Monthly Archives: November 2014

“Interstellar”: A space odyssey that’s more ‘2010’ than ‘2001’

Interstellar-2014-Movie

“Interstellar” opens Wednesday in 35mm at Sundance, and opens Friday in digital and IMAX at Point, Eastgate, Star Cinema and Sundance. PG-13, 2;45, three and  a half stars out of four.

Part of me wants to write the most negative 3.5-star review ever written. Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic “Interstellar” soars so close to greatness, just almost reaches that the ambitious director of “Inception” and “The Dark Knight” is grasping for, that there’s an undeniable feeling of disappointment that it falls short.

Continue reading →

“The Strange Little Cat”: The tabby is the least of your problems

strangelittlecat

“The Strange Little Cat” screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 227 State St. Not rated, 1:09, three stars out of four. FREE for museum members, $7 for all others.

There’s a little moment early on in “The Strange Little Cat” where a woman is feeding the titular cat. As the orange tabby slurps away happily, the woman dangles her foot over the cat’s head, as if idly contemplating crushing its little skull into the bowl. Then she pulls her foot away.

Continue reading →

Instant Gratification: “Snowpiercer” and four other good movies just added to Netflix Instant

snowpiercer-john-hurt-octavia-spencer-chris-evans

“Snowpiercer” — My full review is here. Bong Joon-ho’s wildly imaginative sci-fi epic, in which what remains of humanity is crammed aboard a supertrain endlessly circling a frozen Earth, starts off as an action film and turns into a surreal allegory that would make Terry Gilliam proud.

Continue reading →

UW Mini Indie Film Festival brings “God Help The Girl,” “The One I Love” to town

God-Help-The-Girl-08.jpg

In September, I mentioned that the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s Spotlight Cinema season seemed curated to bring the movies to Madison that weren’t going to play here theatrically otherwise — movies like Jim Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive,” Roman Polanski’s “Venus in Fur” and the upcoming “Force Majeure.”

Well, the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Film Committee released its schedule for the Mini Indie Film Festival over the weekend, and it’s four-day schedule (Nov. 20-23) is packed with movies that wouldn’t have played here either. Steven Knight’s “Locke”, Stuart Murdoch’s “God Help The Girl” and the Oscar-nominated animated film “Ernest and Celestine” are all on the calendar. The films will all play for free in the Union South Marquee Theatre, 1308 W. Dayton St.

Continue reading →