UPDATED 10/3/2014:Ā WUD Film’s sneak preview ofĀ Men, Women & ChildrenĀ has been added to Tuesday’s programming
Thursday
Funny Games (6:30p — Central Library, Rm 302)
“Cinesthesia,” Central Cinema’s re-christened repertory series, presents Michael Haneke’s cinema provocateur — not to be confused with Michael Haneke’s 2007 remake of Michael Haneke’s cinema provocateur. FREE.
Snowpiercer (7:00p — Union South Marquee)
The remaining survivors of a cataclysmic climate disaster are all packed on board a freight train and divided by class. What could go wrong? Stronger in execution than the conceptsĀ behindĀ its source material, count Bong Joon-ho’s low-key science-fiction among this summer’s better releases. FREE.
22 Jump Street (9:30p — Union South Marquee)
For the record, a sequel calling out the fact that it has nothing new to say is only slightly better than simply having nothing to say. It’s still funny. FREE.
All freakin’ weekend
Gone Girl (Sundance, AMC Star, Point, Eastgate)
Whether a bona fide trash masterpiece or just the latest in David Fincher’s six-year book adaptation tour, Gone Girl will likely make a big chunk of change at the fall box office. Here’s hoping author (and now screenwriter) Gillian Flynn’s notions of gender bias, media representation, and radical feminism resonate with audiences as much as the buzz around Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike’s iffy nuptials.
Left Behind (AMC Star, Point, Eastgate)
As the saying goes “If at first Kirk Cameron does not succeed, give Nicolas Cage a crack at it.” America’s greatest living thespian teams with Harrison Ford stunt double-turned director Vic Armstrong for a modestly-sized second crack at the popular Christian young adult books. Its premise? The world’s remaining population reckons with the sudden disappearance of millions in the wake of the Rapture — though if you ask me, Cage playing an airline pilot named “Rayford Steele” is a hook all on its own.
Bang Bang (AMC Star, Eastgate)
Among the many reasons Madison Film Forum is so great? Their commitment to Bollywood Cinema. Case in point, their Saturday matinee meetup for this story of a superhuman thief.
Annabelle (AMC Star, Point, Eastgate)
Remember seeing the first seven minutes of 2013’s The Conjuring and thinking “This creepy doll prologue would be even better stretched over 100 minutes?” Yeah, me neither.
Land Ho! (Sundance)
Two brothers-in-law reconnect on an Icelandic road trip in a dramedy that’s both small in scope and ambition. Starring Australian transplant Paul Eenhorn (This is Martin Bonner) and Earl Lynn Nelson, the latter of whom gives a big, colorful performance as a 70 year old pot-smoking womanizer.
I Origins (Sundance)
From Another Earthās Mike Cahill, I Origins stars Brit Marling alongside walking production bomb Michael Pitt as Pitt makes a breakthrough discovery about the biological underpinnings of the human eye.
My Old Lady (Sundance)
Kevin Kline flies to the French capitale to sell off an inherited apartment only to discover Maggie Smith and her daughter (Kristin Scott Thomas) already living there.
Friday
Monster House (10:00a — Point, Eastgate)
$2.
The Fault in Our Stars (5:30p — Pinney Branch Library)
Pinney Library’s teen program throws a screening party complete with themed snacks. FREE.
22 Jump Street (6:00p — Union South Marquee)
FREE.
Bug (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Ashley Judd gives the performance of her career in this Tracy Letts adaptation that features a conspiracy-obsessed Michael Shannon acting even more paranoid than usual. The intersection between Cinematheque’s Friedkin series and “Halloween Horror” is FREE, and it is now.
Snowpiercer (9:00p — Union South Marquee)
FREE.
Majestic Brew ‘n View: The Big Lebowski (8:30p — Majestic Theatre)
Doors at 7:00p. $7 or FREE with costume. See MajesticMadison.com for more details.
Night of the Lepus (11:30p — Union South Marquee)
“When Bunnies Shot Against Neighborhood Miniatures Attack!” FREE.
Saturday
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (10:00a — Point, Eastgate)
$5.
Monster House (10:00a — Point, Eastgate)
$2.
Snowpiercer (6:00p — Union South Marquee)
FREE.
Boy Meets Girl (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
Leos Carax muse Denis Lavant spends 100 minutes searching for the woman behindĀ the voice on his intercom. FREE.
22 Jump Street (9:00p — Union South Marquee)
FREE.
Night of the Lepus (11:30p — Union South Marquee)
FREE.
Sunday
Monster House (10:00a — Point, Eastgate)
$2.
Lifeboat (2:00p — Chazen Art Museum)
Hitch’s post-war effort sticks the survivors of a shipwreck in the same boat as the man responsible for the disaster. FREE.
22 Jump Street (3:00p — Union South Marquee)
FREE.
Joy Kevin (7:00p — 4070 Vilas Hall)
A comedian and a dancer try to cozy up in their new two-bedroom apartment. Director Caleb Johnson drops in through the powers of modern technology. FREE.
Tuesday
MOZAYIK + Fundraising drive (6:30p — Union South Marquee)
A documentary capturing the continuing struggles of the Haiti earthquake survivors as they’re evicted from their tent camps years after the disaster.
Men, Women & ChildrenĀ (9:00p — Union South Marquee)
WUD Film offers a FREE screening of director Jason Reitman’s latest. Word of mouth on this drama — which not-so-subtly deals withĀ the effects of the internet on teens’ relationships with their parents — has ranged from tepid to “makesĀ Reefer MadnessĀ look levelheaded by comparison,” so let’s just be grateful for the opportunity.
Wednesday
M*A*S*H (1:15p, 6:50p — Sundance)
The Exorcist (7:00p — Union South Marquee)
Long before providing cheap headline fodder for film bloggers, William Friedkin’s masterpiece was scaring the crap out of my parents. Over 40 years later, it still holds up. Not one to miss, kids. FREE.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (7:00p — Point, Eastgate)