A special shipment of Cha-Cha heels goes out to the world's greatest living filmmaker, as John Waters turns 62 today. In a recent interview with Details magazine, he was asked who he thinks his fan base is:

"They’re people who have a good sense of humor and who basically, a little bit, wished they were terrorists. They’re interested in deviant behavior; they’re interested in behavior that maybe they’d never do, and that they can’t understand—which is healthy. Everything that interests me is basically what I can’t understand or for which there’s not a fair answer—that's why it remains interesting"

His films have run the gamut from family-friendly (Hairspray) to ... less family-friendly (almost everything else). For me, his best films are the aforementioned Hairspray (the original, NOT the musical remake, thank you!), and my favorite, the truly classic Female Trouble. The first time I saw heroine Dawn Davenport threaten little Taffy with a car arial beating, I knew I had found my film god. After the break, you can see another classic scene from Female Trouble, with an older Taffy playing her favorite game, "car crash aftermath", and Dawn trying to become a model. While you're watching, tell me if you don't think that Amy Winehouse TOTALLY ripped off her look from Dawn!

Today is the birthday of Divine (a.k.a Harris Glenn Milstead).

John Waters' greatest muse would have been 62 today. He died in 1988 of respiratory failure caused by sleep apnea. Though he left us too soon, the performer made an indelible mark on American cult cinema.

We thought we'd commemorate the occasion of his birthday with a Divine movie quote quiz. See if you can match the quotes below with the following characters:

a. Babs Johnson from Pink Flamingos (1972)
b. Dawn Davenport from Female Trouble (1974)
c. Francine Fishpaw from Polyester (1981)
d. Rosie Velez from Lust in the Dust (1985)
e. Edna Turnblad from Hairspray (1988)

Quote 1: Oh Elmer, that dog stinks to high heaven. You'll be permeated by his odor.

Quote 2: I've DONE everything a mother can do: I've locked her in her room, I've beat her with the car aerial. Nothing changes her. It's HARD being a loving mother!

Quote 3: It's the times. They are a-changin'. Something's blowing in the wind. Fetch me my diet pills, would you?

Quote 4: Oh my God Almighty! Someone has sent me a bowel movement!

Quote 5: Yeah, I was a dance hall girl, but what makes you so high and mighty? You own a whorehouse! A whorehouse!... and with only three whores in it. One of them is just a senile old cow. [aside to Big Ed] No offense, honey.


Answers appear below.....

On a blazing hot summer day you might not feel up to running the streets, rollerblading in the city or even a sweltering walk in the park. The heat can be exhausting and a day inside could be just what you need. We've already written about how there isn't much gay at the box office of late, so to help keep you entertained in the cool interior of your house are five of the best gay movies to fill up in your Netflix queue — and yes, I left out Brokeback Mountain!

Female Trouble

Despite some of the interview mishaps with John Travolta, many of us are looking forward to the third version of Hairspray due out in theaters July 20th. However, before Serial Mom and Hairspray, legendary director John Waters was known for his camp-a-licious films that shocked straights and gays. Waters' 1975 Female Trouble manages to not go as far as his first film, Pink Flamingos, but goes far enough to still get a NC-17 rating when the film was released on DVD in 2004.

Female Trouble is the story of Dawn Davenport, played by the larger-than-life drag queen Divine. Dawn is mortified when she does not get her cha-cha heels for Christmas and turns into a tawdry bad girl who combines crime and beauty to be a star. Female Trouble is vulgar, repulsive, shocking, but completely hilarious. If you haven't see it, it's a must and if you already seen it, it's a must to see it again.

If you missed the limited release of Brother to Brother in 2005, it is definite DVD viewing for the summer. Brother to Brother is the story of a struggling writer/student who is looking for love and struggling with his sexuality in urban New York. His life is juxtaposed with the Harlem Renaissance by characters such as Langston Hughes, Wallace Thurman and Richard Bruce Nugent. Director Rodney Evans delivers in this touching film that manages to combine humor with drama, leaving the audience with a sense that although we are from different eras, many things for gays have remained the same including the need for love and companionship which are universal.