“The Face of Love”: How can two Ed Harrises be such a bad thing?

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“The Face of Love” opens Friday at Sundance Cinemas. PG-13, 1;32, two stars out of four.

It would seem that all you would have to do is point a camera at Annette Bening and Ed Harris and you’d have yourself a movie. Both actors seem incapable of seeming inauthentic on screen — Harris has been a charimsatic character actor for 30 years now, while Bening creates satisfyingly complex women nearly every time she’s on screen. Just put them at a dinner table, give them something to say, and they’re off.

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Unwrapping the layers of “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

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The movie at the creamy center of the confection that is “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is perhaps the most purely fun film Wes Anderson has ever made, outside of “Fantastic Mr. Fox!” Stolen paintings! Shootouts! Ski chases! It’s an unabashed yarn, with Ralph Fiennes as the elegantly flappable hotel concierge at the center of it all; Basil Fawlty, Man of Action.

 

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Instant Gratification: “Mud” and four other good movies to stream on Netflix Instant

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Pick of the week: “Mud“ — Writer-director Jeff Nichols’  terrific films feels like a modern-day updating  of a classic boys’ adventure tale mixed with a true slice of Southern life, as two boys help a mysterious stranger (Matthew McConaughey in mid-career Renaissance) hiding out on a remote island. The film’s understanding of its characters and their environs feels authentic; this movie was made by people who’ve been there.

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Chat about “Stranger by the Lake” at Sundance Tuesday night

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It’s still a pretty cold March in Wisconsin. Wouldn’t you rather spend a couple of hours on a French lakeside beach, with the sun, and the sand, and the . . . murder?

“Stranger by the Lake” has all this and more — and by “more,” I mean “explicit sex scenes.” So the faint of heart might want to skip this one. But for those who aren’t deterred, “Stranger by the Lake,” set at a secluded sliver of beach frequented by gay men, is an engrossing and chilling psychological drama about desire and self-destruction. My full review is here. 

I’m hosting a post-show chat after the 7:05 p.m. show on Tuesday, March 25 at Sundance Cinemas, 430 N. Midvale Blvd. We had a lot of fun talking about “The Great Beauty” last month and I’ m thinking “Stranger” will foster some interesting convo as well. Just attend the screening and meet me in Sundance’s Overflow Bar (across from the box office) afterward — probably around 8:45 p.m.  Hope to see you there!

Wisconsin Film Festival Spotlight: “Tanta Agua”

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Tickets for the 2014 Wisconsin Film Festival went on sale March 8, and each day between now and the start of the festival on April 3, I’ll be zooming in on one of the more than 140 films playing at the festival. If you have suggestions about films you’d like to know more about as you’re planning your festival experience, let me know in comments.

“Tanta Agua” (2:15 p.m. Saturday, Sundance Cinemas, and 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Chazen Museum of Art)

Boy does anybody have a good vacation anymore in foreign films? In “The Amazing Catfish” a family’s beach vacation is tainted by the fact that their mother is terminally ill, while in “Club Sandwich” a mother has to contend with her son’s burgeoning sex drive while at a resort motel.

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UPDATED: 27 sellouts so far at this year’s Wisconsin Film Festival

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New additions to the list this week including both screenings of “Rich Hill” and one screening of “The Rocket.” I’ll update this list of sold-out films at the Wisconsin Film Festival every few days or so. Remember that “sold out” means advance tickets are gone, but some rush tickets will likely be available at the venue on the day of the show. Visit wifilmfest.org for tickets and more information.

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“Muppets Most Wanted”: The frog who knew too much

Film Review Muppets Most Wanted

“Muppets Most Wanted” opens Friday at Point, Eastgate and Star Cinemas. PG, 1:52, three stars out of four.

Any movie that starts off with a musical number that parodies both Busby Berkeley and “The Seventh Seal” is getting off on the right foot. And, from that high-energy opening song, which ironically is about how sequels never live up to the original, “Muppets Most Wanted” is a lot of fun for both kids and their parents.

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Wisconsin Film Festival Spotlight: “Rat Pack Rat”

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Tickets for the 2014 Wisconsin Film Festival went on sale March 8, and each day between now and the start of the festival on April 3, I’ll be zooming in on one of the more than 140 films playing at the festival. If you have suggestions about films you’d like to know more about as you’re planning your festival experience, let me know in comments.

“Rat Pack Rat: Todd Rohal Selects” (Monday, April 7, 6:15 p.m, Sundance Cinemas)

There are over 140 films in this year’s Wisconsin Film Festival, but I can’t imagine more than a handful are stranger than Todd Rohal’s darkly funny short film “Rat Pack Rat,”  which takes the symbiotic relationship between a celebrity and his audience to grotesque extremes.

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