"To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about," flamboyant filmmaker John Waters has said. "If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation." Just check out the infamous scene in the cult classic "Pink Flamingos" (1972), in which a 300-pound transvestite cheerf

Gritty, Grotesque, In-your-face, Ironic

The nebbish persona of Woody Allen's early 1960s stand-up shtick proved to be the springboard that took this most unlikely New York neurotic into a serious career as a leading auteur of international cinema. In his first film, "What's New, Pussycat?" which he wrote and acted in, Allen presented the i

Anxiety, Contemplative, Moody, Neurotic, Parody, Perverse, Urban

Miranda July is a filmmaker, performing artist and writer. She grew up in Berkeley, California where she began her career by writing plays and staging them at an all-ages club. July’s videos, performances, and web-based projects have been presented at sites such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Gug

Eclectic, Melancholy, Quirky

Fade in: a scorpion writhing in the dust. Its jagged red tail repeatedly plunges into its own body in a last-ditch effort at dignity and self-preservation. As the camera pulls back, we see children huddled over the desert insect, poking it with a stick and jeering at its hopeless state. This is j

Pathos, Physical force, Pioneering, Power, Violent, Witty