The Oscar awards ceremony will be on March 2. We have many opportunities to see some of the nominees at the ByTowne and the Mayfair, along with many stellar films from the vault.
For months, I’ve been raving about Flow (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6). This exquisitely beautiful and engaging Latvian feature-length animated film is the best new film I have seen in 2024. I saw A LOT of strong contenders for that title that year. Flow is Latvia’s Best International Feature Film entry and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. I think it has a good chance to win both. It’s at both cinemas.
I lavished praise on The Brutalist in my last article. I won’t be surprised if it gets the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and possibly several other categories. You can judge its worth for yourself at the ByTowne.
As usual, several Oscar nominees for Best International Feature are strong contenders. Here are two of them:
In my last Magic in the Dark, I wrote that I was eager to see I’m Still Here, the heartbreaking drama from Brazil that’s based on real events. I’m still thinking about some of the terrifying scenes. It’s obvious why Fernanda Torres, who plays the courageous wife of a man whom the junta “disappeared,” is nominated for Best Actress. Still at the ByTowne.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which I recently wrote about, is another film about the impacts on a family living in a repressive regime (in this case, in Iran). This masterful film is back at the ByTowne.
As I mentioned in my last article, the Academy ignored several films. Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door received no nominations, though the topic (assisted death) and the lead actresses (Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore) deserved more attention. Check it out at the ByTowne.
Nickel Boys–an innovative film based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the strong friendship between two African-American boys in a brutal reformatory–only received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. It was filmed almost entirely from the viewpoint of the two main characters—a very rare directorial choice. It has won several awards, including the New York Film Critics’ Awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography, and the Toronto Film Critics’ Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. I’m looking forward to seeing it at the Mayfair.
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. The ByTowne also shows the five Oscar-nominated live-action short films.
Ignoring the Oscar frenzy, there are two recent films I’d like to draw your attention to.
The one I’m most excited to see is Green Border. This harrowing film by Polish director Agnieszka Holland won the Special Jury Prize at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. In the treacherous swampy forests that make up the “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa are lured by government propaganda that promises easy passage to the EU. But they’re prevented by brutal border guards from crossing the border, and equally unable to turn back.
Holland shows us three parties involved: the refugees, the border guards and volunteers trying, at great personal risk, to help. Time magazine called it “a work that blends compassion with artistry so purely that there’s no way to separate them. This is bold filmmaking that makes us feel more courageous too.” Green Border is on Feb. 22 at the Mayfair in support of The Old Ottawa South Committee for Refugee Support.
The other is an intriguing Canadian release–Paying For It–from director/co-writer Sook-Yin Lee. Her adaptation of Chester Brown’s autobiographical 2011 graphic novel is a movie only Lee could make because it’s her story, too. She and cartoonist Chester Brown were in a romantic relationship in the 1990s.
When Lee ended the relationship, Brown decided to hire sex workers instead of looking for a new girlfriend. He shared this experience in his graphic novel. Intrigued? See it at the ByTowne. A Q-and-A with Lee follows the Feb. 22 show.
Let’s turn to films from the vault.
Best. Programming. Ever. The Mayfair has programmed The Wizard of Oz for Family Day and the Sunday before (Feb. 16). A wonderful opportunity for the whole family to see this 1939 gem which never grows old. The BBC says “Each time it is shown, this extraordinary film embraces a new generation of children who succumb to its magic.”
If February is the month for lovers, here are a couple of great romantic choices.
Casablanca is still playing at the Mayfair. Great plot, great actors and a rare Metacritic score of 100. Play it, Sam.
Over at the Bytowne in their Slumber Party event, you can cozy up in your PJs to watch the delightful 1993 rom-com Sleepless in Seattle. Starring Tom Hanks and the adorable Meg Ryan, it’s a story of two people drawn together by destiny (and a sweet little boy).
After Sam’s (Hanks) wife dies, and he moves with his son to Seattle, the son phones a radio show to find his dad a new love. Annie (Ryan) in Baltimore hears this and writes Sam a letter.
The Bytowne has two more fun series, channelling girl power.
At their Drunken Cinema movie game event, it’s Barbie night! Come dressed in your pinkest outfit; Kens can channel Ryan Gosling. Be ready to laugh and applaud as Barbie and Ken discover the real world. A customized game card and glow stick come with your ticket.
February is Black History Month. Appropriately, this month’s Bytowne’s High Tea Cinema is Belle. This historical drama, set in 18th-century England, was inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay, the illegitimate mixed-race daughter of Admiral John Lindsay.
She was raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord Mansfield and his wife, but her mixed race prevented her from participating in aristocratic society as an equal. However, the story doesn’t end there… A scrumptious Scone Witch scone and tea are included with your ticket.
The Mayfair has two film festivals devoted to directors.
Their Quentin Tarantino Festival features his first feature film, Reservoir Dogs. Six criminals who don’t know each other are gathered by a master criminal to pull off a jewelry heist. But the heist goes wrong, and the survivors suspect one of them is a police informant. This is vintage Tarantino, not to be missed by his many fans.
The Mayfair is paying tribute to the recently deceased director David Lynch by programming a nine-film David Lynch festival that started in early February and will run into April. The bizarre Nick Cage/Laura Dean romance Wild at Heart is film #2.
Film #3 is the even more strange Blue Velvet. It’s set in what appears to be an ordinary American town, but there are dark mysteries and strange behaviours under the town’s “normal” surface. Lynch was nominated for Best Director Oscar for this film.
Finally, at the Mayfair, there’s everyone’s favourite cult musical—The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
See you at the movies, 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.
