Thursday, Nov. 20 & Saturday, Nov. 22: Back to the Future
6:30 p.m. @ The Milwaukee Public Museum’s Daniel M. Soref Dome Theater and Planetarium (Purchase tickets here!)
My opinion stands on Back to the Future from earlier this year, so let’s remind you of my words: “Robert Zemeckis’ crafted time-travel yarn is always worth checking out, a testament to perfect screenwriting structure with a cast of awesome performers (Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover).” This is one of the most enjoyable movies you could possibly see, and MPM’s theater is one of the most unique settings to catch it in.
***CRITIC’S CHOICE***
Thursday, Nov. 20: Battle Royale
11 p.m. @ The Times Cinema ($5!)
Now this is what I’m talking about. Long withheld from American audiences (and recently temporarily banned in Germany), director Kinji Fukusaku’s masterful motion picture is screening at the Times in support of the latest Hunger Games movie dropping in theaters, a film series that owes more than a little bit of its existence to this picture. A class of ninth-grade students is captured and made to kill each other on a deserted island until only one survivor is left, or else all will die. Hyper-violent and emotionally gripping, if you’ve never seen this movie before I can’t recommend more highly going to check it out this Thursday night on the big screen.
Friday, Nov. 21: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and The Theory of Everything open locally
Check your local listings for showtimes and pricing.
Not as big a bounty of local releases as we’ve had in previous weeks, but that’s due largely in part to any movie with half a brain seeing that this is Hunger Games’ weekend and getting the heck out of Dodge. While it is falling prey to the unfortunate modern staple of dividing the final volume of a filmed adaptation of a book series into multiple parts to wring every last drop of money out of its audience (Hi, Twilight! ‘Sup, Harry Potter! How you livin’, Hobbit?) most reviews remain favorable in the face of this lack of resolution. The story has sprawled far beyond the simple premise of the first film and echoes of the political machinations and military-industrial complex being critiqued within each subsequent release in the series can be heard in our everyday lives. So be prepared for frustration as you wait for the final entry in the series a year from this week!
Also dropping locally this week is the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything. Brought to life by director James Marsh (best known for his stunning documentary Man on Wire) and anchored by truly impressive performances from Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne, who for this role of a lifetime has gone truly Methodmayne. Redmayne makes a remarkable physical transformation and still manages to convey pathos even with the majority of his acting tools being taken away from him as Hawking’s condition deteriorates. I have more to say about the way the film chooses to tell this story and I’ll save that for a review later this week, but this is sure-fire Oscar material that many audiences will find moving and engaging.
Friday, Nov. 21 through Sunday, Nov. 23: UWM presents the 8th annual Turkish Film Festival
11/21 @ 7 p.m., 11/22 @ 7 & 9 p.m., 11/23 @ 5 p.m. (all FREE!)
In a continuing effort to broaden our cinematic horizons, yet another internationally-themed film festival makes its way to the UWM Union this weekend. Four recent Turkish films are playing as a part of this festival: My Grandfather’s People on Friday evening, The Other Town and Zenne Dancer on Saturday and Love Me on Sunday (read more about them on the Union website). A variety of styles and perspectives will be on display over the weekend, and there is literally zero chance you’d ever catch these on the local big screens otherwise, so take a chance on one (or more!) of these films this weekend and (dons Al Roker costume) see what’s happening in Turkey’s neck of the woods.
***CRITIC’S CHOICE***
Saturday, Nov. 22: Odd Man Out
7 p.m. @ The Church in the City, 2648 N. Hackett Ave. ($3)
Very similar to my excitement for a local screening of Battle Royale is my glee that the Focus Film Society has chosen to screen one of James Mason’s finest performances (on par with A Star Is Born) in Odd Man Out. In it, he plays an IRA gangster who is mortally wounded after a robbery gone wrong who is spending one endless night evading the authorities while slowing bleeding out. He comes across both friends and enemies over the course of this evening, and Carol Reed (director of such landmark films as The Third Man, Fallen Idol & The Agony and the Ecstasy) directs the heck of this moody, atmospheric film. It’s not available on DVD in America, so there’s a solid chance you’ve never seen this masterwork before. If that is the case, set time aside this Saturday and check it out. You certainly won’t regret it.
