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A rant by Jim Dwyer X
"XXX" Questions for Philly Verow Superstar and surreal natural
wonder of the world, Philly, is riding high. A glamorous resurgence
of old-school style Underground celebrity status has targeted the Queen
of the Lower East Side with heaping servings of creative opportunities.
In addition to her award-winning work in Todd Verow’s nine billion
digital features, cinematrix Philly is finding herself in demand from
the likes of arty, undie cineastes like Xan Price and Ned Ambler- even
the godfather of underground film, Mike Kuchar, is filming Philly and
proclaiming her muse-like status. So, here’s some musings from
the muse. Wow, give me a sec. Ok – there are two but I can’t remember which comes first. I remember watching a big wheel on a car turn and a man leaving in that car. It was large and blue. I guess it was my grandfather. The other memory is when I hid in a box when I was really little and disappeared for awhile. I got punished- they wouldn’t let me ride the merry-go-round. It was this thing that they dragged around on a truck to have all the kids in the neighborhood ride. I couldn’t because they thought I had been abducted and got mad at me. What did you do for fun as a teenager? Chiefly, masturbation, but reading a lot Kerouac and Freud too. Typical stuff. How did you get involved with Todd Verow? Todd made the delightful mistake of moving in with me when he graduated RISD and we’ve been friends and co-conspirators ever since. It’s always been like playing in a giant mud puddle with you guys and somehow at the end, all the mud and clay has become this beautiful Ming vase- but in bad day-glo colors. Are you a lover or a fighter? I like to do both at the same time. What are you enjoying most about underground superstardom? The human sacrifices, the international acclaim- the tons of money our movies pull in. I love it all. What current American obsession annoys you the most right not? The presidential election- there is no one to vote for. There was a rumor you were posing for Playboy, is this true? Hef told me that I am not allowed to talk about that at this point. Do people know the real Philly? After ONCE AND FUTURE QUEEN? (laughter) Well if they come to our films and listen to me at the Q and A then I think they get a clue about me. I think they’d know me. How’s the band you formed for ONCE AND FUTURE QUEEN, Eager Meat? The band is fucking awesome. If only we could all be in the same country at the same time to rehearse. I love the cock rockers. Superstar Bill and Jose Valdez and Rich rule time and space. We are finish our 2nd CD soon “TOP TEN IN HELL” and we start writing the next one “SPICS, MICS AND TITS” So we are very busy. Any advice for wannabe Superstars? What advice? Don’t listen to anybody. The things they hate you for now are the things they are going to kiss your ass for later. And they pay too. Shawn
Durr: Shawn Durr is a director. He recently
won the Chicago Underground Film Festival's Audience Award for his debut
feature, FUCKED IN THE FACE. Yes, the film features some face coitus
as well as a fab cast and a great soundtrack. His short films have titles
like "Ball-Biting Bitches" and "Meat Fucker" and
touch the heart in ways that some of us may find maddeningly yet surreally,
earnest. Shawn's films are able to break your heart and break wind at
the same time. And some may whine "oh he's like John Waters"
but John Waters has never made a 'sexy' movie so no, he ain't John Waters
Jr. He inhabits a world where Hello Kitty is a cunning lesbian crack
whore, Mick Jagger is your incestuous mother-in-law and someone named
Bobby Hoochie won't leave you alone. But he is more than capable of
speaking for himself and his little eccentric world - as you shall see.
