There’s an eclectic, pleasing selection of films at the ByTowne and the Mayfair at the tail end of 2024.
I’m delighted to report that my two favourite films of 2024–Flow and Anora–are still playing.
I raved about the former in my last two Magic in the Dark articles. It was nominated for the Golden Globe’s Best Animated Motion Picture, and I can hardly wait to see it again! It’s a masterpiece of animation such as you’ve never seen before. As a gift to people you care about, take them to see Flow. I predict that all of you will recall and savour this exquisite film for a long time. At both cinemas.
Anora is “Sean Baker’s amazing, full-throttle tragicomedy of romance, denial and betrayal” (to quote The Guardian). I wrote about it in my two November Magic in the Dark articles. Then having seen it, I raved about it in my most recent article. I’m looking forward to seeing it again, and I’ll be taking friends who haven’t yet seen it. At the ByTowne.
The award-winning All We Imagine as Light, which I wrote about in November, has been showing up on many “Best Ten Films of 2024” lists. It’s also scored a stellar 95 on Metacritic and is nominated for Golden Globe’s Best Motion Picture—Non-English Language and Best Director. It’s about two nurses working in a Mumbai hospital who are suffering from society’s expectations about “proper” behaviour for Hindu women. One is an abandoned wife, the other is in love with a Muslim. At both cinemas.
Queer (see my last Magic in the Dark), is another film about a frustrated romantic relationship. Based on William S. Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novella, William Lee (a tour-de-force performance by Daniel Craig) is a middle-aged gay man living a dissipated expat life in Mexico when he falls head over heels for a young American who may–or may not–be gay. Craig has been nominated for the Golden Globe’s Best Actor-Drama award. Continuing at the ByTowne.
I’m looking forward to seeing Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin as two mismatched cousins in A Real Pain. They’re on a Holocaust-guided tour to Poland to honour their beloved recently deceased grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. The Telegraph says, “It manages to be ruefully perceptive and laugh-out-loud funny, often at the same time: that’s not easy.” A Real Pain has an 85 Metacritic rating, and Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy, Best Actor (Eisenberg) and Best Supporting Actor (Culkin). It’s at the Mayfair.
At the ByTowne, you may have been misled by the name of another newly released film. It’s Oh, Canada but it’s not a pretty documentary about multiculturalism and maple syrup. Instead, it’s a drama about a documentary being made to capture the memories of Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), a famous director of documentaries who fled to Canada during the Vietnam War to avoid the draft. His younger self is played by Jacob Elordi. His wife and artistic partner is played by Uma Thurman. Based on a Russell Banks novel, it’s written and directed by the acerbic Paul Schrader.
I have a penchant for documentaries, so I was pleased to see Bucha in the Mayfair’s schedule. Unlike some recent documentaries about the broader aspects of the war in Ukraine, this one focuses on one man, a Jewish refugee from Kazakhstan who, in the spring of 2022, saved hundreds of Ukrainians in Bucha and other cities and towns occupied by Russian troops. It’s only one night, so if you’d like to see the true story of a modern hero, be sure to catch Bucha.
I mentioned the touching animated drama Memoir of a Snail in my last two Magic in the Dark articles. It was nominated for the Golden Globe’s Best Animated Motion Picture and has a Metacritic score of 83. At the Mayfair.
Let’s turn now to films from the vault. They’re even more varied than the newly released ones.
At the Mayfair, there’s what may be Al Pacino’s finest film: Dog Day Afternoon. The film’s poster describes it well: “The robbery should have taken 10 minutes. Four hours later, the bank was like a circus sideshow. Eight hours later, it was the hottest thing on TV. Twelve hours later, it was history. And it’s all true.”
Some rom-coms are iconic. One such film is When Harry Met Sally. Rolling Stone called it, “A ravishing, romantic lark brimming over with style, intelligence and flashing wit.” You may never have watched it (now’s your chance—it’s at the ByTowne on New Year’s Eve!), but I bet you’ve enjoyed the famous “I’ll have what she’s having” scene in the delicatessen.
Brazil, written and directed by Terry Gilliam, is one of his best—a feast of wild invention and cutting social satire. Metacritic says, “Brazil is a surrealistic nightmare vision of a ‘perfect’ future where technology reigns supreme. Everyone is monitored by a secret government agency that forbids love to interfere with efficiency. When a daydreaming bureaucrat (Jonathan Pryce) becomes unwittingly involved with an underground superhero (Robert DeNiro) and a beautiful mystery woman (Kim Griest), he becomes the tragic victim of his own romantic illusions.” In the ByTowne’s “Detour” series.
In a return of my favourite mega-cult classic, once again the Mayfair has programmed The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I’m sure it’s a night you’ll remember for a very long time!
Of course, at this time of year, there must be some classic Christmas films!
The ByTowne has Elf for the kids (and the young at heart). Will Ferrell stars as the eponymous elf—a human raised by Santa after hitching a ride in Santa’s sack as a toddler. As a grownup, he’s three times taller than Santa’s other elves—he’ll never fit in! So he returns to New York City at Christmastime, seeking his real family. He finds his workaholic father (James Caan), a new mother (Mary Steenburgen), and a 10-year-old sister who doesn’t believe in Santa or elves.
The ByTowne is also showing a sing-along version of White Christmas. After being demobbed from the Army after WWII, a successful song-and-dance team (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) becomes romantically involved with a sister act (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen). The four team up to save the failing Vermont inn run by their former commanding general (Dean Jagger). It’s a tuneful Yuletide treat!
For many of us, it wouldn’t be Christmas without watching Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. The Mayfair is screening Frank Capra’s classic. With a Metacritic score of 89, it stars James Stewart as George Bailey, Donna Reed as his wife, and a strong supporting cast including Lionel Barrymore, Gloria Graham, and Henry Travers as an angel named Clarence. Clarence is sent to earth when despondent George desperately wishes he’d never been born. It’s his job to show George what the world would have been like without him.
Dear readers, I’ll close by wishing you a very happy holiday with those you love, and a wonderful surprising 2025 full of great cinema!
Dates, times, and tickets for the ByTowne are at www.bytowne.ca. 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 they post every Monday for the following Friday through Thursday. But on occasion they get a head start with multiple weeks, so check their website and weekly emails for the latest updates.
You can also buy tickets at the box office at both cinemas. Members get a reduced ticket price.
