The Coens’ latest, “Inside Llewyn Davis,” arrives in Madison a few weeks ahead of schedule. UW Cinematheque’s FREE advance screening comes Sunday, December 8.
Thursday
Holiday Inn (1:30p, 4:00p — Point, Eastgate)
Love Actually (9:45p — Point; 9:30p — Eastgate)
Eastern Promises (6:30p — Central Public Library, Rm 302)
The Central Public Library’s “Classic and Contemporary Films for Cinephiles” selection this month is none other than David Cronenberg’s blunt, chilling Eastern Promises. It screens FREE on the third floor of the W Mifflin Street branch.
Bastards (Les salauds) (7:00p — Madison Museum of Contemporary Art)
A sea merchant returns to Paris to seek revenge on the woman responsible for his brother’s suicide. Claire Denis’ French drama Bastards is MMoCA’s final Spotlight Cinema selection of the year. Admission is $7 or FREE to museum members.
Rifftrax Live: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (7:00p — Point, Eastgate)
If the thought of aliens kidnapping Santa Claus and forcing him to make toys for Martian children sounds ludicrous to you, fear not; Mystery Science Theater 3000‘s Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett agree with you. Like Manos: The Hands of Fate and Plan 9 from Outer Space, this cult holiday flop is getting its own Rifftrax commentary.
Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry (7:00p — Union South Marquee)
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry follows divisive artist-activist Ai Weiwei around China leading up to the events of his 2011 arrest. Alison Klayman’s documentary won the special jury prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. It plays FREE twice this week courtesy of WUD Film.
Friday
Pacific Rim (6:30p — Union South Marquee)
Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba pilot giant armored mech suits to do battle with alien monsters, the elements, and some pretty clunky dialogue. Guillermo Del Toro’s blockbuster homage to kaiju movies plays FREE four times this weekend.
Nothing But a Man (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln star in this 1964 independent film on the struggles of one working-class black man. Restored by Library of Congress’ Packard Campus, this Cinematheque special presentation comes via a new 35mm print. FREE.
Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry (9:30p — Union South Marquee)
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (11:59p — Union South Marquee)
Before pairing up for Marvel’s latest Iron Man adventure, Robert Downey, Jr. and writer-director Shane Black made this crime comedy where a petty thief posing as an actor (Downey, Jr.) teams with a private eye (Val Kilmer) and a struggling actress (Michelle Monaghan) to solve a murder. One of two FREE midnight screenings.
All freakin’ weekend
Nebraska (Sundance)
Bruce Dern’s performance as an Alzheimer’s patient who falls for a junk-mail million dollar giveaway earned him a best actor award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It also earned him an interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” where he describes Alexander Payne’s Nebraska as “the most personal movie” he’s ever done. SNL alum Will Forte breaks type as Dern’s son who reluctantly accompanies his father on the misguided journey.
Out of the Furnace (AMC Star, Point, Eastgate)
The writer and director of Crazy Heart aims for less tender fare in this Rust Belt thriller. Christian Bale stars as a recently-released convict who must wage war with a meth kingpin (Woody Harrelson) to save his wildcard brother (Casey Affleck) from certain danger.
August. Eighth (AMC Star)
A young mother must find her way back to her son in this story set during the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. The story switches from the perspective of the mother to that of the boy, who envisions the war as a science-fiction battle among robots.
Saturday
Polish Film Festival: Day #2 (1:00p — Union South Marquee)
The second afternoon of the Polish Film Festival begins at 1:00p with Ryszard Bugajski’s The Closed Circuit, a political thriller where the resources of three young entrepreneurs are targeted by corrupt government officials. Described as “the Polish Erin Brokovich,” Women’s Day follows at 3:00p. Directed by Maria Sadowska, the film follows single mother and newly promoted store manager Halina as she fights against the same cost-cutting supermarket chain that employs her. Both films are in Polish with English subtitles. FREE.
Pacific Rim (6:30p, 9:30p — Union South Marquee)
Fig Leaves (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
The Cinematheque’s early Howard Hawks retrospective concludes this week with FREE back-to-back screenings of the director’s best silent features. The first is a prehistoric comedy in the vain of the “battle of the sexes” starring George O’Brien and Olive Borden as Adam and Eve “Smith.” Go figure.
A Girl in Every Port (8:30p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Over at the Cinematheque’s blog, Thomas Gladysz describes this 1928 Hawks silent picture as a veritable “buddy film,” where sailors Robert Armstrong and Victor McLagen vie for the affections of Mam’selle Godiva’s sea diving siren. FREE.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (11:59p — Union South Marquee)
Sunday
East of Eden (2:00p — Chazen Art Museum)
James Dean stars as Carl Trask in Elia Kazan’s East of Eden. The John Steinbeck adaptation plays FREE in anamorphic widescreen at the Chazen.
Pacific Rim (3:00p — Union South Marquee)
Inside Llewyn Davis (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Oscar Isaac stars as the titular character in Inside Llewyn Davis, Joel and Ethan Coen’s latest film chronicling a week in the life of a struggling folk musician. Guitars, cats, and stellar original music abound in this FREE advance screening courtesy of the Cinematheque. The best part? It’s on 35mm. Doors open at 6:15p.
Monday
Meet Me in St. Louis (1:40p, 4:20p — Point, Eastgate)
Before fathering a daughter with Judy Garland, Vincente Minnelli directed the actress in Meet Me in St. Louis, a musical centered on one family’s move to New York in the winter of 1904. Co-starring Margaret O’Brien and Mary Astor, its musical selections include Garland’s rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
Cash on Demand (7:00p — Union South Marquee)
A steely manager (Peter Cushing) is held hostage by a charismatic but brutal bank robber (André Morell). WUD Film and the UW Cinematheque co-present Hammer Films’ smart reworking of Dicken’s Christmas Carol on a 35mm print. FREE.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (7:00p, 9:20p — Point, Eastgate)
Marcus beats Sundance Cinemas Madison to the eggnog bowl by two days in a week when Christmas Vacation hits three separate Madison theaters.
Tuesday
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1:00p — Point, Eastgate)
Meet Me in St. Louis (3:20p — Point, Eastgate)
Wednesday
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1:20p, 7:15p — Sundance; 4:40p, 9:40p — Point, Eastgate)
Meet Me in St. Louis (2:00p, 7:00p — Point, Eastgate)
The Infidel (7:00p — Union South Marquee)
This 2010 British comedy finds a Muslim man in the midst of an identity crisis upon discovering he was born to Jewish parents. Co-presented by WUD Film and UW-Madison’s Lubar Institute. FREE.