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NO. 1

cult CINEMA


Pink Flamingos Genre Comedy

Tagline ‘An exercise in poor taste.’

Director John Waters

Run Time 93 min

Writer John Waters

Quote ‘Kill everyone now! Condone first degree murder! Advocate cannibalism! Eat shit! Filth is my politics! Filth is my life!’

Plot Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against Connie & Raymond Marble, a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as “The Filthiest Person Alive”.

Trivia During filming, Divine was arrested for stealing, and in his defense said that he was a method actor playing a criminal.

Issue No. 1 cult classics of Cinema Eque si sa perumquibus. Gendiore velibus ped mos reperspel min re et lignimi, core, et eaquam, te nobit ium eum eossit animaio ssimi, te velis alicitati doluptatate consequi derum quo blam, qui delescid et latusda con pelentet eum et quia eum faccae perum faces ressit, qui nimaio. Xim et quam et verum conseces as rataspi endist aritam facius aliqui aut iunt ipsa id quis quo ium quiducium harum ent ipitibus rehendis.


chapter one

chapter two

chapter three

A HISTORY:

Career Perspective, Richard linklater:

18 of the best:

Everything you could ever need to know about the ‘Cult’ film genre.

rocky horror photo

In depth analysis of the director famed for cult hits such as Slacker, Dazed & Confused and A Scanner Darkly. Includes a filmography, interview excerpts, illustrative interpretations & more.

A compilation of the most renowned cult films. Includes plot summaries, cast notes, year of release, trivia tidbits, quotes & more.


chapter one A HISTORY: Everything you could ever need to know about the ‘Cult’ film genre.


a brief history

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trash hits and midnight flicks

A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences. Many cult movies have gone on to transcend their original cult status and have become recognized as classics; others are of the ‘so bad it’s good’ variety and are destined to remain in obscurity. Cult films often become the source of a thriving, obsessive, and elaborate subculture of fandom, hence the analogy to cults. However, not every film with a devoted fanbase is necessarily a cult film. Usually, cult films have limited but very special, noted appeal. Cult films are often known to be eccentric, often do not follow traditional standards of mainstream cinema and usually explore topics not considered in any way mainstream, yet there are examples that are relatively normal. Many are often considered controversial because they step outside standard narrative and technical conventions. ‘What are the requirements for transforming a book or movie into a cult object? The work must be loved, obviously, but this is not enough. It must provide a completely furnished world so that its fans can quote characters and episodes as if they were aspects of the fan’s private sectarian world, a world about which one can make up quizzes and play trivia games so that the adepts of the sect recognize through each other a shared expertise.’ Umberto Eco

Eque si sa perumquibus. Gendiore velibus ped mos reperspel min re et lignimi, core, et eaquam, te nobit ium eum eossit animaio ssimi, te velis alicitati doluptatate consequi derum quo blam, qui delescid et latusda con pelentet eum et quia eum faccae perum faces ressit, qui nimaio.

A cult film is a movie that attracts a devoted group of followers or obsessive fans, often despite having failed commercially on its initial release. The term also describes films that have remained popular over a long period of time amongst a small group of followers. Although they may only have a short cinema life, cult films often enjoy ongoing popularity through long runs on video, thus being issued in video runs with more copies than other movies. The movie Office Space, 1999, which lost money during its box office run, managed to turn significant profits when word-of-mouth made it a popular video rental and purchase. Harold and Maude, 1971, was not successful financially at the time of its original release, but has since earned a cult following and has become successful following its video and DVD releases. Many cult films were independent films and were not expected by their creators to have mainstream success. Sometimes the audience response to a cult film is somewhat different than what was intended by the film makers. Cult films usually offer something different or innovative in comparison to mainstream films, but cult films can also be popular across a wide audience.


A film can be both a major studio release and a cult film, particularly if despite its affiliation with a major studio, it failed to achieve broad success on either the theatrical or home video markets but was championed by a small number of dedicated film fanatics who seek out lesser-known offerings. It is also true that the content of certain films (such as dark subjects, alienation, transgressive content, or other controversial subject matter) can also decide whether or not a film is a ‘cult film’, regardless of the film’s budget or studio affiliations. An example may be Paul Verhoeven’s big budgeted, highly sexualized Showgirls, 1995, initially intended to be a drama film about the rise of a Las Vegas stripper, that flopped both critically and commercially when released theatrically; afterward, it enjoyed success on the home video market, generating more than million from video rentals.

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Today, it is a favorite of gay audiences and audiences in general have considered it to be a comedy thanks to frequent midnight movie showings. According to activist writer Naomi Klein, ironic enjoyment of the film initially arose among those with the video before MGM, the film’s chief marketer, capitalized on the idea. MGM noticed the video was performing all right, since “trendy twenty-somethings were throwing Showgirls irony parties, laughing sardonically at the implausibly poor screenplay and shrieking with horror at the aerobic sexual encounters.”

showgirls photo

1959 to 1979 Plan 9 from Outer Space, 1959, and other films by Edward D. Wood, Jr. were considered cult classics, attracting devotees who reveled in his incompetence. Other low-budget science fiction and horror films of the 1950s (for example Robot Monster), along with exploitation films of the 1930s, which resurfaced in the home video market of the 1980s (including the infamous Reefer Madness), were accorded that status. Night of the Living Dead The low budget horror film Night of the Living Dead, 1968, directed by George A. Romero earned moderate box office takings but was critically polarized at the time. However, the culture of Vietnam era United States had a tremendous impact on the film and the film was given a cult status after playing frequently at midnight movie circuits. It is so thoroughly laden with critiques of late 1960’s American society that one historian described the film as ‘subversive on many levels’. While not the first zombie film made, Night of the Living Dead influenced countless films and is perhaps the defining influence on the modern pop-culture zombie archetype. The film is the first of six Dead films directed by Romero. Pink Flamingos John Waters’ Pink Flamingos, 1972, was wildly controversial (being an exercise in ‘poor taste’) featuring incest and coprophagia, became the best known of a group of campy midnight films focusing on sexual perversions and fetishism. Filmed on weekends in Waters’s hometown of Baltimore, with a mile-long extension cord as a power conduit, it was also crucial in inspiring the growth of the independent film movement. In 1973, the Elgin Theater started midnight screenings of both Pink Flamingos and a crime drama from Jamaica with a remarkable soundtrack. In its mainstream release, The Harder They Come, 1972, had been a flop, panned by critics after its U.S. distributor, Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, marketed it as a blaxploitation picture. Re-released as a midnight film, it screened around the country for six years, helping spur the popularity of reggae in the United States. While the midnight movie potential of certain films was recognized only some time after they opened, a number during this period were distributed to take advantage of the market from the beginning. In 1973, for instance, Broken Goddess, Dragula, The White Whore and the Bit Player, and Elevator Girls in Bondage (as well as Pink Flamingos) had their New York premieres at midnight screenings. In 1974, midnight opener Flesh Gordon evidenced how the phenomenon lent itself to flirtations with pornography. Films within the genre may include being drawn from real-life events. The Rocky Horror Picture Show The picture, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, satirizes conventions of science fiction and horror films, and includes elements of transvestism, incest and homosexuality, all within the context of a musical film.


