What I’m Seeing This Week: I’m going with The Life of Chuck at Cinemapolis and I think Prime Minister as well at its one and only screening there on Wednesday at 6pm. I definitely intend to see 28 Years Later either there or at the Regal Ithaca Mall before it closes, too, but probably not this week.
Also in Theaters: My favorite movie now playing Ithaca is The Phoenician Scheme, which continues its run at both Cinemapolis and the Regal. It actually reminds me a bit of its neighbor at the latter Ballerina, my top recommendation last week, in part because it opens with a bit of graphic violence of the sort that I associate more with the World of John Wick than the oeuvre of director Wes Anderson. Its protagonist Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro) is also sort of Baba Yaga of mid-20th century industrialism: undefeated, but not indestructible, as demonstrated by the visibly increasing wear and tear on his body, only he’s trying to stay *in* the game, not get out of it. But the main connection is that the plot of each film is secondary–to imaginative action set pieces in the case of Ballerina, and to the painstakingly-chosen pieces of art and other objects that comprise the set dressing of The Phoenician Scheme. Both could well wind up on my year-end Top Ten list. I also enjoyed Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which is at the Regal, and Friendship, which is at Cinemapolis. This week’s special events highlights include free screenings of the documentaries It’s All Right To Be Woman and Remembering Roe: Then & Now at Cinemapolis tonight and Monday evening respectively. Finally, your best bet for repertory fare is 2017 Best Picture Oscar winner Moonlight, which plays Cinemapolis on Sunday.
Home Video: The premiere of the latest Spike Lee joint Highest 2 Lowest at the Cannes Film Festival last month reminded me that it has been too long since I last watched High and Low, the 1963 movie it’s based on. Luckily the latter streaming on the Criterion Channel, and if you haven’t checked it out recently or ever you really should, because it’s a true monument to the fundamental allure of cinema. A riveting police procedural can also be a meticulous dissection of society and vice versa–you don’t need to choose between art and entertainment, the very best films are always both! I definitely do see the appeal of turning director Akira Kurosawa’s literal and figurative wide-angle lens on today’s America, but it’s one hell of a hard act to try and follow. Highest 2 Lowest has a release date of August 22, so we will see soon enough for ourselves if the gamble was worth it!
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 