Weekly posts include short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

The UW-Cinematheque joins the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles and over 100 theaters in 73 cities around the world in celebrating (or observing?) Bleak Week, “an annual festival of despair.” A complete list of participating theaters, with links to their Bleak Week film schedules, can be found at the American Cinematheque website.

For a preview of the UW-Cinematheque’s Bleak Week lineup, consult Grant Phipps’ coverage at Isthmus, which also includes some notes about the remaining Ctek summer schedule, which continues through July 24. At Not that Rob Thomas, Rob interviews Ctek programmer Josh Martin about his Bleak Week selections. And, of course, the complete UW-Cinematheque summer schedule can be found at cinema.wisc.edu.

After Bleak Week, the two titles this summer that I’m most interested in are The Taste of Tea (Katsuhito Ishii, 2004) on Wednesday, July 22 and Letty Lynton (Clarence Brown, 1932) on Thursday, July 24. The latter, starring Joan Crawford, has earned a lot of attention as it has been generally unavailable until the recent home media release from Warner Archives. The Cinematheque, of course, will present the film in a 4K DCP. Letty Lynton was directed by Clarence Brown, a name Duck Soup Cinema fans will recognize as the director of the most recent screening, The Signal Tower.

MMoCA Rooftop Cinema: Coming Soon!

The films have been selected for this season’s Rooftop Cinema, Thursdays from June 30 through August 20. I hate to be a tease, but I’ll have to wait just a little bit longer to post the schedule here. But mark your calendar now for those Thursday nights!

Now Playing In Madison: June 23–June 29, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another valuable source that posts on Wednesdays with now playing lists is The Horizon Line Madison. When possible, I will provide links to reviews by Rob Thomas at Not That Rob Thomas, who gets around to far more proper reviews than I do.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

UW Cinematheque

Bleak Week films every evening from June 24 through June 30.

• MIRACLE MILE, 4070 Vilas Hall, Wednesday, June 24, 7 p.m.

  • Steve De Jarnatt, USA, 1989, 87 min.

• THE GREAT SILENCE, 4070 Vilas Hall, Thursday, June 25, 7 p.m.

  • Sergio Corbucci, France, Italy, 1968, 105 min.

• CHIME, 4070 Vilas Hall, Friday, June 26, 7 p.m.

  • Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan, 2024, 45 mins.

• CURE, 4070 Vilas Hall, Friday, June 26, 8 p.m.

  • Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan, 1997, 111 mins.

• MESSIAH OF EVIL, 4070 Vilas Hall, Saturday, June 27, 4 p.m.

  • Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz, USA, 1974, 90 min.

• LE BONHEUR, 4070 Vilas Hall, Sunday, June 28, 5 p.m.

  • Agnès Varda, France, 1965, 80 min.

• SUCH A PRETTY LITTLE BEACH, 4070 Vilas Hall, Sunday, June 28, 7 p.m.

  • Yves Allégret, France, 1949, 91 min.

• THE HOLE, 4070 Vilas Hall, Monday, June 29, 7 p.m.

  • Tsai Ming-Liang, Taiwan, France, 1998, 95 min.

• TESTAMENT, 4070 Vilas Hall, Tuesday, June 30, 7 p.m.

  • Lynne Littman, USA, 1983, 89 min.

• The remaining summer schedule is posted at the UW-Cinematheque website.

MMoCA Cinema, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

• KÖLN 75 (2025), Thursday, June 25, 7:00pm, 227 State Street. Presented with the Madison Jazz Festival. The story behind the best-selling jazz album (Keith Jarret’s The Köln Concert) that almost never was, told through the eyes of the 18-year-old concert promoter who made the legendary live performance possible.

Highway 18 Outdoor Theater, Jefferson, Wisconsin

• Confirm this weekend’s double feature at highway18.com.

WUD Film Lakeside Cinema

• CHALLENGERS, The Terrace @ Memorial Union, Monday, 6/29, 9:00 P.M.

• Lakeside Cinema, Monday nights at the Memorial Union Terrace returns with monthly themes: “Sports” (June), “Under the Lake,” (July), “Back to the 80’s” (August).

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

I’m slowly working my way back to snarky comments for current releases, but for now I’m just including trailers for a few interesting new releases.

• 7 DOGS at AMC.

  • A Saudi Arabian-backed Arabic-language globetrotting action film.

• BACKROOMS at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• BLEACH: THOUSAND-YEAR BLOOD WAR - THE CALAMITY at AMC, Palace, Point.

• BORN TO BE WILD at AMC.

• BUFFALO KIDS at Palace, Point.

• COCKTAIL 2 at AMC.

  • Indian Hindi-language comedy, a sequel to 2012’s Cocktail.

• COUTURE at AMC.

  • Angelina Jolie stars in the latest film from Alice Winocour (Proxima, Mustang)

• DAVID at AMC.

• DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• DISCLOSURE DAY at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• DOG MAN at Palace, Point.

  • Dreamworks animated film.

• FURIOUS, THE at AMC, Palace, Point.

  • Read Rob Thomas’s review. My brief review: Go see this if you have any interest in batshit crazy fight choreography (which I certainly do).

• GIRLS LIKE GIRLS at AMC, Point.

• JACK JOHNSON: SURFILMUSIC at Point.

• JACKASS: BEST AND LAST at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• LEVITICUS at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• LUCKY STRIKE at AMC, Point.

  • World War II action drama starring Scott Eastwood.

• MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE at Palace, Point.

• MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE at AMC, Flix, Palace.

• MICHAEL at AMC, Palace, Point.

• MINIONS & MONSTERS: XFINITY EARLY ACCESS SCREENINGS at Palace, Point.

• MOONLIGHT at AMC.

• MUPPET MOVIE, THE at Flix.

• O HORIZON at AMC.

  • Sci-fi indie comedy directed by Madeleine Sackler, yes the Sackler family heiress Madeleine Sackler.

• OBSESSION at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• OCEAN’S ELEVEN 25TH ANNIVERSARY at Flix, Palace, Point.

• PADDINGTON IN PERU at AMC.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC.

• SCARY MOVIE at AMC, Palace, Point.

• SHEEP DETECTIVES, THE at AMC, Palace, Point.

• STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• STOP! THAT! TRAIN! at AMC, Palace, Point.

• SUPERGIRL at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• SUPERGIRL: FAN FIRST SCREENINGS at AMC, Palace, Point.

• TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY - 20TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Point.

• TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR at AMC.

• TOY STORY 5 at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• TWISTER at Flix.

• WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE at AMC.

  • Akshay Kumar stars in this Indian Hindi-language action comedy.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• FULL METAL JACKET (Stanley Kubrick, 1987), Wednesday July 14, 6:30pm.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Bartell Theater

• JAWS, Friday, July 3, 6:30pm

• FLASH GORDON (1980), Friday, July 3, 9:00pm

• GREASE (Sing Along Version), Sunday, June 5, 2:00pm

• BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS, Sunday, June 5, 5:00pm

  • A 2020 docu-fiction hybrid film from directors Bill and Turner Ross, which examines the last day of operations for a dive bar in Las Vegas. This screening will be presented by Four Star Video Rental.

Weekly posts include short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

I think that things will finally calm down for me, now that Duck Soup Cinema has completed its season and Mills Folly Microcinema only has one more event for the summer (Project Projection, June 29).

But wait…I’m not done with my busy season! I have to finalize MMoCA Rooftop Cinema for this summer (late July) and book next year’s Duck Soup Cinema. More on those projects soon. Meanwhile, yet again this will be a brief post.

Special Screenings at MMoCA

The MMoCA Teen Forum has organized a screening of The Wizard of Oz (1939) as a means to explore themes that can also be seen in the current MMoCA exhibition, David R. Harper, Good Morning Sweetheart. The screening is set for Thursday, June 18, 7:00pm. Admission is free, and you can register at the MMoCA website.

Another film program has been added at MMoCA for next week. The Madison Jazz Festival 2026 will present Köln 75 on Thursday, June 25 at 7:00pm. Again, admission is free and you can register at the MMoCA website.

Köln 75 is the story behind the concert that produced the best selling solo jazz album of all time, focusing on the teenage concert promoter who organized the concert at the Colonge Opera House in January, 1975. Scroll down to watch the trailer in the Looking Ahead section.

A Conversation on WORT-FM’s Access Hour

Nicholas Wootton invited me to participate in an interview on The Access Hour last night on Madison’s community radio station, WORT 89.9 FM. It ended up being a wide ranging interview about the evolution of my interest in experimental film, as well as a quick survey of my film programming in Madison over the years.

You can hear the interview in the WORT-FM Archive (Access Hour, Monday, June 15, 7:00pm). The interview ends with a question that I promised Nicholas that I’d answer in a post on Moving Image Madison. I’ll need a little more time to think about that answer, and I will post it here soon!

Now Playing In Madison: June 16–June 22, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another valuable source that posts on Wednesdays with now playing lists is The Horizon Line Madison. When possible, I will provide links to reviews by Rob Thomas at Not That Rob Thomas, who gets around to far more proper reviews than I do.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• MIDNIGHT COWBOY (John Schlesigner , 1993), Wednesday June 17, 6:30pm.

Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

• THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), Thursday, June 18, 7:00pm, 227 State Street. Organized by the Teen Forum, in conjunction with the exhibition, “David R. Harper: Good Morning Sweetheart” now on display at the museum.

Highway 18 Outdoor Theater, Jefferson, Wisconsin

WUD Film Lakeside Cinema

• BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM (2002), The Terrace @ Memorial Union, Monday, 6/22, 9:00 P.M.

• Lakeside Cinema, Monday nights at the Memorial Union Terrace returns with monthly themes: “Sports” (June), “Under the Lake,” (July), “Back to the 80’s” (August).

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

I’m slowly working my way back to snarky comments for current releases, but for now I’m just including trailers for a few interesting new releases.

• ADOLESCENCE OF UTENA at Point.

• AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS: THE LAST ACT, THE at AMC, Palace, Point.

• BACKROOMS at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• BREADWINNER, THE at AMC, Palace, Point.

• BUFFALO KIDS at Palace, Point.

• CALL ME BY YOUR NAME at AMC.

• CHARLIE THE WONDERDOG at Palace.

• COCKTAIL 2 at AMC.

• DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD, THE at AMC, Flix, Point.

• DEEP SEA 3D at AMC.

• DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, THE at AMC, Flix, Point.

• DISCLOSURE DAY at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• FURIOUS, THE at AMC, Point.

• GIRLS LIKE GIRLS at AMC, Point.

• GOVERNOR: THE SILENT SAVIOUR at AMC.

• GREGG ALLMAN: THE MUSIC OF MY SOUL at Point.

• HAUNTED: ECHOES OF THE PAST at AMC.

• I LOVE BOOSTERS at AMC.

• JINSEI at AMC.

• KPOP DEMON HUNTERS at Palace.

• LEVITICUS at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• MAIN VAAPAS AAUNGA at AMC.

• MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• MICHAEL at AMC, Palace, Point.

• MIDSOMMAR at Flix.

• MOONLIGHT at AMC.

• OBSESSION at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• OCEAN’S ELEVEN 25TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• PADDINGTON at Flix.

• PATRIOT, THE at Flix.

• PONYO - STUDIO GHIBLI FEST 2026 at AMC, Palace, Point.

• POWER BALLAD at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• PRESSURE at Palace, Point.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC.

• RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK at AMC, Palace, Point.

• SCARY MOVIE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• SECRET FLIX at Flix.

• SHEEP DETECTIVES, THE at AMC, Flix, Point.

• STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• STOP! THAT! TRAIN! at AMC, Point.

• TOY STORY 5 at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• TUNER at AMC.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

MMoCA Cinema, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

• KÖLN 75 (2025), Thursday, June 25, 7:00pm, 227 State Street. Presented with the Madison Jazz Festival. The story behind the best-selling jazz album (Keith Jarret’s The Köln Concert) that almost never was, told through the eyes of the 18-year-old concert promoter who made the legendary live performance possible.

UW Cinematheque

• UW Cinematheque will resume with “Bleak Week” from Wednesday, June 24 through Tuesday, June 30.

• The remaining summer schedule is now posted at the UW-Cinematheque website.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Bartell Theater

• JAWS, Friday, July 3, 6:30pm

• FLASH GORDON (1980), Friday, July 3, 9:00pm

• GREASE (Sing Along Version), Sunday, June 5, 2:00pm

• BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS, Sunday, June 5, 5:00pm

  • This last film is a 2020 docu-fiction hybrid film from directors Bill and Turner Ross, which examines the last day of operations for a dive bar in Las Vegas. It will be presented by Four Star Video Rental.

Weekly posts include short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

Once again, I’ve had a very busy week, and I’m darting around today putting finishing touches on recent projects. But here are a few short notes about what I’ve been up to and what you should put on your appointment schedule.

Tonight: Filmmaker Emily Pelstring, Mills Folly Microcinema, 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory. I mentioned this last week, but it is worth repeating one more time because it will be a fantastic show. Grant Phipps has led the charge to make this screening happen. If you want a short preview of the screening, you can see one of Pelstring’s films at Cartoon Brew, posted when A Flame the Colour of Air (2025) was selected as a Cartoon Brew Pick.

Saturday: The Signal Tower (1924) at Duck Soup Cinema, 2:00pm and 7:00pm at the Overture Center. In addition to the feature film with live accompaniment on the Grand Barton Organ, the screening will include the early American avant-garde film The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra (1928), with live accompaniment by experimental composer and saxophonist Nick Zoulek. It should be very interesting to see how the combination of sound and image plays to the Duck Soup Cinema audience.

Monday: The Access Hour, WORT 89.9 FM, 7:00pm, host Nicholas Wootton has invited me to be one of the guests. Nicholas and I know each other from his several contributions as a filmmaker to Project Projection screenings at Mills Folly Microcinema, as well as my visits to WORT’s 8 O’Clock Buzz on Mondays, where Nicholas serves as a producer. Nicholas has invited a series of guests whom he knows, and with whom he would like to sit down and ask questions. So we’ll likely talk about flim programming and film culture in Madison, but the chat could also be more wide ranging than that. I’ll post a link to the WORT archive if you miss it live.

