Now I need more from the big screen experience in order to be expertly coaxed from my comfortable sofa and beloved Sky Plus box.
And expertly coaxed I was by The Bright Young Things Film Club – run by two bubbly film-loving ladies - Bridget Arsenault of Conde Nast and Fatima Martinez-Moxton from Mexican luxury jewellery brand Tane.
I discovered that this exciting club celebrates the world of cinema in the form of plush arty screenings at luxury hotels with the addition of cocktails and cake. My interest was suddenly piqued and my recently dwindled passion for cinema reignited.
Ok, they had me at cake…
I took a fellow baked good-adoring chum and an empty tummy along to their screening of Jill Soloway’s Afternoon Delight – an empowering exploration of female sexuality and emotion with a thigh-slappingly humorous edge.
The film was shown on the bountiful screen at the celeb-adored Mayfair Hotel’s private cinema, which boasts lavish maroon leather seats and an opulent carpet.
After a warm greeting by Bridget and Fatima we followed the merry abundance of excitable guests to the bar area of the cinema where we were suitably plied with organic cookie and cream truffles, blondie brownies and sour cream coffee cakes by bespoke baking connoisseurs -Tea America.
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| Come to mamma... |
We were then treated to enticing BYTme peach-infused cocktails by Circoc Ultra Premium Vodka – which along with the sweet treats, were also included in the all-inclusive ticket price of £17.50.
Cradling our cocktails and suitably armed with a supply of extra cake (in case we were to suddenly face the wrath of hunger pangs mid-film) we took our seats. We were thrilled to find that awaiting us was a goody bag filled with Propercorn sweet and salty popcorn and a bottle of refreshing Unoco coconut water.
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| Pink goody bags filled with healthy snackage? DO I?! |
Starring the gloriously talented Kathryn Hahn, playing a bored wife and mother who moves a homeless stripper (the fantastic Juno Temple) into her home, Afternoon Delight was in my eyes a perfect film. Funny, intriguing, shocking, heart-warming, realistic and gritty – with a hearty dose of feminism, it was a refreshing portrayal of American suburbia from an unashamedly female point of view.
Afterwards, the audience were treated to a live Q&A via Skype with the extremely witty Jill Soloway herself, who had us all in stitches with her interesting yet hilarious responses to our questions.
An afterparty in The Mayfair Hotel’s Quince bar followed which involved copious Ciroc Ultra Premium Vodka cocktails and fervent film-related banter between cultured guests.
Admittedly, since my pleasant Bright Young Things Film Club experience, I have found it hard to join the masses at the local Odeon whilst expertly trying to dodge flying popcorn from groups of restless teens.
I can’t bear to watch another trashy thriller with no substance directed by middle aged men who demonize women for expressing their sexuality, or patriarchal romantic comedies where female (wife material) love interests are pigeonholed into ‘wholesome’ roles such as teachers or book shop owners.
Why cant potential wives be investment bankers or forensic scientists dammit? Or even just work in PR?
Thank goodness that next week I’ll be attending Bridget and Fatima’s screening of Sweet Dreams – an award-winning documentary by Rob and Lisa Fruchtman about a group of Rwandan women who open an ice cream shop and form the country’s first all-female drumming troupe.
Well, it makes a nice change from watching inebriated American teenagers discuss prom outfits.
The Bright Young Things Film Club will be screening Sweet Dreams at 18.30 at The Mayfair Hotel on 30th April.
Tickets can be booked here.
