Back to School
Hello, this is the ninth edition of the Thelma & Alice newsletter, for people who want to watch movies made by women. First, I need to correct a mistake in last month’s newsletter: I forgot to tell you where you could stream Clockwatchers. It’s free with Amazon Prime and Criterion subscriptions, and available VOD on a variety of platforms for $1.99 - $3.99.
It has also come to my attention that not everyone is familiar with Kanopy, so let me give you the good news: it’s a free digital streaming service associated with your public library. If you have a library card, you probably have access to Kanopy. It’s very simple to use, just go to Kanopy.com and follow the prompts. You can stream up to ten movies per month for free, and the selection changes every few months. I always try to include a Kanopy selection because it’s a free option. (You can also rent physical copies of movies from your library.)
Yesterday, my son went to his first full day of school since March 2020. I am very happy for him. I’m even more happy for myself. Next week, my daughter will start going to school, too, and I might actually have time to write something substantial. I have done a little blogging over at Thelma & Alice, where I reviewed some new movies: Charlatan, Fully Realized Humans, and How It Ends, which I’ve included in this month’s recommendations. . .
Apocalypse Comedy w/ Therapy Vibes
How It Ends (2021)
Written and Directed by Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryn Wein
VOD $5.99 on various platforms
I almost made this my wild card pick because it’s definitely not for everyone. Zoe Lister-Jones stars as a woman trying to get to a party on the last day on Earth. The twist -- aside from the fact that an asteroid is about to hit the planet -- is that she's accompanied by a younger version of herself. In a recent interview on Marc Maron's WTF podcast, Lister-Jones said the screenplay was partly inspired by all the inner child work she'd been doing in therapy. If you’re rolling your eyes, so is Lister-Jones, and something I liked about this movie was the way it gently sends up L.A.’s wellness culture. Shot entirely outdoors during the pandemic, How It Ends is also a record of life under lockdown, showing the eerie stillness of the streets and skies. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Weeknight Watch
Hannah Arendt (2012)
Directed by Margarethe von Trotta
Written by Pamela Katz and Margarethe von Trotta
Streaming on Kanopy
Movies about writers can be a slog, but this one isn’t. It tells the story of how Hannah Arendt came to write “Eichmann in Jerusalem” for The New Yorker, the article that famously includes the phrase “the banality of evil.” Arendt’s reporting on Eichmann’s trials was highly controversial, especially when she expanded it into a book, and the film shows her struggling with the fallout. But it also gives a portrait of her lively circle of writers and thinkers in midcentury New York City. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
The Movie I’m Planning to Rewatch This Month
An Education (2009)
Directed by Lone Scherfig
Written by Nick Hornby, based on Lynn Barber’s memoir
Streaming on Amazon Prime
This was the movie that introduced us all to the sweetness and intelligence of Carey Mulligan, as well as the unsettling gaze of Peter Sarsgaard. Mulligan plays Jenny, a precocious schoolgirl in 1960s London who gets in over her head when an “older” man -- he’s in his 30s -- charms and seduces her, and almost upends her dream of going to Oxford. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
A Quietly Radical Documentary
Through The Night (2021)
Directed by Loira Limbal
Streaming on Amazon via PBS Documentaries subscription; VOD $5.99
I didn’t have much awareness of overnight childcare until I saw this documentary about a 24-hour home daycare run by a married couple, affectionately known as Nunu and PopPop. Their daycare center, Dee’s Tots, provides care to children whose parents are working late-night and early-morning shifts, as well as to parents working 9 - 5 jobs. Director Loira Limbal captures the little moments of kindness and attention that give children a feeling of safety and love, as well as the daily chores of maintenance, cleaning, and gardening that keep the daycare calm, orderly, and beautiful. It’s a quiet, detailed tribute to the transformative work of caregiving, as well as a critique of a society that has turned its back on children and working parents. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER *
Classic 90s Indie
Walking and Talking (1996)
Written and Directed by Nicole Holofcener
Streaming on HBO
A descendant of Girlfriends, this portrait of female friendship was Nicole Holofcener’s debut feature. It stars Catherine Keener, who appears in many of Holofcener’s movies and seems to be an alter ego for her. It’s very 1990s, with plot points revolving around video stores and answering machines. The writing is spiky and funny and deeply twentysomething. If you’re feeling nostalgic for your youth, you’ll love rewatching it. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER