mike Leigh The remarkable director discusses starting from nothing, over and over again.
