The King of Comedy, Jason Bourne, and a Lemonade viewing party at the Majestic
Wednesday
Greed in the Sun (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
(FREE admission.)
Thursday
Madison 48 Hour Film Festival (7:00p + 9:00p — Sundance)
As hinted at in our 48 Hour follow-up last week, the annual filmmaking frenzy is selling tickets online for both premiere screenings this week. Sundance Cinemas will again host two separate shows for every entered short film, late or on time. This year’s teams were required to work in a tape measure as a prop, a waiter/waitress named Owen or Olivia Castleton, and the line “I need your help.” As always, we’ll recap the best of the bunch, too. ($10.)
The Little Foxes (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Cinematheque’s tio-of-the-hat to David Bordwell ends with this William Wyler adaption. Bordwell will also introduce the film, and copies of film critic Otis Ferguson’s original review will be handed out beforehand. (FREE admission.)
All freakin’ weekend
Jason Bourne (Sundance, AMC Star, Marcus Point)
It doesn’t matter if Jason Bourne isn’t as good as the other Matt Damon films. Series figurehead Paul Greengrass is back, and Jeremy Renner isn’t. After all that the Bourne Trilogy has gifted modern action films, this flash forward could give the CIA operative-turned-rogue agent faerie wings and laser vision. (Showtimes and admission vary.)
Captain Fantastic (Sundance, AMC Star)
After his wife suffers a breakdown in the Pacific Northwest, Viggo Mortensen’s Thoreau-like patriarch heads back to civilization with his six children — all of whom only know their rustic, adventurous life in the wilderness. Director Matt Ross (Silicon Valley’s Gavin Belson) picked up an Un Certain Regard award at the Cannes Film Festival and Mortensen turns in another (unsurprisingly) strong performance as a charismatic, stubborn father with his own lessons to learn. (Showtimes and admission vary.)
Friday
The King of Comedy (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Robert De Niro stars as delusional standup Rupert Pupkin, whose sideways path to stardom takes him from mock talk show visits with a standee of host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis) to Pupkin actually kidnapping his idol. At the peak of their partnership, De Niro and Martin Scorsese channeled the uncompromising dedication that made both of them stars. Here, they’ll contend with their own starpower and the very one-sided, even dangerous relationship that can spew forth from the limelight. (FREE admission.)
Saturday
Lemonade (9:30p — Majestic Theatre)
Lemonade felt like an out-of-nowhere record release in Apr, a bombshell made all the more powerful with a coinciding one-hour film, adding fiery visuals (and wokeness aplenty for Black Lives Matter) to a Beyoncé LP that’s already a masterfully crafted “Get your shit together” letter to Jay-Z and his adultering ways. Majestic is adding more music videos as well as whatever a Bey Bomb is. ($5.)
Tuesday
The Royal Tenenbaums (7:30p — Majestic Theatre
Among its tapestry of ideas and emotions, The Royal Tenenbaums is permeated with a profound regret. Rather than dilute his meticulously-tailored storybook with restrained apologies however, Wes Anderson pulls apart threads within the Tenenbaums, allowing for spaces to be filled with consolations and sweet, simple gestures — and it’s in those separations that he shows just how together this family is. (FREE admission. Doors at 7:00p.)
The Mighty Ducks (8:30p — Edgewater Plaza)
A promised autograph visit from the UW Men’s Hockey Team is enough to elevate a borderline calendar pick to a hilariously suggestive PR stunt. (FREE admission)