READ OUR 2024 MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL COVERAGE
Dark have been my dreams of late. I’m writing this in the middle of an insomniac bent, 3:48 on Monday morning, my desk full of frantically jotted notes, torn out pages from ancient tomes, strange smells lingering in the air. Day-old Red Bull coagulates in my Big Hug Mug, and leftover popcorn turns stale in a torn bag on the floor. My pet possum is not amused.
It has only been five days since the start of the Milwaukee Film Festival, and already I am unraveling. My mind runs wild in the night, sock puppets screaming and elderly women wielding revolvers.
There are so many screenings, and so little time to see them. I have subsisted exclusively off salt and sugar, and see no change to that diet in the days ahead. I am determined to make the most of this festival, and my friends, I refuse to fail in that quest.
My friends, they say, “Archer, you’re a mad man. You cannot see all these movies – there is simply no time.” They say, “Archer, you must rest. Your body demands it.” They say, “Archer, we’re not real. You don’t have friends. I am your lamp, and I am not talking to you.”
I do not listen.
In my fever, I prepare an Agenda for the week ahead, the movies that must be seen, and I present it here for you, my beloved readers, in hopes that you may appreciate these films as well. Attend them, appreciate them, bask in their filmic glory. And if you see a bedraggled, pale, smelly man, guzzling Red Bull and muttering to himself in the back of the theater, approach cautiously. I am on edge.
1. The Milwaukee Show II
MONDAY, APRIL 15 AT 6 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
Remember the Milwaukee Show I on Sunday? Well, this is part two, baby: even more Milwaukee, even more show. The lineup of local short films promises to be as fun as ever.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
2. I’m Your Host
MONDAY, APRIL 15 AT 9 P.M. | TIMES CINEMA
SUNDAY, APRIL 21 AT 8:30 P.M. | AVALON THEATER
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 AT 9:15 P.M. | DOWNER THEATRE
Growing up in Kenosha, I sometimes spotted Dr. Destruction’s trademark hearse cruising around town. The pale, top-hat-wearing TV horror host was a local celebrity known to just about all Kenoshans, and he absolutely terrified eight-year-old Archer, who was certain that the man behind the wheel of that hearse was not simply a horror fan who produced his own show broadcast on Channel 14, but in fact a malevolent phantom who would surely eat my soul, given the opportunity.
Fast-forward to 2021. COVID was raging, Zoom meetings weren’t engaging, and we were all rapidly aging, when Tea Krulos turned in his latest assignment for Milwaukee Magazine – a look at the horror host television scene in sunny Kenosha. I was tasked with fact-checking the article, which involved calling Dr. Destruction. Suddenly I was an eight-year-old again, terrified of the spine-tingling host and his ghoulish minions, and I dialed his number with great trepidation and trembling. The ringing of the line seemed like the tolling of the reaper’s bell. I imagined Dr. Destruction’s voice booming over the line, “Archer. I have been waiting. Now your soul is mine.”
Then he answered. Turns out he’s actually just a friendly dude. Furthermore, Tea’s article about him was a hit – and it inspired this full-blown documentary about the K-Town horror host scene just a couple years later. This flick, directed by Alicia Krupsky and co-produced by Krulos, follows Dr. Destruction and his fellow hosts through their strange, homespun world.
3. Sleep
TUESDAY, APRIL 16 AT 9:45 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
SATURDAY, APRIL 20 AT 10:30 P.M. | TIMES CINEMA
The title of this movie attracted me right away – mostly because I want to sleep. To paraphrase Howard Hamlin, “Insomnia: wouldn’t have wish it on my worst enemy.” Ironically, this is one of the movies that will, undoubtedly, damage my sleep schedule, as the screenings are both late. But, alas, I suspect it will be worth it. You can only Film Fest once a year, folks.
This South Korean horror movie’s about a couple with a newborn baby. The husband starts sleepwalking in a manner many would deem creepy. The wife grows fearful of his behavior, especially toward that baby. Horror ensues.