Announced for Thursday, June 25: Madison Jazz Festival will present a free screening of Köln 75 (2025) at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art at 7:00pm. I’ll have more to say on this in the coming weeks. In a nutshell, this narrative feature tells the story behind the concert that was recorded and released as Keith Jarrett’s album, The Köln Concert, which became the best selling solo album in jazz history.

In other MMoCA news, the opening reception and anniversary party went very well last Thursday. It was great to see filmmaker Bill Bedford enjoy the occasion. Be sure to catch Films by Bill Bedford during its run in the Video Gallery through September 6.

New Crestwood Elementary animation debuts on YouTube on Friday, 7:00pm.

One last bit of local film news: I received an email from Luke Bassuener with news about a new animated short by his Crestwood Elementary students. As many of you know, previous Crestwood shorts have been featured at the Wisconsin Film Festival and other regional and national film festivals.

Luke wrote, “This Friday June 12th at 7pm (Central), we’ll be premiering Crestwood Elementary’s newest animated short, “Arachne” for a limited time on the “Crestwood Art” YouTube channel. We’d love to have you tune in! The film is a delightfully askew adaptation of a well-known Greek myth, twisted with just the right amount of Gen Alpha weirdness. Our 4th and 5th graders have been working hard on this for months, and we’re thrilled to share it with you. We will hopefully have some of the kids on for a live chat during the screening.”

Here’s the trailer:

Now Playing In Madison: June 10–June 15, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another valuable source that posts on Wednesdays with now playing lists is The Horizon Line Madison. When possible, I will provide links to reviews by Rob Thomas at Not That Rob Thomas, who gets around to far more proper reviews than I do.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

Mills Folly Microcinema

• OUR PSYCHEDELIC NATURE: SHORT FILMS BY EMILY PELSTRING, Wednesday, June 10, 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston Street, Suite 100.

• Mills Folly Microcinema welcomes Canadian artist and animator Emily Pelstring for an in-person visit and screening of her recent work.

Side Room Cinematheque

• CULT FILMS: COVENS AND COVER-UPS, Thursday, June 11, 8:00pm, 1444 E. Washington Avenue. RED STATE (2011) and ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968) plus selected shorts. Program duration: 4hrs, 30min.

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Highway 18 Outdoor Theater, Jefferson, Wisconsin

Duck Soup Cinema at Overture Center

• THE SIGNAL TOWER (Clarence L. Brown, 1924), Saturday, June 13, 2:00pm and 7:00pm, Capitol Theater in the Overture Center, 201 State Street.

• In an extra special bonus, experimental musician Nick Zoulek will provide live accompaniment to the early American avant-garde short, LIFE AND DEATH OF A 9413: A HOLLYWOOD EXTRA (1928), at each screening.

SOGO Film Festival, Stoughton Village Players Theater

• Friday, June 12 through Sunday, June 14 at the Stoughton Village Players Theater, 225 E. Main Street, Stoughton, Wisconsin. Screening schedule at sogo.film.

WUD Film Lakeside Cinema

• SPEED RACER (2008), The Terrace @ Memorial Union, Monday, 6/15, 9:00 P.M.

• Lakeside Cinema, Monday nights at the Memorial Union Terrace returns with monthly themes: “Sports” (June), “Under the Lake,” (July), “Back to the 80’s” (August).

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

Unfortunately, this will be another bare-bones list this week due to other project commitments. But snarky comments will return at some point!

• AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS: THE LAST ACT, THE at AMC, Palace, and Point.

• AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: JUNE 15 at AMC.

• BACKROOMS at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• BEAUTIFUL PLANET IMAX, A at AMC.

• BIRDCAGE 30TH ANNIVERSARY, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• BREADWINNER, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’ IN BUSAN: LIVE VIEWING at Palace and Point.

• CAROLINA CAROLINE at AMC.

• CHARLIE THE WONDERDOG at Palace and Point.

• CRUNCHYROLL ANIME NIGHTS SNEAK PEEK at AMC and Point.

• DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, THE at AMC and Point.

• DISCLOSURE DAY at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• FURIOUS, THE at AMC and Point.

• GABBY’S DOLLHOUSE: THE MOVIE at Palace.

• GOVERNOR: THE SILENT SAVIOUR at AMC.

• HAI JAWANI TOH ISHQ HONA HAI at AMC.

• HAUNTED: ECHOES OF THE PAST at AMC.

• I LOVE BOOSTERS at AMC.

• JACK JOHNSON: SURFILMUSIC at Point.

• JINSEI at AMC.

• LAST WHALE SINGER, THE at AMC, Palace, and Point.

• MAIN VAAPAS AAUNGA at AMC.

• MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• MICHAEL at AMC, Palace, and Point.

• MILK at AMC.

• OBSESSION at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• PARIMALA AND CO at AMC.

• PEDDI at AMC.

• PONYO - STUDIO GHIBLI FEST 2026 at AMC, Palace, and Point.

• POWER BALLAD at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• PRESSURE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• PRINCE OF EGYPT, THE at Flix.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC.

• PURPLE RAIN at Flix.

• ROTTEN MOVIES, FRESH BEER: HOOK at Flix.

• SACRED HEART: HIS REIGN HAS NO END at Palace and Point.

• SCARY MOVIE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• SHEEP DETECTIVES, THE at AMC and Point.

• SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN at AMC.

• STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• STOP! THAT! TRAIN! at AMC and Point.

• TRAINSPOTTING at Point.

• TUNER at AMC and Point.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• MIDNIGHT COWBOY (Joh , 1993), Wednesday June 17, 6:30pm.

MMoCA Cinema, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

• THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), Thursday, June 18, 7:00pm, 227 State Street. Organized by the Teen Forum, in conjunction with the exhibition, “David R. Harper: Good Morning Sweetheart” now on display at the museum.

• KÖLN 75 (2025), Thursday, June 25, 7:00pm, 227 State Street. Presented with the Madison Jazz Festival. The story behind the best-selling jazz album (Keith Jarret’s The Köln Concert) that almost never was, told through the eyes of the 18-year-old concert promoter who made the legendary live performance possible.

UW Cinematheque

• UW Cinematheque will resume with “Bleak Week” from Wednesday, June 24 through Tuesday, June 30.

• The remaining summer schedule is now posted at the UW-Cinematheque website.

Tuesday weekly posts feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

Once again, deadlines for many projects will restrict my time available for Moving Image Madison this week, but I wanted to make sure that two upcoming experimental film opportunities are on your radar.

First, films by Watertown-based experimental filmmaker Bill Bedford will begin screening in the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art video gallery (227 State Street) starting Friday, June 4, and running through September 6. Fans of the Wisconsin Film Festival will recognize Bedford’s name, because his films have been featured in several experimental film programs at Festival in recent years.

I have a hand in bringing Bedford’s films to MMoCA in my role as Assistant Curator of Film and Art Video. Here are a few notes I prepared for Films by Bill Bedford:

Filmmaker and photographer Bill Bedford has investigated the relationship between still and moving images since the mid-1970s. He creates what he calls “moving, semi-moving, and non-moving pictures” in short films that move between documentation and abstraction. Sometimes this abstraction evolves while filming, through camera movement or objects moving in front of the camera. Other times Bedford creates or discovers abstract shapes and patterns during the editing process.

I’m very pleased to share Bedford’s films with MMoCA visitors. Friday also marks the 125th anniversary of MMoCA (in its various incarnations) and a special Spring Opening Celebration to celebrate the opening of Extended Play: A-Side, an exhibition of groundbreaking abstract art associated with Sam Gillam and the Washington Color School. The public reception on Friday from 6:00pm to 9:00pm will be your first opportunity to see Bedford’s films in the newly renovated MMoCA video gallery. But you’ll have plenty of opportunities to walk in during gallery hours and see the program through September.

Our Psychedelic Nature: Short Films by Emily Pelstring

Meanwhile, you won’t have as much time to see work by Canadian filmmaker Emily Pelstring, so mark Wednesdsay, June 10 on your calendar now.

Pelstring will attend a program of her short films, Our Psychedelic Nature, at Mills Folly Microcinema on Wednesday, June 10, 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston Street, Suite 100.

I plan to have more about this special screening in next Tuesday’s post. But here is a brief introduction from the program’s promotional material and Pelstring’s website:

Emily Pelstring is a Canadian artist and tenured professor in the Department of Film and Media at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Her animated short films have screened widely at film festivals, including Slamdance, the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Transmediale Berlin, Images, and Internationale Short Film Festival Oberhausen. The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) presented a 13-film retrospective of her work in 2020. In 2023, the GIRAF Festival presented a second retrospective of her work.

Pelstring’s A Flame the Colour of Air (2025, pictured above) won 2nd Prize for Best Experimental Film at the ASIFA East Awards.

Mills Folly programmer Grant Phipps has been working with Pelstring to facilitate her visit next week. It should be a special screening, so I hope you can join us!

Now Playing In Madison: June 2–June 8, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another valuable source that posts on Wednesdays with now playing lists is The Horizon Line Madison. When possible, I will provide links to reviews by Rob Thomas at Not That Rob Thomas, who gets around to far more proper reviews than I do.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

Wisconsin 48 Hour Film Project

• THE WISCONSIN 48 B.O.W.s (Best of Weekend), Sunday, June 7, 1:00pm, Crucible Madison, 3112 Commercial Avenue.

• The 48hr Film Project folks will screen the films produced back on the weekend of May 17 that have advanced to the “Yes We Cannes” competition.

WUD Film Lakeside Cinema

Based on the sources provided, there is only one film scheduled to play at WUD Film during the specified period of Tuesday, June 2 through Monday, June 8, 2026:

• WHIP IT, The Terrace @ Memorial Union, Monday, 6/8, 9:00 P.M.

• Lakeside Cinema, Monday nights at the Memorial Union Terrace returns with monthly themes: “Sports” (June), “Under the Lake,” (July), “Back to the 80’s” (August).

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

Unfortunately, this will be a bare-bones list this week due to other project commitments. But snarky comments will return next week!

• A.I.: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE at Flix.

• AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS: THE LAST ACT, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• BACKROOMS at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• BIRDCAGE 30TH ANNIVERSARY, THE at AMC, Point.

• BLAST at AMC.

• BREADWINNER, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• CAROLINA CAROLINE at AMC.

• DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• HAI JAWANI TOH ISHQ HONA HAI at AMC.

• HUNGRY at AMC.

• I LOVE BOOSTERS at AMC, Palace.

• KATTALAN at AMC.

• LAST WHALE SINGER, THE at AMC, Palace, Point.

• MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE EARLY ACCESS SCREENING at AMC, Palace, Point.

• METROPOLITAN OPERA: EL ÚLTIMO SUEÑO DE FRIDA Y DIEGO, THE at Point.

• MICHAEL at AMC, Palace, Point.

• MORTAL KOMBAT II at AMC, Flix.

• OBSESSION at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• PASSENGER at AMC, Palace, Point.

• PEDDI at AMC, Palace, Point.

• POWER BALLAD at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• PRESSURE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC.

• REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA at Palace.

• SCARY MOVIE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• SCARY MOVIE: FAN EVENT at Flix, Palace, Point.

• SHEEP DETECTIVES, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, THE at AMC.

• TRAINSPOTTING at AMC, Point.

• TUNER at AMC, Palace, Point.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Mills Folly Microcinema

• OUR PSYCHEDELIC NATURE: SHORT FILMS BY EMILY PELSTRING, Wednesday, June 10, 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston Street, Suite 100.

• Mills Folly Microcinema welcomes Canadian artist and animator Emily Pelstring for an in-person visit and screening of her recent work.

UW Cinematheque

• UW Cinematheque will resume with “Bleak Week” from Wednesday, June 24 through Tuesday, June 30.

• The remaining summer schedule is now posted at the UW-Cinematheque website.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• MIDNIGHT COWBOY (Joh , 1993), Wednesday June 17, 6:30pm.

Rob and I saw an advance screening of Tuner a few weeks ago, and we recorded this discussion in the same session as our Wizard of the Kremlin review (thus the familiar combination of shirts).

For Rob’s written review, be sure to hop over to his Substack, Not That Rob Thomas.

As mentioned in the video, Rob liked Tuner more than I did. It is a well made film, overall, but I frequently found myself frustrated by how neat and tidy it is in its storytelling. More often than not, I praise films for narrative efficiency, especially in short 90-minute gems that come together perfectly. But in Tuner, the efficiency comes across as connecting the dots, especially where the romantic relationship is concerned.

Rob and I agree about the strong performances in the film, especially from Havana Rose Liu as Ruthie, the classical pianist and composer who meets the central character, Niki (Leo Woodall) during one of her rehearsal sessions. It took me forever to figure out where I had seen Liu before. Then just a few minutes before finishing this post I discovered that she played Isabel in Bottoms, a film I admired quite a bit.

Come back tomorrow for the next Now Showing in Madison post!

Tuesday weekly posts feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

Not everything has to work to be great.

If I put a little more thought into it, I could come up with a list of moments and ideas that don’t really work in Boots Riley’s fashion heist comedy / social satire I Love Boosters. But I found myself smiling, and often laughing out loud, at many of these ideas because Riley is perfectly willing to throw a lot of pasta at the wall to see what sticks. And even what doesn’t stick is always thought provoking in an era when independent film often takes itself far too seriously.

In the moment, I Love Boosters was one of the most enjoyable movie going experiences I’ve had in a while. And overall I think the film is best viewed as a series of great scenes rather than as a coherent three-act narrative within a particular genre.

“Boosters” are shoplifters who sell the clothes they steal at a deep discount. The central conflict in the film sets a group of boosters, The Velvet Gang, led by Corvette (Keke Palmer) against legendary designer Christie Smith (Demi Moore) and her Metro Designers chain of high fashion clothing stores. The Velvet’s scheme to hit one particular Metro Designers location is undermined when the entire inventory is stolen by a mysterious woman and a “magic bag.” The magic bag turns out to be a teleportation device stolen by Jianhu (Poppy Liu), a Chinese sweatshop worker who has teleported to the United States to plot revenge against Christie Smith for Smith’s inhumane labor practices in her Chinese factories.

And I should mention that Corvette may or may not be seduced by a mysterious and handsome man (LaKeith Stanfield) who is rumored to suck out a woman’s soul during oral sex. Stanfield’s character, the teleporter, and a third act reveal provided far more supernatural and science fiction elements than I expected going into the film. But I wouldn’t call I Love Boosters science fiction. These elements are just part of the mix that (more or less) make sense within the flow of the film.