The film received little critical attention or mainstream cinema exhibition when first released in 1975, but built up a base of fans who repeatedly showed up at midnight screenings at inexpensive neighborhood cinemas, dressed in costume and ‘participating’ in the film by doing such things as throwing rice during its wedding scene. In this case, the film intentionally ridiculed its own subject matter, thereby entering into the spirit of sarcastic fun often surrounding the attainment of cult status. Much of the attention has stemmed from the fanbase, rather than the film itself.

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Influence of Television Network television, cable television and pay-per-view stations have also changed the nature of cult films. David Lynch’s experimental Eraserhead, 1977, an example of shoe-string surrealism was a flop both critically and commercially, yet was saved from obscurity thanks to home video in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Comedy films have also been cult classics. In 1979, Steven Spielberg, after two blockbuster hits, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, decided to try the comedy genre with ‘1941’; set days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The film, spoofing popular film genres of the 1940s and World War II in general, is considered by critics as Spielberg’s first flop, although it made a small profit for Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios compared to Spielberg’s earlier and later blockbuster hits. It gained a cult following after it aired in an extended version on the U.S. ABC network, and years after on Laserdisc and DVD.

blue velvet photo

1980 to 2012 The commercial viability of the sort of big-city arthouses that launched outsider pictures for the midnight movie circuit began to decline in the late 1970s as broad social and economic shifts weakened their countercultural base. Leading midnight movie venues were beginning to fold as early as 1977; that year, New York’s Bijou switched back permanently to the live entertainment for which it had been built, and the Elgin shut down completely. In succeeding years, the popularization of the VCR and the expansion of movie-viewing possibilities on cable television meant the death of many additional independent theaters, which as a result, developed a stream of newer cult films. Possibly the first of these was the biographical Mommie Dearest, 1981, which details the life of Joan Crawford and her alleged abusive relationship with her adopted daughter. The over-acting by Faye Dunaway as Crawford gave the film a campy tone, and critics were very negative towards the film. While Dunaway garnered some critical acclaim for her astonishing physical metamorphosis and her portrayal of Crawford, finishing a narrow second in the voting for the New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Actress of the Year, she also received a Razzie Award for Worst Actress and caused considerable damage to her career. It did manage to develop a cult classic status, especially with gay audiences and became famous for Dunaway’s emphasis on the line ‘No wire hangers, ever!’, when urging her daughter not to use them in her closet. While Rocky Horror soldiered on, by then a phenomenon unto itself, and new films like The Warriors, 1979, The Gods Must Be Crazy, 1980, The Evil Dead, 1981, Heavy Metal, 1981, and Pink Floyd’s The Wall, 1982, all from mainstream distributors, were picked up by the midnight movie circuit, the core of exhibitors that energized the movement was disappearing. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, 1982, was financially unsuccessful upon its initial release. The film was, however, re-released in 1992 and achieved cult status. It has since become a leading example of the science fiction genre. In 1984, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, starring Peter Weller as Buckaroo Banzai, whose latest experiment opens the door to the 8th dimension and unwittingly starts an interstellar battle for the world. Directed by W.D. Richter the film has since received cult status. Entertainment Weekly ranked Buckaroo Banzai as No.43 in their Top 50 Cult Movies. Also in 1984, Dino De Laurentiis released Dune, based on Frank Herbert’s best-selling sci-fi novel. Directed by David Lynch, the film was a bigbudget flop, partially because the movie had already been edited from an intended three-to-four hours to 137 minutes, leaving the story incomprehensible. Knowing that a great deal of footage had been deleted, Universal Studios took it upon themselves to release a longer


version for syndicated television and thereby, return some of the cohesiveness to the story. Thus, Dune became a cult classic, albeit too late, as David Lynch had removed his name from the credits of the television cut. Both major versions have been successful thanks to a recent DVD release. 1985 saw the making of two Arnon Milchan films that were, like Dune before it, substantially altered by Universal Studios in an attempt to find a mainstream audience. Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, 1985, a dystopian science fiction film about a man’s relationship with the woman of his dreams became a huge failure, yet was critically acclaimed and subsequently revitalized by video releases. Then, by the time Legend, directed by Ridley Scott, opened in European theatres, it had already been edited by 20 minutes by Universal. Having failed at the U.K. box office, it was further edited by five minutes for U.S. release a year later and Jerry Goldsmith’s original orchestral score replaced by a rock score by Tangerine Dream. Interest in the missing footage and score helped to build the film’s cult status, which paid off when in 2002, DVD audiences finally saw Legend in a version closer to director Scott’s intent.

