Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea popmatters. Once known as the california riviera, the salton sea is now considered one of americas worst ecological disasters. But it wasnt always like this, as chris metzler and jeff springers thoroughly engrossing documentary, plagues and pleasures on the salton sea reveals, mostly through a. Renowned cult film director john waters narrates this quirky exploration of the salton sea, the massive southern california lake that was created by. Feb 04, 2014 renowned cult film director john waters narrates this quirky exploration of the salton sea, the massive southern california lake that was created by accident a century ago, became a popular desert. Nov 29, 2007 but it wasnt always like this, as chris metzler and jeff springers thoroughly engrossing documentary, plagues and pleasures on the salton sea reveals, mostly through a voiceover supplied, oddly.
Come meet the friendly residents of californias newest environmental disaster. Monica film center santa monica monica film center santa monica. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea can be streamed in its entirety through the kqed arts youtube channel. One audio commentary offers the filmmakers selfevaluation and a second track pairs two of the salton sea locals, norm niver and steve horvitz. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea 2004 plagues. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea 2004 moviefone. Rent the salton sea 2002 on dvd and bluray dvd netflix. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea metacritic. At first plagues and pleasures on the salton sea had me feeling a little hesitant. The story of fishbone, codirected with lev anderson.
Were sorry but jwapp doesnt work properly without javascript enabled. Bill mousoulis is a greekaustralian independent filmmaker. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea 2004 plagues and. Renowned cult film director john waters narrates this quirky exploration of the salton sea, the massive southern california lake that was created by accident a. Filmmakers chris metzler and jeff springer let salton residents break it down in this charming, yet sad documentary. Chris metzlerwho visited us last year with everyday sunshine. Codirectors chris metzler and jeff springers plagues and pleasures on the salton sea is an account of how what was supposed to be calif. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea cinematographer 2004. Plagues and pleasures on the salton seacovers the historical, economic, political, and environmental issues that face the sea, and it offers up an offbeat portrait of the eccentric and individualistic people who populate its shores. I loved the quirkly narration waters provided as this documentary revealed the creation, the marketing hype of the salton sea and its sad surrealistic present day condition. Miracle in the desert tells the story of the salton sea s creation to its current state of peril and impending ecological disaster. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea box office mojo. Rhetorical references notes human communication therefore is a symbolic action because we draw upon language and other symbols to construct a framework for understanding and valuing and to bring the wider world to others attention. Narrated by legendary counterculture filmmaker john waters, the film premiered at the slamdance film festival, went on to win over 35 awards for best documentary and was named by booklist as one its top 10 environmental films.
Rent the salton sea 2002 starring val kilmer and vincent donofrio on dvd and bluray. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea, a film about. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea 2004 documentary. The film delivers information about the manmade sea s past, present, and a.
I recently watched plagues and pleasures on the salton sea at the 1st annual ellensburg film festival and i thought that the documentary was made with great success. Released september 19th, 2004, plagues and pleasures on the salton sea stars john waters the movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 26 min, and received a score of 72 out of 100 on metacritic. Newhall under construction newhall under construction. Everything is weirder narrated by john waters ive been to the salton sea, but it was something like thirty years ago. In 2010, he completed the documentary film, everyday sunshine. The desert is even more interesting when you add a huge inland sea to the mix especially when that sea was a mistake that resulted from a colorado river flooding over a hundred years ago. The appalling condition of the salton sea is a prediction of disasters to come. The salton sea is a 2002 american neonoir crime thriller film directed by d. Maybe it was john waters narration that had me wondering at what level this film would be exploiting the salton sea and its inhabitants. With sonny bono, john waters, norm niver, petre melvin. Its about the rise and fall of a place, a classic story. But the pleasures portion of the title is an equally important factor in the film s tone, which has room for both scientific inquiry and. Luckily plagues and pleasures got people on film who are not around.
It is an epic western tale of fantastic real estate ventures and failed boomtowns, innercity gangs fleeing to. The documentary plagues and pleasures on the salton sea does not look or feel like a serious film about the environment. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea by chris metzler. The filmmakers have a good eye for the salton sea s grotesque ruins and bizarre denizens. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea, directed by. Renowned cult film director john waters narrates this quirky exploration of the salton sea, the massive southern california lake that was created by accident a century ago, became a popular desert resort and has since developed into a refuge for a community of oddballs. Sep 08, 2007 plagues and pleasures on the salton sea filed under. The film was released theatrically in the united states and broadcast nationally on the sundance channel. The salton sea is a saline and shallow rift lake that is situated on the san andreas fault, in the coachella and imperial valleys.
Once known as the california riviera, the salton sea is now called one of americas worst ecological disasters. Narrated with morbid relish by john waters, this witty doc chronicles the rise and. Plagues and pleasures has a different style for a reason. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea dvd, 2007 for. This documentary reveals the troubled history of salton sea, which was once the site of a wonderful resort in the california desert, but soon turned into a fetid, largely abandoned area. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea dvd 2007 new. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea is part of the san francisco documentary film festival, may 16 at roxie cinema, 3117 16th st.
Docuramas dvd of plagues and pleasures on the salton sea is presented in a colorful flat encoding. Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea penetrates the sadness and inertia of the local residents who still try to make their livelihood in and around this monumental manmade blemish, which was once a gem. Plagues and pleasures shows a dying ecological outpost alive with eccentrics. Caruso the salton sea 2016 film, starring jamie anne allman, was directed by veena sud. Plagues and pleasures shows a dying ecological outpost. He is completely selftaught, having first bought super8 film equipment in 1982.
Plagues and pleasures on the salton sea offers an offbeat portrait of the people who populate the shores of the once california riviera, which is now considered one of americas worst ecological. And its because, unfortunately, the plagues outweigh the pleasures at the salton sea. Greg bassenian is raising funds for salton sea documentary feature film on kickstarter. In the 80s, he was also heavily involved in melbourne area film clubs, including forming the super8 film group and the melbourne super8 film festival. Read about the plagues and pleasures on the salton sea dvd and browse other dvd movies. Plagues and pleasures director chris metzler will be at santa fes cca cinematheque on wednesday, june, and albuquerques guild cinema on friday and saturday, june 15 and 16, to present his film.
Plagues and pleasures is a thoroughly engrossing account, both humorous and. Patten and team, it occupies the lowest elevation of the salton sink in southern california patten et al. From beneath the hard facts emerges a sobering lesson. Fabulously offbeat and refreshingly upbeat, this lovable film gets friendly with the natives of the salton sea. Chris metzler and jeff springers plagues and pleasures on the salton sea relates the unusual history of an accidental inland sea, once a mecca for recreation but now an environmental and economic sinkhole.
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