Lily Tomlin’s pot-smoking Grandma, Bob Byington & 7 Chinese Brothers, Uncle John brings its mood swings to Sundance and some ultra-rare Les Blank.
Thursday
7 Chinese Brothers (7:00p — Union South Marquee)
After getting fired for stealing from an Italian chain restaurant, Larry (Jason Schwartzman) bullshits his way into a new job at an auto shop, but the promise of continued employment only stymies his arrested development. Downing miniature bottles of vodka and cutting fountain drinks with pilfered tequila, Larry is far less responsible (or nice) than the people in life. That includes his grandmother (Olympia Dukakis) and Larry’s only friend Major (TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe), who works at his grandmother’s care facility. Despite Dukakis’s overbearing nudges of encouragement and nursing a crush on his new boss (Eleanore Pienta, in a complete 180 from her role in Micro-Wave alum See You Next Tuesday), Larry floats between bad jokes and lounging on the couch with his French bulldog. 7 Chinese Brothers, named after an R.E.M. song, isn’t a score of a FREE “Special Presentation” for UW Cinematheque and WUD Film. What Bob Byington’s low-budget slice of slight is however is another reason to enjoy Schwartzman’s unfiltered precociousness on the big screen. And isn’t that good enough? (Byington will make a Skype-aided performance afterwards.)
Furious 7 (9:30p — Union South Marquee)
The crew is even bigger (see: newbie Game of Thrones’ Nathalie Emmanuel is a stylish hacker and there’s even room for a Lucas Black cameo). The stunts are even more ridiculous (see: skydiving with cars). The plot is more threadbare and nonsensical than ever (see: a super-surveillance device and something about Jason Statham avenging his brother Luke Evans). And yet despite The Fast and the Furious’s over-sized XXXL state of things, there’s still room for Dwayne Johnson to flex his way out of a cast. Daddy’s gotta go see this. (FREE.)
All freakin’ weekend
Uncle John (Sundance)
Uncle John shouldn’t work. Its mood swings switch between glowering murder mystery (John Ashton keeps the body of a guy he just killed under wraps from the local sheriff) and twee romantic cheese (Alex Moffat and Jenna Lyng have a meet-cute in their Chicago office). But it does. The incongruous intersection of Moffat and his uncle’s lives propel along two very different stories as this Lodi-shot Wisconsin Film Festival alum reminds us all of our own blinding social vacuums. David Lynch-endorsed*
Black Mass (Sundance, AMC Star, Point)
Does Johnny Depp still have it in him? His early career will forever be defined by his partnerships with Tim Burton and Jim Jarmusch, producing off-kilter oddities that played against his good looks. Later years still featured weirdo performances, only his roles in Alice in Wonderland or Mortdecai all seemed to be cut from the same generic cloth. This time, Black Mass features Depp as Whitey Bulger, the convicted mob boss of Boston’s Winter Hill Gang and the fackin’ inspiration for Frank Costello in The Departed. If you want more Bahston accent, you’ll have to head over to ScreenCrush.
Grandma (Sundance)
Title aside, there’s nothing generic about Grandma, in which Lily Tomlin’s pot-smoking, feminist lesbian poet helps her granddaughter (Julia Garner) find the cash to pay for an abortion. In Tomlin’s first lead role since the mid-80s, she and Garner jump in Tomlin’s 1955 Dodge Royal Lancer. And if you’re still on the fence about how fun a day drive with the Laugh-In star could be, The Village Voice‘s Amy Nicholson actually did it.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (AMC Star, Point, Stoughton Cinema Cafe)
The second installment in the YA franchise ratchets up the action with “the Scorch,” a desert rife with challenges and nefarious dudes.
Everest (AMC Star, Point)
In addition to sparking exactly zero interest in climbing the highest mountain on Earth, Baltasar Kormákur (2 Guns) employs his directorial action expertise for a thrilling, if character-lite dramatization of four climbers’ ill-fated journey up Mt. Everest in 1996. Although, is a journey up Mt. Everest ever not ill-fated?
Captive: Night of Purpose (AMC Star, Point)
David Oyelowo and Kate Mara start in this dramatization of Brian Nichols’ 2005 kidnapping of Ashley Smith. Just don’t call it a “faith-based film.”
Friday
Furious 7 (6:00p — Union South Marquee)
(FREE.)
Harper Lee: American Masters (6:30p — Sequoya Library)
Updating their documentary after the publication of Lee’s new novel Go Set a Watchman, PBS recalls the reclusive life of the To Kill a Mockingbird author. As we celebrate Lee returning to the spotlight, let’s all remember that this was originally called Hey, Boo. (FREE.)
The Voices (6:45p — Alicia Ashman Library)
Persepolis creator Marjane Satrapi directs this bleak comedy in which Ryan Reynolds has to tell the bloodthirsty voices of his pets to knock it off with all the murder talk. Gemma Arterton plays a severed talking head. (FREE.)
The Southern Star (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
(FREE.)
While We’re Young (9:00p — Union South Marquee)
(FREE.)
The Warriors (11:00p — Union South Marquee)
(FREE.)
Saturday
Topophilia (6:00p — Union South Marquee)
(FREE.)
La petite Lise + Daïnah la métisse (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
If you haven’t heard, we’re teaming up with Madison Film Forum for an appreciation series on Jean Grémillon. Cinematheque’s program continues this week with a double feature that inspired James Kreul to find twin themes of “cinema as a window” and “cinema as a canvas.” (FREE.)
Furious 7 (8:00p — Union South Marquee)
(FREE.)
The Warriors (11:00p — Union South Marquee)
(FREE.)
Sunday
Psycho (2:00p, 7:00p — Point)
Caravan (2:00p — Chazen Art Museum)
For Erik Charell’s rare musical where Loretta Young hastily marries a gypsy to keep her inheritance, Madison Film Forum dropped the mic with a video essay. Between analyzing “Mickey Mousing” to Charell’s use of layered sound and camera movement, it’s a rich and compact watch. My only complaint is that they didn’t make a video essay sooner. (FREE.)
Furious 7 (3:00p — Union South Marquee)
(FREE.)
While We’re Young (6:30p — Union South Marquee)
(FREE.)
Monday
A Poem is a Naked Person (7:00p — Union South Marquee)
Thanks to the fine folks at Janus Films (and WUD Film and Cinematheque), Les Blank’s unofficially released rockumentary of country and blues singer-songwriter Leon Russell gets a slightly more official release for Marquee Monday. Combining concert footage and Russell’s recording sessions in his Oklahoma studio, this 1970s rarity comes to Madison after finally premiering at South By Southwest back in March. (FREE.)
Scarface (7:00p — Point)
Wednesday
Psycho (2:00p, 7:00p — Point)
Death Wish 3 (6:30p — Central Library, Rm 302)
Charles Bronson does battle with punk gangs on the streets of NYC. The night before we present the short films of Brian Hollendyke, Madison Library presents a little FREE counter-programming with Cannon Films’ bread-and-butter. We can guarantee this will be the considerably more violent of the two.
Scarface (7:00p — Point)
Arcade Fire: The Reflektor Tapes (7:00p — Point)
In 2013, Arcade Fire turned away from their endearing, crowd rock sound, ditching violin solos and chorus-laden indie anthems for Reflektor, the band’s electronica-heavy fourth album that has more in line with new wave than a Unicorns EP. The Reflektor Tapes, from Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar video director Kahlil Joseph, looks back at the band’s recording sessions and the ensuing tour.