Folie à Deux’ Critics “Stupid,” Praises Gaga

Critics be damned, John Waters is not afraid to drop a cinematic hot take.

The legendary cult filmmaker and ‘King of Filth’ defended critically-panned DC sequel Joker: Folie à Deux as a “well directed” followup and praised Lady Gaga‘s performance while ranking his favorite films of the year.

“Finally, a love story I can relate to,” wrote Waters in his Vulture Top 10 list. “So insane, so well thought out, so well directed, so much smoking! It’s Jailhouse Rock meets Busby Berkeley with a 9/11 That’s Entertainment! ending that will make you shake your head in cinematic astonishment. Stupid critics. Gaga so good. Joker so right. Die, dumbbells, die!”

Joker: Folie á Deux was ultimately a critical and commercial flop, grossing $206 million worldwide on an estimated $190 million budget, and receiving a 32% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Quentin Tarantino previously defended the sequel as well.

The Todd Phillips-helmed musical landed at number six on Waters’ list, which was topped by Rose Glass‘ Love Lies Bleeding.

“This hilarious, bloody film noir is the best movie of the year, one that Russ Meyer might have made if he had been a lesbian intellectual addicted to steroids,” he wrote. “Even the pig-men are cute. Sort of.”

Waters also gave a NSFW stamp of approval to Luca Guadagnino‘s “radical” adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novella Queer, which came in second.

“Daniel Craig may be queerbait for taking on the gay beatnik role of William Burroughs’ alter ego, but I’m all for it,” declared Waters. “He’s absolutely brilliant and even has a ‘snowball’ scene, a happy reminder of a sex act I had long forgotten. Oh, if today’s homos were this radical, I’d be a much happier queer myself.”

He referred to Emilia Pérez as “The Rocky Cartel Horror Picture Show,” ranking the Jacques Audiard-helmed musical crime comedy at number eight. “This wildly original musical-drama about the Mexican drug syndicate and its trans crime boss hiding in plain sight proves you can sing about anything in a film if it’s well-enough directed. Right now, I’m belting out, ‘It’s No. 8 on my list,’ and who knows, maybe I’ll make a movie about it?”

Halina Reijn‘s Babygirl followed at number nine. “Okay, heteros are cutting edge this year, too,” wrote Waters. “Nicole Kidman continues taking big chances in her career, and she deserves our salute. Here, she howls, she moans. She’s a verbal power-bottom cougar at the top of her business-executive career who meets a dominant, lowly intern top who makes her lap up milk from a bowl like … like … well, like a pussy.”