Needless to say, there are a lot of ideas flowing in I Love Boosters. Not all of these ideas are fully developed or pay off beyond one scene. In fact, even the central idea of boosting, reselling the goods at a discount, is more-or-less dropped after the first scene where Corvette brings a man home from the club and sells him some shoes (when the man was expecting sex). Boosting after that scene focuses on the theft side of the process, with more elaborate and absurd heist schemes.

But I didn’t really care about the plot of I Love Boosters, because I had as much fun watching it as Boots Riley and his cast seem to have had making it. While plot ideas are not fully developed, many visual gags are developed to explore the logic of their premise. The key example here is the Metro Designers headquarters, and Christie Smith’s corporate office. Can describing an office count as a spoiler? In this case, yes it can, so I’ll leave it alone so that you can discover it yourself.

It’s interesting to compare the experience of the film to watching work by other stylistically flamboyant directors. I Love Boosters has the audacious color palette of Wes Anderson, with joyful playfulness instead of rigid formalism. It has the in-your-face style of (old-school) Sam Raimi without the gore. It has the cartoony feel of Tim Burton (or Frank Tashlin) without the so-white casting. But even after the success of Sorry to Bother You and now I Love Boosters, Riley probably will not be discussed with any depth in terms of visual style. I hope I’m wrong about that.

I Love Boosters may be the funniest film to include a literal explanation of dialectical materialism. The anti-corporate and pro-labor themes in the film are presented a little too broadly to have real bite. And issues of representation are not completely resolved by the diverse casting—the Asian characters in the film easily could have come from a 1980s comedy. But there was something exhilarating about watching an American indie comedy with an ambitious sense of style and a brain in its head.

Now Playing In Madison: May 26–June 1, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another valuable source that posts on Wednesdays with now playing lists is The Horizon Line Madison. When possible, I will provide links to reviews by Rob Thomas at Not That Rob Thomas, who gets around to far more proper reviews than I do.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

WUD Film Lakeside Cinema

• Lakeside Cinema, Monday nights at the Memorial Union Terrace, returns June 1 with Space Jam. Monthly themes will be “Sports” (June), “Under the Lake,” (July), “Back to the 80’s” (August).

• SPACE JAM, The Terrace @ Memorial Union, Monday, 6/1, 9:00 P.M.

C-FAM at Marcus Point Cinemas

• The Children’s Film Academy of Madison will screen three of their recent short productions on Monday, June 1, 6:30pm at Marcus Point.

• SMALL TOWN ROCK STARS is a coming-out story set in 1980s Racine, Wisconsin. WRESTLING is about a girl who grew up in the Mormon faith and becomes a high school wrestler. LEGEND OF THE PADDLE FISH was made in collaboration with Friends of the Lower Wisconsin River Way.

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

• AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: JUNE 1 at AMC.

• BACKROOMS at AMC, Palace, Point.

  • I assume that most people reading this know the history behind the “Backrooms” meme, and its connection to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. But you can read a quick summary of that history in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.1Meanwhile, this has all (or most) of the hallmarks of another potential A24 hit.

• BREADWINNER, THE at AMC, Palace, Point.

  • I know what you’ve all been thinking: can comedian Nate Bargatze carry a feature film comedy? Well, we’ll all find out after The Breadwinner opens on Friday.

• CHAND MERA DIL at AMC.

  • Indian Hindi-language romantic drama starring Ananya Panday and Lakshya.

• CORPORATE RETREAT at AMC, Palace, Point.

  • Horror film (veering into broad social satire) that appears to tap into everyone’s contempt for corporate culture.

• DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• GODZILLA MINUS ONE at AMC.

  • Re-release of 2023 film which managed to win an Oscar for special effects. I actually liked this film quite a bit, but my preference of recent Godzilla films remains Shin Godzilla (2016).

• I LOVE BOOSTERS at AMC, Palace, Point.

  • See my comments, above. The upshot: go see it. Crime comedy from rapper/filmmaker Boots Riley, lead vocalist of The Coup, whose Sorry to Bother You (2018) was a surprise hit. Also read Rob Thomas’s review.

• IN THE GREY at AMC, Palace, Point.

  • If you have been to any film in any theater in the last month or so, there is a very good chance that you’ve seen this trailer for the latest Guy Ritchie action drama starring Henry Cavil, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Eliza Gonzalez. Might be fun, but appears to be getting mediocre to negative reviews.

• IS GOD IS at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

  • I seem to have had the wrong impression about this in my original Now Playing comments…it is actually getting some decent reviews, 98% on Rotten Tomatoes in fact. It still seems a bit over the top, but I’m intrigued.

• LEGALLY BLONDE 25TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Flix, Point.

• MAY CONTAIN: MY LIFE at AMC.

  • Documentary about the dangers associate with living with food allergies.

• METROPOLITAN OPERA, THE: EL ÚLTIMO SUEÑO DE FRIDA Y DIEGO at Palace, Point.

• MICHAEL at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

  • Apparently people didn’t know how much they needed a Michael Jackson music-filled bio-pic that doesn’t go beyond the Bad tour in 1988. I guess that makes sense to someone my age, I seem to recall disliking almost everything in the Michael Jacksons ouvre after (and including) Scorsese’s Bad video. As of this writing, Michael is the fourth-highest grossing film of 2026.

• MORTAL KOMBAT II at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• OBSESSION at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

  • Horror film with the ol’ Be Careful What You Wish For theme. Young man buys a supernatural toy and wishes that his crush would fall hopelessly in love with him. Dude, you know you should have added “while respecting ourselves as individuals and providing sufficient space when needed.” This seems to be getting a strong response from viewers beyond horror fans.

• PASSENGER at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

  • Supernatural horror film about a young couple on a road trip who are pursued by a demonic stalker. That old saw. Latest film from André Øvredal (Trollhunter 2016, Voyage of the Demeter 2023).

• PRESSURE at AMC, Palace, Point.

  • Adaptation of a play by David Haig, about the meteorologist James Stagg (Andrew Scott) who advises General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) on whether or not to proceed with the D-Day invasion.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC, Flix, Point.

• REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA at AMC, Palace, Point.

  • Documentary narrated by Tom Selleck. Produced by Hillsdale Studios, which is associated with Hillsdale College, the Christian liberal arts college in Michigan. A Fathom Events release.

• SACCHARINE at AMC.

  • Australian supernatural horror film, which had its world premiere in the Midnight section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Co-distributed by Independent Film Company and Shudder.

• SHEEP DETECTIVES, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

  • Okay, I have no idea if this is any good. Word-of-mouth so far is that it is seems to be better than the first impressions I had from the trailer. In fact, several friends have said that they enjoyed it on social media. But does it need a New Yorker think-piece from Jill Lepore (who just won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for History) titled, “What ‘The Sheep Detectives’ Doesn’t Understand About Sheep”? Someone behind the paywall can tell me if it is worth it.

• SHREK 25TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC.

• STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

  • Well, here’s some more if you want it.

• SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, THE at AMC, Palace, Point.

• TEKKONKINKREET 20TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC and Point.

  • A 4K remaster of the 2006 anime feature film based on the manga of the same name (originally published 1993-94).

• TOP GUN 40TH ANNIVERSARY at Palace, Point.

• TOP GUN: MAVERICK RE-RELEASE at Point.

  • You know, when I finally caught up with this, I really regretted not having seen it on a big screen. I’m not quite sure if I’ll take the time to do so this particular week, but it is very tempting.

• TUNER at AMC, Palace, Point.

  • Read Rob Thomas’s review here. Watch Rob and I discuss Tuner in a video to be posted on Wednesday.

• VANISHING POINT at AMC.

  • Chinese crime suspense drama about a series of disturbing incidents at a usually quiet apartment building.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Wisconsin 48 Hour Film Project

• THE WISCONSIN 48 B.O.W.s (Best of Weekend), Sunday, June 7, 1:00pm, Crucible Madison, 3112 Commercial Avenue.

• The 48hr Film Project folks will screen the films produced back on the weekend of May 17 that have advanced to the “Yes We Cannes” competition.

Mills Folly Microcinema

• OUR PSYCHEDELIC NATURE: SHORT FILMS BY EMILY PELSTRING, Wednesday, June 10, 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston Street, Suite 100.

• Mills Folly Microcinema welcomes Canadian artist and animator Emily Pelstring for an in-person visit and screening of her recent work.

UW Cinematheque

• UW Cinematheque will resume with “Bleak Week” from Wednesday, June 24 through Tuesday, June 30.

• The remaining summer schedule is now posted at the UW-Cinematheque website.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• MIDNIGHT COWBOY (Joh , 1993), Wednesday May 20, 6:30pm.

Tuesday weekly posts feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

Sometimes a little good news can really brighten your outlook. I’m very happy to report the return of the Highway 18 Outdoor Theatre near Jefferson, Wisconsin.

The first season under new ownership begins Thursday, May 21 with a double feature of The Greatest Showman and Bohemian Rhapsody. It looks like they’re slowly re-vamping the theater’s website, highway18.com, but there’s no schedule information beyond this week posted yet.

You can read about the new owner, Jason Feige, and his plans for the theater at the Leader Independent online local newspaper. It appears that there will be a new push to keep the Highway 18 Outdoor Theater Facebook page active and updated.

This is all very good news. I’ve been a big fan of the Highway 18 Outdoor Theater since I took a tour of all the drive-in theaters near Madison for an Isthmus article back in 2001 (see first page, below). In recent years, leading up to its (now temporary) closing in 2025, I tried to make it to Highway 18 at least once a summer.

The key to going to the drive-in is not to care about what is playing. So I know what you’re thinking when you see this week’s double feature: do I really want to drive all the way out there to see The Greatest Showman and Bohemian Rhapsody? The answer is yes, you do. If you’ve been saying to yourself, “I should finally go to a drive-in movie,” don’t wait for the perfect or ideal double feature to do it.

Starting next week, I’ll include the Highway 18 double features in the Now Showing listings. And maybe I’ll have some updates to the tips for drive-in first-timers that I wrote about back in 2001. Stay tuned!

Now Playing In Madison: May 19–May 25, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another valuable source that posts on Wednesdays with now playing lists is The Horizon Line Madison. When possible, I will provide links to reviews by Rob Thomas at Not That Rob Thomas, who gets around to far more proper reviews than I do.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• MENACE II SOCIETY (Allen & Albert Hughes, 1993), Wednesday May 20, 6:30pm.

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

• BEING TOWARDS DEATH at AMC.

  • Chinese comedy-drama about a man who survives a suicide attempt, and takes a job as a caregiver in a cancer ward. The critically ill patients inspire the man to convert an ambulence into a “wish-fulfillment tour bus.”

• BILLIE EILISH - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR at Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • Billie Eilish concert film. I have to admit, Billie Eilish is one of the few current female pop stars who I enjoy listening to during interviews. But I have mixed responses to most of the music, so I’ll pass on this one for now.

• CORPORATE RETREAT at Point.

  • Horror film that appears to tap into everyone’s contempt for corporate culture.

• CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON at AMC.

  • Worth seeing on the big screen if you didn’t get a chance back in 2000.

• DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• GODZILLA MINUS ONE at AMC.

  • Re-release of 2023 film which managed to win an Oscar for special effects. I actually liked this film quite a bit, but my preference of recent Godzilla films remains Shin Godzilla (2016)

• GREY, IN THE at Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • If you have been to any film in any theater in the last month or so, there is a very good chance that you’ve seen this trailer for the latest Guy Ritchie action drama starring Henry Cavil, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Eliza Gonzalez. Might be fun, but appears to be getting mediocre to negative reviews.

• HOKUM at Palace.

• I LOVE BOOSTERS at Point.

  • Crime comedy from rapper/filmmaker Boots Riley, lead vocalist of The Coup, whose Sorry to Bother You (2018) was a surprise hit. Good buzz on this from advance screenings.

• IS GOD IS at Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • I seem to have had the wrong impression about this last week…it is actually getting some decent reviews, 98% on Rotten Tomatoes in fact. It still seems a bit over the top, but I’m intrigued.

• KARUPPU at AMC.

  • Indian Tamil-language courtroom drama / action film with mythological fantasy elements, starring Prakash Raj and Suriya.

• LEGALLY BLONDE 25TH ANNIVERSARY at Point.

• MAMMA MIA! at Flix.

• MAY CONTAIN: MY LIFE at AMC.

  • Documentary about the dangers associate with living with food allergies.

• MICHAEL at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • Apparently people didn’t know how much they needed a Michael Jackson music-filled bio-pic that doesn’t go beyond the Bad tour in 1988. I guess that makes sense to someone my age, I seem to recall disliking almost everything in the Michael Jacksons ouvre after (and including) Scorsese’s Bad video. As of this writing, Michael is the fourth-highest grossing film of 2026.

• MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM HATHAWAY: THE SORCERY OF NYMPH CIRCE at AMC, Palace, and Point.

• MORTAL KOMBAT II at Flix, Palace, and Point.

• OBSESSION at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • Horror film with the ol’ Be Careful What You Wish For theme. Young man buys a supernatural toy and wishes that his crush would fall hopelessly in love with him. Dude, you know you should have added “while respecting ourselves as individuals and providing sufficient space when needed.” This seems to be getting a strong response from viewers beyond horror fans.

• PASSENGER at AMC, Flix, Palace and Point.

  • Supernatural horror film about a young couple on a road trip who are pursued by a demonic stalker. That old saw. Latest film from André Øvredal (Trollhunter 2016, Voyage of the Demeter 2023)

• PATI PATNI AUR WOH DO at AMC.

  • Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy, a “spiritual sequel” to Pati Patni Aur Woh (2019, translates as “Husband, Wife, and Her”).

• PRESSURE at Point and Palace.

  • Adaptation of a play by David Haig, about the meteorologist James Stagg (Andrew Scott) who advises General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) on whether or not to proceed with the D-Day invasion. Early Memorial Day access, 2:00pm screenings on May 25.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • Read Rob Thomas’s review.

• SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY 4K, THE at AMC.

  • Can’t lose with Studio Ghibli. This time it’s directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, loosely adapted from The Borrowers by Mary Norton.

