Yep, that was intentional as Metropolitan, Barcelona and Last Days of Disco comprise a trilogy of sorts.

I just finished watching METROPOLITAIN, and I found it to be quite amusing, in an underspoken yet brilliant way. The dialogue didn't remind me much of "Clerks" or "Annie Hall"--it was more like The Rules of the Game, only Americanized, self-consciously intellicualized, and tinged with a glow of fond nostalgia.

Even before the cocktail party scene where one character discusses his hatred of "The Discreet Charms of the Bourgeoisie," I thought to myself that METROPOLITAIN was a re-telling of that film, only this time the twits were actually charming.

I have New Englandy relatives who act exactly like the people in this movie--and I assure you, these Preppie Handbook types are all too real.

The movie chronicles the characters' brief glory days. These dinner party scenes are so mundane and purposeless that (like Tom) the viewer doesn't realize they were supposed to represent high times until they're over. After the last deb ball, the characters will all begin their descents into mediocrity: a sorry but widely accepted fate.

Also, I love how Tom swears he never takes taxis, but by the end of the movie, he's the one who suggests taking a cab all the way out to the Hamptons.

The appeal of the film escapes me.

Seemed to me to be an amateurishly written Evelyn Waugh novel improbably set in NY in the 1990s with bad acting. I found it unwatchable. We cut it off after 30 minutes.

people who don't watch an entire film should be barred from discussing it negatively.

I feel pretty safe in the assumption that Napoleon Dynamite didn't get any better.

Bad films should be barred.

It didn't.

If you can't at least understand the joys of Napoleon Dynamite, you probably like movies for all the wrong reasons.

And Metropolitan is great.

I don't like Napoleon Dynamite, but at least I've actually seen it.

Wow, someone's getting all Henrik in favor Napoleon Dynamite!?! Last time I checked, comedies, stupid or otherwise, and trust me, I like a lot of stupid ones, are supposed to make one laugh, not fill them with seething rage.

What he said

Napoleon Dynamite is hilaaarious.

And, actually, I really enjoyed Metropolitan. And because the 2nd post in this thread was a pre-viewing, denunciation of said movie by myself, let me say this: I've learned my lesson and I'll never judge anything without having firsthand knowledge of it again...

I just thought this message deserved applause....

Attn: Matt and other Stillman completists

Metrodome will be releasing the R2 version of Metropolitan complete will an exculsive, new commentary track by Stillman. Enjoy.

I love this film. The dialogs aren't bad at all. "Urban haute bourgeosie? Couldn't we say it simply as, uhb?" "You don't need to read a book to have an opinion." "Men are dates, potential dates, or date substitutes. I find that dehumanizing." "The acid test is whether you take any pleasure in responding to the question 'What do you do?' I can't bear it."

Also, frequent shots of nubile, young girls in scantily-clad clothings are very welcomed (and a strip-poker scene to boot).

And I like the tone of the film. It's not too critical of this class of people, and not too sentimental nor comical in the various situations depicted. The film keeps it real, without the kind of fantasy aspect present in many Woody Allen's films. And it still keeps it entertaining (I categorize this film as a comedy).

If anyone wants to order a reasonably priced dvd of a movie called Les derniers jours du Disco, links below.

Amazon.fr or Fnac

PS. It has non-anamorphic letterbox 1:1;85 image.

I finally saw this after avoiding it, mostly due to the R2 cover, which sells it as "a peach of a picture". I can't see why people bash the film, now that I see it's quite excellent.

One movie kept coming into my head while watching this, and that was The Magnificent Ambersons. It both gave me this feel of "an end of an era", and like the Ambersons, all the characters were rather innocent. Instead of most films about modern youth, instead of meaningless sex, vulgar dialougue, and gross out antics, everything was quite simple. These are a group of friends who get their kicks from debutante balls, and Cha-Cha-Cha sessions, rather old fashioned. One of the best scenes is where they meet a middle aged man in a bar, who was once like the happy bourgeoisie, but now is stuck with doing something he doesn't like. It sort of pushed the theme even more.

Oh, and the ending is excellent. It's funny, and very, very memorable. I'm going to make a point to see Stillman's two other films. The man comes off without a single ounce of arrogance, and credits himself on the same card as his editor and cinematographer. Love it!

I first saw Metropolitan as a teenager and loved it. I even bought the VHS tape when it first came out. I think it's a pretty realistic depiction of that social class (the U.H.B.'s). More important, the dialogue is much more believable than dialogue found in Kevin Smith's movies.

It's been quite some time, but I recall Barcelona being quite enjoyable, too.

