Hairspray (1988 & 2007)

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In 1988, John Waters, the Sultan of Sleaze himself, released what might be called his sweetest movie, Hairspray. Starring Ricki Lake, Sonny Bono, and Divine, it was the first time a Waters character had a conscience, and set out to do the right thing. It retains a lot of his sensibilities, but it can easily be seen as his attempt at a Hollywood ending. It worked, because the film became a cult classic and eventually would be turned into a hit Broadway musical, and then of course, Hollywood adapted the musical for the screen in 2007. It polishes off some of the rougher edges, casts John Travolta as a woman, Michelle Pfieffer as a racist and Zac Efron as, what else, but a teen heartthrob. For the first time ever, we've paired a movie and it's remake to look at what makes each of them work and where they fall short. Matthew joins Brian as they discuss all this and more!