Most studios release their prestige films—the films they hope will win Oscars and other prestigious prizes such as the BAFTAs and the SAG awards—in the period starting with TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in September and ending the last week of December. Because of the peculiarities of film distribution, ordinary folk like us get to see a lot of these films from December through February. This year, it’s a bumper crop. Let’s see what we’ve got!
The Zone of Interest won the Grand Prix at Cannes and seems to be on every major critic’s “best films of 2023” list. Barry Hertz in The Globe and Mail considers it “a deeply chilling and precisely engineered nightmare that is the best and most important film of 2023.” Jonathan Glazer’s film shows us the everyday household activities of the Höss family. Mundane stuff—they enjoy their garden, listen to the radio, and picnic with the children by the river. But the Höss family is no ordinary family. The father is the SS commandant of Auschwitz, and their pretty home and garden share a wall with the nightmarish concentration camp. The audience never sees inside those walls—except in their imagination. This film is a shoo-in for best international picture nomination, and may very well be the winner. At the ByTowne.
Sandra Huller, the lead actress in The Zone of Interest, has another memorable role in Anatomy of a Fall. As I said in a previous article, this French drama is well worth seeing and is sure to be nominated for best international film. It’s back at the ByTowne.
The Oscar nominations will be announced on January 23. I’m betting that The Holdovers will be nominated for best feature film, Paul Giamatti for best actor, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph for best supporting actress. Unfortunately, Dominic Sessa may be bypassed for a best supporting actor nomination (he’s terrific as the young man left by his mother and stepfather at a tony prep school during Christmas vacation). For more about this lovely gem of a film, see my recent article. Continuing at both cinemas.
My bet for Best Animated Feature Oscar is The Boy and the Heron, a film I raved about in an earlier article. It’s remarkably beautiful—one of Miyazaki’s best creations. It’s at both cinemas.
It hasn’t garnered a lot of award nominations, but as I mentioned in a previous article, Ridley Scott’s epic Napoleon stars Joaquin Phoenix (one of my favourite actors) and the talented Vanessa Kirby and is chock-full of battle scenes and an infamous love affair. Napoleon continues at the ByTowne.
Too many prestige films for you? Then how about another in the long string of Godzilla films? Godzilla Minus One has scored a very respectable “80 out of 100” on Metacritic and the trailer looks great. It’s set in a post-WWII Japan that has been devastated by the war. Can the country withstand this gigantic monster created by the atomic bombs? At the Mayfair.
There’s a wealth of older films at both theatres.
In 2013, Jonathan Glazer (the director of The Zone of Interest) made a remarkable film called Under the Skin. This sci-fi/horror film stars Scarlett Johansson in the most sexy role I’ve ever seen her in. She’s an alien who has assumed the body of a young dead woman. In her white van and tacky fake fur coat, Johanson cruises the streets of Glasgow, seducing men to join her. (Of course, they need little convincing.) Under the Skin is one of the most terrifying and memorable films I’ve ever seen, and it’s at the ByTowne.
Want more fright with your film? The ByTowne is screening the film that set the standard for zombie films which referenced the political anxieties of the time: George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead! A bona fide classic.
The Mayfair continues its John Cassavetes Film Fest with The Killing of a Chinese Bookie which I described in my last Magic in the Dark article. It’s followed by Gloria starring Gena Rowlands, who got an Oscar nomination for best actress for her performance as a tough broad who reluctantly decides to protect a little boy whose family has been killed by the mob. The last film in the festival is Love Streams, which also stars Rowlands and Cassavetes himself as two damaged people who reunite after years apart.
I’m looking forward to seeing Ghostbusters at the Mayfair. I love Bill Murray and the trailer always makes me giggle. If you’re now humming the theme song, my apologies. (I’m humming it, too!)
And finally…tah dah! The first anniversary of the release of Ottawa’s very own Enter the Drag Dragon! What’s it about? Apt613 wrote a dandy article about it a year ago. At the Mayfair.
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 announces next week’s schedule on Tuesdays, so check their website for the latest info on the next week and the “coming soon” films.