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A year later, David Lynch’s highly influential neo-noir thriller Blue Velvet, having initially failed at the box office, because of its limited release in theatres, was revitalized with video releases in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The film became hugely controversial and well-known because of its bizarre, often graphic depiction of small town America and male-female relationships featuring a psychotic Dennis Hopper and his drug-fueled sexual relationship with Dorothy Vallens, portrayed by Isabella Rossellini. Lynch continued his career with various other cult films: Wild at Heart, 1990, Lost Highway, 1997, and the critically acclaimed Mulholland Dr., 2001, as well as his short lived cult phenomenon television series Twin Peaks, and its subsequent movie adaptation: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). Alan Parker’s hybrid mystery/horror film, Angel Heart, 1987, starring Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro, fared poorly at the box office, only just breaking even. Despite this, the film became a hit once released on VHS, and has become a cult classic since, known for its spooky tone, Michael Seresin’s cinematography, the sad and spooky score by Trevor Jones, and an unusual but effective blend of genres. Two of the movie’s producers, Andrew G. Vajna and Mario Kassar, also produced the cult film Jacob’s Ladder which had a similar narrative structure, as well as a ‘twist’ ending. Michael Lehmann’s satirical teenage comedy Heathers, 1989, starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, was intended to take on the John Hughes teenage films and give them a much darker, realistic and comedic approach. However, the film was a failure at the box office, mainly because of its limited release. Despite this, it was hugely popular on VHS in the early 1990s and launched cutting-edge dialogue spoken by its characters

(‘What’s your damage?’) into mainstream popular culture. In 1993, the comedy horror Army of Darkness, a sequel to the Evil Dead series, was released. The movie had a considerably higher budget than the prior two Evil Dead films. However, Army of Darkness was not a big success as hoped, only grossing domestically. After its video release, however, it obtained a cult following, along with the other two films in the trilogy. One of the most successful of the 1990’s generation of cult films was the Australian drag queen road saga The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, 1994. One of the theaters to show it regularly at midnight was New York’s Waverly, where Rocky Horror had played for a house record ninety-five weeks. Writer/director Todd Solondz, a favorite cult director, had his first major success with the black comedy Welcome to the Dollhouse, 1995, a brutally-honest look at the persecution of a young junior high student by her classmates. His next film was the challenging, controversial dark comedy of sex and perversion in American suburbia - titled Happiness, 1998. Additionally The Big Lebowski, 1998, was a flop on its initial release, yet became a cult classic and has been called ‘the first cult film of the Internet era’. Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire, 2001, had a disappointing box office performance but is considered to be a “cult favorite” because of its unique art and animation style inspired by comic book artist Mike Mignola. Older films are also popular on the circuit, appreciated largely in an imposed camp fashion - a midnight movie tradition that goes back to the 1972 revival of the hectoring anti-drug movie Reefer Madness, 1938. Where the irony with which Reefer Madness was adopted as a midnight favorite had its roots in a countercultural sensibility, in the latter’s place there is now the paradoxical element of nostalgia: the leading revivals currently on the circuit ironically include clearly noncult films like John Hughes oeuvre - The Breakfast Club, 1985, Pretty in Pink, 1986, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, 1986, which were major studio productions and popular and financially successful during their original releases.

heathers photo


divine Born October 19, 1945 Baltimore, MD

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‘the last thing my parents wanted was a son who wears a cocktail dress that glitters’

Early Life Originally born Harris Glen Milstead just after the end of WWII, Baltimore’s most outrageous resident eventually became the international icon of bad taste cinema, as the always shocking and highly entertaining transvestite performer, Divine. with John Waters Milstead met maverick film director & good friend, John Waters, at high school in Baltimore, and the two combined to star in and direct several ultra low budget, taboo breaking cult films of the early 1970s. Their first efforts included Roman Candles, Eat Your Makeup and Mondo Trasho. However, their most infamous work together was the amazing Pink Flamingos, 1972, in which Divine starred as Babs Johnson, the ‘filthiest person alive’ living in a pink trailer with her egg-eating grandmother, chicken-loving son and voyeuristic daughter. Death Milstead’s health deteriorated due to to his obese frame, and he passed away in his sleep from a combination of heart attack and apnea in 1988.

Trivia In Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ the character of Ursula was based on Divine. Had a successful disco singing career, touring the world’s clubs, and released numerous albums. Plays both a woman and a man in his last film ‘Hairspray’.

Hairspray 1988 Edna Turnblad / Arvin Hodgepile Polyester 1981 Francine Fishpaw

divine illustration

Female Trouble 1974 Dawn Davenport / Earl Peterson Pink Flamingos 1972 Divine / Babs Johnson Multiple Maniacs 1970 Lady Divine Mondo Trasho 1969 Divine / Greaser in Alley

Divine 1945 - 1988

Eat Your Makeup 1968 Jacqueline Kennedy


chapter two Career Perspective; Richard linklater In depth analysis of the director famed for cult hits such as Slacker, Dazed & Confused and A Scanner Darkly. Includes a filmography, interview excerpts, illustrative interpretations & more.


richard linklater Born July 30, 1960 Houston, TX

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‘Most of us are losers most of the time if you think about it.’

Early Life Linklater was born in Texas in 1960 and studied at Sam Houston State University but left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through repeated visits to a repertory theater in Houston. It was at this point that Linklater realized he wanted to be a filmmaker. After his job on the oil rig, Linklater used the money he had saved to buy a Super-8 camera, a projector, and some editing equipment, and moved to Austin. It was there that the aspiring cineaste founded the Austin Film Society and grew to appreciate such auteurs as Robert Bresson, Yasujiro Ozu, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Josef Von Sternberg, and Carl Theodor Dreyer. He enrolled in Austin Community College in the fall of 1984 to study film. Career Linklater founded the Austin Film Society in 1985 together with his frequent collaborator Lee Daniel, and is lauded for launching and solidifying the city of Austin as a hub for independent filmmaking. Inspiration for Linklater’s work was largely based on his experience with the film Raging Bull, Linklater told Robert K. Elder in an interview for The Film That Changed My Life. ‘It made me see movies as a potential outlet for what I was thinking about and hoping to express. At that point I was an unformed artist. At that moment, something was simmering in me, but Raging Bull brought it to a boil.’ For several years, Linklater made many short films that were, more than anything, exercises and experiments in film techniques. He finally completed his first feature, the rarely seen It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books (which is now available in the Criterion Collection edition of Slacker), a Super-8 feature that took a year to shoot and another year to edit. The film is significant in the sense that it establishes most of Linklater’s preoccupations. The film has his trademark style of minimal camera movements and lack of narrative, while it examines the theme of traveling with no real particular direction in mind. These idiosyncrasies would be explored in greater detail in future projects.