SHAWN: I am from a small town in the middle of a cornfield in the middle of the Midwest. It's called Macomb Illinois. Hipster locals pronounce it make-um-ill. It's not exactly another planet, but it's also not exactly of this world. Macomb is actually mentioned in a Kurt Vonnegut book, I forget which one, but he mentions in the book that Macomb is not hell, but that you can see it from there. There's not much going on in that town unless you're preoccupied with soybean futures, pick up trucks or the cost of grain. I grew up, went to high school and college there and then moved to Chicago without a clue as to what I was going to do. JIM: When did you start making films? SHAWN: I started making films when I was in junior high and high school. I was able to get my hands on some ancient silent super 8 cameras and proceeded to make many epics with my best friend, Frank Walters. We even had a production company - we called ourselves, "Goat Jiz Productions". The graphic we came up with was, well, graphic and very literal. I used to have so much fun making those films, when I think about it, it's very strange that I didn't continue with it until I picked it up again much later in life. Back then I was obsessed with Alfred Hitchcock. I would shoot everything from five gerbillion angles. I made a series of films called "SMOG DOG" - which was essentially this guy dressed in a trench coat and Halloween mask stalking around with a big butcher knife. He would from time to time jump out at people as scare then so badly that they would piss their pants. It's odd to think how little my aesthetic has really changed since I was in high school come to think of it. JIM: What is directing to you? Are you a control freak? Or a plain freak? SHAWN: I'm just plain freaky. Directing means something different to me everytime I do it. I guess right now it means being able to build a rapport with whoever is in front of the camera- building a camaraderie and certain joy in the work. My style is very hyper, frenetic and focused, but also fun. I bring a lot of ideas to the table, but it gives me a big wet stiffy when people start getting so into the shoot that they get ideas too. I like to prepare shots and what not, but I am careful not to over prepare because I think that when you over prepare that there's a potential you'll get stuck on the game plan, instead of taking in what's actually going on. My friend Nate says that you can never plan something that will be better than what comes out of the moment, spontaneously. I believe that. Directing also means trying always to minimize the chance that I'm missing opportunities, that I've exhausted every possible opportunity for the performers to kick ass, or for me to come up with some cool shot or such. Sometimes I get jumpy and stop shooting too soon and miss out on some stuff. So I guess as a director I just lay back, spread my legs wide open and try and enjoy the ride for all it's worth. JIM: Your work could not be any farther from so-called "good-taste" - yet there is a warm lovely feeling to most of your work. What is up with that??? SHAWN: I'm a big pussy. And besides, my films are basically very personal stories about me. It may not seem that way, but they are. Sure, there are bizarre characters and weird ass situations, but at their root, the movies are about me- the mistakes I've made, stupid things I've done or thought, or crazy stuff I've fantasized about doing or saying or feeling. How could I help not having a warm lovely feeling about my own self???? AND another thing!!! Bad taste is fun and it's cool. Bad taste does not mean that you are mean spirited or evil or that you know, bite the heads off little puppies. I guess the affection in my work comes from the affection I have for the trashy side of the gay "world". I would also venture to guess and I hope that my love - the affection I feel for making films comes out in what I do. See I think in every great movie - in every great whatever - performance, sculpture, painting what have you that the "artists" love, affection, joy for what they are doing comes out. That joy is what I think signifies really cool films... every frame stinks of joy. For instance, I get that feeling from almost every John Waters movie I have ever seen. So this could explain the affection thing, or the fact that I'm heavily medicated could also have something to do with it. I have sort of decided to pursue being a "queer underground filmmaker" whatever that means, so obviously my subject matter is gonna be, well, about dick smokers and bush munchers - and sure I've got some axes to grind and things I think are a bit off about our lovely little community that I wanna include in the films, but in my heart I am just a trashy ghetto fag addicted to disco music. And I love that. So, while my films tend to be less than politically correct, a trend in gay culture I loath by the way, I'm not trying to tear down queers or attack anybody. I'm just trying to return queer cinema to it's rightful place. I mean really, what ever happened to