Category: Ithaca Film Journal

What I’m Seeing This Week: I’m excited to finally see Megalopolis, which opens at the Regal Ithaca Mall today! Additionally, my youngest is going with The Wild Robot for her Family (née Friday) Movie Night selection, so I’ll be seeing that at the Regal as well.

Also in Theaters: You’ve got one last chance to see Sing Sing, my top new movie recommendation, at Cinemapolis today. This screening will be followed by a talkback session featuring actors and facilitators from Phoenix Players Theatre Group and ReEntry Theatre Program. Other new releases I hope to catch before they close include Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and The Substance, both of which are at both Cinemapolis and the Regal. I’m not able to attend, but there’s a free screening of the very well-reviewed new documentary Sugarcane at Cinemapolis on Sunday. Another new documentary, Film is Dead. Long Live Film!, plays Cornell Cinema on Saturday. There are free screenings of the films Clara Sola and La Pecera at Cinemapolis on Saturday and Sunday respectively as part of the Cine Con Cultura Latin American Film Festival. On the repertory front the highlights are once again Seven Samurai and Whiplash, which continue their runs at Cinemapolis, but additional great options include Howl’s Moving Castle, which is at the Regal all week, and Notorious, which is at Cornell Cinema tomorrow.

Home Video: Raphaël Nieuwjaer, a critic for the legendary French publication Cahiers du Cinéma, recently called Ricky Stanicky “almost […] a masterpiece.” I can’t go quite this far myself, but watching it was gratifyingly like running into a bosom companion from my youth for the first time in decades and discovering that they somehow haven’t changed a bit. Peter Farrelly’s films are to other Hollywood comedies as Sammy Cohen is to the other characters in the Strawbs’ song “How Everyone but Sam Was a Hypocrite,” so this is perhaps not a friend you’d take just anywhere, but anyone who can see past the vulgar exterior to the heart of gold within is A-OK in my book! Be sure to stay through the end credits for the mock mashup of William H. Macy’s Summerhayes. Ricky Stanicky is now streaming on Prime Video.

Previous “Ithaca Film Journal” posts can be found here.

What I’m Seeing This Week: I still haven’t made it to a screening of Seven Samurai at Cinemapolis, so that remains next up for next up for me.

Also in Theaters: My top new movie recommendation is still Ithaca’s own My First Film, which ends its regular run at Cinemapolis tonight, but returns for a special screening on Tuesday that will be followed by a moderated discussion featuring director Zia Anger, co-writer Billy Feldman, and DP Ashley Connor. Other 2024 releases I enjoyed include Between the Temples, which closes at Cinemapolis tonight, and Sing Sing, which will be there at least through the end of the week. The real action this week is special events and re-releases, though. To start with the former, the Reproductive Rights Film Festival runs tonight through Sunday at Cinemapolis and features five free screenings each followed by a “talkback” session. You can also attend the world premiere of a film called Possible Landscapes at Cornell Cinema on Tuesday. Finally, there’s a free screening of the documentary The Berrigans: Devout and Dangerous followed by a talkback with subject Frida Berrigan at Cinemapolis on Wednesday. On the repertory front, the highlight is definitely Seven Samurai, but I wouldn’t blame you if you went with Whiplash, which is at both Cinemapolis and the Regal Ithaca Mall and which features an outstanding Oscar-winning performance by J.K. Simmons and one of the best endings of the past decade, instead. You can also see The Matrix at the Regal tonight and on Sunday, and Cornell Cinema’s solid lineup includes The Manchurian Candidate (tomorrow), Fight Club (tomorrow), and Roman Holiday (Sunday).

Home Video: If you can’t make it to My First Film today or Tuesday, fear not! It’s already available on Mubi.

Previous “Ithaca Film Journal” posts can be found here.

What I’m Seeing This Week: I audibled to My First Film last Friday to catch one of the screenings at Cinemapolis introduced by director Zia Anger, which means Sing Sing (also at Cinemapolis) is still next up for me. I’m super excited to see Seven Samurai there as well since I think it’s literally been decades since I last watched it, so I’m going to try to make this a two movie week.

