It’s so hard to ignore the biographical parallels in Jon Favreau’s “Chef” that, by the time Robert Downey, Jr. shows up as a booties-wearing millionaire oddball, it’s clear Favreau is not only acknowledging the connections but having fun with them.
Category Archives: Feature
MMOCA’s Rooftop Cinema offers heady animated films under the stars
One of the many pleasures of summer is the chance to see movies outdoors. Here in Madison we’ve got an array of choices; we can grab a beer on the Terrace on a Monday night and see a crowd-pleaser like “Ghostbusters” or “Jursasic Park” as part of the Lakeside Cinema series. Or we can head out to a local park with the kids to see one of Madison Parks’ Moonlight Movies, such as “Jaws” playing this Friday night at Olbrich Park. Or, of course, you can always road-trip it out to one of the drive-in theaters still going strong in our area, including the Sky-Vu in Monroe and the Highway 18 in Jefferson.
Nine reasons to get all hot and bothered by the UW-Cinematheque summer schedule
Just when the ads for “Blended” threatened to sap the will of local movie lovers for the summer, the UW-Cinematheque rode to the rescue this week by posting its summer movie schedule. Much of last summer’s calendar had a theme, a sort of cinematic salute to the late Roger Ebert that ranged pretty far and wide, from “The Third Man” to “Infra-Man.”
This summer’s schedule doesn’t have the pretense of a theme, other than the notion that these seem like fun movies to see on a big screen, be they old classics, cult favorites or a couple of high-profile new films getting their Madison premieres. Interestingly, this summer the Cinematheque will not be using its own screening room at Vilas Hall, instead showing films on Thursday nights in the Chazen and Fridays and Saturdays in the Union South Marquee. Continue reading
UW Lakeside Cinema’s summer 2014 series feels like the very first time
It’s a summer of sequels — not only “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” the sequel to a reboot of a series that already had a “Spider-Man 2,” but “22 Jump Street,” “Step Up All In,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “Think Like a Man Too,” “How To Train Your Dragon 2,” “Expendables 3” and more.
So the Wisconsin Union Directorate Film Committee, which sponsors the Lakeside Cinema free outdoor movie series Monday nights on the UW-Madison Terrace, had an original idea. Why not just show the original movies?
You’re gettin’ even while I’m gettin’ odd: Revenge goes awry in “Blue Ruin”
In “Star Trek,” the Klingons have a saying: “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” If that’s true, then Dwight, the hapless revenge seeker in the indie thriller “Blue Ruin,” overcooks his revenge in the microwave, takes it out without an oven mitt, burns his fingers and drops it on the ground where it is immediately beset upon by fire ants.
UW Mini Indie Film Festival Day 3: “Omar” and “Wadjda”
The four-day Mini Indie Film Festival at the Union South Marquee continues with a full day of movies. All are free and open to the public.
Mini Indie Film Festival Day 2: “After Tiller” and “Mood Indigo”
The four day Mini Indie Film Festival at the Union South Marquee hits its stride Friday with four movies, all free and open to the public. Here’s what’s playing today:
Free UW Mini Indie Film Festival kicks off with “In a World . . .” and “A Field in England”
Now that everyone’s had a couple of weeks to rest their eyeballs after the Wisconsin Film Festival, the UW-Madison’s Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Film Committee gets us back in our seats with the sixth annual Mini Indie Film Festival.
The festival runs Thursday through Sunday in the Marquee Theatre at Union South, 1308 W. Dayton St. This year has a very strong lineup of new independent cinema, most of which hasn’t played in Madison before, including the new film by Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), Ben Wheatley (“Kill List”) and the Madison premiere of the Oscar-nominated foreign film “The Broken Circle Breakdown.” All the films are free (yes, FREE) and open to the public, but there’s no ticketing — just make sure you show up early enough to get a seat.
Here’s what’s on tap for Thursday:
“In A World . . .” (7 p.m.) — My full review is here. Lake Bell’s debut as writer and director (as well as star) initially seems like a laugh-out-loud romcom set in the world of Hollywood voiceover artists, and it’s certainly that, and very funny. But there’s a smart and subtle feminist message woven in there as well, as Bell’s character navigates a male-dominated industry where women use baby-girl voices to get noticed. So, yeah, she falls in love and all that, but the film’s really about women finding their authentic, non-baby-doll voice.
“A Field in England” (9:30 p.m) — Ben Wheatley’s films seem to delight in packing one genre inside another — “Down Terrace” hid a crime drama underneath its miserablist family comedy, “Kill List” nestled a cult horror film within a hitman thriller, and “Sightseers” gave us a mild, schlubby character who also happened to be a serial killer. “A Field in England” may be his strangest mash-up yet, a 17th-century war film that plays like “Waiting for Godot” on magic mushrooms — because the characters spend a good chunk of the film on magic mushrooms.
Come talk about “The Invisible Woman” next Tuesday at Sundance
The next two Sundance Cinemas post-show chats I’m hosting have been set, and both films deal with some rather complicated love affairs.
On Tuesday, April 29, we’ll talk about “The Invisible Woman,” which was directed by and stars Ralph Fiennes as Charles Dickens,and Felicity Jones as the young actress he carried a clandestine 13-year affair with. The talk will take place after the 7:10 p.m. show (so it will start around 9:15 p.m. or so) in the Overflow Bar at Sundance, located on the first floor across from the box office. The movie cost $10, but the talk is free.
Then come back on Tuesday, May 12 to talk about “Le Week-End,” the Wisconsin Film Festival favorite about a late-middle-aged British couple, played by the wonderful Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan, re-evaluating their long marriage while on a 30th anniversary trip to Paris. I’ll have more details on that talk in a couple of weeks.
We had a good discussion about “Stranger By The Lake” last month, so please join us!
“Under the Skin” in black and white
Never be lulled into thinking that a stylist has nothing to say. Jonathan Glazer has made three films all heralded for their style, but he uses those visual gifts for more than just figuring out the coolest camera angles. His debut, “Sexy Beast,” began as a late middle aged take on the British crime film, the camera gliding over Ray Winstone’s baking flesh, but became a strange and sad portrait of middle-aged reckoning.
Madison Movie 