camp???? I say, go ahead, eat the dog turd sistuh!!!! This world is too fuckin' creepy boring weird already, what's a little bad taste gonna do??!! JIM: Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night with a movie idea? SHAWN: Actually, I have a real hard time sleeping. I wish that I would be woken up by ideas, but no, ideas come to me in really annoying places. I'd say I get the most ideas when I'm in the tub. So I'm all naked and wet, already a traumatic situation and I get an idea then I gotta get out of the tub naked and dripping wet and write down the idea trying not to get the paper all wet and ink all runny. Then the second most frequent time I get movie ideas is when I'm masturbating. The implications there are to obvious to go into in any great detail. But I'm thankful when ideas come. Making movies is about having a cool idea and carrying it off ya know. Otherwise I just pace around my apartment waiting for ideas to hit. It's kind of like waiting for the lock ness monster to appear sometimes. JIM: Are you mean to actors? Do you force them to do things? How do you cajole them to appear in bathtubs full of hot dogs? SHAWN: Funny you should mention this subject. After I get done writing something, when I start casting I am always a little freaked out that the performers will be freaked out. But this rarely happens. Most everyone in my movies are friends or their friends. I detest working with strangers - I have a problem with stranger danger, what can I say. The more films I do, the more free I feel to really put in the kind of stuff I want to which means more gross stuff and nudity and sex and all that. I have dirty thoughts and I can't help it. One of the actresses who was in my last film, FUCKED IN THE FACE called me the night before we were going to start shooting all nervous and shit. She had agreed to do the film without reading the script. I don't know why I bother to write scripts, nobody ever bothers to memorize or even read them. But anyway, she was all nervous that I was going to make her eat real pussy on camera. Well, first of all, anybody who knows me knows I would never NEVER ask anyone to eat pussy. I have a thing about pussy. But that's another story. But to get back to what I was saying about what directing means to me - again I think because of the relationship and rapport I try to build with the performers around the idea of the movie, 9 out of 10 times, no matter what it is - sitting in a bathtub full of hot dogs, rolling around naked in barbecue sauce under a plastic sheet, getting hit in the face repeatedly with fake jiz, or performing a sex act on a raw chicken - I don't get much resistance. I think people involved in my movies get the impression quickly that I take this and them seriously. Also, I try to make sure that I have a cameo in each film to prove that I can take it as much as I can dish it out. I also find that providing actors with booze really loosens people up and reduces stress when we have to get down to the nasty bits. I think if you asked the actors in my movies if they had a good time, even when they had to get naked or do something gross or nasty they'd say they did. But, you're not really going to ask them are you? JIM: What is up with all the "fucks" in your titles? SHAWN: What? I made Meat Fucker and Fucked in the Face and all of a sudden I've got all these "fucks" in my titles??!!! Well you see Jim, I'm going through all the letters of the alphabet. -C- was a great letter. I wish there was a really clever response to that. I'm open to suggestions, but the truth is, when I think about those films I just can't conceive of calling them anything else. A fellow filmmaker who I like came up to me during the Chicago Underground Film Festival recently and very earnestly suggested to me that I start making movies that don't have fuck in the title. Well, of course that just makes me want to make another fuck movie. And I am. But that'll be the last one for awhile. Actually, I'm going to call it "The Last Fuck". JIM: What scares you about the gay community? SHAWN: How mundane, boring, dull, milk toast, politically correct, middle of the road, bland, hell bent to assimilate the straight culture, uptight and suburban the gay culture is becoming. Trashy faggots need to speak up and make their voices heard before it's too late. You know things have to be bad when our two biggest issues are Gay marriage and gays in the military. Screw that. I don't want to get "married" and I don't want to serve in the military. Thinking about it just makes you want to say, "blah blah blah". I mean all you have to do to see what's going on, the terrible state of affairs in the gay community is go to a gay pride parade. Take your pick. The Chicago one has become so lame, I mean, my high school homecoming parade was more provocative, more "wild" than what you'll see here on "gay pride day". And don't get me started about gay and lesbian film festivals. Wow. Talk about uptight. I have more trouble getting my 100% queer themed films into gay and lebsian