Also in Theaters: My First Choice is my top recommendation this week. It is instantly my favorite movie about/set in Ithaca–I especially appreciate the way it connects to our surprisingly rich cinema heritage through the inclusion of clips and reuse of locations from If Women Only Knew, which was shot here more than a century ago–and also contains one of the boldest and original filmic depiction of abortion I’ve ever seen. I also enjoyed Between the Temples, which remains at Cinemapolis, and two movies that continue their impressively long runs at the Regal Ithaca Mall: Inside Out 2 and Twisters. New movies I haven’t yet seen but want to include Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Cinemapolis and the Regal) and Dìdi (Cinemapolis); I’d love to catch Blink Twice (Regal) before it closes as well, but it’s already down to one showtime per day, so this probably isn’t in the cards. There’s a free screening of the documentary Divisible at Cinemapolis tonight followed by a panel discussion which includes director, producer, and cinematographer Lizzy Barrett. In addition to Seven Samurai, the other standouts in a great week for repertory fare include The Godfather and The Shining, which are at Cinemapolis tomorrow and Saturday respectively as part of the Ithaca is Books festival; Roman Holiday, which is at Cornell Cinema on Saturday; and Blazing Saddles, which is at the Regal on Sunday and Wednesday.

Home Video: One of the highlights of the 2023 Nitrate Picture Show was a film I had never even heard of before despite the fact that it is directed (Fritz Lang), shot (Charles Lang), and scored (Kurt Weill) by a trio of legends, You and Me. The scenes that made the biggest impression on me after my first viewing were the ones in which Sylvia Sidney’s Helen Roberts performs calculations on a blackboard to “prove” that crime doesn’t pay, which reminded me of Hippolyte Girardot’s mathematics in A Christmas Tale, and the tour of late-30s New York City ethnic restaurants that she and new husband (George Raft) embark upon in lieu of a honeymoon. This time it was the expressionistic prison break flashback sequence that stuck out as the most obvious example of its genius. Anyway, the film is now available on the Criterion Channel as part of their “Rebels at the Typewriter: Women Screenwriters of the 1930s” collection and you should definitely watch it!

Previous “Ithaca Film Journal” posts can be found here.

What I’m Seeing This Week: Colman Domingo might be my favorite working American actor, so this is an easy choice: I am going with Sing Sing at Cinemapolis.

Also in Theaters: My favorite new film playing in Ithaca RIGHT NOW is Good One, but its final screening at Cinemapolis is today at 2pm–see it if you can! Starting tomorrow my top recommendation will once again be Between the Temples, which is also at Cinemapolis. I wrote about why last week. Other new films I enjoyed include Inside Out 2 and Twisters, which are at the Regal Ithaca Mall, and Love Lies Bleeding, which is at Cornell Cinema tomorrow night. There are more other movies I’m interested in playing Ithaca theaters than I’ll have time to see, with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Cinemapolis and the Regal), Blink Twice (the Regal), and Dìdi (Cinemapolis) topping the list. All three screenings of My First Film, which opens at Cinemapolis tomorrow, will be introduced by director Zia Anger, who is an Ithaca College grad. There will be a free screening of the film Cornell Commits to Confronting Climate Change Activists at Cinemapolis tomorrow followed by a Q&A with local activists and members of the crew. Finally, your best bet for repertory fare is Eyes Wide Shut, which screens at Cornell Cinema on Saturday as part of their “Party Like It’s 1999” series. I still remember walking home alone at night along Route 30 after seeing it at the Wonderland 4 Cinema (RIP) when I was in high school, as on-edge as I ever had been in my entire life. I’d actually prioritize this ahead of any of the new movies I mention above, especially if you’ve never seen it on a big screen before.

