Where Hells Angels Fear To Tread

IN HIS bitingly funny book Role Models (Beautiful Books), film director John Waters celebrates his heroes - or as he describes them: 'People whose lives have been so extreme - good or bad - that they've had to be braver than I've had to be.' Some of the characters in these 10 essays are famous (Johnny Mathis, Tennessee Williams), a few are infamous (former Manson family member Leslie Van Houten) and many are obscure (adult filmmaker Bobby Garcia and lesbian stripper Lady Zorro), but they're all vividly brought to life by Waters' guileless and engagingly droll prose style.

The chapter entitled Baltimore Heroes chronicles Waters' passion for frequenting his home town's grittiest bars, such as the Wigwam, where he recalls: 'I saw one homeless guy bite off the nose of another and spit it out on the bar. If you left a cash tip, withered hands would appear from all sides and try to grab it away.' Reading this, I realise I'm actually indebted to the man William Burroughs anointed 'the pope of trash'. On the one occasion I met Waters during a trip to the US, I asked him to recommend some watering holes in Baltimore, which was my next destination. An old-school gentleman, despite his outrageous reputation, he duly obliged - thankfully deciding not to steer me in the direction of establishments where the clientele are comprised entirely of 'alcoholics, mental patients and vets' and even Hells Angels fear to tread. Randy Newman didn't describe Baltimore as 'a hard town by the sea' for nothing.

Elsewhere in the book, Waters fondly reminisces about his childhood TV heroes. These include a Native American character on The Howdy Doody Show who had 'the best name ever' - Princess Summerfall Winterspring. He's probably right, but Popcorn Double Feature thinks the following oddly-named film folk could give her a run for her money...

Skelton Knaggs - With looks and a demeanour that matched his unusual name, Sheffield-born Knaggs was the go-to guy in 1940-1950s Hollywood if you wanted someone to do sinister and Peter Lorre was otherwise employed. See him in: House Of Dracula, The Paleface, Moonfleet.

Joy Bang - No, not a porn actress (that would be too easy). Ms Bang portrayed various hippy-chick flower children during the early 1970s. She now works as a nurse. See her in: Pretty Maids All In A Row, Play It Again, Sam.

Thomas... ahem - This is a family newspaper, so you'll have to visit the Internet Movie Database if you want more information about this Austrian film composer. Suffice it to say, he's left his mark on a number of Hollywood blockbusters. Hear him in: The Day After Tomorrow, 2012.

FILM DIARY: What I've been watching in 2011...
Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2008) What better way to start the new year than with this absorbing home-for-the-holidays drama. It's been compared to the work of the Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu and it does feature the familiar Ozu theme of a son letting down his father, but the slightly more mobile camerawork of Mikio Naruse is more of an influence. Pray there isn't a Hollywood remake. (9/10)

Everybody's Fine (Kirk Jones, 2009) This not-home-for-the-holidays drama somehow manages to look like a TV movie, despite a cast that includes Robert De Niro, Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Melissa Leo. It's also a road movie that breaks the cardinal rule of the genre - the journey should be what matters, not the destination. But it's redeemed by De Niro, who sets his gurning to low, his charm to max, and makes you actually care about what happens to him and his blown-to-the-four-winds family. (6/10)

Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010) Like Jonny Greenwood's There Will Be Blood score, this epic Carlos The Jackal biopic wasn't eligible for this year's Oscars because it was premiered on French television. Another moment of Academy madness. It has to be watched in its full 330-minute glory to appreciate the subtlety of Edgar Ramirez's performance as the international terrorist who seeks freedoms he increasingly denies to those around him. (8/10)

Crazy Heart (Scott Cooper, 2009) Traces of The Dude abide in most of the roles Jeff Bridges plays these days, including Crazy Heart's faded country singer Bad Blake. And who could deny him that after he spent so many years being underappreciated as an acting legend. Once again, he makes it all look effortlessly easy and the supporting performances - even Colin Farrell's - are uniformly good. It's just a pity someone didn't think to include some serious dramatic tension to hang it all on. (6/10)

COLIN HOULSON

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here