'Dragzilla' and Other Artistic Curiosities

April 29, 2003 -- -- If there's a place in the world for Dragzilla — a 50-foot drag queen — it's got to be New York, but not the Tribeca Film Festival.

Dragzilla is a short film about a New Jersey drag queen who grows 50 times her size after buying black-market makeup. Now, this sexually ambiguous giant is out for revenge, one broken high heel at a time.

Most film festivals aren't exactly itching to show Dragzilla. But the Arlene Grocery Picture Show isn't like any other film festival.

In reaction to Sundance, Cannes and other snooty film fests, Arlene's will show virtually any film, especially those by filmmakers who've gotten the boot elsewhere.

"It's a protest festival," says organizer Dave Hollander. "But it's also a good time."

Arlene's is especially interested in giving screen time to promising artists who — for a variety of reasons other than talent — won't get screen time at New York's Tribeca Film Festival, beginning next month.

The majority of Arlene's entrants are not exactly creating a buzz in Hollywood, and leaving no bad film behind is a tall order. In all, in three days Arlene's screened 149 films, many of which will never again be publicly screened (not a bad idea in some cases).

This might be your only chance to catch The Anti-Santa, in which Santa Claus gets a lobotomy to cope with the commercialization of Christmas. Look for St. Nick to box Dragzilla in the sequel.

This week, The Wolf Files salutes the courage of artists who've blazed their own trail, like Hugh McMahon, aka "The Picasso of Pumpkins," and sculptor Tom Dukich, who collected a trash barrel of free AOL software and turned it into huge, hideous salute to a company he reviles.

The Wolf Files also looks at Pussycat Painting, Porta-Potty Muralists and other strange mediums of human expression.

Suitable for Hanging?

Porta-Potty Painting: Most people who draw on bathroom walls don't consider themselves artists. But times have changed.

Dozens of well-regarded New York artists are competing to paint the exterior of New York City's first public Porta-Potties.