A Brew ‘n View for Prince, Stephen Chow’s uproariously weird fantasy, Louder Than Bombs, and Micro-Wave Cinema presents Ma
Thursday
Purple Rain Brew ‘n View (7:00p — Majestic Theatre)
Marcus Theatres has been rolling out memorial screenings of the 1984 semi-autobiographical rock opera in honor of Prince’s passing last week, but the Majestic’s Brew ‘n View is a little more centrally located than the Palace Cinema. Blurring the lines between reality and fiction, Purple Rain is more than just a movie extension of the record by the same name, expanding the artist’s struggles with image and expectations in a melodramatic story of Prince’s “The Kid” fighting off creative anxieties and an abusive father. Morris Day’s exaggerated persona is hammy even for rock opera standards and Purple Rain does look rather misogynistic in 2016, but as a tribute to Minneapolis’ native son (who allegedly submitted over 100 songs for the production) one could do far worse. Majestic’s $5 suggested donation will go towards Madison Music Makers. (Doors at 6:30p, with no password required.)
All freakin’ weekend
Louder Than Bombs (Sundance)
Joachim Trier’s English looks at context, both artistic (the death of Elizabeth Huppert’s photographer) and personal (Huppert’s family’s conflicting and shifting opinions of their late mother and wife). As the older sibling, Jesse Eisenberg, begins assembling an archive of his mother’s work, while Huppert’s widower (Gabriel Byrne) tries to move on with a new romantic pursuit. Perhaps messier than the Oslo, August 31st‘s director’s acclaimed day-in-the-life drama, Louder Than Bombs still touches on collective grief and our perceptions of loss.
Saturday
The Mermaid (2:00p — Union South Marquee)
Rather than killing the business mogul that’s been polluting her mer-people’s water, a beautiful mermaid falls in love with her would-be target. That’s the setup in Stephen Chow’s half a billion dollar-grossing fantastical romance. Lest you think those “outsider” tropes from the likes of Pocahontas sound too familiar, know that the Kung Fu Hustle director packs this thing to the gills with his trademark style, including gigantic comedy beats and a love of chaotic, cartoony set pieces, all adorning an honest message about learning to respect one’s surroundings. The merman with octopus tentacles is pretty great, too. (FREE.)
Sunday
Ma (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Many words are owed to this week’s Micro-Wave Cinema event — and that’s despite Celia Rowlson-Hall’s riff on the Virgin Mary story being completely wordless. Putting its modern-day Mary equivalent (Rowlson-Hall, in the title role) inside a motel, Ma is beset by three men before embarking on a spiritual journey through the desert. The obvious absence of dialogue works both as a gimmick and as the ultimate promise of cinematic storytelling, with Ma refining language to the purely visual in a somnambulant search of the soul. Rowlson-Hall’s shorts Looking Glass and The Magician will serve as precursor to the silent treatment, with the director popping in afterward for a Skype Q&A. (FREE.)