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Review

Not what this writer expected, Fabulous! is an exploration of non-commercial, queer indies from the '90s. With an excellent collection of talking heads such as: John Waters, B. Ruby Rich, Alonso Duralde, Heather Matarazzo, Todd Haynes, Christine Vachon and many more a story is told of outsiders creating films that took the Sundance Festival by storm. In that era, before DVD, there were significant theatrical releases for queer films. Some of the edgy indie hits were Go Fish, The Living End and Swoon. These films were decidedly queer and way out of the mainstream. They were experimental films being shown at theaters. Certainly not a common happening in the brief history of cinema. By the turn of the 21st century these films were getting limited theatrical releases with more significant DVD releases.

Fabulous! concentrates on these experimental indies using 21st century examples Tarnation and By Hook or by Crook. Not touched on by the filmmakers are more mainstream titles such as Big Eden and Latter Days. This film is largely of interest to people who enjoy these edgy films and film history. It's not of interest to the lovers of mainstream gay films. One of the points the filmmakers try to drive home is the relation of film to social and political history.