film festivals than I do your basic run of the mill underground film festival. What's up with that. JIM: What is good about the gay community for an artist? SHAWN: As much as I complain about it, I love the queer community. There is just so much out there to talk about, to explore. It's cool to be a queer filmmaker - every film I do is like some kind of queer safari in search of the ever elusive gay community. I love going to gay bars, the trashier the better. So much is going on. And you know, if you work it right, there really is a lot of support out there to be found. I've encountered a lot of generosity from the "community" although I know it can be a two edged sword. There really aren't that many films out there talking about us fags, dykes, trannies and bisexuals. It's cool to make movies that hopefully those four categories of human can relate to. What can I say, I love the nightlife, I love to boogie. I'm a dancing queen. JIM: You recently acted in a Todd Verow film and became a Superstar: describe! SHAWN: Well this was a big deal for me. I admire Todd's films and his approach. He is the first filmmaker, hell, he's the only filmmaker I've ever met who is making a career in a way that I can relate to and that I could see myself emulating. He's truly independent, and doing it himself- not counting on others, and by others I mean big money bag ass holes, but doing for himself. The other thing I really admire about Todd is that everyone involved with the movies, from his sexy creative partner (who I hear is hung like a horse,) to the performers all have a sense that they all sink or swim together. Do you know what I mean? It's like everyone is working hard, but it's not just to fulfill Todd's dream, but to fulfill their own dreams as well. I've always wanted to be a part of a close nit collaborative group- a creative family- to feel at home. So I guess that was what it was like working on his film as an actor. I felt very taken care of. Now, of course, I was nervous as hell and had major loose stools before, during and after shooting. I have really bad stage fright and I'm very shy anyway. But it was cool. See I think that the digital revolution will be a big deal some day in the history of cinema - I mean Andy big - and I am so thankful to find myself at the virtual ground zero of the revolution. The thing I noticed most about shooting Todd's movie was the way that the camera was so unobtrusive. What I mean to say is that in most films the performers are acting "for the camera" where as in Todd's movie we acted for each other- and the camera was just there to "document" it. I liked that very much. It's like the "technical" aspects of making a film didn't get in the way of the story or the performance. In that way it was kind of like theatre. It's something I hope I can try out when I shoot my film- making the camera appear less important and really focusing on the story and performances. And yes. It feels GREAT to be a superstar. The world can now officially suck my dick. JIM: What are you planning to unleash on us next? And will we need antibiotics? SHAWN: I'm making a movie about queer teenage vampires. It's called "The Final Fuck". I can tell you very little about the film so far except that there will be a scene in which a man both takes a shit and vomits in a sink simultaneously. I'm very excited, aren't you? Crack open the antibiotics.
MIX tossed gender and high-falutin'
queer theory out on its ass this year with a festival that focused more
on the sexual congruity within/between the Lesbian and Gay film community
than with the differences. Novel approaches to gum chewing (Lisa Ganser's
perfectly paced Blowing Bubbles) and melting the ice (Cynthia Birkhead's
'cleansing' Melt) may have gotten the laughs (and a few squirms) but
MIX did not forget to program for the areas of the audience between
the legs, ears and lungs without resorting to overdrawn lethargic 'experimentalism'.
In fact, MIX's mascot this year was a transsexual rocket ship that somehow
managed to be vaginal and phallic at the same time and turned out to
be prophetic of the selections screened at Anthology Film Archives and
the Pioneer Theater. Added to all this was the undie celeb in-factor-
I mean where else can you see glamorous drag cover-gal Linda Simpson
chatting with underground legend-ette and real life actress Philly?