• SHEEP DETECTIVES, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • Okay, I have no idea if this is any good. Word-of-mouth so far is that it is seems to be better than the first impressions I had from the trailer. In fact, several friends have said that they enjoyed it on social media. But does it need a New Yorker think-piece from Jill Lepore (who just won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for History) titled, “What ‘The Sheep Detectives’ Doesn’t Understand About Sheep”? Someone behind the paywall can tell me if it is worth it.

• SHREK 25TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU at Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • Well, here’s some more if you want it.

• SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, THE at Flix, Palace, and Point.

• THAT THEY MAY BE ONE at Palace and Point.

  • Faith-based documentary examining the concept of the Holy Spirit across denominational lines. A Fathom presentation.

• TOP GUN 40TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Palace, and Point.

• TOP GUN: MAVERICK RE-RELEASE at AMC, Palace, and Point.

  • You know, when I finally caught up with this, I really regretted not having seen it on a big screen. I’m not quite sure if I’ll take the time to do so this particular week, but it is very tempting.

• WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN, THE at AMC, Palace, and Point.

  • Yesterday I posted a review/discussion with Rob Thomas about the film, and you can also read Rob’s review at Not That Rob Thomas. It’s an interesting history lesson following a fictional character inspired by Russian avant-garde theater director / businessman / politician / bureaucrat Vladislav Surkov. But a history lesson does not always translate into a compelling drama.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

UW Cinematheque & WUD Film

• UW Cinematheque will resume with “Bleak Week” from Wednesday, June 24 through Tuesday, June 30.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

What was the other film we discussed? Well, I suppose I shouldn’t really worry about “spoilers” now that the mystery screening has already happened. But they always say “Leave ‘em wanting more,” so I’ll hold off on telling you, except to say that we will post the next review closer to the film’s nationwide release date on May 29.

Our method of operations for future Mystery Movie / Screen Unseen films will be to record the reviews and hold on to them until closer to the film’s local release date. In the case of The Wizard of the Kremlin, the turnaround time was a bit too tight to record and release something before its opening weekend. But you didn’t go to see it this weekend, did you? Alright then, so we’re not too late posting this today.

If you want to read more of Rob’s thoughts about The Wizard of the Kremlin, take a look at his written review at Not That Rob Thomas, posted last week on May 13.

As I mention in the video, I’m finding the mystery screenings very interesting. There’s something to be said for just going to a movie in the theaters, regardless of what the movie is. One reason I tend not to put together a Top Ten list of films at the end of any given year is because normally it would be a narrow list taken from a narrow range of films that I was already predisposed to see. I don’t plan on seeing a sufficient number of mystery films to dramatically alter what will be my personal favorites at the end of this year. But I think I’ll be in a better position to talk about the range of films released this year if I see more films that I’m not predisposed to see.

I’m reminded of an anecdote shared at film scholar David Bordwell’s memorial service, when a few speakers discussed the experience of going to see films with him. “These films aren’t going to watch themselves,” Bordwell would remind his filmgoing colleagues to implore them to go out and see a film with him. Regardless of my final opinion of these mystery films, I feel like I’m more genuinely fulfilling my vocation by going to the theater and supporting them.

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Tuesday weekly posts feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

As I mentioned last week, starting today I’m going to experiment with publishing the regular weekly posts, including the Now Showing in Madison listings, on Tuesdays. I needed to reclaim part of my weekend, namely lazy Sundays, and Sundays are hard to keep lazy with a Monday deadline looming every week. I just needed more me time.

The first Tuesday post today needs to be very short, however, because several projects have deadlines approaching and I need to focus on them this week. And unfortunately, I can’t wring much content out of them at this point, because it is too early to make any official announcements about them:

• I’m selecting and booking the 2026-2027 Duck Soup silent cinema series at Overture Center, with some deadlines looming because the season needs to be announced soon. It’s coming together. My “Plan A” is more or less set, but there are many moving parts that have to be worked out over the next few days. Meanwhile, don’t forget about The Signal Tower (1924) on Saturday, June 13.

• As many of you know, I’m now Assistant Curator, Film and Art Video at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. There are not one but two exciting developments in progress at MMoCA. One should be announced soon, and you should see some new ongoing programming in the next few weeks. The other is in its early stages, but I’ll need to spend some time on it the next few weeks if it is ever going to come together!

• Mills Folly Microcinema has received a Dane Arts grant for its 2026-2027 season. Now I just have to figure out those programs as well! Luckily, Mills Folly will have some guest programmers for some upcoming screenings. Meanwhile, don’t forget that the next Project Projection screening will be Wednesday, July 29, and the submission form is already posted.

• And I have a few video ideas in the hopper for Moving Image Madison, both recorded conversations with Rob Thomas, and some video essay-type-things that involve learning some new tech and editing skills. A note posted at Not That Rob Thomas provides a pretty good hint about what we’ll be discussing at some time in the future. But the next topic will be a film set to be released this weekend.

Okay, I’ll stop here and get back to work. Just one more note: Don’t forget about tonight’s Laundry Film Screening, part of the LAB^4 community programming project at Arts + Literature Laboratory, which starts at 6:00pm (so unfortunately I can’t make it!).

Now Playing In Madison: May 12–May 18, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another valuable source that posts on Wednesdays with now playing lists is The Horizon Line Madison. When possible, I will provide links to reviews by Rob Thomas at Not That Rob Thomas, who gets around to far more proper reviews than I do.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

Arts + Literature Laboratory

• LAUNDRY FILM SCREENING, Wednesday, May 13, 6:00pm

  • As part of LAB^4 community programming at ALL, artist India Johnson has curated a selection of short films on the topic of laundry, including Clotheslines by Roberta Cantow.

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

• AMERICAN IN PARIS, AN at AMC.

  • Vincente Minnelli / Gene Kelly classic. Should be fun on the big screen!

• ANIMAL FARM at AMC.

  • Hmm, Orwell adaptation distributed by faith-based distributor Angel. Interesting mix. Directed by everyone’s favorite motion-capture actor, Andy Serkis. Surprise: Opening week viewers are criticizing the film for changes from the original book.

• ATTACK ON TITAN: THE LAST ATTACK at AMC and Point.

  • My understanding is that this is comprised of final two special episodes (The Final Chapters Part 1 & 2) into one 2-hour and 40-minute feature, with improved visuals and sound.

• BEST IN SHOW at Flix.

• BILLIE EILISH - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • Billie Eilish concert film. I have to admit, Billie Eilish is one of the few current female pop stars who I enjoy listening to during interviews. But I have mixed responses to most of the music, so I’ll pass on this one for now.

• CRAZY RICH ASIANS at AMC.

• CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON at AMC.

  • If you haven’t seen this on the big screen, you might want to consider catching this at AMC Fitchburg. Looks like it will be a week-long run starting Friday, May 15.

• DEEP WATER at AMC and Palace.

• DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• DRAMA, THE at AMC and Point.

• FRIED GREEN TOMATOES 35TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• HOKUM at AMC, Palace, and Point.

• IN THE GREY at AMC, Palace, and Point.

  • If you have been to any film in any theater in the last month or so, there is a very good chance that you’ve seen this trailer for the latest Guy Ritchie action drama starring Henry Cavil, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Eliza Gonzalez. Might be fun.

• IS GOD IS at AMC, Palace, and Point.

  • Another one in heavy trailer rotation if you’ve been in the theaters this month. On the surface this seems like pretty predictable stuff, but the cast just might bring the right energy to make it interesting.

• KARUPPU at AMC.

  • Indian Tamil-language courtroom drama / action film with mythological fantasy elements, starring Prakash Raj and Suriya.

• KRISHNAVATARAM at AMC.

  • Indian Hindi-language mythological drama. Looks like the final screening is Wednesday night. Presented with no subtitles (but Variety says a English dubbed version will be released in North America in a few weeks).

• LIFEHACK at Palace and Point.

  • Ugh, there’s now a term for films whose characters spend most of their time online or in chats: “screenlife action thriller.” Sorry, just I threw up a little in my mouth. But I guess I should post the trailer.

• MĀRAMA at AMC.

  • Horror film set in 1859 North Yorkshire, about a young Maori woman who arrives from New Zealand to serve as a governess for a wealthy man’s granddaughter. This appears to offer more than the current wave of typical horror films, but I’m a little skeptical. Update: This is getting decent reviews.

• MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE at Palace.

• MICHAEL at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • Apparently people didn’t know how much they needed a Michael Jackson music-filled bio-pic that doesn’t go beyond the Bad tour in 1988. I guess that makes sense to someone my age, I seem to recall disliking almost everything in the Michael Jacksons ouvre after (and including) Scorsese’s Bad video. As of this writing, Michael is the fourth-highest grossing film of 2026.

• MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM HATHAWAY: THE SORCERY OF NYMPH CIRCE at AMC, Palace, and Point.

  • A pretty cool trailer, nearly incomprehensible if you are unfamiliar with the franchise.

• MORTAL KOMBAT II at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• NEGLECTED at AMC.

  • Josh Duhamel and Dylan Sprouse star as a detective (Guess what? He’s retiring soon) and serial killer in this cat-and-mouse crime drama. This seems like it will go straight to video-on-demand after a nominal theatrical release.

• OBSESSION at AMC, Palace, and Point.

  • Horror film with the ol’ Be Careful What You Wish For theme. Young man buys a supernatural toy and wishes that his crush would fall hopelessly in love with him. Dude, you know you should have added “while respecting ourselves as individuals and providing sufficient space when needed.”

• PATI PATNI AUR WOH DO at AMC.

  • Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy, a “spiritual sequel” to Pati Patni Aur Woh (2019, translates as “Husband, Wife, and Her”).

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • Read Rob Thomas’s review.

• SHEEP DETECTIVES, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • Okay, I have no idea if this is any good. Word-of-mouth so far is that it is seems to be better than the first impressions I had from the trailer. But does it need a New Yorker think-piece from Jill Lepore (who just won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for History) titled, “What ‘The Sheep Detectives’ Doesn’t Understand About Sheep”? Someone behind the paywall can tell me if it is worth it.

• SHREK 25TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! at Point.

• SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME THE MOVIE: TEARS OF THE AZURE SEA at AMC.

• TOP GUN 40TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Palace, and Point.

• TOP GUN: MAVERICK RE-RELEASE at AMC, Palace, and Point.

• WINTER HYMNS at Flix.

  • Return engagement for this Wisconsin’s Own film that played at the Wisconsin Film Festival. Directed by Nathan Deming, who was one of the filmmmakers leading the drive for a new state film office, Film Wisconsin. Read Rob Thomas’s review.

• WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN, THE at AMC, Palace, and Point.

  • You might just hear more from me (and a certain someone) about this recent AMC Secret Cinema film. What I will say, for now, is that Putin (Jude Law) is not on-screen as much as he seems he might be from this trailer. And the trailer does not capture how many cups of tea are poured at meetings during the film. It’s an interesting history lesson following a fictional character inspired by Russian avant-garde theater director / businessman / politician / bureaucrat Vladislav Surkov. But a history lesson does not always translate into a compelling drama.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

UW Cinematheque & WUD Film

• UW Cinematheque will resume with “Bleak Week” from Wednesday, June 24 through Tuesday, June 30.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• MENACE II SOCIETY (Allen & Albert Hughes, 1993), Wednesday May 20, 6:30pm.

Weekly posts feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve missed two Monday (self-imposed) publication deadlines. Multiple ongoing projects and schedule changes have led me to value my time off on Sundays, and I’ve taken advantage of opportunities to rest rather than consider the weekend as “workdays” for side projects. But I want to make sure that the Now Showing listings appear early in the week, so I’m going to make a change in the publication schedule.

These weekly free posts, which will include the Now Showing listings, will appear on Tuesdays starting next week, May 12.

Support your local artists, musicians, and filmmakers!

A piano recital by Deirdre Brenner and Sibila Konstantinova (pictured above) on Sunday, May 10, 12:30pm in the Collins Recital Hall within the Hamel Music Center on campus will also include film and video work by Blake Barit, Charlie Borowicz, Philip Denvir, TJ Hill, Claudia Krogmeier, Tina Rose Rea Meister and Blue Rachapradit.

The concert combines the original 2-piano version of the celebrated seven movement work, The Planets, by composer Gustav Holst (composed prior to the better known orchestral version), with a world-premiere 2-piano arrangement by Dobrinka Tabakova of “Tectonic” from her Earth Suite, composed originally in 2018.

“Each movement of the program will be presented alongside an original video exploring the ideas which inspired these compositions,” explains the promotional material for the program. The recital is free and open to the public, and it will also stream live on YouTube (I’m not sure how the film and video work will be handled for the livestream).

At Arts + Literature Laboratory, LAB^4 project artist India Johnson will curate a program of laundry-themed films on Wednesday, May 13 at 6:00pm. The free program will include Clotheslines by Roberta Cantow, I always do my collars first by Conni Castille and Allison Bohl, and The Washing Society by Lizzie Olesker and Lynne Sachs. You can find more program details at the Arts + Literature Laboratory website.

While this isn’t a screening of local films by local filmmakers, the event emerges from an ongoing local project, the LAB^4 community curation project at Arts + Literature Laboratory. The curator for this screening, India Johnson, is a research-based artist working across craft, artist publishing, and social practice. You can read an interesting essay on Clotheslines by Neyat Yohannes at the Criterion Collection website.

The Wisconsin 48 Hour Film Project has announced the date and location for its next screenings: Sunday, May 17, Marcus Palace Theaters. They will screen three unique programs at 12:00pm, 3:00pm, and 6:00pm. The broad theme for this round of films was “Movie Magic,” and filmmakers drew specific genres and were on the clock to produce the films on May 1.

I had the opportunity to be a judge for the last round of 48 Hour Films, and the whole process is a great deal of fun. Tickets for these screenings tend to sell out (you have the filmmaking teams, casts, and friends to compete with for seats). So, if you’re interested in going, I’d recommend purchasing tickets well in advance.

Looking ahead to June, the Children’s Film Academy of Madison (C-FAM) will hold a screening of their recent film projects, Wrestling and Small Time Rock Stars on Monday, June 1 at 6:30pm at Marcus Point Cinemas. I hope to find out more about these projects and this screening as the date approaches, and I’m sure we will find more updates at the C-FAM Instagram account (@cfam608_).

