Polyester (1981)

[bruce holecheck]

Wrote this one up at my Cinema Arcana FB Page last night -- indeed, the included Odorama card has now been approved, which seems to indicate this is coming sooner rather than later:

“It’ll blow your nose!” Confirmed at both the director’s recent live Q&As and by the official Divine page, it appears the next John Waters epic to enter The Criterion Collection is his savage skewering of Sirkian melodramas, POLYESTER (1981)!

The Lady Divine stars as Francine Fishpaw, a lonely housewife whose life is spiraling out of control. She’s ashamed that her husband Elmer runs the town’s frequently-protested porno theater, showcasing films like MY BURNING BUSH. She’s aghast at her rebellious daughter Lu-Lu’s life decisions; getting knocked up by a local punk, Lu-Lu declares, “I'm gonna get an abortion and I can't wait!” And Francine especially can’t believe that her son Dexter is the dreaded Baltimore Stomper, responsible for a rash of foot-flattening attacks. The final straw comes when she discovers Elmer’s late hours at work usually involve some particularly rigorous overtime with his buxom blonde secretary. Unable to take any more, Francine slides into a pill-poppin’, booze-chuggin’ stupor – which is exactly when the hunky Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter) shows up, promising a life she’s never dreamed of. But is it too good to be true?

A hilarious satire of campy women’s pictures and soap opera dramatics, POLYESTER bridged the gap between the Baltimore auteur’s early regional efforts and his later, slicker studio work. Featuring his usual cast of Dreamlanders in supporting roles and aided by ludicrous gimmick of Odorama—a scratch-and-sniff card offering the scents of dirty shoes, gasoline and farts—the film has gone on to be favored by fans of both eras, and this new Blu should gain it wider exposure still.

This isn’t POLYESTER’s first time in The Criterion Collection, either – the company issued the title on laserdisc in 1993, featuring an audio commentary, a second track with the director reading from his essential Shock Value book, the infamous No Smoking bumper, Robert Maier’s LOVE LETTER TO EDIE (1975) short, local news segments and so much more. Hopefully this new edition will carry some of these treasures over, in addition to the expected Dreamlanders interviews.

And yes, it’s confirmed there’ll be a brand new Odorama card included. Expect the title to street this Fall.

© Bruce Holecheck, 2019

[cropduster]

[drat]

Coming on 9/17 from Criterion!!!

[BluBonnet]

Will it come with an odorama card??

[wicky_J]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

Will it come with an odorama card??

Yes it will.

[drat]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

Will it come with an odorama card??

If I remember correctly, John Waters has said that 3M owns the rights to a ton of scratch-and-sniff smells and those smells have to be re-negotiated with every release.

Luckily a new generation will be able to experience Polyester the way it was supposed to be smelled.

[Dubstar]

and the cover:



(so I can capture the image to instagram )

[BobSimms]

Not enough floating heads in that cover art!!!








Seriously though, that’s beautiful.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by drat

If I remember correctly, John Waters has said that 3M owns the rights to a ton of scratch-and-sniff smells and those smells have to be re-negotiated with every release.

Luckily a new generation will be able to experience Polyester the way it was supposed to be smelled.

Well I already enjoyed it once at a revival theater with a proper odorama scratch-and-sniff card, so at least I know what this was like when first released

[Robbie The Robot]

Possibly one of my fav comedies ever. Lu Lu is just a delight and steals every scene. Can't wait for this.

Poor Francine! Poor poor Francine.

[Smegma]

I wonder what the next Waters film will be for Criterion? Hopefully Desperate Living...

[Prompto]

I'm so jazzed for this. Comes a week after my bday!

[dougkuhn]

I can't wait for my scratch-and-sniff fart card!

[Rzzzz]

Originally Posted by dougkuhn

I can't wait for my scratch-and-sniff fart card!

Ha ha, that reminds me of this quote from John Waters concerning Odorama.
From Wikipedia...

[Show spoiler]Waters expressed his delight at having the film's audiences actually "pay to smell shit" on the commentary track of the film's 2004 DVD release.

[Youre My Boy Blu!]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

and the cover:

....

Originally Posted by BobSimms

.....Seriously though, that’s beautiful.

No doubt.
Not even really a fan of the movie. although I do like Waters' other films, and this is an absolutely awesome cover.
They should do like Shout! and package some limited edition posters with the first run.

[DiffrentDrumr]

New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director John Waters, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray

Audio commentary featuring Waters from the 1993 Criterion laserdisc release of the film

New conversation between Waters and critic Michael Musto

New program featuring interviews with Waters collaborators Tab Hunter, Dennis Dermody, Pat Moran, Vincent Peranio, Mink Stole, Mary Garlington, and Greer Yeaton

Interviews from 1993 with cast and crew members Waters, Divine, Moran, Peranio, Edith Massey, and Van Smith, featuring footage from the making of the film

Archival interviews

Deleted scenes and alternate takes

Trailer

Scratch-and-sniff Odorama™ card

PLUS: An essay by film scholar Elena Gorfinkel

[postmodel]

I really can't wait to get this. I caught this on TV a few years ago after not seeing it for a long time and it seemed to be in HD. I'm hoping the Blu-Ray though still looks a helluva lot better.

[KMR]

Originally Posted by DiffrentDrumr

Interviews from 1993 with cast and crew members Waters, Divine, Moran, Peranio, Edith Massey, and Van Smith, featuring footage from the making of the film

I'm assuming this means an interview feature originally released in 1993, not necessarily interviews conducted in 1993... Unless they used the services of a medium...

[silverlakephil]

Dvd Beaver review is up and it looks like some scenes will have a strong teal push. Divine's eye color literally turning from blue to green.

[Jlouisbarrett]

I’m not seeing much of a teal push in DVD Beaver’s caps... they look great to me. There’s this one process shot of Divine on the telephone where the phone is now a completely different color than the DVD... but the Blu-Ray shot looks better to me. If anything, the DVD caps look way too blue/contrasty, with the guy in this screenshot having a sort of blueish cool-toned haze over his face.

DVD:



Blu-ray: