Episode 201: The Rage Art of Andy Milligan

== Show Notes ==
: We discuss the career and difficult life of the writer, director, cinematographer, dressmaker and angry man about town Andy Milligan with a focus on his sexploitation shocker Seeds (1968), his grimy Sweeny Todd adaptation Bloodthirsty Butchers (1970), and masterwork Fleshpot on 42 Street (1973).
== Films Discussed ==
*Written and directed by Andy Milligan
**Vapors (1965)
**Seeds (1968)
**Torture Dungeon (1969)
**Nightbirds (1970)
**Bloodthirsty Butchers (1970)
**The Body Beneath (1970)
**The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! (1972)
**The Man With Two Heads (1972)
**The Fleshpot on 42nd Street (1972)
**The House of Seven Belles (1979)
**Monstrosity (1987)
**The Weirdo (1988)
**Surgikill (1988)
*Gone With The Wind (1939) Dir. Victor Fleming
*Fireworks (1947) Dir. Kenneth Angers
*The Beguiled (1971) Dir. Don Siegel
*Forced Entry (1973) Dir. Shaun Costello
*Female Trouble (1974) Dir. John Waters
*In the Mood for Love (2000) Dir. Wong Kar-wai
== Discussion Notes ==
*Andy Milligan: the definitive gutter auteur
**In the same vein of Ed Wood and Shaun Costello
**John Waters on Milligan - "Can a genius be untalented?"
**One of Wills favorite directors, despite his works flirtation with being unwatchable
*Milligan's films - talky, disorienting, full of distasteful content
**Most films made for under $10,000, shot by Milligan himself
*Our hosts on Milligan
**Will - his films are "howls from the gutter", a "walking open wound of a person"
**Justin - he "wants to burn every bridge as he walks over it"
*An openly gay man with a sadomasochistic outlook on life
**Unhappy childhood represented by recurring archetype of domineering matriarch in his works
**Served in Navy as young adult, was a dressmaker before becoming a filmmaker
**Worked at off-off Broadway venue called Caffe Cino
***Wrote a number of his own plays, reworked Jean Jenet plays, hurt his actors and the actors hurt themselves
****A 'theater of cruelty'
*Died of AIDS in abject poverty and was buried in an unmarked grave
**Many films of his that remain were saved by Nicolas Winding Refn - available for free!
*Books discussed
**The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Filmmaker Andy Milligan by Jimmy McDonough
**Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film by Michael Weldon
**Danse Macabre by Stephen King
*Vapors
**Avant-garde short film about gay life in New York
***A life Milligan had no interest in
**A view into a softer, sweeter career Milligan could have had
***Milligan's In the Mood for Love
**Played to both art-house theatres and the sexploitation circuit
*Seeds
**Will - "close to unwatchable, also a masterpiece"
***Shot at Milligan's Staten Island Victorian mansion - which looks awful
**About a family coming together and hating each other
***A kitchen sink of unpleasant things
*Fleshpot on 42nd Street
**A William Mishkin produced picture where Milligan was forced to shoot hardcore footage
***Milligan made many films for Mishkin (most are lost to time)
**Reunites Laura Cannon with her former co-star Harry Reems
**One of Milligans more empathetic films
*Monstrosity
**One of his later films, after his work with Mishkin dried up
**A Frankenstein-style goofy comedy story
**An improved access to resources deprived it of the the energy of his earlier films
== Listener Letters ==
*Elias
**When was the last time you cried watching a movie?
***Will - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (a real dad take)
****Gets emotional at Nashville, Glen or Glenda, It's A Wonderful Life
**Justin - Speed Racer
**What evokes tear of laughter?
***Don't Let the Riverbeast Get You, Borat, Anchorman, Team America: World Police
*Bennett
**Writes in about his Woody Allen tattoo cover-up
*Mark
**Is there such a thing as an artistically irredeemable movie?
***Every movie gets it day in court
***Will finds many movies irredeemable - but movies don't exist in a vacuum, so they can change
****"Corky Romano is endlessly fascinating"
== Post-Outro Discussion ==
*Our hosts discuss the Oscars
**Will finds them increasingly depressing
***The message of 'proper cinema'
**Can the Oscars be both right and wrong?
**Parasite winning Best Picture - does it peak to seismic shifts in the movie industry?
**The 'In Memoriam' snubs
Category:Episodes
Category:Andy Milligan