Richard Linklater, Personal Quote

To this end Linklater created Detour Filmproduction (an homage to the 1945 low budget film noir by Edgar G. Ulmer), and subsequently made Slacker for only $23,000. The film is an aimless day in the life of the city of Austin, Texas showcasing its more eccentric characters.

Awards Trivia In 1995, Linklater won the Silver Bear for Best Director for the film ‘Before Sunrise’ at the 45th Berlin International Film Festival.


Trivia Despite the popularity of his films, and having directed two high-paying Hollywood productions, Linklater remains in Texas and refuses to live or work in Hollywood for any extended period of time.

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While gaining a cult following for his independent films, such as Dazed and Confused, Waking Life, and A Scanner Darkly, his mainstream comedies, School of Rock and the remake of Bad News Bears, have gained him wider recognition. In 2003, he wrote and directed a pilot for HBO with Rodney Rothman called $5.15/hr, about several minimum wage restaurant workers. The pilot deals with themes later examined in Fast Food Nation. In 2004, the British television network Channel 4 produced a major documentary about Linklater, in which the filmmaker frankly discussed the personal and philosophical ideas behind his films. ‘St Richard of Austin’ was presented by Ben Lewis and directed by Irshad Ashraf and broadcast on Channel 4 in December 2004 in the UK. In 2005, Linklater was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his film Before Sunset.

filmography

Many of Linklater’s films take place in one day, a narrative approach that has gained popularity in recent years. Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Tape, Before Sunrise, and Before Sunset are examples of this method. Two of his recent films, A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life, used rotoscoping animation techniques. Working with Bob Sabiston and Sabiston’s program Rotoshop to create this effect, Linklater shot and edited both movies completely as live action features, then employed a team of artists to ‘trace over’ individual frames. The result is a distinctive ‘semi-real’ quality, praised by such critics as Roger Ebert as being original and well-suited to the aims of the film.

Before Sunrise, 1995

Woodshock, 1985 It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books, 1989 Slacker, 1991 Dazed and Confused, 1993

subUrbia, 1996 The Newton Boys, 1998 Waking Life, 2001 Tape, 2001 Live from Shiva’s Dance Floor, 2003

Fast Food Nation (2006) is an adaptation of the best selling book that examines the local and global influence of the United States fast food industry. The film was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival before being released in North America on 17 November 2006 and in Europe on 23 March 2007. Cultural Significance Film scholars and commentators consider Richard Linklater’s films to be significant in a number of ways. In the early 1990s, Slacker was hailed as something of a manifesto for Generation X because the film’s young adult characters are more interested in quasi-intellectual pastimes and socialising than career advancement. However, Linklater has long since eschewed the role of generational spokesperson and is ironically a “Baby Boomer” himself. Moreover, the movie actually includes various generations, and many of its themes are universal rather than generation-specific. Those of Linklater’s films that have non-formulaic narratives about seemingly random occurrences, often spanning about twenty-four hours, have been hailed as alternatives to contemporary Hollywood market-driven blockbusters. In conjunction with these unorthodox narratives, the emphasis on philosophical talk over physical action in Slacker and Waking Life aligns Linklater’s work with art cinema traditions, particularly those of Europe, from which much recent American cinema is estranged.

School of Rock, 2003 $5.15/hour, 2004 Before Sunset, 2004 Bad News Bears, 2005 Trivia On 7th October 2004 three former friends of Linklater (Bobby Wooderson, Andy Slater, and Richard ‘Pink’ Floyd) sued him for the unauthorized use of their names and images in the film Dazed and Confused and for their representation as stoners, which they say has damaged their reputation. Inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame on March 9, 2007 in Austin, Texas. Kevin Smith said that it was Linklater’s Slacker that made him want to be a director.

A Scanner Darkly, 2006 Fast Food Nation, 2006 Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach, 2008 Me and Orson Welles, 2009


selected filmography Eque si sa perumquibus. Gendiore velibus ped mos reperspel min re et lignimi, core, et eaquam, te nobit ium eum eossit animaio ssimi, te velis alicitati doluptatate consequi derum quo blam, qui delescid et latusda con pelentet eum et quia eum faccae perum faces ressit, qui nimaio. Xim et quam et verum conseces as rataspi endist aritam facius aliqui aut iunt ipsa id quis quo ium quiducium harum ent ipitibus rehendis ut re elibus, oditiae ceateceaquis simaiore latemquodis aliquiant essum eatecte evel maion nobit et es ab ipissunt ad est, non re non ernatur? Mo dolutet eum ipsa nisquatecti aciet reheni conse aci blabori asperum fugit estoris quiant.

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Genre Comedy Drama Quote ‘Every action is a positive action, even if it has a negative result.’ Run Time 97 min Trivia The bar scene was shot with a Fisher-Price Pixel Vision camcorder.

Genre Crime Drama Quote ‘What does a scanner see? Into the head?’ Run Time 100 min Trivia Terry Gilliam originally wanted to make the film in the early 1990s.

Genre Drama Quote ‘I won’t need luck. I don’t believe in luck.’ Run Time 114 min Trivia ‘Julius Caesar’ ran for 157 performances during its run at the Mercury Theatre.

slacker 1991 Presents a day in the life in Austin, Texas among its social outcasts and misfits, using a series of linear vignettes. These characters, who in some manner just don’t fit into the establishment norms, move seamlessly from one scene to the next, randomly coming and going into one another’s lives. Highlights include a UFO buff who adamantly insists that the U.S. has been on the moon since the 1950s, and an old anarchist who sympathetically shares his philosophy of life with a robber.

a scanner darkly 2006 In a totalitarian society in a near future, the undercover detective Bob Arctor is working with a small time group of drug users trying to reach the big distributors of a brain-damaging drug called Substance D. His assignment is promoted by the recovery center New Path Corporation, and when Bob begins to lose his own identity and have schizophrenic behavior, he is submitted to tests to check his mental conditions.

me and orson welles 2008 High school student and aspiring thespian Richard Samuels takes a day trip into New York City where he meets and begins a casual friendship with Gretta Adler. Also on the trip Richard stumbles across the Mercury Theatre and meets Orson Welles, who, based on an impromptu audition, offers Richard an acting job as Lucius in his modern retelling of Julius Caesar. Welles does not believe in conventions and will do whatever he wants.