Now Playing In Madison: May 7–May 11, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another valuable source that posts on Wednesdays with now playing lists is The Horizon Line Madison.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

UW Cinematheque & WUD Film

• Campus film screenings have ended for the Spring Semester.

  • UW Cinematheque will resume with “Bleak Week” from Wednesday, June 24 through Tuesday, June 30.

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

• AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: MAY 11 at AMC.

• ANIMAL FARM at AMC, Point, Flix.

  • Hmm, Orwell adaptation distributed by faith-based distributor Angel. Interesting mix. Directed by everyone’s favorite motion-capture actor, Andy Serkis. Surprise: Opening week viewers are criticizing the film for changes from the original book.

• BILLIE EILISH - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

  • Billie Eilish concert film. I have to admit, Billie Eilish is one of the few current female pop stars who I enjoy listening to during interviews. But I have mixed responses to most of the music, so I’ll pass on this one for now.

• CABIN IN THE WOODS, THE at AMC.

• CASA GRANDE at AMC.

• CRAZY RICH ASIANS at AMC.

• DEEP WATER at AMC, Point, Palace.

• DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, THE at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

  • A sequel to a 2006 film you’ve probably heard about, even if you haven’t seen it.

• DRAMA, THE at AMC, Point.

  • This does appear to be staying for another week, so I hope to catch up with it before “the twist” gets ruined for me.

• ERUPCJA at AMC.

  • Fresh from its screening at the Wisconsin Film Festival. Not many screenings left for this one before it leaves Friday.

• EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE at AMC.

• FRIED GREEN TOMATOES 35TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

• HOKUM at AMC, Point, Palace.

• HOPPERS at AMC, Point.

• IRON MAIDEN: BURNING AMBITION at Point, Palace.

  • This would make a very interesting double feature with the Billie Eilish concert documentary. This appears to be a right-down-the-middle documentary of the band best known for “Run For the Hills,” and Eddie.

• KRISHNAVATARAM at AMC.

  • Indian Hindi-language mythological drama about Lord Krishna. Interestingly, AMC Fitchburg (according to its website listings) will be screening this film in Hindi with no English subtitles. (But the film is being released in multiple Indian-language dubs around the world this weekend.) This is the first part (“The Heart / Hridayam”) of a planned trilogy. Apparently an English-language version will be released in North America in a few weeks.

• LABYRINTH at Point.

• LEE CRONIN’S THE MUMMY at AMC.

• MARAMA at AMC.

  • Horror film set in 1859 North Yorkshire, about a young Maori woman who arrives from New Zealand to serve as a governess for a wealthy man’s granddaughter. This appears to offer more than the current wave of typical horror films, but I’m a little skeptical.

• MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE at Point, Palace.

• MICHAEL at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

  • Apparently people didn’t know how much they needed a Michael Jackson music-filled bio-pic that doesn’t go beyond the Bad tour in 1988. I guess that makes sense to someone my age, I seem to recall disliking almost everything in the Michael Jacksons ouvre after (and including) Scorsese’s Bad video. As of this writing, Michael is the fourth-highest grossing film of 2026.

• MORTAL KOMBAT at Point, Palace.

• MORTAL KOMBAT II at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

• MOTHER MARY at AMC.

  • I think I’m going to run out of time to see this before it leaves after Thursday night. But it has received decidedly mixed to negative reviews. Still, I’m curious.

• NEGLECTED at AMC.

  • Josh Duhamel and Dylan Sprouse star as a detective (Guess what? He’s retiring soon) and serial killer in this cat-and-mouse crime drama. This seems like it will go straight to video-on-demand after a nominal theatrical release.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

• RZA’S ONE SPOON OF CHOCOLATE at AMC.

  • Last screening will be tonight. Saw this with Rob Thomas, and you can read his review at Not That Rob Thomas. I thought it had many interesting traits and details worthy of discussion, but I also admit that it is not particularly good.

• SHEEP DETECTIVES, THE at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

• STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! at Point.

  • Documentary about Amy Goodman, host of the progressive radio news program Democracy Now. Played at the Wisconsin Film Festival, and now returning for limited release. Read Rob Thomas’s review.

• SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, THE at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

• THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME THE MOVIE: TEARS OF THE AZURE SEA at AMC, Point.

• WINTER HYMNS at Flix.

  • Return engagement for this Wisconsin’s Own film that played at the Wisconsin Film Festival. Directed by Nathan Deming, who was one of the filmmmakers leading the drive for a new state film office, Film Wisconsin.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• MENACE II SOCIETY (Allen & Albert Hughes, 1993), Wednesday May 20, 6:30pm.

Scroll down for Now Showing in Madison, April 29–May 4, 2026

Monday posts feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

As you can probably sense from the delay for this week’s post, I’ve been a little short on time this week. So the Now Playing list below is bare bones, with some trailers for new films but not my usual snarky comments. But I do want to point out some events tonight and Saturday which will feature work by young filmmakers.

First up, tonight’s Project Projection screening at Mills Folly Microcinema, 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston Street, Suite 100. I talked about this showcase for local film and video last week, and tonight’s edition will feature several familiar filmmakers if you’ve attended past Project Projection screenings. But I want to point out two young filmmakers who will screen their work tonight as an introduction to this post’s theme: young filmmakers showing their work this week.

Sherif Newegy (“Shico”) is a Madison West High School student who is already a veteran of Project Projection screenings. He has also presented a program of his recent experimental films at Side Room Cinematheque at Aftershock Games. Sherif continues to expand his visual vocabulary with his more recent work, and I particularly admire his interest (and ability) to explore the texture of his images with limited technical means. Tonight, Sherif will screen a new experimental short, Aversion, which he describes as a “wrestling match between body and mind.”

More on the narrative end of the spectrum, Keason Griffin will present a 10-minute excerpt from a feature film project which draws inspiration from popular genre filmmaking (and a popular horror franchise), Five Nights at Freddy’s 3: The Mangle Project. “When I was 11, I started making movies and as the years went on, I have improved and had more fun with my projects,” Keason explains in his program note, “I am excited to show this.”

Filmmaker Gretta Wing Miller (whose work will also be featured tonight) explained to me, “I worked with [Keason] a few years ago in an after school video program at Goodman Center and he understood the concepts instantly. He was the prime mover in several productions! Keasion was the winner of $1K ‘scholarship’ from my neighbor Karen Faster’s film fest at Barrymore two years ago.”

Unfortunately, our screening tonight is at the same time as another screening of work by young filmmakers, which I only found out about at the last minute. At Channel3000.com, Corey Moen provides an overview of an inaugural festival of short documentaries about local history produced by students at Madison West High School.

“Students in four sections of U.S. History Honors at the Madison Metropolitan School District’s West High School will premiere 12 local history documentaries for “Our City, Our Voices,” as part of the school’s first-ever Youth Media project collaboration with PBS Wisconsin,” Moen explains. The screening will begin at 6:30pm tonight at West High School. I hope to follow up on this story and see if there might be a way to set up another opportunity to see the films.

Finally, another set of filmmakers will present their work at the Communication Arts Showcase on Saturday, May 2, 7:00pm, at the Union South Marquee Theater. I’m hoping to attend this screening, but if you want to attend too I would advise getting there early. Student filmmakers have a lot of friends who want to see the film, too!

The program will feature a range of projects from Communication Arts courses at UW-Madison. But the Showcase concludes with two new 30-minute films produced in the capstone film production class, Com Arts 659, taught by Erik Gunneson. Each year the class is split into two groups, who form production companies to produce the films. This year’s films are Fragile, produced by Redacted Pictures, and What it Takes produced by Fluorine Films.

If you want to get a behind the scenes look at these films, take a look at the Instagram accounts for Redacted Pictures (@redacted.pictures) and Fluorine Films (@fluorinefilms), and check out the links in each of their Instagram bios for opportunities to donate funds for their production budgets.

Be sure to support local filmmaking, even just by attending screenings of local work!

Now Playing In Madison: April 29–May 4, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another Now Playing source that posts on Wednesdays is The Horizon Line Madison.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

Mills Folly Microcinema at Arts + Literature Laboratory

• PROJECT PROJECTION: LOCAL FILM AND VIDEO, Wednesday, April 29, 7:00pm, 111 S. Livingston Street, Suite 100.

  • See notes above.

UW Cinematheque

The following films and events are scheduled to play at UW Cinematheque between Thursday, April 30, and Sunday, May 3, 2026, listed in chronological order:

• THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, 4070 Vilas Hall, Friday, May 1, 7 p.m.

  • Terry Gilliam, USA, 1989, 126 min.

• COMMUNICATION ARTS SHOWCASE - MAY 2026, Union South Marquee Theater, Saturday, May 2, 7 p.m.

  • Note location, Union South Marquee Theater. Co-presented by Wisconsin Union Directorate Film Committee. See notes above.

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

• AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: MAY 3 at AMC.

• AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: MAY 4 at AMC.

• ANIMAL FARM at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

  • Hmm, Orwell adaptation distributed by faith-based distributor Angel. Interesting mix. Directed by everyone’s favorite motion-capture actor, Andy Serkis.

• BILLIE EILISH - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR EARLY ACCESS at Palace.

• BUSBOYS at Palace.

• CABIN FEVER at AMC.

• CASA GRANDE at AMC.

• DEEP WATER at AMC, Palace, Point.

• DESERT WARRIOR at AMC, Point.

• DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, THE at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• DRAMA, THE at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• EK DIN at AMC.

• ERUPCJA at AMC.

• EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE at AMC.

• FIGHT CLUB 4K REMASTER at AMC.

• FUZE at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• HOKUM at AMC, Palace, Point.

• HOPPERS at AMC, Palace, Point.

• I SWEAR at AMC, Point.

• LEE CRONIN’S THE MUMMY at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• LORNE at AMC.

• MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE at Palace.

• METROPOLITAN OPERA: EUGENE ONEGIN, THE at Palace, Point.

• MICHAEL at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• MOTHER MARY at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• NORMAL at AMC, Palace, Point.

• ONE SPOON OF CHOCOLATE, RZA’S at AMC.

  • I’ve seen this (it was the Mystery Movie this past Monday), and I have some thoughts. But for now, go ahead and read Rob Thomas’s review.

• OVER YOUR DEAD BODY at AMC, Palace, Point.

• PAST LIVES at AMC.

• POWER TO THE PEOPLE: JOHN & YOKO LIVE IN NYC at Point.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• SECRET FLIX at Flix.

• SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 35TH ANNIVERSARY, THE at Palace, Point, Flix.

• SPEED RACER at AMC.

• STORY OF EVERYTHING, THE at Palace, Point.

• SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, THE at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME THE MOVIE: TEARS OF THE AZURE SEA at AMC, Palace, Point.

• THREE AMIGOS! at Flix.

• WHISPER OF THE HEART 4K at AMC.

• WINTER HYMNS at Flix.

  • Return engagement for this Wisconsin’s Own film that played at the Wisconsin Film Festival.

• YOU, ME & TUSCANY at AMC, Palace.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• MENACE II SOCIETY (Allen & Albert Hughes, 1993), Wednesday May 20, 6:30pm.

You can read Rob’s full review of Fuze on his Substack, which he posted on Wednesday. I’m not sure if I’m going to post a written review for the reasons you will hear in the video (I don’t like to be a negative Nelly all the time). Certain areas in our views of Fuze overlap, while others diverge. But we agree that the “Mystery Movie” concept at Marcus Theaters (or “Screen Unseen” at AMC, or “Secret Flix” at Flix Brewhouse) is a fun and reasonably affordable way to expand the range of movies you see while also supporting local theaters.

One final note: We mention that most of the Mystery Movies are on Monday nights, but I just noticed that there is a “Family Edition” of the Marcus Mystery Movie on Sunday, May 3 at 2:00pm.

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Monday posts feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

I’m going to keep this short and sweet today, because I’m hoping to post a video-essay-type-thing later this week (or very soon)!

The next Project Projection screening of local work at Mills Folly Microcinema will be Wednesday, April 29 at 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston Street, Suite 100. If you’re interested in submitting your own work, the deadline is this Friday, April 24 (and there is even some wiggle room on that, if you’re working on something.)

Our general focus is on experimental films, short documentaries, animation, and music videos, but we often end up showing work that doesn’t strictly fit into those categories. You can get a sense of what the Project Projection screenings are like by reading Grant Phipps’ piece published in Tone Madison ahead of a Project Projection screening last October.

To submit your work, fill out the Airtable entry form on the Project Projection event page at the Arts + Literature Laboratory Laboratory website. If accepted, you will need to be able to deliver an exhibition file to me early next week (I set the deadline very close to the screening date, but I’m confident that I can swing the turn around time!).

In related news, Mills Folly Microcinema will be receiving a Dane Arts grant to continue its programming in 2026-2027. So stay tuned for more experimental film programming in the coming year. (We’re still waiting to hear about our Madison Arts Commission grant proposal, so I hope to share more good news on that front soon.)

You don’t have to be a local filmmaker to take part in Project Projection screenings, it’s also important for the community to attend the screenings and support local artists. So mark your calendar now, and join us next week!

Now Playing In Madison: April 20-27, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another Now Playing source that posts on Wednesdays is The Horizon Line Madison.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• KISS ME DEADLY (Robert Aldrich, 1955), Tuesday, April 21, 6:30pm.

UW Cinematheque

• YOUNG MR. LINCOLN, 4070 Vilas Hall, Friday, April 24, 7 p.m.

  • John Ford, USA, 1939, 100 min.

• GREEN SNAKE, 4070 Vilas Hall, Saturday, April 25, 7 p.m.

  • Tsui Hark, Hong Kong, 1993, 99 min. Following up on last week’s screening of Tsui Hark’s The Blade (1995), this will be a unique screening of a 35mm print from the David Bordwell collection at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.

• MICHAEL CLAYTON, Chazen Museum, Sunday, April 26, 2 p.m.

  • Tony Gilroy, USA, 2007, 120 min.

Wisconsin Union Directorate Film

• PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (2012), Union South Marquee Theater, Thursday, 4/23, 6:30 p.m.

• SONG OF THE SEA (2014) [OPEN CAPTION], Union South Marquee Theater, Friday, 4/24, 6:30 p.m.

• REDLINE (2009), Union South Marquee Theater, Friday, 4/24, 9 p.m.

• ARCO (2025), Union South Marquee Theater, Saturday, 4/25, 6:30 p.m.

