Jaunty and fun for a while, with a cast of colorful locals who make the residents of Vernon, Florida seem normal, pic ultimately overstays its welcome and overstates its case.
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:46
Fresh:44
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: Plagues And Pleasures is a thoroughly engrossing account, both humorous and disheartening, of a once bustling community ravaged by ecological change and human greed.
Theatrical Release:2006
Synopsis:
Fabulously offbeat and refreshingly upbeat, this lovable film gets friendly with the natives of the Salton Sea, an inland ocean of massive fish kills, rotting resorts, and 120 degree nights located...
Fabulously offbeat and refreshingly upbeat, this lovable film gets friendly with the natives of the Salton Sea, an inland ocean of massive fish kills, rotting resorts, and 120 degree nights located just minutes from urban Southern California. This award-winning film from directors Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer details the rise and fall of the Salton Sea, from its heyday as the "California Riviera" where boaters and Beach Boys mingled in paradise to its present state as a decaying, forgotten ecological disaster. From wonderland to
wasteland, PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE SALTON SEA captures a place far more interesting than the shopping malls and parking lots of suburban America, a wacky world where a beer-swilling Hungarian Revolutionary, a geriatric nudist, and a religious zealot building a monument to God
all find solace and community.
Crisply and hilariously narrated by oddball auteur John Waters, and featuring music by desert lounge rockers Friends of Dean Martinez, PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE SALTON SEA melds high camp with stark
realism, offering both a sobering message about the consequences of tampering with nature and a heart-warming tale of individualism.
[More]
Starring: Sonny Bono, John Waters
Starring: Sonny Bono, John Waters
Director: Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer
Director: Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer
Producer: Chris Metzler
Studio: Tilapia Film
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Reviews for Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
Although the lake may be slowly dying, it is still beloved by a motley bunch of eccentrics who are profiled in the highly entertaining documentary Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea.
It's a human freak show of sorts, but Metzler and Springer never expose these folks in a way that derides their way of life, but rather let's us admire their unbroken, adventurous spirit.
California dreaming meets good old American eccentricity and ecological emergency in the story of the Salton Sea.
If Metzler and Springer were on path to becoming environmentalists and their documentary was their thesis, they’d get an A.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 24% 24% | G-Force |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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