Vacation Edition
Welcome to the eighth edition of the Thelma & Alice newsletter. I’m just about to head out for a much-needed vacation, so this month’s recommendations are coming a few days early. I changed my selections several times when I was drafting, in an attempt to find the perfect mix of light summer fare. (Also, just a seasonal reminder: Dirty Dancing is written by a woman, Eleanor Bergstein, and you can rent it for a dollar. And if you’re really feeling Patrick Swayze, Point Break, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, is streaming on HBO.) I hope you find something you like here -- and if you’re enjoying this newsletter, please consider sharing it with your friends.
Netflix Hidden Treasure
An Easy Girl (2019)
Written & Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski
Streaming on Netflix
Set in summertime in Cannes, An Easy Girl is the perfect movie to watch now. It’s a mesmerizing coming-of-age story about a teenage girl’s brush with wealth and power when her worldly, older cousin comes to visit. Naïma is a local girl whose mother works in one of Cannes’ luxury hotels; when her beautiful and sexually adventurous cousin Sofia visits, Naïma finds herself on a private yacht with two vacationing businessmen. It’s a vaguely dangerous situation, but this isn’t a movie about young women getting into trouble. Instead, it’s about Naïma figuring out her path in life. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Peak Parker Posey
Clockwatchers (1997)
Directed by Jill Sprecher
Written by Jill Spretcher & Karen Sprecher
Streaming on Criterion and Amazon Prime
You could call Clockwatchers a precursor to The Office or a descendent of Bartleby, The Scrivener. You could call it Parker Posey’s best performance -- or at least her Parker Posiest. You could call it a Toni Collete movie -- part of her early wallflower period -- or you could argue that actually, Lisa Kudrow steals every scene. You could call it a realistic version of Sex & The City, or a lost Mary Gaitskill short story. Whatever you want to call it: if you lived through the 90s or flailed in your 20s, you’re going to love it. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
If You Miss Watching Call My Agent!
Lolo (2015)
Directed by Julie Delpy
Written by Julie Delpy and Eugénie Grandval
Streaming on Kanopy, VOD rental $3.99
Later this year -- if IMDB is to be believed -- Netflix will premiere Julie Delpy’s new TV series, On The Verge, about a group of 40-something women living in L.A. In the meantime, I recommend Lolo, a comedy about a 40-something single mother whose grown son sabotages her romances. It reminded me of Call My Agent! not only because it is so French, but also because it has the same goofy hijinks and glimpses into glamorous worlds. Julie Delpy stars as a burned-out Parisian fashion director who falls in love with a “country bumpkin” (actually, an IT guy) on her summer holiday. When he moves to Paris, they try to continue their relationship, but are undermined by Delpy’s grown son, Lolo, who is determined to keep his mother to himself. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
A JAWS-adjacent Documentary
Playing With Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story (2021)
Directed by Sally Aitken
Streaming on Disney+
Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws, was inspired by the research of Valerie Taylor, a champion spear-fisher who became an avid conservationist. This family-friendly documentary focuses on Taylor’s remarkable life, which has been devoted to the study of sharks. The terrible irony of Taylor’s career was that she helped Steven Spielberg create a movie that caused people to misunderstand, fear, and hunt sharks. This is a documentary to watch mainly for its extraordinary archival footage, which shows a marine world that has sadly disappeared as most of the ocean’s wildlife has been ravaged by overfishing and climate change. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER
Love this newsletter so much, thank you! Also, happy vacationing!!!