Home Video: My favorite movies from the first half of Movie Year 2024 are starting to hit the streaming platforms, which means it’s time to start revisiting them. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, has actually been available on Mubi with a subscription for awhile, but I finally got around to watching it again the other night and it’s even better on a second viewing. I got so lost in its wildly inventive narrative mélange the first time, for instance, that I failed to appreciate the beautifully textured 16mm black & white photography of what I’m lazily going to call the “main” plot. It also has a wonderfully thought-provoking title. Who or what exactly should we temper our expectations about? Ourselves, because we’re too busy cultivating social media personae to ever stand up and do more than just rage against the falling of a 40 hour work week, safe roads, civil liberties, &c? Or are reports of the total subjugation of the proletariat greatly exaggerated so long as there are still people as smart and resourceful as protagonist Angela Raducanu (Ilinca Manolache) around? Neither interpretation is a perfect fit, but I favor an optimistic reading. It also features a killer soundtrack, which some kind soul compiled into a Spotify playlist. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World is now a lock for my top ten list for 2024, so: more to come!

Previous “Ithaca Film Journal” posts can be found here.

What I’m Seeing This Week: I am going with Good One, which opens at Cinemapolis today.

Also in Theaters: My top recommendation is Between the Temples, which continues its run at both Cinemapolis and the Regal Ithaca Mall. It stars Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane as student/teacher dyad (each plays both roles at different times) and features my favorite sound effect of Movie Year 2024, a defective door which swings open unbidden with an anguished wail reminiscent of someone being tortured on The Machine from Kane’s The Princess Bride, as well as one of the funniest and most original depictions of a drug experience that I’ve ever seen in a film from any era. I also enjoyed Twisters, Inside Out 2, and Trap, all of which are at the Regal Ithaca Mall, and Love Lies Bleeding, which is at Cornell Cinema on Saturday. New movies which I haven’t seen yet, but hope to before they leave theaters, include Sing Sing (Cinemapolis), Blink Twice (Cinemapolis and the Regal), and Dìdi (Cinemapolis). Finally, your best bets for repertory fare are two blasts from my past: Coraline, which is concludes its run at the Regal tonight, and 10 Things I Hate About You, which plays Cornell Cinema tomorrow. It has been a minute since I last watched either of them, but I enjoyed both when they were originally released 25 and 15 years ago respectively.

Home Video: One of my most gratifying cinephile parent experiences to date has been watching my kids grow up with the work of director Hayao Miyazaki, who *I* didn’t discover until college. When my oldest recently selected Howl’s Moving Castle as her Family (née Friday) Movie Night selection, I assumed that I had already seen it, but it quickly became apparent that I was wrong. Between the fact that it’s one of Miyazaki’s least schematic films and the capriciousness of the transformations that afflict so many characters, I suspect it feels like an allegory for whatever you went through most recently. I love the scene where Howl takes the form of a king and announces that they’re abandoning a military tactic because it exposes civilians to too much danger, then the real king comes in and obviously couldn’t care less about such things, and as someone who continues to enjoy each new stage of life as much as the ones which preceded it, I also dig the depiction of old age as a “curse” that also comes with plenty of benefits. Howl’s Moving Castle, like all Studio Ghibli titles, is exclusively available for streaming on Max with a subscription, but you can also easily find it on DVD and Blu-ray for not much money at all.

Previous “Ithaca Film Journal” posts can be found here.

What I’m Seeing This Week: I’m going with either Between the Temples or Didi at Cinemapolis, but that’s only because I’ll be in Pennsylvania this weekend, which means I’m going to miss the free “Silent Movie Under the Stars” screening of The Mark of Zorro at Upper Robert Treman State Park on Saturday. Blast! More details can be found here on the Wharton Studio Museum’s website.