And would you? Features were presented this year at MIX in style: Bastion of experimental gay literature and sometime pictorial, Honcho, sponsored and handed out leather 'wristbands' at the successful Midnight Sexy Horror movies programs, which featured Shawn Durr's Fucked in the Face. Though pundits were quick to label Durr with Presto-Magic rub-on monikers like Waters Jr or La Brucian I'll refrain from spraying that kind of Lysol on Shawn's hysterically viral assault- which teems with wanna-be serial murderers, thrill-kill dykes and celebrity obsessed rentboys- who knows what Durr will grow into as a filmmaker but his targeting radar for satire is spot-on. MIX (with Honcho's help) also unzipped a welcome and rare director's cut screening of Curt McDowell's Thundercrack. Shot in black and white 16mm and featuring a cucumber obsessed widowed homemaker from hell Thundercrack really is a definitive underground film- irreverent, filthy and very very funny. The Innovations Series showcased prior MIX alumni Ned Ambler, Liza Johnson and Todd Verow's feature work. Ambler's first DV project Hair Burners features the incredible Sophia Lamarr and the unbelievable Philly plus a yummy mess of excellent, sexy Lunachicks (Squid and Theo) emoting within the confines of some very funny writing. Verow's award-winning tragi-comedy rock musical Once and Future Queen featured the added attraction of star Philly (again!) sitting in the soldout screening room laughing along with the audience at her own on-screen disintegration. Unadulterated interactivity- virtually unbiased. I did not get to attend Liza Johnson's film but I did bump into the Godass, Esther Bell at the Pioneer Theater, who sends her love and added, laughing, "Aren't we all a little less 'confused' here than at the Chicago Underground." Knowing my Chicago confusion had been liquid and free, I agreed. Shorts-wise MIX held up its end of the bargain well with strong shows featuring under-repped Midwest makers and a slew of legit experimental work. The shorts that hit me: For a little while I was unsure as to whether Miranda July was a filmmaker or a Cocteau Twins b-side. I am sure now. Nest of Tens is brilliant- in fact it is pretty much the cat's-ass. Mucho respect for this uncomfortable, articulate and poignant bit of video- shot, edited and directed to within an inch of its life with a sure hand and eye. Michael Lucid says he tossed together Dirty Girls from footage he shot for a project in high school. Amber, the star of this teen riot grrrl documentary, is pretty awesome- ready to take on the world with her proto-post-feminist teen zine and a face that plays host to a multitude of inner characters. The most striking thing about Dirty Girls is the wealth of coherent viewpoints voiced by these freshman and sophomore students on either side of the Dirty Girl fence. When was the last time you heard a thirteen year old chastise some rhetoric as 'dime store feminism.'? The program More Heartland Homos showcased some great shorts: Irene Gustafson and Julia Zay's excellent Screen Test No. 1 played with the American Boy Scout icon and Lassie in ways that not only gender-fucked but heart broke. H.D. Motyl's Messages from Jeanne was a funny expose set amongst the aisles, food shopping. Pin Pin Tan's Microwave was simple in that way that melting a Barbie Doll in a microwave can be- yet riveting, like melting a Barbie in a microwave can be. The HUGE program sold the most tickets with only a few cringe worthy missteps. Highlights included: Holly Becker's funny lesbian lavatory love story Everybody Loves Pink. Diana Dawson's Mess with the Bull gave everyone a reason to pack a bullhorn- even if its just for show. Cabbage Boy by Dan'l Linehan gave a vegetable vibe to the standard Edward Gorey/Tim Burton freak/outsider tale. Daniel Reitz's kinda pervy yet kinda sexy Height of Cool was the perfect length even though we didn't actually get to measure Uncle's cool 'factor.' Laura Comerford proved she is from another planet with the delightfully bizarre Squash. Stephen Winter's witty short-but-sweet Untitled was intimate and warm and an unexpected end for the program. She's in Parties: Opening night party at what used to be Save The Robots was fab. The best thing about the MIX parties was that someone who actually worked for the fest was at the door for all of them - thus ensuring wannabe VIP's got the appropriate wannabe VIP treatment. The only criticism I can air is the musical ambience of these parties and this most assuredly is not a problem isolated to MIX at all. People at film fests want to talk and they want to hear each other. While loud music may get people closer together (simply to be heard) and speed up mating dances- it doesn't help Finlandia inspired hangovers, networking and general socializing. Chillout, lounges and wise DJ 's are a must. Corrections department: Philly would like to say that her name is spelled P-H-I-L-L-Y not Phylli, Philli, Filli, Filly, Oin, Gloin or Bombur. Shawn Durr would like to clarify the errors about his age sited in the festival advertisements. He has none. Todd Verow would like to cast Katherine Harris, Florida Secretary of State as something in a film or at least take away her Mary Kay. The Huge party at Wonderbar was too crowded and electro can't hold a party together- we did shout in unison as the Finlandia drained away. All in all a fun way to skip work and vacation in NYC while being subtlety educated and turned on, MIX did more than represent the lesbian and gay experimental jet set. It pureed and engineered some magical synergy. (And when you're sleeping on the floor of a Dario Argento starlet how can you complain- even if you do wake up with wood grain embossed on your face? Later.)
