The Academy Awards nominees were announced. The Oscar Awards ceremony will be on March 2. Some contenders are playing at the ByTowne and the Mayfair in the first half of February.
Occasionally, a film is so ground-breaking, so important to the world of cinema, that I segregate it from the rest of the films I recommend. For me, these are films which will be important to audiences decades from now—e.g., Tokyo Story, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Spirited Away, Goodfellas, The General, and La Règle du jeu. In 2024 there were two such films: Flow and The Brutalist.
If you’ve been reading my Magic in the Dark articles over the past few months (1) (2) (3) (4), you know that I’ve been raving about Flow, my favourite film of 2024. When I saw Flow at September’s Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), I was stunned by its beautiful animation and loved the realistic animals that populate this fantastic adventure story. I’ve now seen it four times—something I’ve never done for a first-run film. On every viewing, I’ve found more to enjoy. It has the most beautiful and creative animation I’ve seen in a long time. The story is engaging and thought-provoking. It’s universal—no words are spoken, no subtitles. Flow is the Latvian entry for Best International Feature Film and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. It’s a rare film that enthralls kids and adults. At both cinemas.
The Brutalist is many critics’ “Best Film of 2024” and were it not for Flow, it would be mine, too. As I wrote in my last Magic in the Dark, it’s about László Toth, a Holocaust survivor and renowned Hungarian architect trying to make a life for himself in post-WWII America. Adrian Brody excels as Toth, as does Felicity Jones as his wife Erzsébet (they eventually reunite in the 1950s after her lengthy internment in a DP camp). So does Guy Pearce, who plays the powerful industrialist who hires Toth to build a huge community centre to commemorate his mother. There are plenty of themes in this monumental work: the corrosive effect of trauma on Holocaust survivors, the striving of immigrants to assimilate and achieve the American Dream, the viciousness of anti-Semitism and racism, the power of raw capitalism and architecture. Time flies for the audience (the film is 215 minutes long, with an intermission), as both the story and the images on the screen are so powerful. The Brutalist is quite possibly one of the most important films of this decade. At the ByTowne.
I’ve strongly recommended Anora in quite a few articles: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5). It seems that folks at the Academy agree with me; Anora is nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress (Mikey Madison), Best Supporting Actor (Yurly Borisov), Best Director (Sean Baker), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. At the ByTowne.
I’m eager to see I’m Still Here, the much-praised Brazilian film from director Walter Salles (Central Station, The Motorcycle Diaries). It’s based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s memoir, played by Fernanda Torres during the 1970s and by Fernanda Montenegro as an older woman. Marcelo’s happy family life was destroyed when Brazil’s military dictatorship arrested and “disappeared” her husband Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), a left-wing politician. She became a passionate human rights crusader working to expose the dictatorship’s atrocities. During all this, she ensured the safety and well-being of their five children, maintaining an outward show of strength to keep her kids feeling secure. I’m Still Here is nominated for both Best Picture and Best International Picture. Many reviewers have lavished praise on Torres’ brilliant, touching performance; she’s nominated for Best Actress. At the ByTowne.
Because I’m a fan of Iranian films and enjoy Guy Maddin’s surrealistic films, I’m keen to see Universal Language by Matthew Rankin. Rankin shares my passion for Iranian films (he even lived in Tehran and learned Farsi) and has been influenced by Maddin and Maddin’s Winnipeg colleagues, Galen and Evan Johnson. Universal Language was Canada’s nomination for Best International Feature Film. It made it to the shortlist but, sadly, not onto the list of five nominees which will be voted on. It’s set in snowy Winnipeg, where everyone speaks either Farsi (Persian) or French. Two young girls, Negin and Nazgol, find a large denomination banknote (a rial/Riel) frozen on an icy sidewalk and try to figure out how to retrieve it. Massoud, a sad sack tour guide, is shepherding a group of befuddled tourists around Winnipeg’s “famous” monuments and historic sites. Matthew has left his job in Montreal and returned to Winnipeg to see his estranged mother. Everyone’s paths cross in surprising ways. It’s at the ByTowne. The Feb. 1 screening will include a Q&A with Rankin.
You’ll have a chance to see all five Oscar-nominated animated short films at the ByTowne. I saw a couple of them at the OIAF—they’re a treat.
Two films by important directors were shut out of Oscar nominations. Hard Truths, the 23rd feature film directed by Mike Leigh, is about a middle-class family whose hearts are two middle-aged sisters—the angry-at-the-world, desperately unhappy Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) and the cheerful, grounded Chantelle (Michele Austin). Several critics have questioned why Jean-Baptiste’s extraordinary performance didn’t warrant a Best Actress nomination. Decide for yourself at the ByTowne. The other film that came up empty-handed was Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door. Martha (Tilda Swinton) is dying of cancer. She asks Ingrid (Julianne Moore), a friend from their youth, to be with her while she commits suicide. Despite winning several international awards, it was passed over by the Academy. I think it’s worth seeing. At the Mayfair.
There’s a terrific selection from the vault to tempt you.
Let’s start with two perfect films to celebrate Valentine’s Day! The utterly charming Amélie is at the ByTowne. Amélie (Audrey Tautou) is an adorable but painfully shy Parisian waitress who stumbles upon her gift for helping others. She becomes a secret matchmaker and guardian angel to those around her. But when she spots the man of her dreams, can she play matchmaker for herself? Enjoy this delightful French confection at the ByTowne with someone you love. Over at the Mayfair, one of the great romantic dramas of all time—Casablanca. Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid… do I need to tell you the plot?
Hurray for the ByTowne and their Golden Age series! This month’s film is one of the best screwball comedies: His Girl Friday. An unscrupulous newspaper editor (Cary Grant) manages to convince his star reporter and ex-wife (Rosalind Russell) to do one more assignment. He wants her to interview a convicted murderer before she leaves the newspaper business to marry a dull insurance salesman (Ralph Bellamy) and move to a quiet town to live near his mother. The chemistry between Grant and Russell is terrific, the dialogue deliciously witty and delivered rat-a-tat-tat and the whole experience will leave you grinning. Don’t miss it!
If you’re a Hitchcock fan, you have the opportunity at the Mayfair to see The Lodger, one of Hitch’s rarely screened early British silent films. A landlady suspects her new lodger is the serial killer who has been murdering young blonde women, stalking his victims in the London fog. The screening will feature live (scary) music.
Both cinemas are paying tribute to the recently deceased director David Lynch by screening his nightmarish first feature, Eraserhead. The Mayfair has programmed a nine-film David Lynch festival that will run into April. Its second film is the bizarre romance Wild at Heart, starring Nicholas Cage, Laura Dern and a stellar supporting cast.
Have fun, folks! And place your bets on the Oscars.
Dates, times, and tickets for the ByTowne are at www.bytowne.ca. You can also buy tickets at the box office. The ByTowne publishes its calendar several weeks in advance. Dates, times, and tickets for the Mayfair are at www.mayfairtheatre.ca. The Mayfair finalizes its upcoming films’ schedule every week posts online and advertises via email. Both provide information about future weeks’ films. You can buy tickets via their weekly email and at the box office.
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