Also in Theaters: Honestly, my favorite new film now playing Ithaca is probably still Twisters, which continues its run at the Regal Ithaca Mall this week, but repeating that each week is starting to get boring, so I’m going to talk about something else there instead. Trap is, like director M. Night Shyamalan’s last outing Knock at the Cabin, a story about the battle of good vs. evil, but this time it’s the latter that’s under siege. It also shares a surprising affinity with Inside Out 2 (which is also at the Regal) in that both posit that it’s not healthy to be happy all the time because that isn’t sustainable for normal people. Shyamalan further suggests that we should be deeply suspicious of anyone who is able to maintain the facade for a lengthy period of time, which I totally get: Josh Hartnett’s Cooper Adams is way creepier to me than either Nicholas Cage’s titular character in Longlegs or Simon Prast’s obviously insane preacher in MaXXXine. My other new movie recommendation is Love Lives Bleeding, which announces the triumphant return of Cornell Cinema on Saturday. This is your annual reminder that at the crazy low prices of $25 for graduate students, $30 for undergraduate students, $36 for staff, and $40 for everyone else, their year-long All-Access Passes are the best arts and culture value in Ithaca! I’m also hoping to see Blink Twice at either Cinemapolis or the Regal before it closes. Your best bet for repertory fare is obviously Rear Window, which is at the Regal on Sunday and Wednesday, but I have a story about Wet Hot American Summer, which is at Cinemapolis on Sunday! In late August 2001 I was an entering sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh and me and many of my friends bonded over our mutual love of MTV’s sketch comedy television series The State. When we learned that a film by alum David Wain and starring many other cast members was screening theatrically in New York we drove through the night to see it, only to discover that it wasn’t playing the day we arrived. So we went to the Twin Towers instead with the intention of riding the elevator to the top. It cost more than we expected, though, so we bailed when one of my companions noted that “it’s not like they’re going anywhere.” Anyway: fun movie!

Home Video: My friend Scott and I have a two-person movie club whereby each month one of us selects a film which we both watch at least twice, then we talk about it. This has proven to be a great opportunity for me to catch up on titles that have been lingering on my watch list for far too long and sometimes, in the case of his choices, things which I didn’t even know I was missing out on! Last month, for instance, he chose the very solid spaghetti western Death Rides a Horse, which is available on Prime Video. I love the introduction to John Phillip Law’s laconic hero Bill as an adult in which he shows off his prowess with a gun, the bevy of great one-liners that Luciano Vincenzoni’s screenplay give shim and Lee Van Cleef’s Ryan, and Ennio Morricone’s top-notch score. In case you care about such things, though: boy howdy does this film fail the Bechdel test with flying colors!

Previous “Ithaca Film Journal” posts can be found here.

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.

What I’m Seeing This Week: I think I’m going to go with The Widow Clicquot at Cinemapolis, but I might audible to Trap at the Regal Ithaca Mall.

Also in Theaters: I haven’t seen been to a movie theater since last week’s post, so Twisters remains my favorite new movie in Ithaca that I’ve already seen and I once again also recommend Inside Out 2. Both films are at the Regal. Among new releases not already mentioned which I haven’t seen, the ones which intrigue me the most are Kneecap and Touch, which are both at Cinemapolis, and Cuckoo, which is there and at the Regal. “Ithaca-raised” filmmaker Nicholas Geisler will present three short films at Cinemapolis tonight as part of a program called “An Evening with Salt Cellar Films” that I unfortunately won’t yet be back in town for (I’m writing this from Ontario). There’s a free community screening of a short film called Restoring Joy at Cinemapolis on Monday. Your best bet for repertory fare is the 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia, which all movie lovers should see on the big screen at least once, and which plays the Regal on Sunday and Monday. You can also catch Cool Hand Luke at Cinemapolis on Sunday.