She played my favorite streetwalker in Susan Seidelman's Smithereens ("I got something to sell") and if you know anything about 80's Italian horror you've seen her afflicted with a devilish blemish and grow claws in the Dario Argento-produced Demons. If that isn't enough to fall madly into worship with the striking and provocative Geretta/Geretta then watch out- she's writing and directing now. (Okay- and she's been in Vogue. La la la!) I had seen her from afar at a screening of Once & Future Queen at the 53rd Locarno Film Festival and thought, "Wow, she looks really familiar." Lo and behold, she was, sans satanic talons. We chatted about the films at the festival and partied at the La Dolce Vita-esque Grand Hotel amidst the indie/euro-film jet set. It's through that chance meeting that we've become trans-Atlantic e-pals. She's busy in Italy wrapping up her new feature, a comedy confection of love and desire called Sweetiecakes (shot in Switzerland.) She keeps in touch by checking her email at the numerous new internet cafes that have sprung up there. So let's imagine Geretta, in some Gucci, at a table in Rome, sipping a cappuccino, answering my rather insipid questions!
Geretta/Geretta So, I guess the whole family got
the film bug pretty early on. My father used My mom was even worse! She'd keep us up all night with bowls of popcorn with garlic salt in it, watching horror films. Those were her favorites. I have seen the most obscure horror films and ALL the classics. Every Boris Karloff, every Lugosi Dracula, every Lon Chaney, Jr. Wolf man. All the Vincent Price stuff. I could go on and on. I've seen a lot of Hammer films but they were a bit too sexy to be really scary. Although, I bet most people my age wouldn't know the late Oliver Reed was once so handsome you could just DIE for him and he was a werewolf in a film! JD The late night TV insomnia filmmaker connection. That's funny because I would watch Smithereens on this late late show called Night Flight. It was one of the only places you could see movies like that in the 80's outside of a big city. I saw Breaking Glass on that too. What was Smithereens like? Was it fun? G/G Smithereens was great! I was doing
"Midnight Moon at The Greasy Spoon" Anyway, Roma Maffia and I were having like our first really important roles on off-off Broadway, this was at Theatre For The New City and Susan Seidelman was in the audience and she saw us play these two hookers on stage. After the play she asked us, real
apologetic-like, to be in her movie. She JD Did you go to Cannes with it? G/G I was in Paris and the whole deal, but I was having an affair with this like big ole Italian Industrialist and never went to the ceremony in Cannes! I know, stupid, huh? What can I say- it was the 80's!
Did you go to film school?
From AFI to Italian horror star! How? G/G When I was growing up everybody,
I mean everybody was still really freaked I mean, no one talks about that
any more, but everyone did in the 80's. And Anyway, in these Sci-Fi films; they'd
have like a Blond Male lead, a Dumb To be perfectly honest, as an actress,
I also did a crap "death scene" so they Around the time of Demons, kids
recognized me on the street. And my first day
JD So you'd been learning about and experiencing that low budget survival thing for a bit. When did you decide to direct?
I was always going to direct. I
came to Italy to direct. I was accepted I had crammed for two weeks before
flying over with a one-way ticket. It just But in Italy you need a prescription- so I lived. And how I made it from that moment to direct my own film- that's a real horror story... With a happy (film) ending. JD So how did Sweetiecakes happen? G/G I was living in Belfast, Northern
Ireland for about two years- while there I My series was called "GERETTA
GERETTA" Looks at..." (they couldn't pronounce my last name)
and was about current events regarding art, dance, "SWEETIECAKES" was written and conceived during this period...that was 1997. At the end of the summer the editor
of the Irish Independent newspaper had This was at THE PUBLIC THEATRE in "Joes Pub" the bar named after the founder Joseph Papp. In the crowd was a Swiss Executive
from Apple computers...we were introduced In fact she's his ex-wife...anyway,
we had met in Rome back in 1985 when I was A few years later, in LA we ran
into each other again and I got her and the His only prerequisite was the film
be shot in Switzerland, in his hometown. Okay..to German school I go! And
we made the film last summer
JD That's advice that I can relate too. Heheheheheh. Advice for future low budget and just-starting-out filmmakers? G/G Most Independent Filmmakers, (in
my most humble opinion having only made Got a pretty/handsome lead? Hot pants are good too!
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