And Napoleon Dynamite sucked. I watched the entire movie, figuring that it would eventually get better. It didn't. It's Exhibit A for why Mormons shouldn't make comedies.

I've watched this film today for first time and it has impressed me. Wonderful script, brilliant dialogues, horrible outfits (gosh, how tacky the 80's were), excellent portrait of that upper-class people (Spanish and Latin-American riches are the same) played by good and very young actors. I loved, loved, loved it.

I agree that it's close to W. Allen's cinema, but it's a million times better than Burn's rubbish films. That Edward -beefcake- Burns tried to be W. Allen with a gorgeous face many times. How pathetic.

There's another picture very familiar with this one: Six degrees of separation. How much I love that film!

I saw (for the outfits, I must confess) the Gossip Girl pilot episode, and they should pay royalties for that Xerox copy of Stillman's. It's the worst TV show I've ever seen.

Every time I watch this movie, it never fails the main guy in the movie just gets on my nerves! But I love the movie, it's one of those movies I showed to all my friends. Most of my friends didn't like it. I think more Whit Stllman films should be in the collection. I was a bid fan of the last days of disco.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but a quick thought. In light of all this conversation over how Stillman's dialogue is unrealistic (agree) and awful (disagree), I find it hilariously fitting that the posts in this thread could easily be adapted into a Metropolitan-style scene:

INT. MANHATTAN APARTMENT -- NIGHT

Charlie: The appeal of the film escapes me.
Jane: How could you say that?
Charlie: Seemed to me to be an amateurishly written Evelyn Waugh novel improbably set in NY in the 1990s with bad acting. I found it unwatchable. I cut it off after 30 minutes.
Cynthia: People who don't watch an entire film should be barred from discussing it negatively.
Nick: I feel pretty safe in the assumption that Napoleon Dynamite didn't get any better.
Cynthia: It didn't, but at least I've actually seen it.
Audrey: Don't you see? Part of Stillman's daring is to see culture and education as valuable characteristics, even when they are in the shape of unformed potential. He assumes we get the fact that these people are relatable because they are emotionally vulnerable in a similar human way to us all. They share our insecurities and fragilities, our dependent neediness.
Tom: I never thought about it like that.
Nick: I have to admit...frequent shots of nubile, young girls in scantily-clad clothing are always welcome.
Fred: I'll drink to that.

/end scene

Ha! Good job.

I just saw this and wasn't expecting to like it much, since I come from pretty much the opposite background as these trust fund monsters, and the trust fund kids I know are usually horrible, vapid, faux-bohemian hipsters with no personality and no compass for social and economic issues. But I found the same fly-on-the-wall (or maybe rubber-necking train wreck) satisfaction at watching these very awful people running through their lives like a poorly written comedy of manners. The dialogue didn't bother me for a second -- theatrical comedy is bound to be more wordy and contrived than anything in real life if its worth spit.

Tom is a great character. At first a principled working class fish-out-of-water, but gradually turning into just another aristocratic loafer taking a taxi to the Hamptons. A nice little snipe at the social chameleon in all of us.

Which reminds me I wanted to flesh out a snarky but unsupportable blog post positing Metropolitan as a thinly-disguised rewrite of The Sun Also Rises:

Tom= Tyrone Power
Charlie= Mel Ferrer
Nick= Errol Flynn
Audrey= a nice girl version of Ava Gardner

and the bullfighter is that bastard Rick Von Sloneker.

I had a Chris Eigeman day sort of experience when I watched this at long last with Kicking and Screaming last night. I had expected it to be less charming than Barcelona and Disco, but I was glad to be proved wrong. I almost like it more than his later films now. It got on my good side because it was so unrelentingly funny - due in good part to Eigeman's undiluted cattiness - and had so many good characters. I wish that Stillman's later films had had such large ensembles as this one. I loved this film and really look forward to watching it again. It was funny that in an interview on the Kicking and Screaming supplements, Eigeman said he had no idea what he was doing in Metropolitan. I say funny because here he seemed totally composed and perfectly relaxed. I have no idea what his misgivings might have been, but here I think he knocked it out of the park. Seeing Taylor Nichols was a delight and his character was a hoot as it reminded me of a close friend. I also liked Carolyn Farina and Allison Parisi - did any of these actors have continuing careers? - but it made me wish that their ilk was better represented in Stillman's films. Did anyone else get the feeling that movie was a weird parody of John Hughes? All in all, a wonderful film.

It is becoming my favorite, too. Carolyn Farina can be seen for about ten more seconds in "Last Days of Disco" - Stillman points her out on the commentary track.