Party Girl: A Kind of Review

I watched this 1995 indie film starring Parker Posey twice in a row I loved it so much. What’s not to love? There’s 90s club music, references to Hannah Arendt and Albert Camus, and the wild outfits Posey’s character (Mary) wears and I covet. Plus, the film is not only a love letter to public libraries, but the field of library science. Whether you’re a library nerd or just a Parker Posey fan, Party Girl is worth checking out on the Criterion Channel.

3 things I think you should know:

• While Mary is blind to her privilege, she’s just so absurd that she’s lovable.

• Mary knows that she needs to find a direction for her life, which is why she rejects her godmother Judy’s and Mustafa’s suggestion that she get a job as a waitress.

• I recommend watching the movie like a fantasy or fairytale. Don’t expect anything that happens to make sense.

The Banshees of Inisherin: A Kind of Review

From its opening scene, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin makes you feel like you’re watching Beckett. Set against the backdrop of Ireland’s civil war, the film is as bleak and absurd and tragically funny/sad as any story that aims to capture the complexities of Ireland ought to be.

3 things I think you should know:

1. It’s best to be in the middle of reading a work of Irish modernism when you sit down to watch Banshees. I’m reading Joyce’s Ulysses.

2. The landscape is breathtaking, which makes the tragedies of Inisherin and the hope that there’s more beyond it all the more bleak.

3. The way the feud between Colm and Padraic escalates is equal parts hilarious and horrifying.

Cocaine Bear: A Kind of Review

I heard an interview with Elizabeth Banks, the director of Cocaine Bear, about the true story her film is based on. The bear, sadly, dies in the true story, after all its organs atrophy from devouring massive amounts of cocaine. Banks sees this film as the bear’s revenge story, which made me want to see it as much as the title.

3 things I think you should know:

1. Justice is done by the bear—all her victims had it coming.

2. There’s a heart-wrenching scene with crying bear cubs.

3. While the bear gets her revenge and it’s great, you also remember that now she and her cubs are cocaine addicts.

The Menu: A Kind of Review

Not a perfect film, but close. The film has a tight and surprising narrative that strikes the right darkly-humorous tone for Mark Mylod’s critique of expensive dining “experiences” and the people who pay for them.

3 things I think you should know:

1. Nick Hoult plays the type of character he’s meant to play: self-important, self-delusional, a dick. He’s the best part of the film!

2. Each course serves as a storytelling device that adds humor to even the most horrific and gory scenes.

3. The cheeseburger looks like the most appetizing meal Chef Slowik makes, which I believe is intentional. It’s not even supposed to be on the menu, just like Margot isn’t supposed to be at the restaurant.

Babylon: A Kind of Review

Damien Chazelle’s tale of how Hollywood tries to find a moral center but, instead, adopts hypocrisy never quite comes together for me. I like a tight narrative, and Chazelle loses too much control of the story he aims to tell. That said, Babylon is still a fun watch!

3 things I think you should know:

1. We should all be grateful that Babylon has introduced us all to Diego Calva.

2. Margot Robbie, running around with the fangs of a rattlesnake sunk into her neck. I don’t think I need to say more.

3. Brad Pitt’s storyline shows what would have happened to Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain if he didn’t find his “second act” in The Dancing Cavalier. Oh, and the film doesn’t work without Jean Smart’s monologue.

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles: A Kind of Review

I kept seeing articles hailing Chantal Akerman’s voyeuristic study of a middle-aged widow as the greatest film ever made. I finally watched it on Criterion and found myself completely engrossed by Jeanne (the protagonist), moving from enclosed space to enclosed space, and turning lights on and off as she enters and leaves a room.

3 things I think you should know:

1. “This woman fascinates me” was all I kept thinking throughout the film.

2. Her son, Sylvain, points out her unraveling to her: “Your hair’s a mess (Vos cheveux sont en désordre).” “You missed a button (Vous avez manqué un bouton).”

3. I saw but also didn’t see the ending coming.