How to Talk to Girls at Parties

When I read Neil Gaiman's short story of the same title, I wanted more. It is a beautiful story, I wanted more of it, and this movie delivered for me.

If you want to know what you are getting into before watching, it is a blend of romanticized teenage punk scene with fantasy world aliens. It is nostalgic, fun, and touching. You can read the short story before watching the movie, or read the comic book (it is beautiful).

Some negative reviews I've seen say the movie failed their expectations, which were based solely on the title (lol), or cast. Don't be that person. Or maybe they are just punks?

It's pretentious and cheesy, unique and amazing. The only promise I can make is that you have never seen anything like it. That in itself should be enough to make any movie or art lover feel like this movie was money and time well spent. Of course there are flaws, but it's punk, that's what gives it character. If you spend all your money on Hollywood reboots, stay far, far away...

You can enjoy the humor in this movie on the surface level or try to dig deeper into the many metaphors. I just went along for the ride and had a great time.

SPOILER: This film came out today in a very limited release but its something I was always going to see because I love Elle Fanning. I kind of forgot that this was a sci-fi inspired comedy. The film has a typically committed performance from Elle Fanning and a very interesting concept and clash between a quirky cult and British punks. Its certainly creative but does not always hit its highs despite having a lot going for it.

The film follows three young kids who are used very into the London pop scene of the 60's. One night they stumble across a house party. Once they go in they see very odd individuals who are very odd, dressed in bright colors, and fairly sexual. It turns out this group are actually aliens exploring Earth and its people The main lead Enn, meets a young girl and hits it off with her as she tries to understand his world and falls in love with him.

Thought the premise for this film was strong and added color and humor to the film. However, the film does feel stretched thin at some points. Its not a shock as Neil Gaiman's short story of the same name is about twenty pages long. Liberties had to be taken and I found a good portion to be enjoyable. The alien plotline and their motives do get muddled though as its not very clear and seems to have too much complexity for the film to handle.

I think the best part of the film was Elle Fanning as the alien. She really is able to transform into that role of a young alien who is trying to learn how the world works and how love works. She also undergoes a shift when she discovers "punk". I'm happy I watched it as its quite unique. The film hits a wall at times but recovers well enough. Also, Nicole Kidman is ace in it.

6.5/10

It's absolutely, not even close to being one of the best movies I've ever watched but my god do I love it. Not mind blowing but somewhat bizarre. The ending is beautiful but everything before that is so weird and uncanny. I spent the whole movie duration asking myself "wtf?". It's probably the most unique movie out there, you'll either like it or hate it and call it silly or for weirdos, I think most people will and understandably so. Looking at the title and cast is very deceiving, which is what I did, and you need an open mind to enjoy it. It's a misfit movie, I guess that's how punks are stigmatized by society; and this movie is a love story between a punk and an alien. It really doesn't fit in well into any genre, it's the 70's, there's aliens, there's funny bits, there's music, there's love, but if you're looking for a sci-fi, comedy, musical or romance movie this still really isn't it. It just a rogue piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit in anywhere. That's why it didn't surprise me when I learnt that this was the oeuvre of the same person who wrote "American Gods", which I do love. There's nothing like that series, and there's nothing like this movie, they're ambitious originals. And I must say, kudos to Nicole Kidman because this feels like the kind of movie actors of her caliber would turn down and she didn't. It's not great, a little tweaks everywhere and bigger production budget could have made it better, but it's uniqueness(is that a word, sounds made up in my head) makes it worth a watch, I however wouldn't recommend it to anyone I know because I don't really know who the intended audience for the movie was. Because I don't know anyone like me, not in a "I'm special" sorta way, more like I'm sorta weird and so is this movie.

Bizarre. Immaculately bizarre. An ambitious empty shell that struggles to develop its themes and characters. The equivalent of banging your head to The Sex Pistols whilst being surrounded by gymnasts in tight Lycra. It seems Mitchell tried desperately hard to achieve cult status for his film. Mixing absurdist sci-fi with an emerging music movement that swept good ol' Croydon. Unfortunately he misses the mark. A punk enthusiast meets a mysterious girl at a party and only has a certain amount of time to introduce her to the world of punk rock. During that allotted time, a romance blossoms that would transcend space itself.

The underlying problem that polluted this well-intentioned project is the screenplay. Goslett failed to understand that the merging of two genres, especially one of them being a romance, relies on relatable and humanistic characters. Fanning, who I'm sure wasn't acting in this (that's just her normal self...), gets a pass for portraying a stellar extraterrestrial. Sharp on the other hand, well his character was a mess. No fault of his own. Mitchell tried divulging into his backstory, which was instantly forgettable, and failed to create a spark between the two leads. For the most part, there was no emotional resonance. It wasn't until the final twenty minutes, when punk matriarch Kidman's army of little punk rockers raid their contemporary "tourists" abode, that the tangible love started to stick. Too late I'm afraid. Was all too forced for my liking.

I do however admire Mitchell's unique vision, almost reminiscent of Gilliam's work, which suited the artistic aesthetic that was being exhumed. A wondrous experience that made me scratch my head whilst being hypnotised. Stupendous use of colour. Just a shame that its entirety doesn't really stick, although undoubtedly will be viewed as an ambitious cult film in the future I'm sure. Admirably ambitious is the best description. Though Nicole Kidman, man, she would make a crazy rocker that's for sure!