Wednesday, Dec. 10: Let’s Be Cops & Night Moves
4:15 p.m. & 7 p.m. @ UWM Union Theatre (FREE!)
This is the final week for UWM’s Union Theatre before winter break, and they’ve stacked the schedule accordingly. Let’s Be Cops had the unpleasant distinction of having its “guys take advantage of the inordinately balanced power scale for police officers” storyline come out right as the events in Ferguson first became national headlines. And if many reviews are to be trusted, this also has the unpleasant distinction of being distinctly unpleasant. I like Jake Johnson a lot, though (underrated in both Safety Not Guaranteed and Drinking Buddies), so I’m holding out hope this was more a case of badly-timed comedy than poorly executed. Night Moves, meanwhile, never made an official local bow, and I am very excited to finally get a chance to check it out. The latest film from the immensely talented Kelly Reichert (of Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy & Meek’s Cutoff fame), it follows the actions of three environmentalists (Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning & Peter Sarsgaard) who plan to blow up a dam. The praise has been nearly unanimous for this tale of radical activism, with Reichardt’s unimpeachable camera work and editing crafting divine tension with the help of her very able cast. Both only play once this week, so don’t miss this opportunity.
Wednesday, Dec. 10: The Bishop’s Wife
7:30 p.m. @ Charles Allis Art Museum ($7/adults, $5/seniors & students, free/museum members)
If you’re looking for a little more holiday cheer in your Wednesday filmgoing, then look no further than Charles Allis’ special holiday-themed screening of the The Bishop’s Wife. Typecasting Cary Grant as a debonair angel tasked with helping a desperate Bishop (David Niven) who is struggling to find funding to build a new cathedral and whose relationship with his wife (Loretta Young) is equally taxed, this charming romantic comedy pulled in a heavy load of Oscar nominations upon its initial release and has only grown in stature since. This is the first time The Bishop’s Wife is playing at the Charles Allis, so treat yourself to a little holiday cheer this Wednesday evening.
Thursday, Dec. 11: 2014 Sundance Film Festival Animated Shorts Tour
7 p.m. @ UWM Union Theatre (FREE!)
It’s been a while since animated shorts have made their way through Milwaukee outside of the MFF. Both Spike & Mike and The Animation Show have not made their way through these parts in quite a while, so this special screening of some of this year’s cream of the Sundance crop is worth celebrating. Expect a litany of animation forms and viewpoints all presented for your viewing pleasure. Short films get short shrift, with the only animated ones ever getting any attention usually placed in front of blockbuster Disney movies, so take a chance on some independent voices and check this program out.
***CRITIC’S CHOICE***
Thursday and Friday, Dec. 11 & 12: The Muppet Christmas Carol
10 a.m. @ Rosebud Cinema (FREE! with donation of two non-perishable food items per person)
One of the very best holiday movies is playing this week for free if you bring a donation for The Hunger Task Force, so of course this is going to get my highest recommendation. There are many, many cinematic Scrooges, but I have a big soft spot for Michael Caine’s iteration of the character in this Muppetized version of the story. Filled with great songs from Paul Williams, this is a kids classic, so bring your food donation over to the Rosebud and enjoy one of my favorite holiday films.
Friday, Dec. 12: Top Five, Point and Shoot and Exodus: Gods and Kings all open locally
Check local listings for showtimes and pricing.
Three distinctly different movies open this weekend in Milwaukee, one of which I’ve seen, one of which I’m very excited to see, and one of which looks like a pile of pants. I won’t make you decide which is which. After a spirited bidding war following its debut at the Toronto Film Festival, Chris Rock’s Top Five opens wide this weekend. It follows the story of a recently sober comedian (played by Rock) looking to transition into serious roles, who is being interviewed for The New Yorker by a spirited young woman (Rosario Dawson) on the eve of his wedding to a reality TV star (Gabrielle Union). Noted for being both hilarious and heartfelt, and coming from a noted cinephile such as Rock, this is one of my most anticipated movies to come out over these last few weeks of 2014.
After playing at this year’s MFF as one of its spotlight presentations (with both the director and subject in attendance), Point and Shoot returns to Landmark theaters this weekend. The story of a rudderless young man named Matthew Van Dyke chasing what might be a false impression of masculinity and adulthood when he packs up his things and goes motorcycling through Africa and the Middle East. He makes a lifelong friend in Libya and feels compelled to return there when the political uprising to uproot Muammar Gaddafi begins to unfold to help in any way he can, only to find himself imprisoned and held in solitary confinement for half a year. I think Marshall Curry (Street Fight, If a Tree Falls) has more complicated feelings toward the actions of Matthew Van Dyke than the film necessarily lets on, but it’s an interesting documentary nonetheless.
And finally, the pants. Ridley Scott is more than capable of crafting cinematic spectacle and I have to admit that this is the type of story that isn’t usually told through the studio system these days, but even with those points of interest I have to say that this doesn’t look particularly appealing. All the advertisements for the film have made it look leaden and wasteful, the kind of cinematic opulence that deserves a plague of frogs to descend on all the theaters screening it. Lots of good performers (Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver), even if they’ve all been cast in spite of ethnic inaccuracy. Maybe you’re more charitable than I and will check this out this weekend. More power to you.
Friday, Dec. 12 through Sunday, December 14: Listen Up Philip & Pulp Fiction
12/13: LUP only @ 9:30 p.m., 12/14: 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. & 12/15: 5 & 7 p.m. @ UWM Union Theatre (FREE!)
The UWM Union wraps up its fall/winter programming with this delightful weekend double feature. Finally making its way to Milwaukee atop a wave of critical adoration, the acerbic Listen Up Philip, starring Jason Schwartzman and Elisabeth Moss, plays all weekend long. Schwartzman plays the titular Philip, a self-obsessed novelist who spends some time in his idol’s summer home in an effort to find peace. Notably caustic with a lead that doesn’t really learn any pat lessons and remains a jerk throughout, it’s easy to see why this film hasn’t played to bigger audiences, but the ones who remain on its wavelength have been plenty appreciative of writer/director Alex Ross Perry’s darkly-funny vision.
Playing along with it is this special 20th anniversary series of screenings of Quentin Tarantino’s classic Pulp Fiction. What can I say, it’s Pulp Fiction – go check it out!
Saturday, Dec. 14: Somerset Maugham’s Trio
7 p.m. @ The Church in the City, 2648 North Hackett Ave. ($3)
Finally rounding out the week is Focus Film Society’s only December screening, the anthology film Trio. Based on three short stories from W. Somerset Maugham, this British production was unknown to me until I looked into it for the purposes of this column. This is actually one of three anthology films based on the short works of Maugham, and was released to favorable reviews. This is a great opportunity to acquaint myself (and yourself) with an unknown corner of cinematic history.