• SON OF THE WHITE MARE (1981), Union South Marquee Theater, Saturday, 4/25, 9 p.m.

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

• AMC SCREAM UNSEEN: APRIL 20 at AMC.

• AMERICAN YOUNGBOY at Palace and Point.

  • NBA Youngboy concert film, limited dates and screening times.

• BHOOTH BANGLA at AMC.

  • Indian Hindi-language horror comedy starring Akshay Kumar.

• BLUE ANGELS, THE at AMC.

• BRIDESMAIDS: 15TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Palace, and Point.

• BUSBOYS at Palace and Point.

  • I can’t imagine a less appealing idea than a buddy comedy starring David Spade (ugh) and Theo Von (double ugh). I just threw up a little in my mouth.

• CHRISTOPHERS, THE at AMC and Point.

  • Fresh off its screening at the Wisconsin Film Festival, the latest from Steven Soderbergh stars Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel (who is also in Mother Mary this week).

• DACOIT: A LOVE STORY at AMC.

  • Indian romantic action drama, shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi. The screening today (Monday) is in Telugu, but unfortunately today is the film’s last at AMC Fitchburg.

• DAZED AND CONFUSED at Flix.

• DESERT WARRIOR at AMC.

  • Apparently the most expensive film to be produced in Saudi Arabia (Wikipedia), but directed by English filmmaker Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and starring Anthony Mackie (Captain America: Brave New World), so let’s see if this turned out like the LIV tour.

• DRAMA, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• EVENING WITH NICOLE SCHERZINGER: LIVE AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL, AN at AMC.

• EVIL DEAD, THE (1981) at AMC.

• EXIT 8 at AMC and Point.

• FACES OF DEATH at Flix.

• FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF at AMC.

• FIGHT CLUB 4K REMASTER at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• FUZE at AMC, Palace, and Point.

  • British crime thriller starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass; 28 Years Later, directed by David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water)

• GARDENER, THE at Palace and Point.

  • Radha Mitchell (Melinda and Melinda; Man on Fire) stars as the heir to a cosmetics empire who fights against a hostile takeover. She seeks refuge in a remote mountaintop cottage. I’m guessing she discovers something about herself when she meets a gardener.

• HOPPERS at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• I SWEAR at AMC and Point.

  • British biopic about John Davidson, a Scotsman with a severe case of Tourette syndrome. You might recall the recent story of the real-life John Davidson at this year’s BAFTA awards. But lead actor Robert Aramayo received a BAFTA for his performance.

• KAPODISTRIAS (THE GOVERNOR) at Point.

  • Limited screenings (Fathom Entertainment presentation) of this historical drama about Ioannis Kapodistrias (1776-1831), a Greek statesman and politician.

• LEE CRONIN’S THE MUMMY at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA, A at AMC.

  • French comedy, with a gawd awful premise of a father and son escaping the police by hiding in a summer camp for young adults with disabilities. As Preston Sturges put it, “The French, they are a funny race.”

• LORNE at AMC and Point.

  • Documentary about Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels. I wonder how many comedians will imitate his voice during their interviews.

• MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE at Palace and Point.

• MICHAEL at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • Michael Jackson biopic. Shouldn’t be problematic at all, since it covers the Jackson Five years through his early solo career, right? (Well, at least through Thriller, if that is still early solo.)

• MILE END KICKS at AMC.

  • Canadian romantic comedy, written and directed by Chandler Levack (I Like Movies, 2022). Premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

• MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL at Flix.

• MOTHER MARY at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

  • The latest film from David Lowery (The Green Knight; Ain’t Them Bodies Saints), a psychological thriller starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel (who is also in The Christophers this week). Will this play long enough in town for me to see it before it leaves?

• NORMAL at AMC, Palace, and Point.

  • Fresh off of its Wisconsin Film Festival screening. Action film starring Bob Odenkirk.

• OVER YOUR DEAD BODY at AMC, Palace, and Point.

  • Action comedy remake of the Norwegian film The Trip (2021), starring Jason Segel and Samara Weaving. Directed by Jorma Taccone, one third of The Lonely Island, whose two feature films have been MacGruber and Popstar: Never Stop Never Popping.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME at Flix.

• REMINDERS OF HIM at Palace.

• SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 35TH ANNIVERSARY, THE at Flix, Palace, and Point.

• SPEED RACER at AMC and Point.

  • There are many people out there who will argue that this was an overlooked film when it was released in 2008. It seems to be having “a moment,” but the last of the IMAX screenings is today at AMC. Point screenings are on April 26 & 27.

• SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

• THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME THE MOVIE: SCARLET BOND at Point.

  • Japanese anime based on the light novel fantasy manga series.

• WHISPER OF THE HEART 4K at AMC.

  • A lesser known Studio Ghibli animated feature, with a screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki, but direction by Yoshifumi Kondō.

• WIZARD OF OZ, THE (1939) at Flix.

• YOU, ME & TUSCANY at AMC, Flix, Palace, and Point.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Mills Folly Microcinema

• PROJECT PROJECTION: LOCAL FILM AND VIDEO, Wednesday, April 29, 7:00pm

  • Submission deadline, Friday, April 24. Details at the Project Projection event page at artlitlab.org

Wisconsin Union Directorate Film / UW Cinematheque

• COMMUNICATION ARTS SHOWCASE - MAY 2026, Union South Marquee Theater, Saturday, 5/2, 7 p.m.

  • This annual event is co-presented by WUD Film, the UW-Madison Department of Communication Arts, and the UW Cinematheque, and it features works produced in various media production courses.

A shortened newsletter today, appearing on Wednesday instead of Monday, due to the Wisconsin Film Festival (and the weather!).

Another short post this week, and a little late due to being a little bit busy at the Wisconsin Film Festival. I’ve seen 13 films, so I need to see a few more so that I don’t end up on that unlucky number. I’ve now missed a few from last minute scheduling conflicts and golf-ball sized hail. But I plan to see at least two more: Sholay tonight (which I’ve discussed before) , and The Furious on Thursday.

That is a lot of action. But if I can pace myself, I’ll go back for what is one of the most intense martial arts films I’ve ever seen, Tsui Hark’s The Blade (1995), on Saturday, April 18, 7:00pm, when the UW-Cinematheque resumes its regular programming this weekend.

The Blade is a pretty fantastic film, and I’ve owned both a crappy VCD (Video CD, common for a while in Hong Kong, how’s that for commitment?) and a not-so-great DVD. But I’m pretty sure I saw it for the first time in a 35mm film screening in Vilas Hall (so I’m not sure if it was for a class at the UW-Cinematheque). Purchasing the new Criterion Collection 4K of The Blade is a no-brainer (although I haven’t got around to it yet). But a chance to see it again, with a crowd, on 35mm should be a special treat on Saturday—if my brains have not been turned to mush by then.

Lea Jacobs’ new book: John Ford at Work

I’ve neglected to mention the new book, John Ford at Work, by Lea Jacobs, and I won’t be able to elaborate on it here and now. But if you haven’t caught any of the John Ford films screened at the UW-Cinematheque this season, you should try to catch Stagecoach on Friday, April 17 at 7:00pm. Jacobs will lead a post-screening discussion after the film.

Shortly before its demise, Tone Madison published a piece by Lance Li in which Jacobs discusses the period of Ford’s career she covers in the new book. If you have a moment to read that, it will likely inspire you to go see Stagecoach if you haven’t already made plans to do so.

Easy Come, Easy Go

Last week I mentioned three films whose theatrical run I hoped would last beyond the Festival: the Japanese animated film ChaO at Point, Exit 8, also from Japan, at AMC, and The King’s Warden from South Korea at AMC. Well, one out of three ain’t bad, I suppose: Exit 8 continues its run at Point into this weekend.

I don’t have time, unfortunately, to provide my commentary for this week’s Now Playing listings below. But two Wisconsin Film Festival films have opened commercially this week: Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers and the Bob Odenkirk actioner Normal. Unless I had a glitch in my Now Playing assembly process, I don’t see any Indian popular cinema in the listings. [Edit, 11:20am: there was a glitch! AMC has Bhooth Bangla (Hindi) and Dacoit: A Love Story (Telugu). Listings below updated.] But unless you want to see Theo Von and David Spade in Busboys for some God-forsaken reason, you should be able to catch some of my alternative suggestions above and not miss a short window for other films playing this week.

Now Playing In Madison: April 15-20, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another Now Playing source that posts on Wednesdays is The Horizon Line Madison.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

UW Cinematheque

The following films are scheduled to play at UW Cinematheque between Friday, April 17, and Sunday, April 19, 2026, listed in chronological order:

• STAGECOACH, 4070 Vilas Hall, Friday, April 17, 7 p.m.

  • John Ford, USA, 1939, 96 min.

• THE BLADE, 4070 Vilas Hall, Saturday, April 18, 7 p.m.

  • Tsui Hark, Hong Kong, 1995, 105 min.

Wisconsin Union Directorate Film

• ROOMMATES (2026) [ADVANCE SCREENING], Union South Marquee Theater, Thursday, 4/16, 7 p.m.

• STOP MAKING SENSE (2023) [OPEN CAPTION SCREENING], Union South Marquee Theater, Friday, 4/17, 6:30 p.m.

• IRON LUNG (2026), Union South Marquee Theater, Friday, 4/17, 9 p.m.

• CINEMA PARADISO (1988), Union South Marquee Theater, Saturday, 4/18, 6 p.m.

• THRONE OF BLOOD (1957), Union South Marquee Theater, Saturday, 4/18, 9 p.m.

According to the sources, these free screenings for the UW-Madison community take place in Union South’s state-of-the-art Marquee Theater. There are no film screenings listed in the provided schedules for Wednesday, April 15; Sunday, April 19; or Monday, April 20. As requested, information regarding WUD Film Committee meeting times has been excluded.

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

• AMC SCREAM UNSEEN: APRIL 20 at AMC.

• BEAUTIFUL PLANET IMAX, A at AMC.

• BHOOTH BANGLA at AMC.

• BRIDESMAIDS: 15TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’ IN JAPAN: LIVE VIEWING at Palace, Point.

• BUSBOYS at Palace.

• CHRISTOPHERS, THE at AMC, Point.

• DACOIT: A LOVE STORY at AMC.

• DAZED AND CONFUSED at Flix.

• DRAMA, THE at Flix, Palace, Point.

• EXIT 8 at Point.

• FACES OF DEATH at Flix.

• FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• HAMLET at AMC.

• HOPPERS at Flix, Palace, Point.

• HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON at Flix.

• LEE CRONIN’S THE MUMMY at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

• LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA, A at AMC.

• LORNE at AMC, Point.

• MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE at Palace, Point.

• NORMAL at AMC, Palace, Point.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at Flix, Palace, Point.

• READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME at Flix.

• REMINDERS OF HIM at Palace.

• SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, THE at Flix, Palace, Point.

• THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME THE MOVIE: SCARLET BOND at Point.

• UNDER THE SEA at AMC.

• YOU, ME & TUSCANY at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Mills Folly Microcinema

• PROJECT PROJECTION: LOCAL FILM AND VIDEO, Wednesday, April 29, 7:00pm

  • Submission deadline, Friday, April 24. Details at the Project Projection event page at artlitlab.org

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• KISS ME DEADLY (Robert Aldrich, 1955), Tuesday, April 21, 6:30pm.

We share some thoughts and memories about the Wisconsin Film Festival overall, and then discuss some of the tickets we have for films Friday through Sunday that we’re particularly looking forward to. If you don’t want to follow Rob and I down memory lane, the weekend preview begins at the 17:30 mark in the video.

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Monday posts will now feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

Today is going to be a very short newsletter, because I have to get my beauty sleep for the Wisconsin Film Festival this week. It’s all about seeing and being seen, you know.

The Now Showing listing today will only be a list of titles and a few trailers. I’m intrigued by a few films in the theaters this week, particularly the Japanese animated film ChaO at Point, Exit 8, also from Japan, at AMC, and The King’s Warden from South Korea at AMC. Unfortunately, next Monday’s Now Showing list will also be somewhat bare bones, because I’m going to see 14 films or programs between Friday and Sunday, leaving very little time for Moving Image Madison.

I will, however, attempt to post Notes here through the weekend. So stay tuned for those!

Also, there will be some extra content this week! Rob Thomas (Not That Rob Thomas) and I recorded a preview of the opening weekend of the Wisconsin Film Festival that I hope to post tomorrow (Tuesday). It is “in the can” but I’m hoping to add some bells and whistles and b-roll of trailers for films that we talk about. Here’s a sneak peak snapshot:

I do want to remind you of a few other things happening this week:

• On Cinema, with comedians Greg Turkington and Tim Heidecker, Tuesday, April 7, 8:00pm at the Barrymore Theater. Okay, it’s cinema-adjacent, but worth a look if you’re not familiar with it already.

• Beyond Resolution: Short Films by Sabine Gruffat at Mills Folly Microcinema, Wednesday, April 8, 7:00pm, Arts + Literature Laboratory. Consult my notes in last week’s post.

• Wisconsin Screenwriter’s Symposium, April 10-12 at the Pyle Center on the UW-Madison campus.

Obviously, I wish the Wisconsin Screenwriter’s Symposium was not scheduled at the same time as the Wisconsin Film Festival (they’re both programs of the Department of Communication Arts!). But if you’re a screenwriter, you should know about this, and look ahead next year to their Wisconsin’s Own Screenwriting Competition.

I have literally run out of time to write anything more at the moment. I’ll just quickly add that in addition to Mills Folly on Wednesday and my Festival experience starting on Friday, I’m also giving a talk at the West High School Equity Symposium on Thursday morning, on the topic of experimental film as social protest and personal expression. And I suppose at some point I should start working on my taxes! Wish me luck.

Now Playing In Madison: April 6-13, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another Now Playing source that posts on Wednesdays is The Horizon Line Madison.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

Mills Folly Microcinema

• VISITING FILMMAKER: SABINE GRUFFAT, Wednesday, April 8, 7:00pm.

  • Sabine Gruffat is a French-American artist born in Bangkok, Thailand. She co-founded and co-programs the Cosmic Rays Film Festival in Chapel Hill, NC with filmmaker Bill Brown. Her shorts film program, Beyond Resolution, These films draws from a range of genres and layered techniques. Images are processed to draw attention to the hidden logics in software, hardware, and materiality. In repurposing media, the works call attention to the histories from which meaning’s fragile frameworks emerge. See notes in last week’s post.

