John Waters' 'A Dirty Shame'

September 19, 2004

Waters' latest: sex by pseudonym

A Dirty Shame is a tale of marauding sex addicts who wage a pitched battle against the morally upright citizens of Harford Road. It's also a celebration of sexual rapaciousness, sexual perversity, sexual obsessions ... in fact, just about everything sexual, except the sex act itself (which, despite the film's NC-17 rating, is never actually shown).

September 15, 2004

Sold on Waters

John Waters wasn't the most anxious person at last night's premiere of his new movie, the NC-17-rated A Dirty Shame.

September 14, 2004

NC-17 rating fails to vex Waters

John Waters must be one of the few film directors who can shrug when their work is declared off-limits to a significant portion of the movie-going population.

December 7, 2003

Back to abnormal

Think of John Waters as a racy Wizard of Oz. Generations of American storytellers have chronicled provincial misfits and artists leaving their homes and finding their true colors in Los Angeles, New York or San Francisco. But Waters does the reverse, attracting international talent to his native Baltimore and convincing them that Charm City and the Emerald City are fully equal.

January 19, 2003

Marylander of the Year

Hey, Hon! It's John Waters

BILLIE HOLIDAY called Baltimore a tough town. Frank Zappa moved away at the age of 10 and never came back. Edgar Allan Poe died here. John Wilkes Booth is buried here.