moonmonday That's basically my reaction to the ending. So that's it?"A lot of pointlessness that thinks it's funnier than it is" makes up most of this film. There were a few points where I laughed, a few where I smiled, but it isn't a good movie and doesn't even make a good point. It's just a bunch of people doing scenes that don't really fit well together. It's not a coherent story, and it's not really a coherent movie; it's not even a cohesive artistic statement, because it's all over the place. There's nothing in it that you can pick out from all of the chaos.And that's a shame, because the photography is good. The actors are good. I wanted to like the movie, just as I wanted to like the characters. But it tries too hard to be likable and fails even harder for when it succeeds. It uses people's horrible deaths as punchlines, but it doesn't keep up that tone, it just expects us to laugh when that turns up out of nowhere. It's not funny, and there's not a skillful balance of the heavy and the light, so it ends up being a depressing, pointless, incoherent slog of nothing much. If you have a laugh, it's going to be followed up at some "unexpected" turn by something horrific and depressing. Except it becomes incredibly predictable after the first time, so much that you could set your clock by how invariably it happens every time.By the end, it's very tiring. You're ready for it to be over, and it considerably overstays its welcome. There really wasn't any way it could have ended well, but especially not with such a poorly-written story and not very good direction. The photography was about the only thing well-directed about it. This is, put simply, a bad movie. That doesn't mean it's without its charm or good points. It just means that it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, well-made, well-presented, or a work possessing any particular level of quality or excellence.Evidently, I'm not the kind of person who likes John Waters. I don't believe he's some kind of brilliant creator, just someone following his urges and making films he wants to make. If he likes them, then that's probably enough for him, and that's good; some artists are like that. It doesn't make it a good movie, though, and it makes the constant references to other "artiste" filmmakers all the more annoying, as if they're supposed to lend this gravitas or hilarity. They don't. I just want to watch a Pasolini film instead of this. I'd almost rather watch Fassbinder, except he's about as depressing and difficult to like.And I'll admit, I didn't like all of Pasolini's films either, and I don't think he's for everyone. I'm just not sure this film was for anyone. It's essentially meaningless, and it's unbelievable at every turn, yet it doesn't engage in the kind of fantasy that becomes wondrous or makes the audience want to be a part of it. It's just implausibly miserable and stupid, and that, to me, is worthy of contempt.As much as I liked Melanie Griffith in this, and as much as I do think it shows her natural charisma as an actress, I couldn't find it in me to like the movie. Aside from a few jokes that you could easily edit down into a five-minute clip video, it's not worth watching this. And the jokes are so obvious and out-of-place that you would miss nothing by seeing them without any buildup or context, because there's no buildup or context when they appear in the movie itself.It's a pity they didn't play the song "Is That All There Is?" at the end. That would've at least been witty.

yolt13-1 John Waters has a wonderful way of poking fun at just about everyone with equal love and ferocity in his films. This hilarious movie is often labeled as a darkly comedic arrow through the cold heart of the Hollywood system, but that's only half of the story. With typical accuracy and aplomb, Baltimore's favorite son here deftly skewers underground and indie filmmakers as well. As always, though we are meant to root for Cecil and his Sprocket Holes, we are also meant to find them absurd, irrational, ridiculous, somewhat hypocritical, and just a bit scary - just like the tens of thousands of would-be cinematic revolutionaries out there shooting pointless nonsense and proclaiming Hollywood the Devil's backyard while secretly waiting for that call from their agent saying they've finally sold their Sci-Fi Channel original series spec script. Just as A DIRTY SHAME would later take on both the sexually repressed and the criminally uninhibited, CECIL B. DEMENTED delights in reminding us of just how crazy we all are.The cast here has an absolute ball with the razor-sharp material. Of particular note are Maggie Gyllenhaal as a Satan-worshiping make-up artist and Adrian Grenier as an actor who has solved all of his other problems by exchanging them for just one, a world-class drug addiction. Melanie Griffith and Stephen Dorff are fun in the lead roles, but it's Alicia Witt who steals the show as pornstar-turned-perpetually horny film terrorist Cherish. In a film full of show-stopping moments (from a projectile vomiting patron at a screening of the director's cut of PATCH ADAMS to a candy fight in front of a theater showing all "family" films), none is more hilarious or memorable than when our idealistic heroes duck into a porno theater having an all night Cherish anal marathon. The group struggles to blend into a crowd of increasingly aroused raincoaters as they watch the on-screen Cherish become intimately familiar with a very adventurous gerbil. Though nothing explicit is shown, this is about as close to classic Waters as a contemporary studio movie could ever hope to get. Not even the water bottle scene in A DIRTY SHAME can touch it for its sheer absurdity and faux-erotic silliness. To her credit, Miss Witt plays this over-the-top scene with the same relish she brings to the role throughout the entire feature.CECIL B. DEMENTED is a hoot. Snooty as this may sound, if you don't like it, it's because you don't get it. And if you don't get it, maybe John Waters is a name you should avoid when perusing Netflix.