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dazed and confused illustration

slacker illustration


chapter three 18 of the best: A compilation of the most renowned cult films. Includes plot summaries, cast notes, year of release, trivia tidbits, quotes & more.


BARBARELLA 1968 Genre ACTION comedy Director roger vadim Writer jean claude forest

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After an in-flight anti-gravity striptease, Barbarella, a 41st century astronaut, lands on the planet Lythion and sets out to find the evil Durand Durand in the city of Sogo, where a new sin is invented every hour. There, she encounters such objects as the Exessive Machine, a genuine sex organ on which an accomplished artist of the keyboard, in this case, Durand Durand himself, can drive a victim to death by pleasure, a lesbian queen who, in her dream chamber, can make her fantasies take form, and a group of ladies smoking a giant hookah which, via a poor victim struggling in its glass globe, dispenses Essance of Man.

‘A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming’

CAST

Tagline ‘See Barbarella do her thing!’ Run Time 98 min

Barbarella, Jane Fonda

Trivia The original author JeanClaude Forest based the character of Barbarella on Brigitte Bardot - who ironically was director Roger Vadim’s previous wife.

Jane Fonda as Barbarella

Marcel Marceau as Professor Ping

John Phillip Law as Pygar

David Hemmings as Dildano

Anita Pallenberg as The Great Tyrant, Black Queen of Sogo

Claude Dauphin as President Dianthus of Earth

Milo O’Shea as Durand Durand

Ugo Tognazzi as Mark Hand


HAROLD AND MAUDE 1971 Genre BLACK Comedy Director HAL ASHBY Writer COLIN HIGGINS

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The self-destructive and needy wealthy teenager Harold is obsessed by death and spends his leisure time attending funerals, watching the demolishing of buildings, visiting junkyards, simulating suicides trying to get attention from his indifferent, snobbish and egocentric mother, and having sessions with his psychologist. When Harold meets the anarchist seventy-nine-year-old Maude at a funeral, they become friends and the old lady discloses other perspectives of the cycle of life for him. Meanwhile, his mother enlists him in a dating service and tries to force Harold to join the army. On the day of Maude’s eightieth birthday, Harold proposes to her but he finds the truth about life at the end of hers.

‘I SHOULD LIKE TO CHANGE INTO A SUNFLOWER MOST OF ALL’

CAST

Tagline ‘They were meant to be. But exactly what they were meant to be is not quite clear.’ Run Time 91 min

Maude Chardin, Ruth Gordon

Trivia In all shots of Ruth Gordon driving, the hearse it is being towed because she never learned how to drive a car.

Ruth Gordon as Maude Chardin

Eric Christmas as Priest

Bud Cort as Harold Chasen

G. Wood as Psychiatrist

Vivian Pickles as Mrs. Chasen

Judy Engles as Candy Gulf

Cyril Cusack as Glaucus

Shari Summers as Edith Phern

Charles Tyner as General Victor Ball

Ellen Geer as Sunshine Doré


american graffiti 1973 Genre comedy Director george lucas Writer george lucas

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‘YOU’RE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EXCITING THING I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. AND I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT YOU’

It’s the last night of summer 1962, and the teenagers of Modesto, California, want to have some fun before adult responsibilities close in. Among them are Steve and Curt , college-bound with mixed feelings about leaving home; nerdy Terry ‘The Toad’, who scores a dream date with blonde Debbie; and John, a 22-year-old drag racer who wonders how much longer he can stay champion and how he got stuck with 13-year-old Carol in his deuce coupe. As D. J. Wolfman Jack spins 41 vintage tunes on the radio throughout the night, Steve ponders a future with girlfriend Laurie, Curt chases a mystery blonde and Terry tries to act cool, but nothing can stop the next day from coming.

CAST

Tagline ‘Where were you in ‘62?’ Run Time 110 min

Curt Henderson, Richard Dreyfuss

Trivia When Charles Martin Smith pulls up on the Vespa in the beginning, his crash into the building wasn’t scripted. He genuinely lost control of the bike, and Lucas kept the cameras rolling.

Richard Dreyfuss as Curt Henderson

Mackenzie Phillips as Carol Morrison

Ron Howard as Steve Bolander

Harrison Ford as Bob Falfa

Paul Le Mat as John Milner

Bo Hopkins as Joe Young

Charles Martin Smith as Terry “The Toad” Fields

Wolfman Jack as himself

Cindy Williams as Laurie Henderson

Kathleen Quinlan as Peg

Candy Clark as Debbie Dunham

Suzanne Somers as Blonde in T-Bird


THE WARRIORS 1979 Genre ACTION Director WALTER HILL Writer SOL YURICK Cyrus, the leader of the most powerful gang in New York City, the Gramercy Riffs, calls a midnight summit for all the area gangs, with all asked to send nine unarmed representatives for the conclave. A gang called The Warriors are blamed for causing gang violence at theaters, but now it looks as highly stylized and pulpy as Hill intended. The plot finds a New York gang having to cross the territory of rivals in order to get to their own ‘hood. And so The Warriors begin their long journey from the Bronx back to Coney Island. The second-in-command, Swan, takes charge, though the hot-headed Ajax openly voices his desire to be acting gang warlord. The Warriors slowly cross the dangerous Bronx and Manhattan territories, narrowly escaping police and other gangs every step of the way.

36

‘can you dig it?’

CAST Tagline ‘These are the Armies of The Night’ Run Time 92 min

Cyrus, Roger Hill

Trivia Loosely based on Xenophon’s “Anabasis”, the account of an army of Greek mercenaries who, after aligning themselves with Cyrus the Younger in the battle of Cunaxa in his attempt to seize the Persian throne, found themselves isolated behind Persian enemy lines.

