What a nice surprise! I expected that after the Oscars had been handed out, we’d see some of the winners at the ByTowne and the Mayfair (and indeed there are three such Oscar laureates), but I also expected we’d be facing a desert of new releases. Not so! I’m recommending six new films that the awards overlooked. Then I’ll wrap up with two genuine classics from the vault.
I’ll start with the three Oscar winners.
Perfect Days won Best International Feature Film Oscar. I’ve written about it three times—see Second Half of February, First Half of March, and Second Half of March. It’s so beautiful and thought-provoking, it just may change your life. It’s still playing at the ByTowne.
Given the number of Oscars Poor Things scooped up, this is a must-see for me, as I said in my last Magic in the Dark article. I think it will prove to be even more imaginative than Barbie… and a lot sexier. It’s at both the Mayfair and the ByTowne.
American Fiction won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, in a competitive field of nominees. It was also nominated for Best Picture and Lead Actor. Having seen it in March, I can see why. I’ve also added Jeffrey Wright to my list of actors whose films I’ll see just because he’s one of the cast members. American Fiction is continuing its run at the Mayfair.
Now here are those six new films I mentioned. All of them are playing at the ByTowne.
As I said in my last article, I’ve never been disappointed by a film by an Iranian director. Often the resilience of the protagonist in the face of oppression is uplifting. Therefore, I plan to see Shayda, the story of a brave Iranian woman who, with her 6-year-old daughter, has fled her abusive husband and ended up in a women’s shelter in Australia.
I’m a fan of British director Ken Loach, who made award-winning socialist-tinged films for almost 60 years. So I was delighted to see that his latest work, The Old Oak, has reached Ottawa. The Old Oak is the name of a pub in a northern English village and a magnet for the townsfolk, mostly because of its genial owner, TJ. It is a source of communal comfort for this once prosperous mining village which has fallen on hard times. When Syrian refugees arrive, most of the town is hostile and resentful that the Syrians should get assistance from the government. But the empathetic TJ sees things differently.
The other new British film that’s reached our shores is Wicked Little Letters. In a 1920s seaside town, a very proper woman “of a certain age” (the excellent Olivia Colman) begins receiving anonymous letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities. A foul-mouthed single mother (Jessie Buckley) whose unconventional lifestyle scandalizes the townsfolk is immediately suspected of writing the letters. But a lowly female police officer suspects this isn’t the case. And all of this is based on a true story!
I’m intrigued by the Italian film, La chimera. Something wildly fanciful, a chimera is something you’ll never find in the real world. The film’s plot revolves around a disgraced British archeologist, Arthur, who has a talent for finding buried Etruscan antiquities with the help of a divining rod. Recently released from prison, he returns to Tuscany to search for the woman he’d loved, who is now dead, by reaching her spirit beyond the grave. He joins a Fellini-esque group of thieves who loot Etruscan tombs for treasures to sell on the black market. But Arthur’s life takes an interesting turn when he visits his beloved’s aristocratic mother (played by the iconic Isabella Rossellini) and her beautiful caretaker. The ByTowne lists four genres for La chimera—adventure, fantasy, drama, and comedy. That sounds about right!
I’d not heard about the Australian film Limbo nor its Indigenous writer/director, Ivan Sen until the ByTowne programmed the film. But this film might be a hidden treasure. This stark black-and-white film is set in the desolate Australian territory of abandoned opal mines and underground towns. A jaded heroin-addicted cop is sent on a no-hope assignment to investigate the 20-year-old disappearance of an Indigenous woman. No white men, then or now, were interested in solving the mystery, but the cop made progress. Critics have mentioned the uniformly excellent acting in this outback noir, as well as the stark divisions between the white and Indigenous people.
Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus is a documentary about the Japanese composer of award-winning music for films such as The Last Emperor, Babel, The Revenant, and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. In 2022, Sakamoto was dying and wished to leave a musical statement—just him playing 20 pieces that wordlessly narrate his life through his music. If you love music, I think this will appeal to you.
Let’s wrap up with two must-see classics.
At the Mayfair, there’s one of George A. Romero’s definitive zombie flicks—Dawn of the Dead. On its 45th anniversary, it still has the power to terrify. This Romero film is famous for taking a not-too-subtle swipe at American consumerism, as the terrified humans seek refuge from the zombie swarm in a secluded shopping mall. See for yourself.
At the ByTowne, there’s another anniversary screening: it’s the 48th and 1/2 anniversary of Monty Python and the Holy Grail! And it’s interactive! Not only does the audience get to shout out “Ni!” at the appropriate moment, but the ByTowne is handing out a pair of coconuts to each ticket holder so they can clip-clop along with the Knights of the Round Table on their wild adventures. Don’t miss it!
Happy viewing!
Dates, times and tickets for the ByTowne are at www.bytowne.ca. The ByTowne publishes its calendar at least three weeks in advance. Dates, times, and tickets for the Mayfair are at www.mayfairtheatre.ca. The Mayfair publishes the coming week’s schedule on Tuesdays and adds to their “coming soon” list, so check their website for the latest updates.
.gif)
