Our new pared-down movies calendar looks at Horse Money, one of Cinematheque’s special presentations, and that new James Bond thing
Editor’s Note: We’re switching things up in our weekly calendar. Every week, it seems like there’s more and more cinema to write about in Madison. While that’s terrific for local audiences, setting aside a space for every two-film series or anniversary screening is a tough feat to pull off on a weekly basis. From now on, we’ll be dedicating this space to highlighting the stuff that’s really worth seeing every week. It will hopefully make for timely, better quality writing, too. Who doesn’t like tastemaking?
Thursday
Horse Money (7:00p — Union South Marquee)
How does one describe the plot to Pedro Costa’s first fictional film in nine years? Loosely formed around Portugese actor Ventura (who starred in Costa’s 2006 film Colossal Youth), Horse Money finds its director returning to the shanty neighborhood of Fontainhas in Lisbon, an oft-repeated table for his cinema. The prospect of an overarching narrative seems slim in this, which follows Ventura as his shaky wanderings out of a mental hospital are interrupted by authorities and inmates. Rather, Costa’s focus is on establishing a harsh dreamscape, one that draws from an insistence on natural light, omnipresent shadow, and maybe a Jacques Tourneur film here or there — or wherever we are. (FREE.)
All freakin’ weekend
Spectre (Sundance, AMC Star, Point, Stoughton Cinema Cafe)
In what may very well be the most-hyped 007 outing ever, Spectre seems like it’s finally putting together the disparate pieces the films of Daniel Craig have been dropping since 2006. That pesky Mr. White is back again, hopefully explain what his shadowy criminal enterprise Quantum has to do with shadowier, more criminal enterprise SPECTRE, and the past of Daniel Craig’s Bond as explored in Skyfall looks like it’s getting dug up again this time around. After 24 official releases, it’s hard to imagine where the franchise could possibly go next, but Craig and director Sam Mendes worked wonders last time around. Here, they’ve added Christoph Waltz’s slinky villain Oberhauser, two dames in Monica Belucci and Blue is the Warmest Color‘s Lea Seydoux, and a new henchman in Dave Bautista, who has found life after pro wrestling death as Guardians of the Galaxy‘s humorously literal Drax. Hopefully that will make up for the absence of cinematographer Roger Deakins, who’s too busy shooting Hail, Caesar! with the Coen Bros. to give Bond more saturated surrealism in his fight sequences. However Craig’s fourth, and possibly final, turn goes, I’ll be looking to Madison Film Forum‘s Jake Smith for a cushy debriefing.
Coming Home (Sundance)
Zhang Yimou gets a lot of recognition for his wuxia films Hero and House of Flying Daggers, both critically-acclaimed snapshots of ancient China and exemplars of the lyrical martial arts sub-genre. His 2002 and 2004 releases (respectively) are so good in fact, it’s easy to forget he first cut his teeth on full-bodied, realized dramas like Red Sorghum and Raise the Red Lantern, arguably his masterpiece. In Coming Home, Zhang works with longtime muse Gong Li, who stars as a woman who struggles to remember her husband (Chen Daoming) after he’s released from a years-long prison sentence on the tail-end of China’s Cultural Revolution. The deplorable setting and scrubbed-out photography look like a perfect backdrop for a moving, quiet melodrama. Hopefully it’s a return to form for a director who stumbled a bit with 2011’s “Rape of Nanking” white savior drama The Flowers of War. (No word on whether Cap Times editor Rob Thomas will want your impressions on that one during his post-show chat next Tues.)
“Tales From Planet Earth” Festival (Fri – Sun — Various)
The Nelson Institute’s environmentally-minded biennial film festival has always had a knack for avoiding the obvious. Themes of past festivals — including “Hope” and “Futures” — have shifted programming and any orbiting discussions away from the (essential, but) straightforward approach scientific thinking can engender. This year is no different, with 40 films spanning three days and five venues (including Union South Marquee theater and the Chazen Art Museum). Tone Madison‘s Chris Lay does an excellent job summiting the gargantuan lineup, so short of a forthcoming primer of Finn Ryan’s locally-minded short films, we won’t even bother trying. Instead I’ll double-down on his recommendations of the back-to-back Godfrey Reggio (Anima Mundi and Koyaanisqatsi, Sat in the Marquee) and Angel Azul (also Sat in the Marquee), a beautiful and terrifying look at underwater sculpture and Jason deCaires Taylor’s coral reef awareness efforts. You should also check out the finished cut of Containment (Sat in 4070 Vilas Hall), a nuclear waste documentary that was shown back in 2013 in its unfinished form. (All screenings are FREE and open to the public.)
Friday
Der gelbe Schein (The Yellow Ticket) (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Pola Negri, a bonafide European crossover hit in Hollywood back in her day, nails a double role as a young Polish woman and her mother. After her father passes away, Negri’s aspiring medical student goes to Russia where she learns Warsaw Jews like her work solely as prostitutes and only with a special “yellow ticket” passport. With accompaniment from Montreal pianist Marilyn Lerner and vocalist/violinist Alicia Svigals, who specializes in the jaunty Eastern Jewish klezmer tradition, this 1919 silent film is where to be on Fri night. It’s always worth coming to the UW Cinematheque when there’s an in-house musician involved; but two for the price of none?
Tuesday
Run Free – The True Story of “Caballo Blanco” (7:00p — Barrymore Theatre)
A distance running film fits right with the Barrymore’s sparse but outdoorsy programming as the venue has served as the hot spot for both the Wild & Scenic and Banff Centre’s Mountain Film Festivals pretty regularly. Its subject, Micah True, was affectionately dubbed “Caballo Blanco” or “The White Horse” by the Tarahumara Indians after organizing an ultra-marathon course in the spirit of the tribe’s running traditions. Ultra-marathons, for those of you who aren’t insane, are mammoth-sized feats of cardiovascular strength, with distances that can range anywhere from 50- to 100-mile stretches. (You won’t have to move much to see Run Free, but admission is still $12.)
Wednesday
The Wonders (Le meraviglie) (7:00p — Madison Museum of Contemporary Art)
A half-German, half-Italian family finds their livelihood at risk when new health laws jeopardize their farming operations in western Italy. Alice Rohrwacher’s coming-of-age story situates the family’s eldest daughter (Maria Alexandra Lungu) between a stern and stubborn father (Sam Louwyck) and a cooky, yoga-posing aunt (Sabine Timoteo). Originally shot on Super 16, this Sundance-y family portrait also boasts standout performances from Agnese Graziani as a younger sister and (again) Monica Bellucci, the glamorous host of TV competition “Countryside Wonders,” which may be the family’s one shot at keeping its head above the water. (Admission is FREE to museum members and $7 for everyone else.)