James Remar as Ajax

David Patrick Kelly as Luther

Dorsey Wright as Cleon

Marcelino Sanchez as Rembrandt

David Harris as Cochise

Brian Tyler as Snow

Tom McKitterick as Cowboy

Michael Beck as Swan

Thomas G. Waites as Fox

Terry Michos as Vermin

Deborah Van Valkenburgh as Mercy

Roger Hill as Cyrus


blade runner 1982 Genre sci fi, thriller Director ridley scott Writer hampton fancher In a cyberpunk vision of the future, man has developed the technology to create replicants, human clones used to serve in the colonies outside Earth but with fixed lifespans. In Los Angeles, 2019, Deckard is a Blade Runner, a cop who specialises in terminating replicants. Originally in retirement, he is forced to re-enter the force when six replicants escape from an offworld colony to Earth.

38

‘ALL THESE MOMENTS WILL BE LOST IN TIME, LIKE TEARS IN RAIN’

CAST Tagline ‘Man Has Made His Match... Now It’s His Problem.’ Run Time 117 min

Roy Batty, Rutger Hauer

Trivia Although Philip K. Dick saw only the opening 20 minutes of footage prior to his death on March 2, 1982, he was extremely impressed, and has been quoted by Paul Sammon as saying, “It was my own interior world. They caught it perfectly.”

Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard

Joanna Cassidy as Zhora

Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty

Joe Turkel as Dr. Eldon Tyrell

Sean Young as Rachael

William Sanderson as J.F. Sebastian

Brion James as Leon Kowalski

James Hong as Hannibal Chew

Daryl Hannah as Pris

M. Emmet Walsh as Bryant


fast times at ridgemont high 1982 Genre comedy Director amy heckerling Writer cameron crowe

40

The film follows a group of high school students growing up in southern California, based on the real-life adventures chronicled by Cameron Crowe. Stacy Hamilton and Mark Ratner are looking for a love interest, and are helped along by their older classmates, Linda Barrett and Mike Damone, respectively. The center of the film is held by Jeff Spicoli, a perpetually stoned surfer dude who faces off with the resolute Mr. Hand, who is convinced that everyone is on dope.

‘ALL I NEED IS SOME TASTY WAVES, A COOL BUZZ, AND I’M FINE’

CAST

Tagline ‘It’s Awesome! Totally Awesome!’ Run Time 90 min

Jeff Spicoli, Sean Penn

Trivia David Lynch was originally offered the chance to direct before Amy Heckerling was chosen. He turned it down saying it was a funny script, but not really his thing.

Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli

Ray Walston as Mr. Hand

Jennifer Jason Leigh as Stacy Hamilton

Vincent Schiavelli as Mr. Vargas

Judge Reinhold as Brad Hamilton

Lana Clarkson as Mrs. Vargas

Robert Romanus as Mike Damone

Forest Whitaker as Charles Jefferson

Brian Backer as Mark “Rat” Ratner

Eric Stoltz as Stoner Bud

Phoebe Cates as Linda Barrett

Nicolas Cage as Brad’s Bud


this is spinal tap! 1984 Genre comedy Director rob reiner Writer christopher guest In 1982 legendary British heavy metal band Spinal Tap attempt an American comeback tour accompanied by a fan who is also a film-maker. The resulting documentary, interspersed with powerful performances of Tap’s pivotal music and profound lyrics, candidly follows a rock group heading towards crisis, culminating in the infamous affair of the eighteen-inch-high Stonehenge stage prop.

42

‘These go to eleven’

CAST

Tagline ‘Does for rock and roll what ‘The Sound of Music’ did for hills’ Run Time 82 min

Nigel Tufnel, Christopher Guest

Trivia After the film opened, several people approached director Rob Reiner telling him that they loved the film, but he should have chosen a more well known band to do a documentary on.

Michael McKean as David St. Hubbins

R.J. Parnell as Mick Shrimpton

Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel

June Chadwick as Jeanine Pettibone

Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls

Ed Begley, Jr. as John “Stumpy” Pepys

Rob Reiner as Marty DiBergi

Danny Kortchmar as Ronnie Pudding

Tony Hendra as Ian Faith

Fran Drescher as Bobbi Flekman

David Kaff as Viv Savage

Billy Crystal as Morty the Mime


near dark 1987 Genre vampire, horror Director kathryn bigelow Writer kathryn bigelow A mid-western farm boy reluctantly becomes a member of the undead when a girl he meets turns out to be part of a band of southern vampires who roam the highways in stolen cars. Part of his initiation includes a bloody assault on a hick bar.

44

‘THE NIGHT HAS ITS PRICE’ CAST Tagline ‘Pray for Daylight.’ Run Time 94 min

Mae, Jenny Wright

Trivia The writer and director were intent on making a Western but realized that the interest in the Western genre at the time was almost non-existent, so it was recommended that they mix genres. Since the horror genre was in vogue at the time, the two decided to make a Horror Western.

Adrian Pasdar as Caleb Colton

Jenette Goldstein as Diamondback

Jenny Wright as Mae

Joshua John Miller as Homer

Lance Henriksen as Jesse Hooker

Marcie Leeds as Sarah Colton

Bill Paxton as Severen

Tim Thomerson as Loy Colton


they live 1988 Genre sci fi, horror Director john carpenter Writer ray nelson, john carpenter

46

Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and government with messages like ‘Stay Asleep’, ‘No Imagination’ and ‘Submit to Authority’. Even scarier is that he is able to see that some usually normal-looking people are in fact ugly aliens in charge of the massive campaign to keep humans subdued.

‘i have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. and i’m all out of bubblegum’

CAST

Tagline ‘Who are they? And what do they want?’ Run Time 93 min

John Nada, Roddy Piper

Trivia Graffiti artist Shepard Fairey got his OBEY name from this film.

