What I’m Seeing This Week: I didn’t make it to Pillion at Cinemapolis last week, so that remains first up on my list. I’m also hoping to catch EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert there or at the Regal Ithaca Mall and will eventually take the girls to see Hoppers at the Regal as well.
Also in Theaters: With just ten days to go before the Oscars, lots of nominated films are returning to local big screens. Cinemapolis will welcome Sinners back tomorrow, One Battle After Another on Saturday, and The Secret Agent on Sunday. Regal is also getting in on the fun with Sinners tomorrow, Hamnet on Saturday, Sentimental Value on Monday, The Secret Agent on Tuesday, Bugonia on Wednesday, and daily screenings of three movies throughout the week: Avatar: Fire and Ash, Marty Supreme, and Zootopia 2. You can also catch the Best Documentary Short nominees at Cornell Cinema on Sunday and all fifteen short film nominees at Cinemapolis throughout the week. I’ve seen the lot of them and posted a compilation of my Letterboxd reviews on Tuesday.
There are a number of interesting special events at Cornell Cinema this week starting with a free screening of Us tomorrow which also features free popcorn and a discussion with composer Michael Abels about his score. They will then host free screenings of two ethnographic films, No Archive Can Restore You and Petit à Petit, on Monday and the 2nd Annual Women’s Adventure Film Tour on Tuesday. Finally, repertory highlights include the “Final Cut” version of Blade Runner at Cornell Cinema tonight, Top Gun there on Saturday, and Dog Day Afternoon at Cinemapolis on Tuesday.
Home Video Recommendation: I usually let myself include up to 10% of the total number of eligible films on my top “ten” list, hence the scare quotes. This year that could theoretically mean 18, and right now I only have 16 penciled in, so they’re all looking pretty good to stay put. One that *definitely* will is The Tale of Silyan, which is now available on Disney+ with a subscription. Here’s what I said on Letterboxd after revisiting it last month:
I evoked the holy name of Hayao Miyazaki the last time I watched this one, but another way you could go with it is “a fairy tale cut from the cloth of Wang Bing’s Youth trilogy’s narrative and tonal negative space.” Noting for posterity for my own logistical purposes that the end credits begin with the all-caps disclaimer “THERE WAS NO AI USED IN THE MAKING OF THIS FILM” because I think I might end up pairing it with No Other Choice on my Movie Year 2025 top ten list. Which: T minus 21 days until it locks!
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 