An insane independent film director and his renegade group of teenage filmmakers kidnap an A-list Hollywood actress and force her to star in their underground film.
Director:
John Waters
Stars:
Melanie Griffith,
Stephen Dorff,
Alicia Witt
A talented young photographer, who enjoys snapping photos of his satirical, perverted Baltimore neighborhood and his wacky family, gets dragged into a world of pretentious artists from New York City and finds newfound fame.
Director:
John Waters
Stars:
Edward Furlong,
Christina Ricci,
Bess Armstrong
An uptight, middle-aged, repressed woman turns into a sex addict after getting hit on the head, and she then falls into an underground subculture of sex addicts in suburban Baltimore.
Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".
A young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.
Director:
Lasse Hallström
Stars:
Johnny Depp,
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Juliette Lewis
A spoiled schoolgirl runs away from home, gets pregnant while hitch-hiking, and ends up as a fashion model for a pair of beauticians who like to photograph women committing crimes.
An artificial man, who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands, leads a solitary life. Then one day, a suburban lady meets him and introduces him to her world.
The story of two adolescent boys who are guests at a Florida resort for the week-end. Their only interest is, of course, chasing girls, but fate has much more in store for them.
Allison is a "square" good girl who has decided she wants to be bad and falls hard for Cry-Baby Walker, a Greaser (or "Drape" in John Waters parlance). Spoofing Elvis movies and Juvenile Delinquency scare films of the '50s, this movie follows the adventures of Cry-Baby who, though he is sent to juvie, is determined to cross class (and taste) boundaries to get Allison back.Written by
Linda (& Moo)
[first lines]
Wanda's mother:
Hi Kids. Remember, always look both ways before crossing.
Wanda:
[embarassed]
Mother!
See more »
Crazy Credits
The film begins with an old-fashioned 50's style Universal logo. It's also accompanied by 50's doo-wop music. A stage curtain opens up the movie. See more »
Alternate Versions
In the original version, the courtroom scene has an exchange between Wanda (Traci Lords) and her mother and father (Patricia Hearst and David Nelson) where Wanda asks her parents to get her out of the situation. Specifically, she asks them to get her "the fuck" out of here. "Fuck" is beeped out when Wanda initially utters it, and subsequent uses of the word are beeped as well when Wanda's mother asks her husband what the F-word means. The beeping-out continues until Wanda's mother asks the judge if she can take her daughter "the fuck home," uncensored, causing the courtroom audience to chuckle. In a version being aired on "Indie" channel in November, 2007, the scene is intact, but the word "fuck" is not beeped out. See more »
There seem to be two types of folks who detest "Cry-Baby;" those who think Waters sold out by making anything that cost more than $500 and didn't include coprophagy, and those who insist that all movies be Art with a capital A.
I was well into my 20's when the movie first came out, not a fan of 21 Jump Street, and no stranger to movies, including masterpieces and early John Waters, but I LOVED it, and have caught the uncut version on USA network quite a few times.
Cry-Baby is no Citizen Kane, and it's no Pink Flamingos, but, at risk of being pretentious, I will say that its full of something that makes art: Truth. Even in incredibly silly scenes, the movie is based in real and true emotions. John Waters' love for the fun parts of the 50's, (and hatred of the status quo that obviously made his teen years a living hell) is all over this film.
Yes, scenes such as the orphanage are silly, but the cynicism of the orphanage workers and the angst of the mother are as real as can be. The silliness works because the John Waters BELIEVES in what he is saying, and makes damn sure that his actors are with him!
All of the actors, from Johnny Depp who (as with all of his roles) *becomes* the character to Joe Dallesandro who barely can get his lines out, believe in their characters.
"Cry-Baby" parodies 50's "Teen Rebel" musicals such as "Rock Around the Clock" and "Don't Knock the Rock", but with obvious affection.
Yes, it's a musical. If you're one of those cynics who says things like "But people DON'T just start singing in real life" don't see it. Movies exist to give us a break from real life while mirroring it enough to be cathartic. Musicals and parodies take it one step further. They're not diaries, they're not reality, they're MOVIES!
"Cry-Baby" is a lot of fun, and the soundtrack is terrific (and "Hairspray"'s is even better!).
If you liked "Cry-Baby", I recommend "Hairspray" (not quite so silly, just as sweet.) and "But I'm A Cheerleader," which is definitely Waters-inspired, from its use of pink to its incredibly true emotions within very silly situations.
If you didn't like Cry-Baby, how sad. You obviously missed something.
105 of 116 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
There seem to be two types of folks who detest "Cry-Baby;" those who think Waters sold out by making anything that cost more than $500 and didn't include coprophagy, and those who insist that all movies be Art with a capital A.
I was well into my 20's when the movie first came out, not a fan of 21 Jump Street, and no stranger to movies, including masterpieces and early John Waters, but I LOVED it, and have caught the uncut version on USA network quite a few times.
Cry-Baby is no Citizen Kane, and it's no Pink Flamingos, but, at risk of being pretentious, I will say that its full of something that makes art: Truth. Even in incredibly silly scenes, the movie is based in real and true emotions. John Waters' love for the fun parts of the 50's, (and hatred of the status quo that obviously made his teen years a living hell) is all over this film.
Yes, scenes such as the orphanage are silly, but the cynicism of the orphanage workers and the angst of the mother are as real as can be. The silliness works because the John Waters BELIEVES in what he is saying, and makes damn sure that his actors are with him!
All of the actors, from Johnny Depp who (as with all of his roles) *becomes* the character to Joe Dallesandro who barely can get his lines out, believe in their characters.
"Cry-Baby" parodies 50's "Teen Rebel" musicals such as "Rock Around the Clock" and "Don't Knock the Rock", but with obvious affection.
Yes, it's a musical. If you're one of those cynics who says things like "But people DON'T just start singing in real life" don't see it. Movies exist to give us a break from real life while mirroring it enough to be cathartic. Musicals and parodies take it one step further. They're not diaries, they're not reality, they're MOVIES!
"Cry-Baby" is a lot of fun, and the soundtrack is terrific (and "Hairspray"'s is even better!).
If you liked "Cry-Baby", I recommend "Hairspray" (not quite so silly, just as sweet.) and "But I'm A Cheerleader," which is definitely Waters-inspired, from its use of pink to its incredibly true emotions within very silly situations.
If you didn't like Cry-Baby, how sad. You obviously missed something.