Hello. I am Archer. For those of you who haven’t heard of me, I’m the managing editor at Milwaukee Magazine, and I like movies. For those of you who have heard of me, hi Mom.
Last year, I wrote an agenda for each week of the film festival, picking the movies I was most excited to see. Reader response was monumental (one dude sent me a nice email), so we here at MilMag have decided to bring the series back for this year’s festival. It’s sequel time, baby!
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
The festival kicks off on Thursday, April 11 and runs through April 25. Every Monday, starting now, I’ll pen a new agenda with my picks for the week. And like most sequels, Archer’s Agenda II: Like An Arrow to the Target will be a rushed, undercooked, largely pointless effort that fundamentally misunderstands the spirit of the original, disrespects its audience, and in many ways lacks even basic coherence and continuity.
Dolphins.
Anyway, here are the movies I’m most interested in this first festival week.
1. Shari and Lamb Chop
THURSDAY, APRIL 11 AT 6 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
FRIDAY, APRIL 12 AT 12:30 P.M. | DOWNER THEATRE
When the film festival announced that this movie would be the opening night screening, I thought, “Damn, I’m hungry. My stomach’s setting off seismographs right now. God, why do I keep skipping lunch? Unrealistic beauty standards, that’s why. Not every man can be Chris Hemsworth. I’m five feet tall and smell like fish, I should consider myself lucky to be compared to Danny DeVito. Screw it, I’m getting some food.”
And then I ate a sandwich. And it was good.
Anyway, this movie is about a sock puppet named Lamb Chop, not an actual lamb chop, which I later learned. The documentary looks back on puppeteer Shari Lewis, who brought the titular puppet to children’s television for decades. I’m looking forward to learning more about Lewis’ beloved TV show—and to stopping by the opening night party at Villa Terrace afterward.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
2. The Sweet East
FRIDAY, APRIL 12 AT 8 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
THURSDAY, APRIL 18 AT 8:45 P.M. | TIMES CINEMA
The film festival assembles a team of teens every year tasked with programming some of the festival’s flicks. This is one of their picks, and I think it probably has something to do with the presence of both Jacob Elordi and Ayo Edebiri, who are some of the coolest young stars out right now. The movie follows a high schooler who ditches a trip to Washington D.C. and sets off on her own trip along the coast.
3. Out of the Picture
FRIDAY, APRIL 12 AT 5 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
SATURDAY, APRIL 13 AT 3:45 P.M. | AVALON THEATER
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 AT 3:30 P.M. | AVALON THEATER
Mary Louise Schumacher wrote one of my favorite Milwaukee Magazine profiles – a look at arts maven Ruth DeYoung Kohler. The longtime art critic directed this, her first film, about her profession, diving deep into what it means to write about art. It promises to be an insightful and thoughtful film that I’m really looking forward to checking out.
4. Remembering Gene Wilder
SATURDAY, APRIL 13 AT 3:15 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
TUESDAY, APRIL 16 AT 12:30 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
I remember Gene Wilder. I remember his terrifying, grinning Willy Wonka, screaming his insane way down that awful, hallucinogenic tunnel with all his child hostages, scaring the hell out of an innocent little boy who just wanted to watch a movie about a candy factory. Yeah, I remember that son of a … ok, I’m going to calm down. It’s fine. It doesn’t bother me anymore. It’s not like the oompa-loompa song still haunts my nightmares or anything.
Deep breath.
Gene Wilder’s a comedy legend—and he was from Milwaukee! This documentary is a tribute to his long and stories career, with hits like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and that cursed nightmare film about a psychopath leading an army of small evil orange men.
5. Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros
SUNDAY, APRIL 14 AT 11 A.M. | DOWNER THEATRE
Since watching “The Bear,” I’ve gotten serious about cooking. By which I mean, I sprinkle salt on my ramen sometimes and scream at my pet possum while I’m microwaving mac and cheese (“Corner, chef!”). Because of my new investment in the intense of world of fine dining, this flick drew my attention right away. Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros is a deep dive into the inner working of La Maison Troisgros, a Michelin three-star restaurant, and the family that runs it. Also, this documentary is four hours long. The spirit is willing, but the bladder is weak.
6. The Milwaukee Show I
SUNDAY, APRIL 14 AT 7 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
Here’s a shocker for ya – at Milwaukee Magazine, we love talking about Milwaukee. In fact, I almost got a 414 tattoo a few days ago (next to my shoebill stork) but the tattoo parlor dude thought I was a child and kicked me out. I gotta stop wearing propeller hats everywhere – but I look so good in them!
Anyway, this annual showcase of shorts by local filmmakers is always a fun night of talent-spotting. This year’s lineup is split over two showings. For this first one, I don’t know anything about the movies except the titles listed in the program – the surprise is part of the fun. “Healing Hens” has my attention, for sure, but not quite as much as “Once a Mormon.”
The Old Woman Double-Showing Scammer Special!
7. Thelma
SUNDAY, APRIL 14 AT 4 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
MONDAY, APRIL 15 AT 12 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
THURSDAY, APRIL 18 AT 7 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
After a 93-year-old woman is tricked by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she seeks vengeance upon those who have robbed her. The program compares this movie to Mission: Impossible … except the protagonist is in her Jello and Orthopedic Socks era. It sounds hilarious and right up my odd alley – and funny enough, it’s not the only movie about elderly women getting scammed. Allow me to introduce you to…
8. Blaga’s Lessons
SUNDAY, APRIL 14 AT 5:30 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
FRIDAY, APRIL 19 AT 12 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
Literally one minute after Thelma’s first screening ends at the Oriental, this one begins in the next screening room over. The true gangsters who appreciate geriatric stories will be hustling over for a double-whammy of elder action. If Thelma is the Mission: Impossible of the genre, Blaga’s Lessons sounds more like Se7en. It’s Bulgarian so, ya know, it’s got that Eastern European misery and pessimism that I love. In this one, a recently widowed, retired teacher loses her life savings to a phone scammer, which leads to her “swirling into the vicious cycle of the dog-eat-dog reality outside her window.” Personally, I hate it when I swirl into the vicious cycle of the dog-eat-dog reality outside my window, so I’m looking forward to seeing how Blaga deals with it.
