SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our FEMALE FILMMAKERS ACROSS THE DECADES Series, Thursday, April 13, 2023
LOCATION: The Secret Movie Club Theater, 1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90021
*Please note entrance/parking is actually in the back of the building. Make a right on Wilson Street, then a right behind the building. We’re the first set of black steps after the big gate.
7:30pm LADY BIRD (2017, dir. Greta Gerwig, A24, USA, 94mns, DCP)
9:30pm BOOKSMART (2019, dir. Olivia Wilde, Annapurna, USA, 105mns, DCP)
Tonight we kick off a three part series of double features looking at female driven, focused movies from the 2010’s (tonight), the 1970’s/1980’s (Norma Rae and Coal Miner’s Daughter May 25, 2023, and the 1960’s Daisies and Cleo From 5 to 7 June 29, 2023). We stumble dance backwards to see what’s changed and what has remained the same.
First up are two recent gems, Greta Gerwig’s semi-autobiographical Lady Bird and Olivia Wilde’s last night of high school riff Booksmart.
One of the fascinating aspects of both these movies is how they are proof positive that female filmmakers have waited far too long to tell the same stories in the same unique filmmaking ways as their male counterparts.
George Lucas and Richard Linklater (American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused) respectively got to tell their last night of high school stories thirty and fifty (!) years ago.
Olivia Wilde and her team tell a raunchy heart warming hilarious observant story of two nerdy best friends who realize in their pursuit of great colleges have missed all the joy and life of being wild in high school. So they decide to cram it all into one night.
A kind of foul mouthed, hilarious exuberant female response to the male driven Superbad, Booksmart shames anyone in filmmaking who thought a female lead raunchy comedy couldn’t be done and couldn’t be universal.
Greta Gerwig surprises even more with her subtle, nuanced, unpredictable coming of age story Lady Bird. Saoirse Ronan’s Christine (alter ego for Gerwig) goes through her senior year in Sacramento, California dealing with her fraught relationship with her mother, her Catholicism, and her dreams of getting out and going to the big city.
One of the biggest revelations in Gerwig’s movie is how she so expertly avoids the pitfalls of veering towards expectation. Instead, Christine, as unbridled and wild and unique as she is, also appreciates her religious upbringing and loves the bond with her mother.
Gerwig’s movie pulsates with a relatability and down to earthness that makes it one of the great movies of the last five years.
So join us as we begin this journey!
Best always,
Craig Hammill
Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
REFUNDS:
We can offer refunds up to 24 hours before showtime. Please request a refund through Eventbrite and we will process ASAP. After that, no refunds. Sorry.
However if something last minute comes up and you can’t make the screening, for whatever reason, just write to us before showtime: community@secretmovieclub.com and we’ll offer you complimentary tickets to a future screening, good for 90 days. (Disclaimer: Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
HELPFUL SECRET MOVIE CLUB (1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LA, CA 90021) THEATER PARKING TIPS:
We recommend that you park just outside our theater. Remember our theater is actually in a beautiful street art alleyway in the back of the 1917 Bay Street building. You get to our entrance by taking a right on Wilson, then a right behind the building. We are the first set of black steps on the right after the big gate.
There is also a parking lot at the corner of Mateo and Violet Street, just 2 blocks from our theater, which costs $7 per car.
HOW CAN WE STAY ON TOP OF NEWLY ANNOUNCED 35MM SCREENINGS, EVENTS, ETC?
You can follow us on Instagram/Twitter: @secretmovieclub or Facebook: @secretmovieclub35mm
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HOW CAN I CONTACT YOU IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:
You can always email us at community@secretmovieclub.com with any other questions, concerns, thoughts, recommendations.