There’s no question that “Riot in Cell Block 11” looks like it was made in 1954. There’s something a little bit square about it, from the get-them-in-their-seats provocativeness of the title to the faux newsreel that opens the film, laying out its prison reform themes so baldly that nobody can miss them.
But dig down into “Cell Block 11,” and you find a potboiler drama that was both far ahead of its time and, in some ways, far ahead of ours.
Sunday is the final day of the UW Mini Indie Film Festival at the Union South Marquee, and the festival is finishing off with a modest pair of screenings at Union South, 1308 W. Dayton St. Both screenings are free and open to the public; visit union.wisc.edu/film for details.
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.
“Mood Indigo” (9:15 p.m. Friday, Union South Marquee, fREE) — I’ve stuck with Michel Gondry even in times when I probably shouldn’t have (“Be Kind Rewind”), because the French music video director turned filmmaker brings such sheer playfulness to his films, even if (maybe especially if) the subjects underneath are pretty serious. So I’m excited to hear that his new film, “Mood Indigo,” is something of a return to form for him, starring Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris as a love-dappled French couple whose life turns darker when it’s discovered she has a disease. But it’s Gondry, so the disease is caused by a flower growing in her chest. “Mood Indigo” is getting its Wisconsin premiere as part of the WUD Film Mini Indie Film Festival, which seems like a big get.
“Finding Vivian Maier” opens Friday at Sundance Cinemas. Not rated, 1:24, three stars out of four.
Who was Vivian Maier? At the end of this lovely documentary, after hearing from the people who knew the suburban Chicago nanny best, we’re still not sure. And she likely would have wanted it that way.
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:
“The Invisible Woman” opens Friday at Sundance Cinemas. I’ll be hosting a post-show chat after the 7:10 p.m. Tuesday, April 29 show at the theater. R, 1:51, three stars out of four.
Charles Dickens was a man of the people. In addition to writing stories that changed literature, he was an enthusiastic playwright and orator, championing the plight of the downtrodden in England. In one scene in “The Invisible Woman,” we see Dickens (Ralph Fiennes, who also directs) springing to action after a horrific train accident, quickly taking charge to tend to the wounded.
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.
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!
Pick of the week: “Exit Through the Gift Shop” — My full review is here. Street artist Banksy’s playful (and possibly apocryphal) documentary about a graffiti artist wannabe who ends up becoming more successful than his ideals is a wicked satire on the artist in the age of branding.
Madison Movie 