What I’m Seeing This Week: I still haven’t made it to The Legend of Ochi, so seeing it at Cinemapolis or the Regal Ithaca Mall is my top priority. I’m also hoping to catch The Surfer at one of those two theaters before it closes, but I’m going to take a gamble that it will stick around for more than a week and see La Haine at Cinemapolis on Wednesday instead.
Also in Theaters: I’m still processing The Shrouds, a typically visionary outing by director David Cronenberg which maybe didn’t come together in the final reel the way I was expecting it to? But that may well have been the entire point, and it definitely is my favorite new movie now playing Ithaca that I’ve already seen. Sinners isn’t that far behind, though. Both films are at Cinemapolis and the latter is at the Regal as well. I also enjoyed Drop and One to One: John & Yoko, which continue their runs at the Regal and Cinemapolis respectively. Thunderbolts* doesn’t really seem like my cup of tea, but it’s garnering positive reviews, so I probably will see it at Cinemapolis or the Regal eventually. This week’s special events are highlighted by Cornell Cinema‘s traditional end-of-semester “mystery screening” tonight and a presentation of the “vegan horror” movie A44, which was shot in upstate New York, at Cinemapolis on Saturday followed by a Q&A with cash members. Finally, your best bet for repertory fare is Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which is at the Regal on Sunday and Wednesday.
Home Video: I went on a Toots & the Maytals listening binge after the MUBI Podcast featured The Harder They Come as part of their “Needle on the Record” season a couple of years ago, but somehow never got around to watching the film itself until just the other day. Here’s what I said about it on Letterboxd:
Sun sparkling on the water straight out of Black Narcissus and one of the great movie soundtracks of all time. It isn’t just a *container* for great music, though: it’s a mischievously subversive acknowledgement that these songs are dangerous which works because director Perry Henzell & co. also successfully argue that suppressing them would be an even bigger mistake. Jimmy Cliff’s Ivan, who at his heart is apolitical, is a much bigger threat as a one-hit wonder revolutionary martyr than as a popular entertainer, because Lord help the establishment if someone comes along later and groks the FULL power of the lyric “they know not what they’ve done.”
You can stream The Harder They Come on Peacock with ads, but I sprang for the Criterion Collection Blu-ray, which is out of print but still readily available through Amazon and other retailers.
Previous “Ithaca Film Journal” posts can be found here. A running list of all of my “Home Video” recommendations can be found here.
The Prodigal Cinephile 