Ever heard of a little movie called Lady Bird? Or, uh, an under-the-radar picture based on the seminal and much loved novel Little Women? It’s OK if not – perhaps you’re not a “film fan” like moi but trust me: they’re good!
Obviously, the above is simply a fun quarantine joke because of course everyone knows about those movies, and by extension, their thoughtful, many-time Oscar nominated director Greta Gerwig. As much as I love Gerwig as a director, however, I do sort of miss the time when she was best known as an actress, mostly just because she’s so good (though it’s important to note that she’s been directing movies since 2008!) So, for this week’s VICE UK Corona Film Club, we are harking back to that time with 2015’s Mistress America, in which Gerwig plays the lead.
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Directed by Gerwig’s husband Noah Baumbach (of Marriage Story and The Squid and the Whale fame), and written by them both, the film follows Tracy (played by Lola Kirke) and Brooke (Gerwig), whose respective mother and father are about to get married, making them step-sisters. Tracy is struggling to fit into college life in New York City, while Brooke is a charming but aimless-seeming, Holly Golightly-esque woman-about-town. Tracy becomes fascinated by Brooke and her life of art exhibitions and small plate fusion bars, and the two grow closer as Brooke tries to gain investment to open a restaurant.
The movie is full of Baumbach’s understated humour, and Gerwig is great playing against her Frances Ha-type as a low-level socialite. Also, the final act takes place pretty much inside one house, and I definitely don’t need to tell you why that might feel apt right now.
If all that has got you interested, here’s how to join in:
1) Download Netflix Party for Chrome and join our official Corona Film Club viewing party on Wednesday the 1st of April at 8PM to share your thoughts in the live chat. We’ll be sharing the link to our party on the VICE UK socials (@viceuk on Twitter and Instagram) on Wednesday, so keep an eye out. UPDATE: Here’s the link!
2) If you’d rather see it in your own time, watch the movie and send us your responses to the following questions to coronafilmclub@vice.com before 12PM on Wednesday the 1st of April
1) Is this film any good?
2) What’s it about?
3) OK, but what’s it *really* about?
4) What about the acting?
5) Who’s the director? What did they do here?
6) Best scene?
7) What’s cool about it?
8) Does it illuminate anything about our current pandemic predicament?
Read our collective review next Thursday on vice dot com. We’re also always looking for suggestions for future films so make sure to send those to the Corona Film Club email too (the only rule is that the movie needs to be on Netflix UK.)
UPDATE: Good news – Corona Film Club now comes with free booze. Whoever submits our favourite review wins a 12 pack of Old Blue Last beer. We’ll let you know if that’s you over email.
