The Idiot Faces Tomorrow, Brooklyn, The Night Before, and “Bad Cinema” presents Ken Hartford’s bikini-clad face palm
Thursday
Hell Squad (6:00p — Central Library, Rm 302)
Round up all upstanding clientele frequenting your local gentlemen’s club on a Tuesday afternoon and ask them what kind of a movie they’d like to see. Chances are it would resemble Ken Hartford’s mid-80s face palm. With its bikini-clad avengers, dead set on rescuing a diplomat’s son from terrorists, Hell Squad would already be an ill-conceived enterprise even without a mostly improvised final act. But because the screenwriter withheld part of the script during production, you get one of those, too. It’s like jazz, you guys. Chauvinist jazz. (FREE.)
All freakin’ weekend
The Night Before (AMC Star, Point)
Jonathan Levine continues his perplexing streak of incongruous genre projects with a raunchy “boys on the town” holiday comedy. Anthony Mackie’s NFL star, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s detached sad sack and Seth Rogen’s father-to-be can sense the end is coming for their long-time friendship as their lives further drift apart. So, the trio of best buds do what anyone would do: They decide to spend their “last” Christmas Eve together tripping on a boatload of drugs. The laughs look “studio comedy” broad and you can already guess where each character arc is heading, but Rogen collaborator Evan Goldberg shares a writing credit here and Levine’s shown he can juggle zombie movies and cancer dramedies with the best of ’em. Besides, if there’s one thing They Came Together taught us, it’s that every comedy could use more Michael Shannon.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 (Sundance, AMC Star, Point)
As Katniss Everdeen, Jennifer Lawrence has led her rebellion forces to the capital city of Panem, primed to finally overthrow the regime of Donald Sutherland’s President Snow. Debatable inclusion in our weekly calendar? Maybe, but given the cultural cachet of Suzanne Collins’ young adult dystopia and that each chapter has progressed in quality and matured in focus since the original lackluster installment, it’s worth a mention. It’s also the last time you’re going to see Philip Seymour Hoffman — digital recreation be damned — on the screen.
Friday
Heaven Knows What (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Good luck talking about this drug addiction drama without mentioning its backstory. While out on the streets of New York looking for a story on the diamond trade, the Safdie Brothers ran into Arielle Holmes who, in addition to suffering from a heroin addiction, shared a tumultuous relationship with another junkie. Seeing this as an opportunity to apply their hyper-real storytelling approach, Ben and Joshua Safdie worked with Holmes to outline her story — and then convinced her to play a cypher of herself as she frequents her usual haunts and visits with familiar faces. This Cinematheque special presentation also employs a sneaky use of cameras, which is a definite help in preserving its ability to feel more like documentary than outright narrative. (FREE.)
Saturday
Phoenix (9:00p — Union South Marquee)
It’s no secret that we like Wisconsin Film Festival alum Phoenix and its “fiery independent spirit.” And with its vintage thriller premise, how could you not? Nina Hoss is a woman who endures severe reconstructive surgery after surviving the traumatic events of the Nazi’s conquest through Europe. As she tries to rebuild her life, she begins to suspect that her lover (Ronald Zehrfeld) may not be who he seems and may in fact, have been the author of her pain all along. Yes, it’s delightfully Hitchcokian. Yes, it messes with notions of memory and self. Yes, it’s playing twice this weekend. And yes, it’s FREE.
Sunday
The Idiot Faces Tomorrow (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Experimental film is supposed to challenge, to play on our expectations of cinema’s conventions. Some experiences can be like watching paint dry while others obfuscate with opaque patterns and visuals. This week’s Micro-Wave Cinema selection is more akin to talking to a Furby. Hard as it may be to believe, that’s a compliment. Director Cameron Worden has created an impressively stubborn picture of a broke, down-and-out protagonist (Worden) who’s acutely aware of his situation but short of talking about it, does absolutely nothing about it. Speaking in a drawn-out delivery with excruciating banality, Worden’s character butts up against attempts by his friends to better his life standing. With its numerous camera changes, it’s an altogether dizzying and singularly unique viewing experience. Come Sun night, there will be frustration — and a Q&A. (FREE.)
Wednesday
There are other early Thanksgiving releases you could catch, but Creed and Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur are likely to stick around for a while. Less certain is the longevity of John Crowley’s exquisite immigrant story. Adapted by Nick Hornby from Colm Tóibín’s historical novel, Brooklyn follows a young Irish émigré (Saoirse Ronan) who, after establishing a new and unfamiliar life on her own in America, finds a return visit home extended, and then complicated, by the advances of a charming bachelor (Domnhall Gleeson). Classically romantic and downright beautiful to look at, Crowley’s drama looks like it can balance sentiment and story without falling victim to the bland cliches of its contemporaries.