In a recent interview with The Flyer, Memphis fantasy/exploitation filmmaker Mike McCarthy described his earlier films — Damselvis, Teenage Tupelo, Sore Losers, and Superstarlet A.D. — as his “street cred.” He said that his latest film, Cigarette Girl, which screens at midnight at Studio on the Square tonight and tomorrow night, “borrows” from his previous work “but is a little more commercial, a little more formula.” Looking back at comments made in a nine year old interview where McCarthy got beyond the all the bare breasts and the Odd Rod cartoons to describe the artistic vision and inspiration behind his earlier, more sensational flicks, it would seem that Cigarette Girl is less of a departure than a fulfillment of his original vision.