Polaris_DiB John Waters, the master of bad taste and a big proponent of underground cinema himself, has brought to screen probably one of the greatest tongue-in-cheek renditions of the struggle between the Mainstream and the Art House--Cecil B. Demented, a film about a renegade crew of film lovers who kidnap an A-list actress from her impending swan dive and attempt to forever change the face of independent film-making. They have a vision, they have a drive, and they have their actress. Let them lose and see where these cinema anarchists lead you! This film is outrageous, and outrageously glorious. Waters douses the screen with characters, references, and action that any film lover can enjoy (though maybe there might still be a few film snobs out there who just can't take a joke), and pretty much let's his imagination run wild as usual while the motley crew makes one of the best cinematic creations never created.The movie itself is full of irony, a seemingly lost art in contemporary film. Full of big name actors and generally having a pretty accessible storyline, "Cecil B. Demented" is far from the audacity of "Pink Flamingoes". A highly quotable cult picture itself ("Hey MPAA, how many films have you censored today?" and "Hi I'm Raven, I'll be your hairdresser. I'm a Satanist!" are my favorites), it's message is also underlined by the very mainstream critic quotes that pepper the DVD cover, bringing to mind the movie's own line, "Death to all critics who say everything is good!" But that doesn't change it's lovable and eccentric attitude, and helps underline a point itself: this film is a dreamland that every aspiring director hopes for but can never attain. It's filled with the kitsch of success and the nirvana of artistic freedom, and yet it still stars Melanie Griffith (but hey, she does a great job)! A must for any fan of independent cinema, and a good time for anybody with a sense of humor, "Cecil B. Demented" is one of the most pleasing John Waters films of all time.--PolarisDiB

aimless-46 Any film with Alicia Witt and Maggie Gyllenhaal has very good things going for it visually. And although a little weird for mainstream audiences, "Cecil B. DeMented is a very entertaining film. Imagine a spoof about the American film industry and American movie audiences, packaged as a cross between "Dr. Strangelove" and "State and Main".It is after all a John Waters film, and a film set in his hometown of Baltimore. Which means the jokes will be hit-and-miss, with many best appreciated by film industry insiders and Baltimore natives. But the obvious fun the cast has playing their out-there characters is infectious. Melanie Griffith (Tippi Hedren's daughter) has a ball tweaking her diva image as she plays an aging star gradually won over to the cause of her kidnappers (insert Patti Hearst here who actually has a small part in the picture). Alicia Witt gives her best ever performance as the delectable porn star turned revolutionary. The best scene is when she and her fellow film revolutionaries hide out at a porn theater showing "Rear Entry", an anal epic co-starring Witt and a randy gerbil.Stephen Dorff, before he went insane and got involved with Pamela (slug) Anderson, does a good job as the title character. But watch closely for an absolutely glowing performance by Gyllenhaal. She is something special with lines like: "I haven't had this much fun since my last livestock mutilation!" Worth watching if you have a sense of humor, even better if you are demented.