I love December! The anticipation of the holiday season, the shortbread and eggnog, and lots of great films both old and new, with the latter gunning for trophies during the upcoming awards season.
The film I’m the most excited to see is master animator Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron. It’s the Second World War in Japan. Mahito Maki’s mother dies when the hospital she works at is firebombed by the Americans. His father swiftly moves the family to the countryside, having found a job crafting military aircraft for the Japanese war effort (mirroring Miyazaki’s own family history). Mahito, who is still grieving for his mother, encounters a strange grey heron. Together, they find a mysterious tower—a portal to another world. The stills and trailer for the film are exquisite; they’re typical of Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli. If you’ve seen Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, or any of the studio’s other marvellous hand-drawn products, you’ll know why I’m so looking forward to The Boy and the Heron. Bless the ByTowne for gifting Ottawa with this masterpiece, and offering it in both the original Japanese with subtitles and with a star-studded voice cast in a dubbed version.
There are many other new films on offer this month:
Testament, from esteemed Quebec director Denys Arcand, continues this month at the ByTowne. Read more about it here.
Les jours heureux (Days of Happiness) is another Quebecois film at the ByTowne. It’s about a talented young conductor whose manipulative father and agent are pushing her to her limits to obtain a posting with a major orchestra, as she struggles to take command of her own career and develop her relationship with a female cellist—shades of last year’s film Tár. Of course, there’s magnificent music, courtesy of the Orchestre Métropolitain conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Another film about a conductor is playing at the ByTowne—Maestro, a biography of world-famous Leonard Bernstein directed by and starring Bradley Cooper. Wearing a distractingly large prosthetic nose and a wavy wig, he bears a striking resemblance to Bernstein. His wife, Felicia, is played by Carey Mulligan. The focus of the film is their relationship during their long marriage and the stresses introduced by Bernstein’s frequent affairs with young men, including a year-long separation when he lived with another man. Oscar bait, perhaps?
Continuing this month at the Mayfair, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla brings Priscilla Beaulieu Presley’s autobiography Elvis and Me to the big screen.
Ongoing at the ByTowne is Anatomy of a Fall, a suspenseful thriller about a woman on trial for the murder of her husband.
Now for a couple of weird new films. The first is Dream Scenario. Nicholas Cage plays a dull schlub with a boring inconsequential life, who suddenly becomes famous because he starts showing up in millions of people’s dreams. Most of these people have never laid eyes on him in real life, but now he’s a sensation on social media. Then the dreams start becoming violent, and he has to navigate his fame/infamy. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail says Dream Scenario is “Nicolas Cage’s best movie in ages.” At the ByTowne.
The second is even weirder—and it’s Canadian! Relax, I’m From The Future is a low-budget mix of science fiction and comedy that subverts lots of time-traveller tropes. Our intrepid time traveller Caspar (Rhys Darby) says he’s here to save the world, but he seems so harmless and innocently enthusiastic, and all he has is this innocuous thing that looks like a ping-pong paddle. His awkward interactions with people are funny and rather adorable—at least at first. At the Mayfair.
The final new film I recommend is a documentary called Beyond Utopia, about North Korean citizens’ attempts to escape their homeland. It’s a suspenseful look at the lengths people will go to gain freedom and the people on the outside who help them. It won the Documentary Audience at the 2023 Sundance Festival. At the ByTowne.
So what film treats have we got from the vault?
The ByTowne has programmed Martin Scorsese’s sumptuous drama The Age of Innocence. “Seduction and scandal are on the menu for our next High Tea Cinema!” (Yes, you can buy tea and a scone to nibble during the film!) Based on Edith Wharton’s novel about 1870s New York high society, it stars Daniel Day-Lewis, as the upright lawyer Newland Archer; Winona Ryder, as his impeccably suitable fiancee May Welland; and Michelle Pfeiffer, as her cousin, the ravishing Madame Ellen Olenska, who is ruining her reputation (and that of her family) by getting a divorce from her dissolute European husband. A Metacritic “must see.”
Michelle Pfeiffer is also in another crowd-pleaser—Batman Returns. She plays the sexy Catwoman, along with Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito. Join The Cat, The Bat and The Penguin at the ByTowne’s Drunken Cinema series.
Get ready for a carload (a jalopy-load?) of nostalgia! It’s the 50th anniversary of American Graffiti, George Lucas’ paean to more ‘innocent’ times, playing at the Mayfair. After their 1962 high school grad, a group of California teenagers spend the night cruising the streets before they enter adulthood. It received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Editing and Supporting Actress.
What would December be without that perennial favourite—the Christmas film? One you may not heard of is The Bishop’s Wife. This 1947 romance stars David Niven as the bishop, Loretta Young as his wife and a very suave Cary Grant as an angel who has come to earth to answer the bishop’s prayers. Cary Grant—do I need to tempt you any further? At the Mayfair.
And of course, there’s the great-granddaddy of them all—Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. As you probably know, it stars James Stewart as our suicidal hero George Bailey, Donna Reed as his loving wife, and Henry Travers as Clarence, George’s guardian angel who has come to earth to show George why he should keep on living. A little Christmas gift from the ByTowne—it’s a free members-only showing.
But wait! Here’s a teaser for you! The ByTowne has once again programmed my favourite Christmas film, Love Actually, on Dec.21. This year it’s a slumber party with a holiday cocktail. I’ve got my ticket!
Dates, times and tickets for the ByTowne are at www.bytowne.ca. The ByTowne publishes their calendar at least three weeks in advance. Dates, times and tickets for the Mayfair are at www.mayfairtheatre.ca. The Mayfair announces next week’s schedule on Tuesdays, so check their website for the latest info and the “coming soon” films.
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