What I’m Seeing This Week: I’m going with director M. Night Shyamalan’s latest Trap at the Regal Ithaca Mall.
Also in Theaters: My top recommendation *right now* is The Widow Clicquot, my favorite period piece of Movie Year 2024 so far which features an excellent seduction scene between Haley Bennett, who is terrific in the lead role, and a very entertaining Sam Riley; a brief look at an ancestor of the modern French courtrooms we’ve lately learned to love from films like Saint Omer and Anatomy of a Fall; and first-rate costumes by Marie Frémont. Alas, it closes at Cinemapolis tonight, so Twisters will reclaim the title of Best New Movie Now Playing In Ithaca That I’ve Already Seen tomorrow, with Inside Out 2 once again close behind in second. Both are screening at the Regal. Other new titles that I hope to see in theaters before they close include Cuckoo, Didi, and Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger, all of which are at Cinemapolis; Cuckoo is at the Regal as well. Your best bet for repertory fare is definitely Stray Dog, which is at Cinemapolis on Sunday.
Home Video: The other night I mixed up a My Pal Rye from the book Forbidden Cocktails as part of my research for a review I’m writing of it for ye olde blog. When I saw that Night Nurse, the movie author André Darlington pairs is with, is on WatchTCM until August 28, I figured I had to watch it. I actually didn’t love the drink, but the film is magnificent! It embodies everything that is appealing about the Hollywood’s “pre-code” period between the adoption of the Hays Code in 1930 and the beginning of its actual enforcement in 1934: you’ve got Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Blondell stripping down to their underwear every few minutes and climbing into bed together at one point, a Depression-era socialite party depicted as a veritable circle of hell, and the very clear suggestion that some crimes (here bootlegging) pay very nicely, thank you. It also includes a sinister Clark Gable, entertainingly naturalistic working class dialogue, and a runtime of just 72 minutes, plus its bookended by delightful POV shots from inside an ambulance. There is absolutely no reason not to watch this sometime during the next fortnight if you have access!
Previous “Ithaca Film Journal” posts can be found here.
The Prodigal Cinephile 