Tag Archives: weekend preview

The five movies you need to see in Madison: Aug. 8-14, 2014

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“Boyhood” (all week, Sundance) — My full review is here. The long-awaited new film from Richard Linklater is finally here, and its a masterpiece of everyday life, following a boy as he grows from 6 to 18, Linklater and his actors filming a few scenes each year. As we see Mason and his parents (Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette) grow older, becoming the sum of their choices, Linklater strings ordinary events together like Christmas lights to make an entrancing portrait of an extraordinary, average life. See it this weekend, or wait until Tuesday when the Mad Film Forum will host a special meetup for the 8 p.m. show, preceded by drinks and music from DJ The Real Jaguar up on the Rooftop at 6 p.m.

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The five movies you have to see in Madison: July 18-24, 2014

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“American Movie” (7 p.m. Friday, Union South Marquee) — What could have been a sneering look at Mark Borchardt, a suburban Milwaukee man trying to make what will assuredly be a terrible horror movie, instead becomes wildly funny, oddly poignant, and in the end kind of inspiring. That Borchardt refuses to give up on his dream despite his dire circumstances underscores that, as the old man says, “It’s all right, it’s okay, there’s something to live for!” FREE!

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The five films you need to see in Madison; June 13-19, 2014

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“They Live” (7 p.m., Thursday, Chazen Museum of Art) — “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubblegum.” As John Moe pointed out on Twitter, why would anyone need to go to a special place to chew bubblegum? And, having gone there, why would they forget to stock up on gum? It just seems like poor planning. That detail aside, John Carpenter’s 1988 cult classic is both a kick-ass sci-fi action movie (including a hilariously long Keith David-Roddy Piper fight scene) and a sly political satire, where the aliens enslave us not with laser guns, but by taking over as the one-percenters. It’s a highly entertaining film, maybe Carpenter’s last great film, and a fitting kickoff to the summer Cinematheque series, which will run Thursday through Saturdays this summer at the Chazen and Union South Marquee. FREE; see the full schedule at cinema.wisc.edu.  Continue reading →

The five movies you have to see in Madison: June 6-12, 2014

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“The Immigrant” (all week, Point Cinemas) — Harvey Weinstein still insists that there was no tension in the editing room between himself and “Immigrant” director James Gray. But the quiet rollout of the film (a press screening was scheduled in Milwaukee at the last minute, then cancelled without explanation at the laster minute)  suggests that all is not well in Harveyland. The thought that the film is being woefully mistreated has rallied a lot of critics to its defense, but the proof is in the movie itself, a lush and grim 1920s drama about a Polish immigrant (Marion Cotillard) manipulated by men (Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Renner) after she arrives in New York. Guessing this won’t stick around long, so it’s a must see.

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The five movies you have to see in Madison: May 30-June 5, 2014

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“Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, Sundance Cinemas) — Even though Steven Spielberg doesn’t even have a new movie this summer, it just wouldn’t be summer without him. And so, by sheer coincidence, three different venues are showing three different Spielberg classics in the same week. First off is Indiana Jones’ first and indisputably greatest outing, which I saw at Sundance last summer with a sold-out crowd and was a total blast (33 years later, the bit with the swordsman still draws a laugh.)

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The five movies you need to see in Madison: May 23-29, 2014

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1. “Chef” (Point, Sundance) — Before he became Mr. Blockbuster with the first two Iron Man movies (and less so, much less so, with “Cowboys and Aliens”), Jon Favreau made small comedies like “Made.” He gets back to those indie roots with his new film, in which he plays an arrogant chef who learns a little humility when he loses his job and starts running a food truck. I hear it’s really good, and that the food in the film is so mouth-watering that if you don’t have a meal beforehand, you’ll start gnawing on the arm of your seatmate.

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The five movies you need to see in Madison: May 16-22, 2014

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“Godzilla” (Point, Eastgate, Star Cinema, Sundance) — After the 1998 Roland Emmerich debacle, it’s understandable to have cringed at the thought of Hollywood taking another crack at everybody’s favorite radioactive lizard. But early reviews suggest this latest incarnation comes the closest to the somber chills of the allegorical 1950 Japanese original. (Love the idea that the A-bomb tests in the Pacific didn’t create Godz, but were part of an attack to try and stop him.) Gareth Edwards of the cult hit “Monsters’ directs.

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The five movies you have to see in Madison: May 2-8, 2014

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“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (all week, Point, Eastgate, Star Cinema, Sundance) — It’s a rainy Friday with a high of 57 degrees, which can only mean one thing — it’s summer movie season in Wisconsin! After months of promos (and some not very kind early reviews), the sequel to the reboot of the film version of the comic book is here. For Madisonians, the big draw is that hometown by Marc Webb returns as director — the first “Amazing” was most notable for its sweet and funny relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. In the sequel, which has at least three villains and all sorts of connections to the larger Marvelverse, I hope that doesn’t get lost in the CGI shuffle.

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What’s playing in Madison theaters, March 7-13, 2014

300: BATTLE OF ARTEMESIUM

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“300: Rise of An Empire” (Point, Eastgate, Star Cinema, Sundance, Cinema Cafe) — Not a sequel, but a “sidequel” to the 2007 shirts-and-skins action epic, looking at another battle supposedly going on concurrently to the one in the first movie. Un-huh. But signifcantly, this is the first film screening in Point’s new Ultrascreen DLX that was recorded in the amazing Dolby Atmos. So it’ll seem like there are hot shirtless guys all around you!

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