Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea (2004)
92%RT Audience Score: 86%
Awards & Nominations: 7 wins
Plagues And Pleasures is a thoroughly engrossing account, both humorous and disheartening, of a once bustling community ravaged by ecological change and human greed.
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea is like a wild ride through a bizarre and forgotten world. With John Waters’ dry wit as the perfect guide, the film takes you on a journey through the rise and fall of a once-thriving resort town that’s now home to a host of oddball characters and ecological disasters. It’s a cautionary tale, a portrait of a place, and a hilarious romp all rolled into one. If you’re looking for something offbeat and entertaining, this is the documentary for you.
Production Company(ies)
Warner Bros., Malpaso Productions,
Distributor
Tilapia Film
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Salvation Mountain, Niland, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2006
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 13m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 24, 2006 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 11, 2009
Genre(s)
Documentary
Keyword(s)
documentary, ecological disaster, Salton Sea, California, John Waters, narrator, Chris Metzler, director, Jeff Springer, director, Tilapia Film, genre, English, box office performance, budget, critic reviews, reviewed by Rebecca Onion, Roger Moore, Amy Nicholson, Mark Feeney, Noel Murray, MPAA rating, audience score, 86%, producer, written by, directed by, actor, Plagues and Pleasures, human greed, environmental change, Southern California, once bustling community, humorous, disheartening, engaging, semi-natural landmark, rise and fall, classic story, forgotten paradise, cautionary tale, dangers of messing with nature, future, American community, economically unsound, politically inconvenient, odd bird, wacky, poignant, funny, sobering, must-see, wildlife habitat, migrating bird species, hubris, control the environment, hermits, free thinkers, cursed, historical footage, live interviews
Worldwide gross: $53,471
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $78,851
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,049
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 8,599
US/Canada gross: $53,471
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $78,851
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,692
US/Canada opening weekend: $4,424
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $6,524
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,778
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Chris Metzler – Director
Jeff Springer – Director
Director(s)
Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
7 wins
Academy Awards
All Critics (53) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (2)
Plagues and Pleasures has a different style for a reason: It’s a movie about the environment that isn’t content with the good-bad dynamic of your average gloomy enviropic.
December 19, 2019
Rebecca Onion
Slate
TOP CRITIC
John Waters’ dry narration suits the surreal, comic material.
December 13, 2019 | Rating: 4/4
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
While the doc flounders as a coherent story of human folly, it’s a cheeky travelmercial guaranteed to get the curious to make the road trip to this near-abandoned resort.
September 13, 2009
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly
TOP CRITIC
It makes for a strange, but somewhat endearing, melange of the grim and comic.
December 6, 2007 | Rating: 2.5/4
Mark Feeney
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
The movie is engaging for the way it documents the rise and fall of a semi-natural landmark, and especially for the way it shows how people still come to California to remake themselves.
November 29, 2007 | Rating: B+
Noel Murray
AV Club
TOP CRITIC
Plagues and Pleasures is simultaneously fun and creepy, best appreciated by those who enjoy similar profiles of Detroit’s crumbling grandeur.
October 26, 2007 | Rating: 3/4
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
Plagues & Pleasures does a great job of presenting both the place and its problems, its delights and its curiosities.
June 4, 2020
Melissa Levine
SF Weekly
Plagues & Pleasures is more than a cautionary tale about the dangers of messing with nature. It’s about the rise and fall of a place, a classic story: think Camelot, or Rome, or maybe even planet Earth.
August 23, 2017
Dorothy Woodend
The Tyee (British Columbia)
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea is funny and compassionate, but it shows us a future that could befall any American community that suddenly becomes economically unsound, or politically inconvenient.
September 13, 2009
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit
Narrated by John Waters, Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea is an odd bird — wacky and poignant, funny and sobering, but this portrait of a forgotten paradise is a must-see.
September 13, 2009
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan
a one-off kinda film that is worth seeing for its sheer jaw-drop factor
January 18, 2008
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
[A] thoroughly engrossing documentary.
November 30, 2007 | Rating: 7/10
Rob Horning
PopMatters…
Plot
Renowned cult film director John Waters narrates this quirky exploration of the Salton Sea, the massive Southern California lake that was created by accident a century ago, became a popular desert resort and has since developed into a refuge for a community of oddballs.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
John Waters narrates the story of Southern California’s Salton Sea in Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea.
Chris-Metzler.jpg
