Monday, April 20: Blood, Sweat & Beer
6:30 p.m. @ Brenner Brewing Co. (Tickets $10 in advance online, $15 at the door)
Co-directors Chip Haden and Alexis Irvin are bringing their documentary about craft beer breweries to town for this special screening. The cost of a ticket gets you not only admittance to the screening, but also includes a Brenner beer. That’s a combo hard to pass up.
Monday, April 20: Food Chains
7 p.m. @ UWM Union Theatre (FREE)
If a documentary about cold beverages isn’t for you, perhaps this food-based doc will be more your speed, a portrait of the exploitation of farm labor and the complicity of fast food and supermarket industries in said exploitation.
Monday, April 20 & Wednesday, April 22: Grease
7 p.m. both days @ select local Marcus Theaters ($5)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzWmxjYNfz4
Monday, April 20: Friday
7:30 p.m. @ select local Marcus Theaters (click here for listings)
What better use of your 4/20 than celebrating the 20th anniversary of the film that provided us with the time-tested formula of Ice Cube as straight man paired with a beloved manic comedic performer. Having just watched Friday recently, I can assure you this day-in-the-life comedy holds up quite nicely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxduMVVnrvU
Wednesday, April 22: Inherent Vice & They Are We
4 p.m. & 7 p.m. @ UWM Union Theatre (FREE)
UWM offers us as unlikely a double feature as we’re likely to see anytime soon this Wednesday. I adored PTA’s woolly mystery tale, and am interested in They Are We’s documentary portrait of an Afro-Cuban music group whose sound is brought to a remote tribe in Sierra Leone that the group had thought was long lost.
Wednesday, April 22: Rose of Washington Square
7:30 p.m. @ Charles Allis Art Museum ($7/$5/free for seniors/students/museum members)
Charles Allis’ celebration of Show Girl-based musicals continues this week with the Alice Faye/Tyrone Power charmer Rose of Washington Square. Classic musicals are basically the best, so it would be foolish to miss out on this screening.
Wednesday, April 22: The Sound of Music
2 p.m. & 7 p.m. @ various local Marcus Theaters (click here for listings)
A repeat screening of TCM’s special presentation of Robert Wise’s epic musical experience from this past Sunday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuWsQSntFf0
Thursday, April 23: The Wanted 18
7 p.m. @ UWM Union Theatre ($6 general/FREE! for students)
Another repeat screening from last week, this time wrapping up the 1st annual Muslim Film Festival with this animated retelling of a true story.
Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26: The Italian Film Festival comes to the UWM Union Theatre
Check here for movies & showtimes (all screenings FREE)
Yet another film festival sets up shop at the UWM Union for a weekend of free screenings. From soccer dramas to light-hearted comedies to holocaust documentaries, the seven films coming to town are a wonderfully varied snapshot of the current Italian cinema scene.
Friday, April 24: The Age of Adaline, ***CRITIC’S CHOICES*** Clouds of Sils Maria, Ex Machina ***CRITIC’S CHOICES***, Little Boy & The Water Diviner all open locally
Check local listings for showtimes/pricing
The Age of Adaline follows its eponymous character as she suffers a strange accident that leaves her essentially immortal, unable to form lasting connections. Blake Lively hasn’t exactly set the world on fire yet, so this starring vehicle might be just the ticket to prove her acting bonafides.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L-9rcEhGm4
This weekend also brings us two releases I’ve been eagerly anticipating for quite some time. Clouds of Sils Maria is the latest work from Olivier Assayas; revolving around an aging actress (Juliette Binoche) asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous in the role of the older woman. Kristen Stewart won the French equivalent of the Oscar for her supporting role here. Ex Machina is a science-fiction picture directed by long-time writer Alex Garland starring the great Oscar Isaac as a scientist who has possibly created artificial life. It’s been receiving rave reviews, and I’ll have one for you by the end of this week.
Little Boy is a heartwarming tale of one child’s efforts to end World War II and bring his father home to him, while The Water Diviner is a historical drama about an Australian father’s journey to discover the fates of his MIA sons both starring and directed by Russell Crowe.
Saturday, April 25: Love Me Tonight
7 p.m. @ The Church in the City, 2648 N. Hackett Ave. ($3)
Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier were one of the most potent combinations that the musical genre had to offer, and this co-stars Myrna Loy which is icing on top.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTroj86vTRk
Saturday, April 25: Our Water Triple Feature
10 a.m. @ Avalon Theatre ($11)
Wrap up your cinematic week with this special screening of a series of water-based local documentaries, including the recently written-up Milwaukee: A City Built on Water. Q&A’s with the filmmakers will follow each screening, so this is a great chance to learn about our city’s relationship to this most precious natural resource.
