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posted by Blyth on February 2nd, 2012
BIG SCREEN
15th Annual Festival of Films in French @ UWM Union Theatre (Feb. 3-12) FREE!
Where to discover the next Jean Dujardin before the Oscar machine gets a hold of them? Here: UWM's Festival of Films in French, featuring MFF 2011 Alums Think Global, Act Rural; A Cat in Paris (Oscar nominee this year!); and Milwaukee Film Member Screening favorites Poticheand Farewell. If you're a MFF completist and you've seen ALL of those, we highly recommend you check out The Father of My Children, the moving second feature by director Mia Hanson-Løve (also known as the wife of Olivier Assayas). Watch the trailer and get the full festival schedule here.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy @ Oriental
Bollywood Alert: Agneepath @ Mayfair (Opens Fri, Feb. 3)
HOME SCREEN
Outrage (MFF 2011) on DVD
(dir. Takeshi Kitano, Japan, 2010)
Perhaps you don't like touchy-feely films spoken in a hushed romantic language? Perhaps you prefer the violent birr of a gunshot? No problem 'cause MFF 2011 Alum Outrage is out on DVD this week. Making a long-awaited return to the gangster genre, legendary director ‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano takes a cold hard look at the power plays and warped honor code of the Japanese yakuza, capturing each severed fingertip and excruciating chopstick ear-torture. You can win a copy of the DVD at Shakefire.com! Watch the trailer.
More picks:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on PBS (Sat, Feb. 4)
A Scanner Darkly on Cinemax (Sun, Feb. 5)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail on IFC (Mon, Feb. 6)
Eastern Promises on Fox Movie Channel (Tues, Feb. 7)
Cherry Blossoms (MFF 2009) on Sundance (Weds, Feb. 8)
Drive on DVD and OnDemand
LOCAL SCREEN
Lucio @ Riverwest Public House Cooperative (Tues, Feb. 7, 7:00pm)
(dirs. Aitor Arregi and José María Goenaga, Spain, 2007)
“Building community one drink at a time!” is a motto we can get behind here in Milwaukee. The fine folks at Riverwest Public House Cooperative put that motto in action by starting one of only two co-op bars in the country. 'Tis true. (On the wagon? No worries. Teetotalers have member benefits too.) Since opening last spring, they have slowly but surely built up a great roster of weekly events from live music to political debates to film! "Love Bars Hate Prisons" is their film series focusing on the prison system and its history. More details about this month's screening are here and you can watch the trailer here.
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posted by Susan on February 1st, 2012
This, friends, is a congratulatory blog for Milwaukee filmmaker Karen Erbach, whose winning public service announcement, “The Best in Me,” starts airing nationwide this week! The PSA promotes the launch of ToGetHerThere.org, the new initiative to bolster girls in leadership positions sponsored by the Girl Scouts of the USA. Check it out:
Karen, who directed the 2011 Collaborative Cinema film Memento Mori and whose film The Quitter played the Milwaukee Film Festival in 2009, entered a contest via Poptent.net and created the spot utilizing local talent. In fact, several actresses and actors in the commercial also appeared in Memento Mori. Keely Savitt, Kira Wenger, and Bryn Hartnett all have lines in the commercial, but if you look closely, Bryn’s brother and sister, Liam and Kiaran, are in there as well! Seth Horne also seems to be sneaking in as a supportive friend.
Congratulations to all of these talented people! We are just so proud that this caliber of work is coming out of Milwaukee, and we at Milwaukee Film are happy to continue doing our part to help facilitate creative connections that bolster the local film community. Huzzah!
comments...posted by Blyth on January 26th, 2012
BIG SCREEN
A Dangerous Method @Downer (Opens, Fri, Jan. 27)
(dir. David Cronenberg, USA, 2011)
The awards season does kookoo things to cinema screening schedules. One award nom, and it's thumbs up for another week or more. Our local Landmark theaters have so many films in the awards game right now, some long-anticipated openings have been pushed around. For those of you jonsing for your Michael Fassbender fix, you might not get Shame this week, but you do get Cronenberg's latest, A Dangerous Method. This exploration of "sensuality, ambition and deceit" features Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen), Carl Jung (Fassbender), and Sabine Spielrein (Keira Knightley), as the young woman between them. Not enough star power? Then we'll throw Vincent Cassel (Mesrine, MFF2010) into the mix and let your mind be blown. Boom. There you go. Watch the trailer.
