It had been a year since we’d put on an event together, but on Saturday night we were well and truly back – and this time we sold out (in a good way).
From the team of two who packed a disco bag and took a 70’s party to Bordeaux, and who in the past have thrown 70s parties at the Brockley Social Club and 80s parties at the Hill Station Cafe, we brought a slightly new format to the Tyrwhitt Road end of SE4. This time we visited The Talbot and screened Pretty in Pink the film, in its 30th anniversary, and squoze in a quick disco of all our favourite songs from the decade fondly known as the Eighties.
What a trip down memory lane, to reacquaint ourselves with the characters of Andie and Duckie, Blane and Steff. 1986 seemed so long ago and yet so oddly recent all at the same time. I’m not sure how well the film stands the test of time, as I’m blinded by the nostalgia and the number of times I watched it back then (aged a tender 14). However you can’t beat a good boy meets girl from the wrong side of the tracks storyline, especially adding in that smarmy turn from James Spader in the unbuttoned shirts and linen suits, and the fantastic character of Duckie played so beautifully by Jon Cryer. Every fashion moment is, literally, unspeakable, and Iona is a great character who provides a lot of the laughs. Of course, the anti-bullying theme of ‘I just want to let them know that they didn’t break me’ will never age, and Molly Ringwald plays the quirky Andie just right, and we totally love her for her oddness. For others, there was the thrill of Andrew McCarthy, but I just never did get him and his thin lips and weedy smile.
After the screening we tried to do a fast turnaround and our little screening room became – whoosh! – a dance floor. The requests came thick and fast and, believe me, we did try to listen and play to the crowd, but there are some limits! Including time limits! So please come back next time if you didn’t hear your tune this time. We promise to be back and we are also taking requests for which film you want to see next (comment below, also if you want to be on the mailing list).
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Thanks to all of you who came and had fun with us. We are very grateful to the lovely pub The Talbot for having us. We also raised some money for the fundraising campaign for next year’s New Cross and Deptford Free Film Festival which you can read about here, oh and for details about the NXDFFF itself see here. We have just started meetings for next year’s festival, so you’d be just in time to get involved.
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