Monday, June 16: This is Spinal Tap
Dusk @ Brocach Irish Pub Call 414-431-9009 to make
reservations. (Free!)
Brocach’s summer
patio screening series continues with the riotous Rob Reiner/Christopher Guest
mocku-rockumentary This is Spinal Tap. Classic comedies often miss the mark with
late-comers to their brilliance, but Spinal Tap lives up to its
Rushmore-of-film-comedies hype, remaining as ridiculous and delightful as it
was 30 years ago. Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest and Michael McKean are
amazing as the non-exploding members of the band, and the movie delightfully
skewers the rock star excesses they were and remain staples of the myth-making
music industry. What better way to ensure your movie-going week is turned up to
11?
Monday, June 16 and Tuesday, June 17: Marcus
Theatres present Doctor Who Cybermen
and Wings 3D in a special two-night
event.
@
7:30 both nights, check Marcus Theatres’ website for participating local theaters. ($20)
Last year’s big-screen
showings of the Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary special The
Day of the Doctor were such a success that Doctor Who is coming back to
the big screen as part of a special two-night event to celebrate David Tennant’s
tenure as the titular time traveler. The two part Cybermen (a race of beings
who take human flesh and convert it to their emotionless state, basically the
original Borg) series is comprised of Rise of the Cybermen and The
Age of Steel as a wonderful reminder of just how good Tennant was in
his performance as the Doctor and is also one of the high-water marks of
Russell T. Davies’ time as series show runner. Come back the next night for a
special RealD 3D screening of the documentary Wings 3D, also narrated
by David Tennant. Majestic aerial photography highlights this groundbreaking
documentary which is the perfect cherry on top of this special screening event.
***CRITIC’S
CHOICE***
Thursday, June 19: The Milwaukee 48 Hour Film Project screens
its entries
Group
A: 7 p.m. and Group B: 9 p.m. @ The
Landmark Oriental Theatre ($10, cash only at the door)
Every year
enterprising local filmmakers are tasked with a formidable project: Within 48
hours, they are to craft a short film working in a specific genre (picked out
of a hat) with only a specific character name, a prop and a line of dialogue
shared between them. This is a wonderful project whose results are an immense
creative challenge that yield fascinating results every year. To get you pumped up for the two separate
screenings that will take place this Thursday evening, take a look at the 2013
Milwaukee entry voted best in class, Olivia.
Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20:
Stand-Up Cinema Presents Raiders of the
Lost Ark
10 p.m. @ The Times Cinema ($10)
Stand-Up Cinema
returns to the The Times Cinema this week to put their unique spin on the
movie-going experience and this time they tackle one of the greatest adventure
pictures ever put to celluloid, a movie so good I want to write ‘LOVE YOU’ on
my eyelids and blink through the entire movie every time I see it, Raiders
of the Lost Ark. There’s no denying Harrison Ford’s charisma showcased
in this series. We all know Steven Spielberg can’t be topped when he’s fully
invested in creating dynamic and engaging spectacle for the big screen. Live
commentary and deleted scenes will supplement this Thursday and Friday night.
Friday, June 20: The Rover opens in limited release and Jersey Boys opens nationwide
Check
Landmark Theaters website for The
Rover’s showtimes and local listings for Jersey Boys showtimes.
Despite the
litany of local film events this week, there are still a couple of wider
releases making their way to Milwaukee. One features a gritty post-apocalyptic
journey from the director of Animal Kingdom, the other an
adaptation of a smash hit Broadway show from Clint Eastwood. David Michôd made
a massive splash on the filmmaking scene with his feature debut Animal
Kingdom, a sprawling tale of an Australian crime family and the young
man trying to navigate his way through it. The film-loving world has eagerly anticipated
his return to the director’s chair, and we finally get the see the results this
weekend in The Rover. Part of the continuing “please forget about Twilight”
rehabilitation tour that Robert Pattinson has been on, the film follows the
cold-blooded Eric (Guy Pearce) as he tracks the men who stole his last earthly
possession and takes on an oblivious injured member of the crew (Pattinson)
that did it along the way. It looks to be a sweaty, post-apocalyptic exercise
in palpable tension. I’ll have more for you when my review drops later this
week.
Meanwhile,
on the opposite side of the summer movie spectrum comes the long-awaited
adaptation from the smash Tony-winning musical Jersey Boys. I’m not sold
on Clint Eastwood as being the right guy to bring the story of Frankie Valli
and The Four Seasons to the big screen (an unerring sense of colorful fun isn’t
exactly Clint’s wheelhouse), but I’m definitely interested to see his take on
the material.
Friday, June 20: Jurassic Park as part of the Milwaukee Bike-In Series
Dusk
@ south end of the Holton Street Viaduct across from Trocadero, 1758 N. Water St.
(FREE!)
This weekend
sees a whole host of outdoor screening events taking place in and around Milwaukee,
but none as unique as the Bike-In series under the Marsupial Bridge in
Milwaukee. The easiest way to make it there is via bike (hence the name), but
that’s not a prerequisite for entry. Their first screening of the year is
Spielberg’s summer blockbuster masterpiece Jurassic Park. Pitch-perfect
performances, all-time great set pieces and open-bloused Jeff Goldblum await
you this weekend. Don’t miss out.
Friday, June 20: Frozen screens at New Berlin’s ‘Movies in the Park’ series
Dusk
@ Malone Park, 16400 W. Al Stigler Parkway (FREE!)
I told you this
would be the summer of 1,001 outdoor Frozen screenings. Here is a snippet
from last week’s On the Marquee to re-hype you for this screening.
The Frozen
backlash finally occurred, with attacks on its being visually lackluster
(somewhat justified) and narratively inert (musicals let the musical numbers do
the emotional heavy lifting), but now we can move past trifling criticisms and
accept that it has brought back the classic Disney formula from the dead,
something we can all agree is a good thing. It’s funny, moving and filled with
a murderer’s row of ear worms that you will be humming for the foreseeable
future.
Saturday, June 21: Gravity
Dusk
@ Gift of Wings Kite Store in Veterans Park, 1010 N. Lincoln Memorial Drive
(FREE!)
If you’d rather
opt for slightly more intense outdoor screening fare, then let me suggest Alfonso Cuaron’s masterful Gravity, screening as part of the
Summer Nights Movies series in Veterans Park.
This is a movie that reminded us of the necessity of movie-going as a
communal experience, where a group of strangers all hold their breath in unison
and white-knuckle their way through an immersive big screen experience. Cuaron
netted a well-deserved Best Director Oscar for his efforts here, and the myriad
technical little gold men it also picked up are equally earned. This is
visceral filmmaking at its finest and the best performance of Sandra Bullock’s
career.