UW Cinematheque

• Wisconsin Film Festival this weekend. Regular programming resumes Friday, April 17.

Wisconsin Union Directorate Film

• Spring Break. Regular programming resumes Tuesday, April 7.

  • Wisconsin Film Festival programs at Cinematheque start Friday, April 10.

Barrymore Theatre

• ON CINEMA, Tuesday, April 7, 8:00pm

  • Okay, not a screening, or exclusively about cinema. But if you know, you know. And if you don’t, you should probably take a moment to investigate whether you would like to attend this visit from Gregg Turkington and Tim Heidecker.

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

• AI DOC: OR HOW I BECAME AN APOCALOPTIMIST, THE (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point.

• AMC SCREAM UNSEEN: APRIL 6 at AMC.

• AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: APRIL 13 at AMC.

• BEAST (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point.

• BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’ IN GOYANG: LIVE VIEWING (2026) at Palace, Point.

• CHAO (2026) at AMC, Point.

• DACOIT: A LOVE STORY (2026) at AMC.

• DARK CRYSTAL, THE (1982) at Flix.

• DHURANDHAR: THE REVENGE (2026) at AMC.

• DRAMA, THE (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• EXIT 8 (2025) at AMC.

• FACES OF DEATH (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point.

• FANTASY LIFE (2026) at AMC.

  • Read Rob Thomas’s review.

• GOAT (2026) at AMC, Palace.

• GREAT AWAKENING, A (2026) at AMC, Point.

• HAMLET (2026) at AMC, Point.

• HOPPERS (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• HUNTING MATTHEW NICHOLS (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point.

• IMAX SPACE STATION 3D at AMC.

• JERRY MAGUIRE 30TH ANNIVERSARY (2026) at AMC, Point.

• KILLER, THE - HONG KONG CINEMA CLASSICS at AMC, Point.

  • Man, I don’t have time to see this tonight (Monday), and I can’t see it on Wednesday due to Mills Folly Microcinema. Oh well, I bought the 4K disc.

• KING’S WARDEN, THE (2026) at AMC.

• LEGENDS OF THE LOST ARK at Point.

• MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE at Palace, Point.

• NEWBORN (2026) at AMC.

• PREMARITAL (2026) at AMC.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• RAAKAASAA (2026) at AMC.

• READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• REMINDERS OF HIM (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• SECRET BETWEEN US, THE (2026) at AMC.

• STARDUST at Flix.

• SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, THE (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• THEY WILL KILL YOU (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.

• YETI, THE (2026) at AMC.

• YOU, ME & TUSCANY (2026) at AMC, Palace, Point.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Mills Folly Microcinema

• PROJECT PROJECTION: LOCAL FILM AND VIDEO, Wednesday, April 29, 7:00pm

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• KISS ME DEADLY (Robert Aldrich, 1955), Tuesday, April 21, 6:30pm.

Monday posts will now feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

In terms of film programming in Madison, there often is a trend of “when it rains, it pours,” We have an abundant of riches coming up with the Wisconsin Film Festival, holds its Opening Night festivities on Thursday, April 9 (although my first screening will be in the morning on Friday, April 10). But the whole week leading up to the Festival has noteworthy film programming, including the Midwest Film and Video Poetry Festival this Saturday, April 4 (more on that below). But I also want to draw your attention to a special program next Wednesday, so you’ll have to pace yourself to maintain your film stamina through the week.

Filmmaker Sabine Gruffat will present Beyond Resolution, a program of her short films, at Mills Folly Microcinema on Wednesday, April 8 at 7:00pm. As usual, the Mills Folly program will take place at Art + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston Street, Suite 100. If you have followed Mills Folly programming over the years, you are already familiar with part of Gruffat’s experimental film efforts: She co-founded (with Bill Brown) the Cosmic Rays Film Festival in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the touring program of which has played at Mills Folly several years, most recently this past January.

Those with familiarity of film and video production in the Communication Arts Department at the UW-Madison know that Gruffat was Assistant Professor of Digital Media from 2007 to 2011 (essentially the period that I was not in Madison, when I was teaching in North Carolina). She followed that with a period at University of North Carolina (during which she co-founded Cosmic Rays). She currently lives in Marseille, France.

What brings her back to Madison? Well, she was a juror at this year’s Ann Arbor Film Festival, which just wrapped up this past weekend. In addition to presenting the Beyond Resolution program in Ann Arbor, she has also scheduled screenings in Milwaukee and Chicago. Fortunately, we were able to schedule an additional screening here in Madison.

Describing the Beyond Resolution program, Gruffat writes:

This series of films favors ambiguity and resists resolution. The nearer the gaze, the more obscure the view. Illegibility here is not an escape from politics, but a way of inhabiting it differently: as a site of tension, friction, and possibility.

These films draw from a range of genres and layered techniques. Images are processed to draw attention to the hidden logics in software, hardware, and materiality. In repurposing media, the works call attention to the histories from which meaning’s fragile frameworks emerge.

Back in November 2019, Mills Folly Microcinema screened Gruffat’s short film Take it Down, which will also be a part of the Beyond Resolution program. Take it Down (pictured at the top of this post) addresses the protest and removal of a confederate soldier statue, a topic that has different resonance now, as it seems like some people, in a backlash, are trying their hardest to put similarly problematic statues back up.

Different kinds of “statues” (or embodiments, or frameworks) appear in other recent films in the program, as a means to explore the impact of video game engines, motion capture, artificial intelligence and augmented reality. In Moving or Being Moved (2021), quotes from post-modern dance theory provide an interesting context for images generated by a woman (Gruffat) who is wearing a motion capture suit while vacuuming a living room. Souvenir Statuette (2024) explores the definition of a “souvenir” when, as Gruffat states in her program notes, “some of the quasi-objects in this video were once objects, others are non-objects or computer model imaginaries.”

The program should serve as a valuable reminder to consider the materiality of the image (whether it is film, video, or computer generated) instead of passively accepting what the image seems to offer. This should be even more valuable before watching hours of film at the Wisconsin Film Festival!

Mark your calendars now for Wednesday of next week, April 8, 7:00pm. I hope to see some of you there!

Now Playing In Madison: March 30–April 6, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another Now Playing source that posts on Wednesdays is The Horizon Line Madison.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

Midwest Video Poetry Festival at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston St.

• Three different hour-long programs Saturday, April 4 at 6:00pm, 7:00pm, and 8:00pm.

The Midwest Video Poetry Festival, founded in 2020 by Rita Mae Reese and Genia Daniels, is a showcase for international, national, and regional short films which explore different ways to combine motion picture imagery with written or performed poetry. This year’s edition features films from the United Kingdom, Benin, the Netherlands, as well as New York, Pittsburgh, Ypsilanti, and Milwaukee. You can hear a recent 8 O’Clock Buzz interview with Rita Mae and Genia, discussing this year’s Festival as well as its history, in the WORT-FM archives. With campus film programming on pause for Spring Break, this Saturday is a particularly good time to catch one or more of this year’s programs!

UW Cinematheque

• Spring Break, Regular programming resumes Friday, April 17.

  • Wisconsin Film Festival programs at Cinematheque start Friday, April 10.

Wisconsin Union Directorate Film

• Spring Break. Regular programming resumes Tuesday, April 7.

  • Wisconsin Film Festival programs at Cinematheque start Friday, April 10.

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

• AI DOC: OR HOW I BECAME AN APOCALOPTIMIST, THE at AMC, Point, and Palace.

  • New documentary feature from Daniel Roher, who won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar for Navalny in 2022, and Charlie Tyrell. This was picked up for distribution by Focus Features after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

• ALPHA at AMC and Point.

  • Latest feature from French director Julia Ducournau, whose Titane won the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021. A teen girl with a new tattoo is suspected of contracting a lethal disease.

• AMC SCREAM UNSEEN: APRIL 6 at AMC.

• AMC SCREAM UNSEEN: MARCH 30 at AMC.

• BEN-HUR at AMC and Flix.

  • If I were to go to any Easter-themed programming this week, I think this would be it. Would be good to see it big and hear it loud.

• BIG LEBOWSKI, THE at Flix.

• BRIDE!, THE at Flix.

  • Christian Bale as Frankenstein and Jesse Buckley in a very different role than in Hamnet, as The Bride. Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Generally getting negative reviews, with some being particularly blunt.

• DAVID at AMC.

  • Faith-based animated feature about the young shepherd who eventually becomes the King of Israel.

• DHURANDHAR: THE REVENGE at AMC.

  • Indian Hindi-language crime action drama, and a sequel to the top grossing Indian feature film of 2025. I saw the first film in January, and I liked its scope and ambition, despite occasionally wallowing in some brutal violence. I had a chance to see this sequel this past weekend, and I could not see it Friday evening or Saturday morning due to sold-out (or nearly so) screenings. The sequel is again very ambitious genre filmmaking, and at times it soars. And by the time you’re finished watching this second film, you feel like you have seen something epic, if only because of the time commitment. There was some cheering in the audience at certain points during the climax, which reminded me that I should probably take some time to examine the role of nationalist ideology in this series.Very loosely based on a crackdown against organized crime in Karachi, Pakistan.

• DRAMA, THE at AMC, Point, Palace, and Flix.

  • New feature from Kristoffer Borgli, whose Sick of Myself (2022) and Dream Scenario (with Nicholas Cage, 2023), both showcased his warped sense of humor, both of which I liked quite a bit. While he worked with Cage on Dream Scenario, working with current in-crowd stars Zendaya, Robbert Pattinson (and even Alana Haim) has set a different level of box-office expectations. These expectations may be undermined, however, by the recent resurfacing of Borgli’s 2012 essay in which he discusses dating a teenager when he was in his 20s. Drama, indeed.

• DRISHYAM 3 at AMC.

  • Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller.

• FORBIDDEN FRUITS at AMC and Palace.

  • Horror-comedy directed by Meredith Alloway and released by Shudder and Independent Film Company.

• GOAT at AMC, Point, Palace, and Flix.

• GREAT AWAKENING, A at AMC.

  • I guess this is a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, with an account of events placed squarely in the context of the Great Awakening religious movement.

• HAPPY RAJ at AMC.

  • Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy about a man unlucky in love, who finds a woman who has feelings for him, but also has an eccentric father.

• HOPPERS at AMC, Point, Palace, and Flix.

• JESUS REVOLUTION at AMC.

  • Re-release of 2023 faith-based drama a pastor at a small Southern Califonia church attempts to connect with wayward youth in 1968.

• KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE 4K at AMC.

• KILLER - HONG KONG CINEMA CLASSICS, THE at AMC and Point.

  • I’ve discussed the re-release of these John Woo action films far too many times on this Substack. But this is the one you should really, really see if you haven’t seen any of them. Screening on three days, but try to see it on April 5 or 6, because if you go on April 8 you’ll miss Sabine Gruffat (see above).

• LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, A at AMC.

• MAGNIFICENT LIFE, A at AMC.

  • The latest animated feature film from Sylvain Chomet (Triplets of Belleville; The Illusionist) looks at the life and career Marcel Pagnol, playwright, novelist (Manon of the Spring) and filmmaker (Marius). This is getting just so-so reviews, including from Rob Thomas.

• MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE at Point and Palace.

• MUMMY RETURNS 25TH ANNIVERSARY, THE at AMC, Point, and Flix.

• PANDAS at AMC.

  • An IMAX 3D documentary.

• POUT-POUT FISH, THE at AMC, Point, and Palace.

  • I usually mark films like this as “this week’s sketchy mid-tier animated feature film for kids,” but this is based on a New York Times best-seller, and actually has a pretty interesting voice cast: Amy Sedaris, Nick Offerman, Miranda Otto.

• PRATHICHAYA at AMC.

  • Indian Malayalam-language political thriller that examines the merciless corporate control of the country’s news media.

• PREMARITAL at AMC.

  • Faith-based comedy about a pastor who tries to convert his daughter’s non-believing fiancé to the faith before the wedding.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC, Point, Palace, and Flix.

  • It seems to be as big as people were expecting it to be, so you probably don’t need to read any more from me about it.

• RAAKAASAA at AMC.

  • Indian Telugu-language horror film, also described as a fantasy-comedy. And based on the music and sound effects in the trailer, it seems to be more on the spectacle and entertainment end of the spectrum.

• READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME at AMC, Point, Palace, and Flix.

  • Remember the one (in 2019) about the bride who gets hunted down by her new inlaws? I guess she survived, and is up against some more distant relatives this time.

• REMINDERS OF HIM at AMC, Point, Palace, and Flix.

  • Adaptation of the book by Colleen Hoover. Somehow I have managed to see this trailer several times before films, which cumulatively add up to about 15 to 20 minutes more than I care to spend thinking about it. But you might like it? But how do I have so much time to see this in local theaters when I couldn’t catch a break to find time to see The Testament of Ann Lee? (A rhetorical question, please do not respond in the comments.)

• SCREAM 7 at AMC, Point, and Palace.

• SECRET BETWEEN US, THE at AMC.

  • Michael Jai White produces and stars in this romantic thriller, executive produced by Keith Sweat. On his Instagram account, Sweat describes the film as “a stirring family drama about betrayal, redemption, and the power of forgiveness,” and he concludes saying, “The movie will have you crying, so don’t forget your Kleenex.” You’ve been warned!

• STAND BY ME 40TH ANNIVERSARY at Palace.

• SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, THE at AMC, Point, Palace, and Flix.

• THEY WILL KILL YOU at AMC, Point, Palace, and Flix.

  • This seems to be a variation on Ready or Not and Ready or Not 2 (see above) with a bride being hunted by her inlaws replaced by an ex-con housekeeper hunted down by Satan-worshiping residents at a NYC high-rise. But somehow this looks much, much more interesting than the Ready or Not films.

• UNDERTONE at AMC, Point, Palace, and Flix.

  • Another horror film, this one set around a podcast that explores the supernatural and paranormal.

• YOU’RE DATING A NARCISSIST! at AMC.