Home Video: I recently worked my way through the “The Dirty Stories of Jean Eustache” collection on The Criterion Channel. Eustache’s The Mother and the Whore has lived large in my imagination as potentially one of the greatest films I’d never seen for many years and while I *respect* it immensely after two viewings–especially the acting by leads Jean-Pierre Léaud, Françoise Lebrun, and Bernadette Lafont–and agree that it’s an essential watch for anyone who presumes to understand the French New Wave, I confess to feeling a bit underwhelmed. I seem to be in the minority here, and if you find yourself disagreeing with me you’ll definitely want to check out Eustache’s follow-up My Little Loves, which stars Martin Loeb as a boy who could plausibly grow up to be Léaud’s character in Mother, as well. I much prefer The Pig, which I recommended in this space last month, though. I was also impressed by Santa Claus Has Blue Eyes, a short featuring Léaud as a handsy Père Noël who is right up there with Percy Helton’s drunk in Miracle on 34th Street and Artie Lange’s guy who smells like beef and cheese in Elf as my favorite cinematic “bad Santas,” and The Virgin of Pessac, a fascinating “meanwhile, in a nearby small town . . . ” documentary about the May, 1968 protests in France. The other titles I definitely recommend are A Dirty Story, a reenactment of a man (Michael Lonsdale) telling a Peeping Tom story shot in 35mm followed by a documentary depiction of the person (Jean-Noël Picq, who appeared in both Mother and Little Loves) who supposedly actually lived the event recounting the same tale shot in 16mm which is greater than its two constituent parts, and the 1982 César Award-winning short Alix’s Pictures.

Previous “Ithaca Film Journal” posts can be found here.

What I’m Seeing This Week: I’m heading to the family cottage in Ontario tomorrow, so there are no theatrical screenings in my immediate future.

Also in Theaters: It looks like Twisters, which continues its run at the Regal Ithaca Mall, will reign as my favorite new movie in local theaters that I’ve already seen for at least three weeks! I also recommend Inside Out 2, which is there as well. If I *was* able to see something this week, it would probably be one of the films opening at Cinemapolis: Kneecap, Widow Clicquot, or Touch in that order. Other noteworthy new movies include Trap, director M. Night Shyamalan’s latest, and Harold and the Purple Crayon, which is based on the beloved children’s book. Your best bet for repertory fare is legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo, which is at the Regal in a dubbed version on Sunday and Tuesday and with subtitles on Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday. Finally, the tenth edition of Movies in the Park kicks off tomorrow with a free screening of Wonka at Stewart Park.

Home Video: As reported by the Ithaca Voice last month, Fancy Dance is the first widely-distributed film to prominently feature the Gayogohó:nǫˀ or Cayuga language spoken by members of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. It is now available for streaming on Apple TV+ and is definitely worth checking out if you missed it during its run at Cinemapolis. I liked Lily Gladstone’s performance as inveterate con artist Jax, a scene in which she plays a siren while her young niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson, who is also very good) steals a mark’s car keys, and the movie’s treatment of Roki’s first period. I wasn’t as keen on the ending, but this is nonetheless a very solid debut feature by Ithaca resident Erica Tremblay.

Previous “Ithaca Film Journal” posts can be found here.

What I’m Seeing This Week: I have no desire to see Deadpool & Wolverine, so it’s slim pickings this week! I think I’m going to go with A Quiet Place: Day One at the Regal Ithaca Mall since it’s getting better reviews than Fly Me to the Moon, which is at both the Regal and Cinemapolis.

Also in Theaters: It’s close, but Twisters has usurped Inside Out 2 as my favorite new movie now playing in Ithaca that I’ve already seen on the strength of its outstanding soundtrack. If 103.7 QCountry is your go-to local radio station too, you’re probably already familiar with “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma” by Luke Combs; I also really like “Song While You’re Away” by Tyler Childers, “Ain’t In Kansas Anymore” by Miranda Lambert, and “The Cards I’ve Been Dealt” by Warren Zeiders. Both of these films are at the Regal. And, jeez, that’s kinda it. If you’re a horror movie fan, I recommend MaXXXine (Cinemapolis) over Longlegs (both Cinemapolis and the Regal).

Home Video: I recently reviewed the film Under the Fig Trees for Educational Media Reviews Online and recommended it for all library collections which have a global scope as a fine addition from North Africa or that focus on labor issues or women’s rights. It’s available on DVD and a variety of streaming video platforms via Film Movement.

Previous “Ithaca Film Journal” posts can be found here.