4. The Taste of Things
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17 AT 2 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
FRIDAY, APRIL 19 AT 4:30 P.M. | DOWNER THEATRE
This French flick already had its first screening last year, and I’ve been reliably informed that the cooking scenes in this movie are real dang saucy – lots of sizzling meats and spices and whatnot. To be vulgar, we’re talking food porn here. The film follows a chef and his assistant in the late 1800s, as their romance unfolds, sparked by a love of cooking. I’ve been stepping up my personal chef game quite a bit lately – the other day I salted a hard-boiled egg – so I’m looking forward to some culinary inspiration from this one.
5. Super-Secret Members-Only Screening
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17 AT 4 P.M. AND 7 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
Every year, the folks at the film festival freak me out with this. Something about the phrase “super-secret” unleashes my inner child. I need to know! What is this movie?! Willow? Gigli? Troll 2? The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain? God, the possibilities are endless. Well, actually it’s probably something that came out this year because that’s what the description says. But no matter what it is, you have to be a Milwaukee Film member to get into this screening, as evidenced by the term “Members-Only” in the title so you better sign up ASAP or else you’ll be stuck out in the cold, wondering until your dying day what film you missed out on.
6. Terrestrial Verses
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17 AT 10 P.M. | DOWNER THEATRE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 AT 8:30 P.M. | DOWNER THEATRE
This 2023 Iranian film is a series of nine vignettes, each revolving around the way ordinary Iranians navigate authority – from a teenage girl being interrogated after she was seen riding to school with a boy, to a middle-aged man trying to apply for a job, to a filmmaker chopping apart his screenplay to meet a censors’ requirements. The structure reminds me of Short Cuts, a great film based on Raymond Carver’s short stories, and I’m interested to see this insider’s look at life in Iran.
7. All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17 AT 3:30 P.M. | TIMES CINEMA
SATURDAY, APRIL 20 AT 8 P.M. | TIMES CINEMA
THURSDAY, APRIL 25 AT 3:30 P.M. | DOWNER THEATRE
As someone who’s licked many dirt roads, I’m extremely skeptical of this title. Some of them taste like poop. But otherwise, this movie looks great. Raven Jackson’s feature film debut follows a Black girl’s life growing up in rural Mississippi. The trailer alone is a visual feast so this definitely seems like one that demands a big screen.
8. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (feat. Anvil Orchestra)
THURSDAY, APRIL 18 AT 5:30 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
I am PUMPED for this one. This 1920 German expressionist silent film is often considered the first horror film ever made – and Milwaukee Film is bringing in a live orchestra to accompany it! The disturbing visuals are insane, and the wide-eyed acting is off-the-wall. I’ve never seen Caligari in theaters because there are few opportunities to do so, and I’m really looking forward to getting the chance (and of course the Oriental is the ideal venue for it).
9. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
FRIDAY, APRIL 19 AT 9:45 P.M. | TIMES CINEMA
Wouldn’t it be funny if this movie was actually about, like, a middle-aged divorced woman learning to love herself on a yoga retreat? Just like, not remotely related to the very clear and literal title? But, in fact, the title pretty much says it all. A young vampire (young by vampire standards so around 60) is faced with the prospect of killing someone for the first time after her parents cut off her blood supply. The problem is that, oddly enough, she has developed a sense of compassion and does not want to murder people like her vampire family. When she meets a suicidal teenager, they realize that this might make for a win-win situation and enter into a pact to get her the blood she needs.
10. Decoupling
SATURDAY, APRIL 20 AT 3 P.M. | ORIENTAL THEATRE
SUNDAY, APRIL 21 AT 6:45 P.M. | TIMES CINEMA
Milwaukee filmmaker, and UW-Milwaukee lecturer, Yinan Wang made this film during the pandemic. In 2020, his infant daughter was visiting Wang’s parents in China, while Wang and his wife stayed here, when COVID shut the country down and halted international travel. Unable to reunite with his daughter and forced to find a way to bring her home, Wang documented the difficult time in this film.
