How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017)
(On Cable TV, March 2019) Much of the initial attraction in wanting to see How to Talk to Girls at Parties is the idea of a Neil Gaiman science-fiction short story (indeed a very short story) being adapted to the big screen. But as soon as the opening credits end, there’s another, more intriguing names in the mix: John Cameron Mitchell, writer-director of such off-beat movies as his debut Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Would his sensibilities mesh well with the Gaiman story? Well, as it turns out, the result is about as punk as fans could expect—eventually, the film expands the short story to set up a clash between our wild freethinking punk heroines and hive-minded aliens living undercover in London. There are plenty of punk rock music and attitude to make anyone happy, all the way to featuring Nicole Kidman as a punk rock goddess. It does get delightfully weird along the way. The ending can’t quite manage to successfully tie up all loose ends (although the coda, with a Gaiman visual reference, brings a bit of it back together), but that’s OK—it’s still quite a ride. The direction can be a bit flashy, perhaps to compensate for the limited budget, but that too adds to the charm of it. How to Talk to Girls at Parties is remarkable for more than simply being an adaptation of a familiar story—it’s crazy enough to be distinctive, and on a tone that’s not overly serious.