Roddy Piper as John Nada

Peter Jason as Gilbert

Keith David as Frank Armitage

Sy Richardson as Black Revolutionary

Meg Foster as Holly Thompson

Susan Blanchard as Ingenue

George ‘Buck’ Flower as The Drifter

Norman Alden as Foreman


Heathers 1989 Genre black comedy Director michael lehmann Writer daniel waters Veronica mingles with Heather I, II and III to be as popular as them, even though she hates them. She hates them enough to wish they were dead, though she would never want to be their cause of death. When she starts dating Jason Dean, however, she finds herself involved in the murders of most of her enemies, covered up as suicides.

48

‘DEAR DIARY, MY TEEN ANGST BULLSHIT HAS A BODY COUNT’

CAST

Tagline ‘Best friends, social trends and occasional murder. ’ Run Time 103 min

Veronica Sawyer, Winona Ryder

Trivia Brad Pitt auditioned for the role of J.D., but was rejected because he was considered ‘too nice’ for the part.

Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer

Penelope Milford as Pauline Fleming

Christian Slater as Jason “J.D.” Dean

Glenn Shadix as Father Ripper

Shannen Doherty as Heather Duke

Lance Fenton as Kurt Kelly

Lisanne Falk as Heather McNamara

Patrick Labyorteaux as Ram Sweeney

Kim Walker as Heather Chandler

Renée Estevez as Betty Finn


TRUE ROMANCE 1993 Genre ACTION romance Director tony scott Writer Quentin tarantino Clarence Worley is a well-meaning but socially unskilled comic-shop clerk. He meets a girl named Alabama, and it’s love at first sight for both. Clarence’s enthusiasm isn’t dampened when he discovers Alabama is actually a call girl who was paid to bump into him. She’s only been in the business for a few days, and is more than eager to give it up. Clarence offers to break the news to her pimp Drexl, but while he’s there he grabs a suitcase that holds five million dollars’ worth of cocaine. The couple hits the road for California, planning to sell the dope and enjoy the good life in South America, but soon a group of underworld characters are after them, as well as the police.

50

‘you’re so cool’

CAST

Tagline ‘Not since Bonnie and Clyde have two people been so good at being bad.’ Run Time 120 min

Alabama Whitman, Patricia Arquette

Trivia Writer Quentin Tarantino sold the script for roughly $10,000. With the money he purchased the red Chevy convertible that Vincent Vega drives in Pulp Fiction.

Christian Slater as Clarence Worley

James Gandolfini as Virgil

Patricia Arquette as Alabama Whitman

Gary Oldman as Drexl Spivey

Michael Rapaport as Dick Ritchie

Christopher Walken as Vincenzo Coccotti

Bronson Pinchot as Elliot Blitzer

Chris Penn as Nicky Dimes

Saul Rubinek as Lee Donowitz

Brad Pitt as Floyd

Dennis Hopper as Clifford Worley

Val Kilmer as Elvis


DAZED AND CONFUSED 1993 Genre Comedy Director Richard Linklater Writer Richard Linklater Like George Lucas’ American Graffiti, Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused is an affectionate look at the youth culture of a bygone era. While Lucas took aim at the conservative 1950’s, Linklater jumps ahead a generation to the bicentennial year of 1976 to celebrate the joys of beer blasts, pot smoking and Frampton Comes Alive. Set on the last day of the academic year, the film follows the random activities of a sprawling group of Texas high schoolers as they celebrate the arrival of summer, their paths variously intersecting at a freshmen hazing, a local pool parlor and finally at a keg party.

52

‘YOU JUST GOTTA KEEP LIVIN’ MAN’

CAST

Tagline ‘It was the last day of school in 1976, a time they’d never forget... if only they could remember.’ Run Time 102 min

David Wooderson, Matthew McConaughey

Trivia The word ‘man’ is said 203 times total in the movie. The word ‘fuck’ is mentioned 59 times throughout the movie.

Jason London as Randall “Pink” Floyd

Matthew McConaughey as David Wooderson

Wiley Wiggins as Mitch Kramer

Cole Hauser as Benny O’Donnell

Rory Cochrane as Ron Slater

Milla Jovovich as Michelle Burroughs

Michelle Burke as Jodi Kramer

Joey Lauren Adams as Simone Kerr

Adam Goldberg as Mike Newhouse

Ben Affleck as Fred O’Bannion

Anthony Rapp as Tony Olson

Parker Posey as Darla Marks


tank girl 1995 Genre sci fi, comedy Director rachel talalay Writer alan martin, jamie hewlitt

54

Tank Girl and her friends are the only remaining citizens living in the wasteland that is Earth, where all the remaining water is controlled by Water and Power, the mega corporation/government that runs the territory. While incarcerated at Water and Power, Tank Girl and her new friend Jet Girl break out and steal, surprisingly, a tank and a jet. After meeting some mutant kangaroo/humans, and rescuing her little girl (adopted by her friends), the kangaroos and the girls kick Water and Powers’ butt.

‘LOOK, IT’S BEEN SWELL. BUT THE SWELLING’S GONE DOWN’

CAST

Tagline ‘In 2033, justice rides a tank and wears lip gloss.’ Run Time 104 min

Tank Girl, Lori Petty

Trivia Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham and Geri Halliwell from the Spice Girls all auditioned for the role of Tank Girl.

Lori Petty as Tank Girl

Reg E. Cathey as Deetee

Ice-T as T-Saint

Scott Coffey as Donner

Naomi Watts as Jet Girl

Malcolm McDowell as Kesslee

Don Harvey as Sergeant Small

Stacy Linn Ramsower as Sam

Jeff Kober as Booga

Ann Cusack as Sub Girl


RUSHMORE 1998 Genre comedy Director wes anderson Writer wes anderson Max Fischer is a precocious 15-year-old whose reason for living is his attendance at Rushmore, a private school where he’s not doing well in any of his classes, but where he’s the king of extracurricular activities - from being in the beekeeping society to writing and producing plays, there’s very little after school he doesn’t do. His life begins to change, however, when he finds out he’s on academic probation, and when he stumbles into love with Miss Cross, a pretty teacher of the elementary school at Rushmore. Added to the mix is his friendship with Herman Blume, wealthy industrialist and father to boys who attend the school, and who also finds himself attracted to Miss Cross.

56

‘i saved latin. what did you ever do?’

