Party Girl (1995) (Standard Edition)

When I was in high school, I had a crush on a girl who was obsessed with the movie Party Girl and would frequently quote the lead character Mary’s oft-repeated lunch order: “Can I have a falafel with hot sauce, a side of order of baba ganoush, and a seltzer please?” She had even named her cat Parker, after Parker Posey, the film’s star. That cat was mean, and I didn’t like it. Also, the girl didn’t like me – not in “that” way, at least. Maybe these are the reasons why it has taken me nearly thirty years to finally watch this damn movie.

Well, more’s the pity, because Party Girl is a delight. Posey pivots slightly from her breakthrough role as a bitchy senior in Richard Linklater’s seminal teen flick from ‘93, Dazed and Confused, to play a somewhat bitchy, self-involved scenester in downtown New York. Her character Mary’s world is full of club kids waiting for trust funds and other fabulous broke people. The focus is on fashion, music, and having a good time. At least, at first.

After getting busted for throwing an illegal rent party (and owning bootleg VHS tapes – haw haw), Mary gradually develops a quarter-life crisis. Her godmother Judy (Sasha von Scherler) reluctantly lets her work under her at the public library as a clerk, partly to pay Judy back for bailing her out. At first, Mary treats it essentially as community service, but soon realizes her latent fastidiousness makes her a good match for the Dewey decimal system. She thinks maybe library work can give her directionless young life a worthwhile direction.

Most of Mary’s friends are still pretty satisfied to focus on going out, looking good, and hooking up. Guillermo Diaz (Half Baked, TV’s Scandal) plays a couch-surfing club DJ whose vinyl collection becomes a cataloging project for Mary, much to his chagrin. Young Liev Schreiber makes an appearance as an English bouncer that Mary dates then dumps for essentially tarnishing her brand. Instead, Mary finds herself drawn to humble Lebanese push cart man Mustafa (Omar Townsend), although much like librarian godmother Judy, he doesn’t quite know what to make of Mary’s inconsideration and hedonism.

Director Daisy von Scherler Mayer shows a fondness for even her silliest characters and brilliantly evokes ‘90s nightlife in downtown New York on a relative shoestring. The supporting cast that makes up Mary’s chosen family of fellow party kids are all endearing, but this is Parker Posey’s show all the way. In the Blu-ray bonus features, Posey references Carole Lombard as an influence on Mary, and she manages to make oblivious self-centeredness quite magnetic and charming in a way that’s partly Lombard’s – maybe – but feels like Posey expressing her essential comic persona. She has continued to grow and deepen over the years, but Party Girl shows her talent fully formed from the start.

The Blu-ray: Vital Stats
The standard edition of Party Girl is packaged in a keepcase with reversible cover art. A booklet featuring production materials and writing by Margaret Barton-Fumo is included. The disc loads to the Fun City Editions logo and legal disclaimers before displaying a motion menu.

The AVC-encoded 1080p 1.85:1 presentation is sourced from a new 4K restoration of the Super 16 camera negative. While inevitably the image is a bit grainy in comparison to indie 35mm productions of the era, there is significant detail and rich, saturated colors present in this transfer. The cinematography is a bit unpolished, but there is nuanced contrast in many shots and decent shadow detail in darker scenes. Little noticeable dirt or damage, and the images look excellent in motion.
Rating: 4.5/5

The DTS-HD MA 2.0 soundtrack is much more noticeably dated than the image, which makes this viewer wonder if pennies were pinched in the mixing stage by using outdated equipment. The idiosyncratic compression and lo-fi sound seems out of an old educational film. The restoration seems faithful to the source, and considering Fun City Editions’ track record, one assumes this is the best available version of the audio. One subtitle option is offered: English SDH. 3/5

Fun City Editions has commissioned a number of new extras that are well worth a listen and look.

• Audio commentary by Jake Fogelnest - Comedy writer Fogelnest, who became a NYC scene fixture as a teen after the success of his public access show Squirt TV, shares his appreciation for the film and offers plenty of memories of the ‘90s New York club scene.
• Like an Old Movie: Interview with Parker Posey (HD 24:22) - The star reminisces about this era in New York, her experiences working on the film, her impressions of the other cast members, and the way she sees the film as a new spin on classic screwball comedy.
• Designing a Character: Creating Party Girl (HD 35:49) - Director Daisy von Scherler Mayer discusses growing up in a showbiz family and casting her mother as Judy, she discusses the screwball comedy influences on the writing, the difficulty in getting the project financed, and various anecdotes about the production of the film and working with Parker Posey. She also mentions that Party Girl was the film streamed on the internet.
• DJ’ing to Picture: Creating the Party Girl Soundtrack (HD 16:02) - Music supervisor Bill Coleman talks about the formation of his musical taste, visiting ‘80s New York City while living upstate, which led to his work as a music journalist. This led to his own music management company and his connection with the Party Girl filmmakers. He talks about placing different tracks in the film and how he went on to supervise other indie soundtracks afterward. 
• Power to the Librarians: Producing Party Girl (HD 18:15) - Harry Birckmayer, who was a producer and writer on the film, talks about his life experiences that influenced the film and his memories of making it.
• Trailer (HD 1:57) - The restored theatrical trailer
• Image Gallery

Fun City Editions' nicely appointed Blu-ray of Party Girl offers a lovely chance to witness Parker Posey coming into her own as an idiosyncratic and incomparable screen presence. Folks who lived through the '90s and folks who wished they had will get a nice nostalgic kick from the humor, the fashion, and the dancefloor-friendly soundtrack. The new bonuses are thoughtful and fun, and the flick looks outstanding in its new restoration. Recommended.