In the City of Smart People

That's what we tell ourselves in Chicago, anyway, especially where I hang out. But I can't well give into self-indulgence when I'm decrying it in the movies—and there's more than enough to go around in José Luis Guerín's In the City of Sylvia, an unbearably light divertissement from Spain with pretty retro gender politics mixed in with its buttery spectacle. I saw Sylvia as part of the Indianapolis International Film Festival that I keep advertising to you; though I've had to return to my hometown and its seedy Greyhound terminal and its shady "livery cabs" to pick up the reins of my day job, that shouldn't stop you from visiting the Circle City and catching some more flicks. If all the festival screenings are sold out when you get there (dream big!), you can still catch Noam Murro's Smart People at an adjoining auditorium in the same Landmark Theatre. That's three full reviews in two days. Who knows what May will bring? (Answer: hopefully a movie that deserves higher than a B. But, a hint: I already saw one in the Hoosier State. Keep reading!)