Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and The Frida is celebrating the only way we know how! This whole month is Valentine’s Month, with not one, not two, but ten beloved films about love and romance playing this February. Our tradition of screening the black comedy classic Harold and Maude on Valentine’s Day continues next week, but we’ve also got Spike Jonze’s Her and The Notebook (courtesy of Arvida Books) playing later in the month. In between all the lovey-dovey movies though is Nine to Five, Colin Higgins’ hilariously subversive workplace comedy.
A group of female office workers find themselves in a rut. All-knowing, long-suffering manager Violet (Lily Tomlin) trained the boss but can’t get promoted herself, bubbly personal secretary Doralee (Dolly Parton) is suspected by everyone of having an affair, and newcomer Judy (Jane Fonda) is just struggling to get her bearings after a messy divorce. Together, the three decide to seek revenge on the one man who is making all their lives miserable. A smash hit upon release, the film facilitated the already-successful Dolly Parton’s transition from stage to screen and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. Since then, it has also spawned a Broadway musical and TV series as well as been cited as number 74 on the American Film Institute’s “100 Funniest Movies” list.
This fun, funny programming choice was made by Darcy Brown, who selected it as her Volunteer pick of the Month! Volunteering behind the counter on morning shifts, our paths never crossed until she was chosen as VOTM, with our interview actually being my first time meeting her. It was quick as far as interviews go but it was nice chatting with her, with Darcy striking me as kind of a bubbly personality and laughing a lot during our conversation (something that, unfortunately, doesn’t really come through text). It was also interesting to hear her pick for another movie that she’d love to see here, with another previous Volunteer of the Month having also cited it as one of their selections. It will be not a little amusing if – somehow, some way – we do manage to eventually play this very hard to acquire film, but until then I’m just going to try and make it out to Nine to Five next week!
How did you find out about The Frida Cinema?
I came here first when I was in college, I came with a group of friends. I think the first movie I saw here was Promare. It was like an anime movie that was just a fun time! It was fun how hype the theater was, like the energy was just really good.
What made you want to volunteer here?
I don’t know, I think I saw like on Instagram that volunteers were needed and I’ve just always liked this place a lot and wanted to help out.
Tell us a little bit about Nine to Five.
Yeah, I watched it for the first time maybe like a year ago. One of my friends just recommended it and we had like a little girls’ night and watched it. It’s just a really kind of wild movie that I think is going to be a fun time to watch in theaters!
What were your other choices for Volunteer Pick of the Month?
One of them was The Fall and the other was Bringing Up Baby.
What is your favorite Frida memory?
I really liked the holiday party recently, watching everyone do karaoke! That was really sweet.
If you could program any movie here, what would you pick?
I think, I do think it would be The Fall. I know we couldn’t do that one because licensing is really weird on it, but I think that’s such a gorgeous movie.
Nine to Five screens starting Wednesday, February 15th at The Frida Cinema.
Wednesday, Feb 15 – 5:15pm, 7:45pm
Thursday, Feb 16 – 5:15pm, 7:45pm
Tickets