CAST

Tagline ‘Love. Expulsion. Revolution.’ Run Time 93 min

Max Fischer, Jason Schwartzmann

Trivia When Bill Murray first read the script, he thought it was so fantastic that he said he wanted to do it so badly he would do it for free.

Jason Schwartzman as Max Fischer

Mason Gamble as Dirk Calloway

Bill Murray as Herman Blume

Sara Tanaka as Margaret Yang

Olivia Williams as Rosemary Cross

Connie Nielsen as Mrs. Calloway

Seymour Cassel as Bert Fischer

Luke Wilson as Dr. Peter Flynn

Brian Cox as Dr. Nelson Guggenheim

Stephen McCole as Magnus Buchan


THE BIG LEBOWSKI 1998 Genre comedy Director Joel coen Writer joel & Ethan coen When “The Dude” Lebowski is mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, two thugs urinate on his rug to coerce him into paying a debt he knows nothing about. While attempting to gain recompense for the ruined rug from his wealthy counterpart, he accepts a one-time job with high pay-off. He enlists the help of his bowling buddy, Walter, a gun-toting Jewish-convert with anger issues. Deception leads to more trouble, and it soon seems that everyone from porn empire tycoons to nihilists want something from The Dude.

58

‘the dude abides’

CAST Tagline ‘They figured he was a lazy time wasting slacker. They were right.’ Run Time 117 min

The Dude, Jeff Bridges

Trivia The reason Steve Buscemi’s character, Donny, is constantly being told to ‘Shut the fuck up!’ by John Goodman’s ‘Walter’, is because Buscemi’s character in Fargo would not shut up.

Jeff Bridges as The Dude

Tara Reid as Bunny Lebowski

John Goodman as Walter

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Brandt

Steve Buscemi as Donny

Sam Elliott as The Stranger

David Huddleston as Jeffrey Lebowski

Ben Gazzara as Jackie Treehorn

Julianne Moore as Maude Lebowski

John Turturro as Jesus Quintana


but i’m a cheerleader 1999 Genre romantic Comedy Director jamie babbit Writer brian wayne peterson

60

Megan is an all-American girl. She’s a cheerleader and she has a boyfriend. But she doesn’t like kissing her boyfriend very much. And she’s pretty touchy with her cheerleader friends. And she only has pictures of girls up in her locker. Her parents and friends conclude that she must be gay and send her off to “sexual redirection” school, full of admittedly homosexual misfits, where she can learn to how to be straight. Will Megan be turned around to successful heterosexuality, or will she succumb to her love for the beautiful Graham?

‘TWO, FOUR, SIX, EIGHT. GOD IS GOOD. GOD IS STRAIGHT’

CAST

Tagline ‘A Comedy of Sexual Disorientation.’ Run Time 85 min

Megan, Natasha Lyonne

Trivia Cathy Moriarty asks a character if she wants to be a ‘raging bull-dyke’. Moriarty received an Oscar nomination for her role in Raging Bull.

Natasha Lyonne as Megan

RuPaul as Mike

Michelle Williams as Kimberly

Cathy Moriarty as Mary Brown

Brandt Wille as Jared

Eddie Cibrian as Rock

Bud Cort as Peter

Melanie Lynskey as Hilary

Mink Stole as Nancy

Clea DuVall as Graham


GHOST WORLD 2001 Genre comedy Director terry zwigoff Writer daniel clowes

62

Enid and Rebecca are two close friends who’ve just graduated from high school, and are trying to decide what to do with their lives. Enid is a dark-haired cynic who is tired of living at home with her ineffectual dad and his annoyingly perky girlfriend Maxine, while Rebecca is prettier and a bit cheerier, but no more certain about her future. While the two girls have vague plans of getting an apartment together, they seem content to while away their summer. Enid discovers that in order to get her diploma, she’ll have to take an additional class over the summer, where she winds up studying art. Enid also meets Seymour, a geeky record collector more than twice her age, and while they would seem to have little in common, Enid discovers a kindred spirit in Seymour, who shares her disgust with the world around them.

‘THIS IS SO BAD, IT’S GONE PAST GOOD AND BACK TO BAD AGAIN’

CAST

Tagline ‘Accentuate the negative.’ Run Time 111 min

Enid Coleslaw, Thora Birch

Trivia Enid Coleslaw, the main character’s name, is an anagram of the film and comic book’s author, Daniel Clowes.

Thora Birch as Enid Coleslaw

Illeana Douglas as Roberta Allsworth

Scarlett Johansson as Rebecca

Bob Balaban as Enid’s father

Steve Buscemi as Seymour

Stacey Travis as Dana

Brad Renfro as Josh

Teri Garr as Maxine

Pat Healy as John Ellis

Dave Sheridan as Doug


wet hot american summer 2001 Genre comedy Director David wain Writer michael showalter

64

The setting is Camp Firewood, the year 1981. It’s the last day before everyone goes back to the real world, but there’s still a summer’s worth of unfinished business to resolve. At the center of the action is camp director Beth, who struggles to keep order while she falls in love with the local astrophysics professor. He is busy trying to save the camp from a deadly piece of NASA’s Skylab which is hurtling toward earth. All that, plus: a dangerous waterfall rescue, love triangles, misfits, cool kids, and talking vegetable cans. The questions will all be resolved, of course, at the big talent show at the end of the day.

‘I HOPE IT’S NOT JUMBO SHRIMP, BECAUSE I’M ALLERGIC TO OXYMORONS’

CAST

Tagline ‘High Times. Hard Bodies. Soft Rock.’ Run Time 97 min

Beth, Janeane Garofalo

Trivia The owners of Camp Towanda (where the movie was filmed) were told that this was going to be a family comedy. They were mortified when they saw the final cut of the film.

Janeane Garofalo as Beth

Michael Ian Black as McKinley

David Hyde Pierce as Henry Newman

Elizabeth Banks as Lindsay

Molly Shannon as Gail von Kleinenstein

Ken Marino as Victor

Paul Rudd as Andy

Joe Lo Truglio as Neil

Christopher Meloni as Gene

Amy Poehler as Susie

Michael Showalter as Coop

Bradley Cooper as Ben




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