Embrace of the Serpent, Pasolini’s most infamous, Smart Studios Story‘s Wendy Schneider, and brand new shorts from LakeFrontRow Cinema
Thursday
Soy Cuba (7:00p — Union South Marquee)
Mikhail Kalatozov’s quartet of Cuban humanism was famously unappreciated in its time, so it was a big deal when “film school generation” auteurs like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese took up the cause to restore this 1964 gem in the mid-90s. In hindsight, it’s not hard to see why. Kalatozov’s black-and-white combo of jaw-dropping camerawork and deep staging tells stories about quashed rebellions and put-upon farmers. UW-Madison’s Faisal Abdu’Allah will introduce the film. (FREE.)
All freakin’ weekend
Embrace of the Serpent (Sundance)
Considering the casualties of colonization is a real trip. Embrace of the Serpent is taking that white privilege, cultural appropriation, and manifest destiny to a twisted, psychedelic level. Employing daguerreotypic cinematography and two separate timelines, Ciro Guerra charts a pockmarked journey into obscurity and devastation, following an extinguished tribe’s remaining healer and two white scientists as they trek into the heart of the Amazon in search of an elusive plant’s curative properties.
The Bronze (AMC Star, Point)
Rag on The Big Bang Theory all you want — no go ahead, I’ll wait — but as the bubbly Bernadette, Melissa Rauch is one of the lowest common denominator’s sole bright spots. In Bryan Buckley’s blackhearted comedy, she’s unseating that typecast as the soft-spoken sweetheart. Rauch stars as a former bronze medalist gymnast who begrudgingly returns home to Ohio only to find she’s the only one who thinks her shit doesn’t stink. A raunchy and foul-mouthed Rauch co-writes what’s been a divisive spin on the regressive comedy sub-genre. Think Young Adult meets the gym floor.
Saturday
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
One must really try to avoid any personal experiences when talking about Pier Paolo Pasolini’s most infamous film; even those Criterion essays can’t avoid it. Abrasive, controversial, and uncompromising, Pasolini puts 18 teenage virgins through increasingly brutal phases of sexual assault, torture and coprophagia (look it up). At first glance, Salò is absolutely disgusting, but its deliberate pacing wears down the shock and awe like a slow, visual anesthetic. The end result is an unforgettable allegory of European fascism and evil’s banality. (FREE.)
Wednesday
The Tone Cluster #4 with Wendy Schneider (6:00p — High Noon Saloon)
Tone Madison‘s live cultural summits have already touched on the likes of electronic music and the shifting picture of downtown life. This month’s podcast features a talk with the director of The Smart Studios Story, the forthcoming documentary on Butch Vig and Steve Marker’s Madison-based recording studio. Hitting on Tone‘s music coverage as well as making for a nice segue into the film’s Wisconsin Film Festival appearance next month, this seems like the perfect intersection for Madison’s cultural enthusiasts. (Doors at 5:30p. FREE.)
LakeFrontRow Cinema presents “It’s Too Cold For Shorts!” (6:30p — Central Library, Rm 302)
Depending on the forecast next Wed night, our return to the Central Library might end up sounding really silly. Regardless of the weather, you’re still guaranteed a selection of new shorts that are funny, thrilling and unabashedly strange. We’ll screen projects from Spencer Ortega, including his bizarro day-dreamer Dinosaur. (Pre)View, from Milwaukee’s Ryan Klassa, crystallizes our obsessions with mobile phones with a chilling home invasion, and Eli Steenlage presents his new Midwestern neo-noir The Switchback. Ortega, Klassa, and Steenlage will all appear in-person to take your questions. (Doors at 6:00p. FREE.)