The film that brought a pre-dental-makeover Kate Beckinsale into the spotlight here in the US, Last Days of Disco was a wonderful dialogue-driven, social-commentary-packed indie comedy… and a massive dud at the box office. It was well received in film nerd circles, though, and enjoys — like Metropolitan, Stillman’s first and best received film (which I have yet to see, though it’s in my Netflix queue) — a space in the Criterion Collection.
The fact that it took Stillman fourteen years to make another film after Disco is a bit perplexing, especially when the trailer for his new film, Damsels in Distress, looks so damned charming. In the film, “three beautiful girls set out to change the male-dominated environment of theircollege campus, and to rescue their fellow students from depression, grunge and low standards of every kind.”
You can read a bit more about Stillman and in a recent NPR interview.
Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody, Analeigh Tipton, Zach Woods, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Carrie MacLemore, Aubrey Plaza, and Caitlin Fitzgerald star. The film is in limited release now, so check your local listings if you’re interested!
