We are thrilled to be screening Sing Sing on the evening of Thursday Nov, 14 at the Paradise Cinemas. It’s undisputedly one of 2024’s best films - a cinematic big screen “must-see” that will uplift your soul. The Hollywood Reporter is predicting it may get Oscar nominations in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay (we’ll know for sure on Jan. 17, 2025 when the nominations are announced).
John “Divine G” Whitfield (played transcendently by Colman Domingo) is serving time for a crime he didn’t commit in the notorious Sing Sing prison in upstate New York. A meditative, soft-spoken intellectual, he’s got a lot on his mind. While he’s deeply and passionately committed to RTA or Rehabilitation through the Arts, a program he helped found – in which incarcerated men write, act and stage plays – a new one every six months, he’s also got a clemency hearing coming up. He spends a considerable amount of time preparing for it with legal research in the prison library, as well as advocating for other inmates.
Most recently, the theatre group has just staged a successful performance of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and they are looking for new talent and new material. Despite reservations, Divine G decides to recruit the hot headed and abrasive yard bully Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin into the group (played in a stunning breakout performance by himself). Immediately, Divine G finds his authority and leadership questioned by the newcomer. Rather than stage the new drama with heavy script Divine G has just written, Divine Eye argues they need a comedy, and convinces the men to stage a ludicrously silly musical comedy called Breaking the Mummy’s Code, which the group’s instructor Brent (played by Paul Raci) creates for them. Much of the film takes place in the rehearsal room.
Maclin isn’t the only formerly incarcerated man to act as himself in the movie – about 85 per cent of the cast are former inmates and actually participated in the RTA program while at Sing Sing. Mixing professional actors with non-actors can be risky, but under the direction of Kwedar it never functions as a gimmick. In fact, this element is central to the genuine authenticity of the story. It’s truly an ensemble piece, with stunning performances from everyone involved.
Sing Sing is about many things and works on a number of levels. At the heart of the story is the aforementioned tension between Divine G and Divine Eye and how their relationship unfolds over the course of rehearsals, and how Divine G finds his inner resolve tested. It’s also about redemption through creativity, perseverance, forgiveness, friendship, and self-discovery. Come into it with an open heart and an open mind, and we promise you’ll be deeply rewarded in the process.
As film critic Matt Zoller Seitz writes for RogerEbert.com, “Sing Sing is a small enough movie that it won’t be playing at every multiplex. But you should still try to see it with an audience if possible because it’s the kind of film that reaffirms what the experience is about...I learned, and rediscovered a lot about film, theatre, and the arts while watching Sing Sing. The more you sit with it, the more you admire everything it does and is.”
Sing Sing is screening at Paradise Cinemas (78 Third Ave South) and rate 14A for language. It’s got a 98 per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
General admission tickets are $10.00 and are on sale now at the Open Book. Remaining tickets will be sold in the cinema lobby prior to the screening. Doors open at 6:30 pm, and the show starts at 7:00 p.m. We encourage you to get your tickets in advance, and to arrive early to get a good seat (and popcorn).
Take-Aways:
- Greg Kwedar’s prison drama unfolds like nothing you’ve ever seen before – it’s uplifting, funny, brimming with genuine authenticity and profoundly moving.
- Colman Domingo and Clarence Maclin deliver superb performances deserving of award recognition.
- You might need to bring along some Kleenex, but you’ll be crying tears of joy.
