As Halloween approaches, there are lots of scary goings-on at the ByTowne and the Mayfair. But I’ll start with some other films that won’t have you hiding under your seat or gripping your companion’s hand until it turns blue.
My strongest recommendation is for Past Lives. It was my favourite film of 2023, despite the year being a banner year for great cinema. I recommended it in Apt613 no fewer than six times, starting here. It’s at the ByTowne and it’s FREE! That’s because it’s one of the films in the Ottawa Korean Film Festival (OKFF). I can hardly wait to see it again!
The other film I’m keen to see is the bizarre political satire Rumours. It’s from Winnipeg directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson. It’s set at a meeting of the G7 leaders (including Roy Dupuis as our current feckless PM and Cate Blanchett doing a terrific job as the Angela Merkel-like Chancellor of Germany). They’re trying–ineptly–to draft a statement about a global crisis when they suddenly realize that they’re all alone—no retinue, no servants, just a foggy forest and… wait! Bog people zombies! And a giant brain! This comedy/horror/political satire is at the ByTowne.
The Outrun is based on a young professional woman’s harrowing autobiography which describes how she became an alcoholic and how, by returning to her childhood home in the Orkney Islands, she overcame this and her other demons. It stars Saoirse Ronan, one of my favourite actors, in a role critics praise as one of her best. At the ByTowne.
I like documentaries, and Dahomey takes an interesting approach to documenting the return of 26 priceless royal treasures of the Kingdom of Dahomey (a tiny fraction of those looted by French troops in 1892) from a Paris museum to their country of origin, the present-day Republic of Benin. Dahomey is narrated in part from one of the looted artifact’s perspective, before shifting to spirited debates on Benin college campuses. This Metacritic must-see is at the ByTowne.
Matt and Mara is Toronto director Kazik Radwanski’s latest film about people who don’t know themselves. He’s reunited two of English Canada’s best actors—Deragh Campbell (Anne at 13,000 Ft) and Matt Johnson (BlackBerry, Nirvana the Band the Show). Mara is a professor of creative writing in Toronto; she has a settled home life. Matt is a successful writer living in Manhattan; he’s back in Toronto for a while. Matt turns up at one of Mara’s classes. The dynamic is tense but they gradually fall into what looks like an old familiar pattern. We want to know more. At the ByTowne.
The Mayfair’s trailer for How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies instantly attracted me. In this Thai film, a young man quits his job to care for his dying grandmother, hoping she’ll leave him her fortune. But his calculated scheming gradually changes as he gets to know his grandma.
At the other extreme of scheming, Conclave is a fictionalization of the selection of a new pope—a process fraught with intrigue, shifting alliances, and revealed secrets. It’s based on Robert Harris’s airport novel (supposedly a real “page-turner”). Conclave‘s star-studded cast includes Ralph Fiennes as the cardinal responsible for putting together a sequestered conclave to elect the new pope. Other cast members include Stanley Tucci as a reluctant liberal American candidate (“The men who are dangerous are the ones who do want the papacy”), John Lithgow as a powerful American candidate, and Isabella Rossellini as a nun who says, “Although we sisters are supposed to be invisible, God has given us eyes.” At the ByTowne.
Reaching back in time to 1998, Run Lola Run was an audience-pleasing thrilling race of Lola, dashing through an unnamed German city. She has 20 minutes to find and deliver 100,000 marks or her boyfriend will be killed. At the ByTowne.
There are so many frightening films that I’m sure my editor won’t allow me to describe each one. So here’s the list for all you adrenalin junkies, roughly in chronological order. All are at the ByTowne except as indicated.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula from Francis Ford Coppola is based on Stoker’s novel, with a frightening (but bizarrely wigged) Gary Oldham as Dracula. It’s accompanied by the Boo-Towne Burlesque performers.
The Shining by Stanley Kubrick. Another film based on a novel, this one by Stephen King. Jack Nicholson at his most unhinged.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon. This one’s interactive! You can even dress up as your favourite character.
The Invisible Man. If I could see only one film in this list, this 1933 gem from director James Whale (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein) would be the one I’d pick.
The Exorcist by William Friedkin. A Metacritic must-see. At the Mayfair.
A Nightmare on Elm Street. The 40th anniversary of this fright fest. At both the ByTowne and the Mayfair.
The Witch. Anya Taylor-Joy’s earliest starring role. Deviltry in the American colonies.
Ringu. Famous Japanese horror film. An urban legend about a cursed VHS tape that murders the viewer seven days after they watch it. Copied but never equalled.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The 50th anniversary. A 4K restoration of this blood-soaked terror.
And on a far less scary scale…
Mad Monster Party? is a stop-motion animation with cute figures including Baron Boris (Karlov) von Frankenstein. This silly Halloween treat is at the Mayfair.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is back at the Mayfair for the umpteenth time. But it still delivers laughs, earworms and quotable quotes to its devotees (count me in!).
I considered including The Apprentice in the previous list of frightening films. But I didn’t because they’re fiction and this is a Donald Trump biography which describes how he became the man he is today. It has strong performances by Sebastian Stan (who starred in A Different Man) as the callow young Donald and Jeremy Strong as the vile lawyer Ray Cohn who teaches Trump the keys to winning—no matter how immoral they are. But I doubt The Apprentice will change anyone’s mind about The Donald.
I wish you a Happy Halloween!
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 usually publishes the coming week’s schedule midweek and adds to their “coming soon” list, so check their website and emails for the latest updates.
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