Pecker
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Movie Reviews of Pecker
Movie Review: Sweet and funny
Summary: 4 Stars
Sweet, funny story of a photographer whose hobby finds him snapping photos of the seemier side of life. Now available in a 2-disc package with John Waters' "Hairspray", complete with new audio commentary from Waters himself, making that set the better value.Movie Review: Worked for me
Summary: 4 Stars
If you like movies whose humor would offend the puritanical (e.g. Clerks or Austin Powers) then consider this one. It definately does not suit all tastes but worked fine for me. Some of the acting was a bit amateurish, but that added a bit of charm. Weird.Movie Review: John waters down his earlier work in a futile attempt to make it more palatable
Summary: 3 Stars
Pecker (Edward Furlong) is a naive artist who likes to take pictures of his family and friends in Baltimore. His name is derived from the fact that as a child he pecked at his food. He works at a sandwich shop, and is excited about having his first exhibition. It is a very amateur affair, but through some fluke he is discovered. Pecker's out-of-focus snapshots are being compared to Diane Arbus, but with empathy, and his work is sought by the New York Art Elite. Gallery owner Rorey Wheeler (Lili Taylor) is especially taken with the new artiste on the block, and attempts to lure him from his girlfriend, Shelley (Christina Ricci), who is too busy enforcing nazi-like rules at her laundrymat to notice at first.
Film maker John Waters (Pink Flamingoes, Hairspray, Polyester, Cry Baby, etc.) takes aim at New York elitists (he is from Baltimore), art snobs, censorship, and the unintended consequences of fame on an artist and their friends and relations (who might serve as raw material or inspiration); but unfortunately, nothing sticks. Best moment was at Pecker's 2nd exhibition when he temporarity turns the tables on the art snobs, who cry out "Here's to the end of Irony!" before realising the show is mocking them. Or did I dream that? I borrowed Pecker from the local library and had to return it before I could watch a second time to verify. Waters' film, Pecker is really just a gallery of grotesques, but without the empathy of a Diane Arbus.
Furlong and Ricci are two prime examples of child actors who met with early success, but while Furlong may have been jinxed, possibly by Pecker, Ricci seems able to bounce freely between family fare (Casper, That Darn Cat, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Speed Racer) and edgier fare (The Opposite of Sex, The Ice Storm, Black Snake Moan, Prozac Nation, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas)--sometimes even within the same film (Little Red Riding Hood, The Addams Family, Addams Family Values).
Films of Edward Furlong
Detroit Rock City (New Line Platinum Series) (1999) .... Hawk is trying to scam his way into a KISS concert. All that street cred down the tubes.
American History X (1998) .... Danny Vinyard is the younger brother of Edward Norton's white supremist--who tries to stop him from following his racist ways.
The Grass Harp (1995) .... Furlong plays Collin Fenwick in this movie based on a novel by Truman Capote.
American Heart (1992) .... Nick Kelson is the son of an alchoholic drug addict who is trying to straighten out. Jeff Bridges plays the father, so Furlong is now officially Dude, Jr.
Terminator 2 - Judgment Day (The Ultimate Edition DVD) (1991) .... John Connor is the whole pivot on which the plot turns. Quite an auspicious debut, and it can't hurt to know the Governator.
Films of Christina Ricci
Black Snake Moan (2006) .... Rae is played by Ricci in the other movie about snakes starring Samuel L. Jackson besides Snakes on a Plane.
The Opposite of Sex (1998) .... Ricci is at it again as Dede Truitt, stirring up more trouble.
The Ice Storm (1997) .... As Wendy Hood Ricci seduces not one but two brothers, but it is the Nixon mask that still gives me nightmares.
The Addams Family / Addams Family Values (1991) .... Wednesday Addams
Mermaids (1990) .... Ricci's Kate Flax is the little sister of Winona Ryder and the daughter of Cher. Quite an auspicious debut. Call Jean Keane to paint her portrait. Ooops, she already did.
Memama: Sometimes there's things more important than pit beef.
Movie Review: Not as impressive as I thought it would be
Summary: 3 Stars
I don't know what I was expecting from this movie. I'm a huge fan of Cry Baby, another John Waters movie (which still hasn't had an official release on DVD), and I haven't seen Hairspray, which has Ricki Lake in it. I dunno. I suppose I was expecting it to live up to Cry Baby, which was set in Baltimore & still had the same eccentric characters, but Cry Baby was much better. The fact that it had a young & ultra cute Johnny Depp, wearing leather and riding a motorbike helped!
The fact is, you can't really base a film around just taking black & white photos of people in your town and expect it to become a success. I'd previously never heard of it, and didn't realise it had Christina Ricci in it - who by the way, is extremely whiny & bratty, I just wanted to slap her. It's so weird seeing Edward Furlong too, as I'd only seen him in Terminator 2 before. He actually looked kinda nice looking in this, as opposed to Terminator 2, where he so wasn't! (I think they should bring him back for Terminator 4) This was 6 years after T2, and he's certainly grown up!
In the opening scene, the number of the bus is 7734. According to John Waters, this is an old Catholic school joke since '7734' upside-down "spells" hell. (Am I the only one that doesn't get this?)
The claw machine in the bar contains, among other things, a box of Ex-Lax, a box of Gas-X, a liquor bottle filled with a dark brown liquid (bourbon maybe?), and a cell phone.
Pecker's camera is an early model of the Canonet, a compact camera made over a period of more than a decade (primarily in the 1960s) by Canon for the consumer market. The camera takes so-so pictures, and today might be worth $20-$40, when it can be found. It is entirely plausible that Pecker might find such a camera in a thrift store, at a garage sale, or the like.
Anyone who knows me, will know I love taking photos (as my boyfriend's found out many a time), although I prefer staying behind the camera, much like Pecker does in this. I was wondering how he could afford all that film (and you never saw him once change the film), but there's a funny scene that explains all that!
It's a very odd movie, I'll give it that. Now if I could just get my hands on an official release of Cry Baby. Or sleep with John Waters.
Movie Review: Interesting profile and perspective on Baltimore and the NYC art scene
Summary: 3 Stars
John Waters portrays the absurd elements of everyday life in his beloved hometown of Baltimore with such relish that it actually makes me want to visit. The highlight of the film is Pecker's grandmother who has a "speaking" Virgin Mary and his older sister who works in a gay stripclub. The NYC art scene is portrayed as cold, calculating and a bit of a leech to Pecker's fresh-faced and unassuming talent, though Christina Ricci's girlfriend character was a bit annoying in her constant complaints against the latter city while extolling the virtue of Baltimore. This is not one of John Waters' best (those would be primarily in the 1970s) but is recommended for anyone interested in Baltimore and an outsider's view of the art scene.