More picks:
Black Dynamite @ Union Theatre (Fri-Sun, Jan. 27-29)
Early Mike Kuchar Films @ Union Theatre (Tues, Jan. 31)
Bollywood Alert: Agneepath @ Mayfair
HOME SCREEN
Happy-Go-Lucky on Starz (Mon. Jan. 30)
(dir. Mike Leigh, UK, 2008)
What appears on the surface to be a somewhat slimsy Oprah-esque tale of forced optimism is actually a quite moving character study about compassion, fearlessness and humanity borne from the meticulous collaboration process between director Mike Leigh and his actors. From The New York Times: "Movies sometimes seem made for misery, for rivers of tears, stormy skies and third-act woe. Happiness is for suckers and Disney Inc. But happiness is a complicated, difficult matter, and in 'Happy-Go-Lucky' it’s also a question of faith." Starring Eddie Marsan and Sally Hawkins, whose sheer surprise and joy when she won the Golden Globe for this performancehas yet to be matched. Watch the trailer
More picks:
Say Anything... on HBO (Fri, Jan. 27)
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? on ABC Family(Sat, Jan. 28)
SAG Awards on TBS (Sun, Jan. 29)
I’m Still Here on Showtime (Tues, Jan. 31)
This is England on Showtime (Weds, Feb. 1)
Happy, Happy (Milwaukee Film Member Screening) on DVD
LOCAL SCREEN
Race to Nowhere @ Whitefish Bay High School (Tues, Jan. 31, 7pm)
(dir. Vicki Abeles, USA, 2009)
Monday, three hours of history homework. Tuesday, four hours of play practice. Wednesday, volunteering for a literacy program. Thursday, soccer game. Friday, collapse into a puddle. When do kids get to be kids? Join Whitefish Bay High School for this free screening (and Q&A with local educators) to discuss what can be done about the enormous pressures on today's high school students. To request your FREE tickets go here, and watch the trailer here.
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posted by Anna on January 25th, 2012
Hello, Milwaukee Film blog readers! This post comes to you from snowy Park City, Utah where I am busy busy busy at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, usually watching 4 or 5 films a day.
"But, Anna, that sounds wonderful and fun and exciting!"
And it is! Don't get me wrong. But after sitting for 8-10 hours a day in a dark movie theater, my brain definitely needs a short break. And I've got just the short for that!
Expiration (MFF 2010) is an over the top and adorably funny short film by Mark Nickelsburg. This short plays on a universal human experience: checking the expiration date on the food you're about to eat, and then pondering for just a second how far beyond that date you can still safely eat it. After watching, you just might think twice about how strictly you follow those little printed numbers on the top of your milk.
The music in the film (original score by Jeremy Turner) creates a great atmosphere that, when coupled with the moonlit kitchen, produces just the right mix of the mundane with the dangerous. The minute actions (the tick of the clock, a satisfied pause before drinking, a gulp before the next sip) draw out the delicious tension in this 3 minute and 40 second short.
And once that expiration date hits, look out for the laughter. The rapid-fire editing from one violent overreaction to the next make it slightly hard for the viewer to breathe, so have a bag handy in case you start hyperventilating from hilarity. (You think I'm kidding now, but just wait!)
Can't get enough of director Mark Nickelsburg? Don't worry, he's got a new short to be released this year! And while you're waiting, follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
comments...posted by Blyth on January 24th, 2012
Milwaukee Filmmakers, heads up!
Are you slaving away on your cinematic masterpiece wishing someone would drop a pile of cash on you? It could be reality if you apply for a grant from Creative Capital. The Lynden Sculpture Garden, Milwaukee Film, MARN and 371 Productions are co-hosting a free grant information session with Ruby Lerner, president and executive director of Creative Capital. The workshop will be at Lynden on Saturday, Jan. 28 from 3-4:30 pm. This session is free, but space is limited. Please pre-register by contacting Polly Morris at pmorris@lyndensculpturegarden.org.
Full details about the event at Lynden are here.
Learn more about the fantastic organization that is Creative Capital here. MFF Alums Natalia Almada (El Velador, 2011), Usama Alshaibi (American Arab preview, 2011), Marshall Curry (Racing Dreams, 2009), and Braden King (Here, 2011) have all received support from CC, along with Milwaukee filmmakers Brad Lichtenstein and Portia Cobb! You are for sure next on that list. Come to the session and get details on applying.
FYI, Polly tells me they are getting full, so you best RSVP pronto.
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