Thursday
RiffTrax Live: Sharknado 2 (7:00p — Point)
Man in the Shadow (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
A ruthless rancher (Orson Welles) and his vice grip on the town of Spurline are challenged when the county sheriff (the eternally gray-haired Jeff Chandler) investigates his involvement with a local murder. It’s Welles! In CinemaScope! FREE!
All freakin’ weekend
Amy (Sundance)
Despite releasing just shy of four years since the soul singer’s death, Asif Kapadia’s documentary on the late Amy Winehouse avoids an exploitative approach, opting to focus on Winehouse’s passion for music and a resistance to stardom. Drawing from tons of home video footage and recording sessions, Amy thankfully foregoes “talking head syndrome” for what looks to be an earnest and heartfelt glimpse at a talent gone far too soon.
Minions (Sundance, AMC Star, Point, Stoughton Cinema Cafe)
You see, long before serving Steve Carell’s Gru, minions were always “serving” the biggest and baddest around. This time, minions Kevin, Stuart, and Bob are getting in the way of Scarlet Overkill, Sandra Bullock’s mastermind with a fashion sense who’s out to steal the Queen of England’s crown. Call me skeptical but a Despicable Me origin story? Overkill is right.
The Gallows (AMC Star, Point)
Two decades after an actor was accidentally hanged during a play-gone-wrong, students sneak into the school at night to bring the show back for an anniversary celebration and are terrorized by malevolent spirits and “freak” accidents. Don’t worry, they bring a camera with them to record all the scary stuff.
Self/less (AMC Star, Point)
Opening up his concept to half a dozen jokes about Ryan Reynolds’s career, arthouse populist Tarsem Singh considers the question: What if you could start over? Ben Kingsley plays a mogul diagnosed with a terminal illness and the only cure is a radical new medical treatment that places his consciousness inside of Reynolds’ healthy, virile body. Side effects may include six-pack abs and night terrors from your host body’s past. Ask your doctor if Self/less is right for you.
Baahubali: The Beginning (Point)
Two brothers collide in part one of a two-part epic billed as the most expensive Indian production ever made.
Friday
Mommy (6:45p — Alicia Ashman Library)
Xavier Dolan’s Mommy never hit Madison for a theatrical run, so the public library’s screening may as well be a local premiere. And you may as well go, because it’s a cinematically sumptuous, visually transgressive drama about a single mother (Anne Dorval) and her dysfunctional son (Antoine-Olivier Pilon) trying to pick up the pieces of the life together — for what feels like the umpteenth time. (FREE)
About Elly (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Speaking of Madison premieres, the one Cinematheque is giving us feels slightly more official. Asghar Farhadi’s 2009 film about a teacher (Golshifteh Farahani) who goes missing was stuck in distribution limbo before Cinema Guild finally peppered it across American theaters earlier this year. Judging from the reviews praising the Iranian master’s unconventional editing and suspenseful storytelling, it sounds like the wait was more than worth it. FREE.
Sunday
Curious George (10:00a — Point)
$3.
Monday
Curious George (10:00a — Point)
$3.
Thelma and Louise (9:00p — Memorial Union Terrace)
FREE.
Tuesday
Die Hard (6:30p — Pinney Library)
FREE.
Terminator 2 Brew ‘n View (8:00p — Majestic Theatre)
The first of six FREE Brew ‘n Views as curated by the Majestic’s bartending staff, and you know this one’s better than GeniSys. (Doors at 7:30p.)
Wednesday
Curious George (10:00a — Point)
$3.
Spaceballs (2:10p, 7:45p — Sundance)
A Pig Across Paris (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
A pair of black marketers traverse the Nazi-occupied streets of Paris with sacks stuffed with pig meat in Claude Autant-Lara’s Freanch language comedy. Often referred to as Four Bags Full in the U.S., C’tek presents a comedic gem that even critics in its heyday underrated. (FREE.)