Newlygrad Blues: A Viewing Guide
for the recent grad with a taste for good movies
I suppose if you read this publication you too are most likely a newly grad, working a garbage job (or three), and hoping it all gets really good soon. I’m not here to tell you it’s going to; but I’ve got a good list here of movies that make it feel a little bit better.
For the artist who feels they have good ideas and no follow-through…
REALITY BITES (Ben Stiller, 1994)
You trust Ben Stiller as a director now, right, everyone? Severance, anybody? Trust him here too, with this little 90s gem. A group of recent graduates (who happen to be huge stars Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo, and Steve Zahn) hang out, make movies, get hired and fired, and get involved in angsty, dramatic romance. I love the first half of this movie very much – does it turn into an odd love triangle story by the end, sure. Do I like that bit a lot less than the rest of the movie, yeah, sure. But when I watched this movie, I felt like I saw my friends, and my life, and the really melodramatic way I feel about being a newly independent adult. And there’s just a really great couple of scenes about Jeneane Garofalo working at the Gap.
For the ones who realize their parents aren’t all that grown-up anymore…
SAY ANYTHING… (Cameron Crowe, 1989)
John Cusack is somehow so optimistic about a very mundane life that he charms you into thinking he should really pursue his kickboxing career. But oddly the person I find the most interesting here is John Mahoney, a dad you really, really want to trust, and this movie kind of jerks you around and reminds you that your parents are still people with rich and frustrating lives of their own, despite how weird that may feel.
For the lonely ones who feel “over it” with a phase that just barely started…
GHOST WORLD (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)
There are probably two classes of people; those who find Enid annoying, and those who find Enid annoying yet relatable. I think I am in the second class. Enid is stuck in a sort of stasis that she’s almost addicted to, and Steve Buscemi oddly validates this for her, while she neglects her previous ideas of what her life could have been after graduating. If you were really exhausted by the thought of having an “Adult Life” after school, and wish you could just listen to music in your room for a long, long time, this is the movie for you.
For those who hate their dumb job …
CLERKS (Kevin Smith, 1994)
This is my second time recommending Clerks, which Gen Xers may giggle at, because duh, everyone liked Clerks a lot for a long time, but I think the current generation may need to find a new love for this movie. What felt relevant to a generation classified by their perceived laziness and cynicism remains relevant to the current generation. Clerks really masterfully creates a movie that feels like the recap you give your roommates about your day at work; painfully boring and also remarkably unique and funny. It’s that thing of how these jobs we work right now feel like total garbage, wastes of time, and also, somehow, the good old days. It’s 10 jokes a minute, sharp ones, and is just so lovably gloomy. Also, if you’re like me, you will be way too into Randall.
For the film-school dipshits who talk too highly of themselves…
MARY JANE’S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE (Sarah Jacobson, 1996)
Potentially the Wario to Clerks, this movie also presents a grimy, dark workplace comedy, but the tone is much more edged, feminist, and sexual. (Letterboxd user Brandon Lennan has really supported my hypothesis of films here calling this movie “a riot grrrl answer to Clerks and Reality Bites”). This is what having sex with guys with Bushwick feels like, if I’m being perfectly honest. Mostly because the movie theater looks like all of their houses? I don’t know. This movie is really gritty and raw, putting all the oddness of a communal workplace of poor 20 year olds on the table. It is as honest as it is strange, and winks hard at the audience.
For those who feel 13 again and they can’t seem to stand it …
WE’RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR (Jane Schoenbrun, 2021)
This may be just a movie that was very, very well suited to me personally, so apologies if this doesn’t hit the mark for you, but Jane Schoenbrun’s sophomore feature (although it really feels like her freshman) is incredibly unique, and does what a Schoenbrun movie does; casts a spell on her audience. When I watched I SAW THE TV GLOW, I felt like there was something incredibly powerful in her tone that I was somehow missing a piece of, so taking the advice of Kalina and Sara, I watched this movie next, which almost taught me as much about the director as it did about myself. This movie was such an intensely personal gut punch that it resulted in something I almost never engage in; an earnest and honest Letterboxd review. This is a great piece of pandemic cinema, but it feels relevant to anyone who has made a whole reality in their lonely bedroom before, much like I know many have after graduating, reverting to their teenage self in a way that can only be described as clinging on to something familiar. It is so deeply sad, and so fucking terrifying.
For those who miss their college friends already …
THE BIG CHILL (Lawrence Kasdan, 1983)
I wrote about this movie in my 2024 wrap-up as well, but this list would be incomplete without The Big Chill. I’m a lucky person who lives in the same town as a lot of my college friends, hell, they’re just my regular friends, but thinking about where we all might be in 20 years? 30? is very daunting. The thought of not having these people so close, and then losing one of them, feels so far away right now, but once it happened to my mom, I felt like I had a glimpse into my future. A future which is not so sad, actually, although sadness is a very big part of it; getting to see these people find each other again, and lean on each other, reminds me that there are friendships that will last a lifetime just a few subway stops away from me right now. It is nice to be prematurely grateful.
For those craving a spontaneous connection with a stranger …
NIGHT ON EARTH (Jim Jarmusch, 1991)
A big result of graduating has been the difference in ease of meeting new people. I talk about this a lot with my friends, maybe in regards to dating more than most scenarios, about how even in such a big city, it feels impossible to find a stark connection with someone new. This movie is a great little gem reminding you to talk to everyone, tell them about yourselves, and lean into new experiences. There are 5 parts in 5 different cities, and you will have your preferences, but I can bet that at least one of the sections will be meaningful to you if you’re interested in humans, and if you’re one of those good people who likes to talk to your Uber driver.
For the late night girl searching for her purpose …
PARTY GIRL (Daisy von Scherler Mayer, 1995)
I think I might have written about this movie in my 2024 article too, briefly – I’m sorry, I watched a lot of things last year that were very relevant to being a young pathetic adult! Alas, welcome to the Parker Posey renaissance. One of my favorite actors of all time, Posey has been in so many movies that mean everything to me – Daytrippers, The Doom Generation, Best in Show, Josie and the Pussycats, The House of Yes – but this one sticks out as her magnum opus to me personally, with her leading this incredibly off-beat and fun movie about finding your purpose. Mary is frustrating yet iconic (I say in the real sense of the word), and relatable in the sense that she really doesn’t feel capable of doing certain things, but is frustrated when others agree. I feel like this all the time; I want to achieve this, but I am bad at it, but I am new to it, and being new and bad at something is so embarrassing for some reason, because other people will know and notice… but this party girl (ding!) makes it all work for her. In the coolest outfits ever, by the way.
For the ones who resent their hometown just as much as they’d die for it…
PECKER (John Waters, 1998)
This is perhaps Waters’ most earnest piece of filmmaking to date, while still having the same quirky, campy quality you know and love of his. Pecker gets to be the one who makes it out of his small town, but he is only capable of this because of his hometown. His weird, embarrassing hometown. This and Cecil B. Demented feel like the most self-inserted movies of Waters’ career, which makes sense because they are his later releases, and both comment lots on what his legacy has left for his community. The way Baltimore and New York mirror each other and fight each other here is really interesting, both being satirized to hell; nobody gets off unscathed in a John Waters movie. To the person who ran from their hometown and still can’t stop talking about it, writing about it, making art about it, Pecker will feel very familiar.
really appreciate this !