  • Comedy vehicle for Marisa Tomei, who plays a psychologist whose daughter clearly hasn’t read her books or listened to her lectures about “red flags” in men.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Barrymore Theatre

• ON CINEMA, Tuesday, April 7, 8:00pm

  • Okay, not a screening, or exclusively about cinema. But if you know, you know. And if you don’t, you should probably take a moment to investigate whether you would like to attend this visit from Gregg Turkington and Tim Heidecker.

Mills Folly Microcinema

• VISITING FILMMAKER: SABINE GRUFFAT, Wednesday, April 8, 7:00pm.

  • See notes above.

• PROJECT PROJECTION: LOCAL FILM AND VIDEO, Wednesday, April 29, 7:00pm

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• KISS ME DEADLY (Robert Aldrich, 1955), Tuesday, April 21, 6:30pm.

Monday posts will now feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

Warren Sonbert (1947-1995) was an important artist in both the New York City and San Francisco experimental filmmaking communities. Sonbert considered his experimental travelogue, Carriage Trade (final version released 1973) to be his “magnum opus,” and we will screen this important capstone to his 1960s films at Mills Folly Microcinema this week, Wednesday, March 25, 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston Street, Suite 100.

In their retrospective of Sonbert’s films, the Harvard Film Archive described Carriage Trade as:

[A] visual journey encapsulating his travels over four continents in six years… [the film] weaves that footage together with shots [he] removed from a number of his earlier films, offering the viewer multi-faceted readings of the connections between shots, including the ‘changing relations of the movement of objects, the gestures of figures, familiar worldwide icons, rituals and reactions, rhythm, spacing and density of images’

A concise introduction to Sonbert’s work can be found in filmmaker and Light Industry founder Thomas Beard’s overview of Sonbert’s career at 4Columns on the occasion of a Sonbert retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in 2023. Beard notes that despite the fact that the images in Carriage Trade are taken from around the world, “Save for a handful of moments, as when we clock the Taj Mahal or Venetian gondoliers, it’s difficult to locate where, exactly, we are passing through as the movie’s currents carry us along, but no matter. What we’re watching is not a travelogue so much as a complex, nonlinear image network.”

Beard associates Sonbert’s mature style, exemplified by Carriage Trade, with what film theorist Noël Carroll called “polyvalent montage” in which each shot, in Carroll’s words, “can be combined with surrounding shots along potentially many dimensions.” Beard explains how this editing strategy works in Carriage Trade:

[A} shot might be bracketed by other, “neutral” shots, typically absent a human figure, allowing it a bit of breathing room, while serving variously, and sometimes simultaneously, as a complement or point of contrast to those further up and down the reel, both on the level of their content as well as their design. An elaborate web of correspondences thus emerges between different shot lengths, between different film stocks, between the movement of the camera and the movement within the frame, between the action in the foreground / middle ground / background, between shifting color schemes.

I was first introduced to Sonbert’s films when I had an opportunity to visit the Flaherty Film Seminar in the late 1990s. Sonbert’s films were presented along with some films by Armenian filmmaker Arthur Peleshian (Artavazd Peleshayan) who was associated with the concept of “distance montage,” in which the way images resonate with each other across the duration of the film is equally important as the way images collide with each other when they are edited together. Experiencing both filmmaker’s work in such proximity opened up my eyes to many new possibilities for how to assemble and engage with images and sounds.

Or lack of sounds. Carriage Trade is a 61-minute silent film. Beard observes that when Sonbert transitioned to silence in his films, “they became more musical still, only now their rhythms were purely visual, progressing inside shots as well as across them.”

So, needless to say, watching Warren Sonbert films are not exactly passive entertainment. But actively engaging with them can be an extremely rewarding viewing experience. I hope to see some of you on Wednesday!

Now Playing In Madison: March 23-30, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another Now Playing source that posts on Wednesdays is The Horizon Line Madison.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

Mills Folly Microcinema, Arts + Literature Laboratory

• CARRIAGE TRADE, Wednesday, March 25, 7:00pm. Free admission, $5 donation encouraged. Warren Sonbert (1947–1995) was an experimental filmmaker whose work of nearly three decades began in New York in the mid-1960s, and continued in San Francisco throughout the second half of his life. Sonbert considered Carriage Trade (1973) his “magnum opus.” In this film, Sonbert interweaves footage taken from his journeys throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, and the United States, together with shots he removed from the camera originals of a number of his earlier films. See additional notes above.

UW Cinematheque

• THE DAY OF THE DOLPHIN, 4070 Vilas Hall, Friday, March 27, 7 p.m.

  • Mike Nichols, USA, 1973, 104 min.

• CONVERSATION PIECE (English language version), 4070 Vilas Hall, Saturday, March 28, 4 p.m.

  • Luchino Visconti, Italy, 1974, 121 min.

• CONVERSATION PIECE (Italian language version), 4070 Vilas Hall, Saturday, March 28, 7 p.m.

  • Luchino Visconti, Italy, 1974, 121 min.

Wisconsin Union Directorate Film

• Spring Break. Programming resumes Tuesday, April 7.

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

• AI DOC: OR HOW I BECAME AN APOCALOPTIMIST, THE at AMC, Point.

  • New documentary feature from Daniel Roher, who won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar for Navalny in 2022, and Charlie Tyrell. This was picked up for distribution by Focus Features after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

• ALPHA at AMC, Point.

  • Latest feature from French director Julia Ducournau, whose Titane won the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021. A teen girl with a new tattoo is suspected of contracting a lethal disease.

• AMC SCREAM UNSEEN: MARCH 23 at AMC.

• AMC SCREAM UNSEEN: MARCH 30 at AMC.

• AMERICAN UNDERDOG at AMC.

  • Re-release of 2021 sports drama with an inspirational emphasis about the career of NFL quarterback Kurt Warner.

• BEN-HUR at AMC, Point, Flix.

  • If I were to go to any Easter-themed programming this week, I think this would be it. Would be good to see it big and hear it loud.

• BERSHAMA at AMC.

  • Egyptian comedy about the hijinks that follow the death of a high school exam proctor, when the students attempt to hide that fact so that they can cheat.

• BIG LEBOWSKI, THE at Flix.

• BRIDE!, THE at AMC, Flix.

  • Christian Bale as Frankenstein and Jesse Buckley in a very different role than in Hamnet, as The Bride. Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Generally getting negative reviews, with some being particularly blunt.

• BRING ME THE HORIZON - L.I.V.E. IN SÃO PAULO (LIVE IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT) at Point.

  • Concert film featuring British rock band Bring Me the Horizon.

• DAVID at AMC.

  • Faith-based animated feature about the young shepherd who eventually becomes the King of Israel.

• DHURANDHAR: THE REVENGE at AMC.

  • Indian Hindi-language crime action drama, and a sequel to the top grossing Indian feature film of 2025. I saw the first film in January, and I liked its scope and ambition, despite occasionally wallowing in some brutal violence. I had a chance to see this sequel this past weekend, and I could not see it Friday evening or Saturday morning due to sold-out (or nearly so) screenings. The sequel is again very ambitious genre filmmaking, and at times it soars. And by the time you’re finished watching this second film, you feel like you have seen something epic, if only because of the time commitment. There was some cheering in the audience at certain points during the climax, which reminded me that I should probably take some time to examine the role of nationalist ideology in this series.Very loosely based on a crackdown against organized crime in Karachi, Pakistan.

• EPIC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT at AMC.

• FIRST HYMN, THE at Point.

  • Faith-based documentary feature about the rediscovery of the earliest known Christian hymn.

• FORBIDDEN FRUITS at AMC.

  • Horror-comedy directed by Meredith Alloway and released by Shudder and Independent Film Company.

• GOAT at AMC, Point, Flix.

• HOPPERS at AMC, Point, Flix.

• I LIVE HERE NOW at AMC.

  • Horror drama directed by Julie Pacino (Al’s daughter) about a woman who is trapped in a remote hotel. This seems to be getting decent reviews, and it screened at Locarno and Edinburgh film festivals.

• JESUS REVOLUTION at AMC.

  • Re-release of 2023 faith-based drama a pastor at a small Southern Califonia church attempts to connect with wayward youth in 1968.

• KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE 4K at AMC, Point.

• KING OF KINGS, THE at AMC.

  • Re-release of 2025 animated feature about the life of Jesus Christ, presumably in theaters for the Easter season.

• MAGIC MIKE XXL at Flix.

• MAGNIFICENT LIFE, A at AMC.

  • The latest animated feature film from Sylvain Chomet (Triplets of Belleville; The Illusionist) looks at the life and career Marcel Pagnol, playwright, novelist (Manon of the Spring) and filmmaker (Marius).

• MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE at Point.

• MUMMY RETURNS 25TH ANNIVERSARY, THE at Point, Flix.

• ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER at AMC, Point.

  • I just bought the 4K disc, but this might be worth seeing one more time on the big screen.

• PEAKY BLINDERS: THE IMMORTAL MAN at Flix.

  • Continuation of the British television series Peaky Blinders (2013-2022). This feature film starring Cillian Murphy and directed by Tom Harper will have a limited theatrical release, followed by a debut on Netflix on March 20. Read Rob Thomas’s review.

• POUT-POUT FISH, THE at AMC, Point.

  • I usually mark films like this as “this week’s sketchy mid-tier animated feature film for kids,” but this is based on a New York Times best-seller, and actually has a pretty interesting voice cast: Amy Sedaris, Nick Offerman, Miranda Otto.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC, Point, Flix.

  • Finally, your chance to see a film very heavily promoted and advertised in the hopes of cashing in on the success of the previous Andy Weir novel adaptation, The Martian.

• RAD 40TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Flix.

  • Join me in celebrating the 40th anniversary of skipping this film in 1986.

• READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME at AMC, Point, Flix.

  • Remember the one (in 2019) about the bride who gets hunted down by her new inlaws? I guess she survived, and is up against some more distant relatives this time.

• REMINDERS OF HIM at AMC, Point, Flix.

  • Adaptation of the book by Colleen Hoover. Somehow I have managed to see this trailer several times before films, which cumulatively add up to about 15 to 20 minutes more than I care to spend thinking about it. But you might like it?

• RESERVOIR DOGS at Flix.

• ROTTEN MOVIES, FRESH BEER: HOT ROD at Flix.

• SCREAM 7 at AMC, Point.

  • If you loved 1 through 6 (or is this like the Star Trek films, only the odd numbered ones are good?).

• SEND HELP at Point.

• SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 35TH ANNIVERSARY, THE at AMC.

• SINNERS at AMC.

• SLANTED at AMC.

  • Sci-fi body-horror social satire directed by Amy Wang,about a Chinese-American teenage who feels insecure about her race. Of the self-aware horror films that are opening this week, this one at least has an intriguing and promising premise beyond shocks and gore. Read Rob Thomas’s review.

• STAND BY ME 40TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Point.

• STEEL MAGNOLIAS at AMC.

• SUPERPOWER DOGS: AN IMAX 3D EXPERIENCE at AMC.

• THEY WILL KILL YOU at AMC, Point, Flix.

  • This seems to be a variation on Ready or Not and Ready or Not 2 (see above) with a bride being hunted by her inlaws replaced by an ex-con housekeeper hunted down by Satan-worshiping residents at a NYC high-rise. But somehow this looks much, much more interesting than the Ready or Not films.

• TOW at AMC.

  • Rose Byrne, fresh off of her Oscar nomination in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, now plays a woman who lives out of her car in Seattle. The title likely refers to a plot point.

• UNDERTONE at AMC, Point, Flix.

  • Another horror film, this one set around a podcast that explores the supernatural and paranormal.

• USTAAD BHAGAT SINGH at AMC.

  • Indian Telugu-language action comedy starring actor and real-life elected official (Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh) Pawan Kaylan.

• WUTHERING HEIGHTS at AMC, Point.

  • This is not bad, in fact I liked it. But I have not read the book, so I’m not in a position of defending the book’s honor. I’m slowly working on a longer piece where I look at responses to the film across Substack, to get a sense of what film criticism looks like on this platform.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

Buy Me a Popcorn

Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Barrymore Theatre

• ON CINEMA, Tuesday, April 7, 8:00pm

  • Okay, not a screening, or exclusively about cinema. But if you know, you know. And if you don’t, you should probably take a moment to investigate whether you would like to attend this visit from Gregg Turkington and Tim Heidecker.

Mills Folly Microcinema

• VISITING FILMMAKER: SABINE GRUFFAT, Wednesday, April 8, 7:00pm.

• PROJECT PROJECTION: LOCAL FILM AND VIDEO, Wednesday, April 29, 7:00pm

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• KISS ME DEADLY (Robert Aldrich, 1955), Tuesday, April 21, 6:30pm.

Monday posts will now feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.

Coincidentally, I had been thinking about Ross McElwee and his very unique, personal documentaries, even before I knew that his latest film, Remake, would be playing at the Wisconsin Film Festival. I mainly thought about the role of small, compact digital technology in recent films that document personal experiences of social and political significance (like No Other Land from last year) as well as private stories that would have been hard to document without very portable digital cameras (like Penny Lane’s Confessions of a Good Samaritan, just to name one example.).

The image that popped in my head when I thought about McElwee was not an image that appears in his film, Sherman’s March (1986), but an imagined image related to the making of the film. I thought about and imagined the 16mm camera rig that he used, and how despite the cumbersome equipment present at all times, he was able to create an environment with great intimacy as he interviewed his subjects.

Sherman’s March was not only an important documentary of the mid-1980s, it was also important for American independent film more generally. For those who are not familiar with the film, the premise is that McElwee received a grant to make a historical documentary about General William Sherman’s “March to the Sea” during the American Civil War. But instead of making that film, he ends up visiting and interviewing many of his ex-girlfriends, as well as other women he meets on his journey retracing Sherman’s route. McElwee described the results as a personal essay blending fiction and nonfiction.

If you saw Sherman’s March around the time it was released, it was a breath of fresh air that opened up new possibilities for documentary and non-fiction filmmaking. McElwee aspired to be honest and to show the less likable aspects of himself, which influenced independent filmmaking more generally in the following years.

Now, the personal essay has practically overrun documentary feature films on the film festival circuit. There are many times when watching recent films where I wonder to myself if the filmmaker inserting themselves into the story, regardless of whether the topic is personal, political, or social in nature, really adds or takes away from the final film. I also sometimes wonder if the abundance of images that are taken at almost any planned or unplanned event, via ubiquitous cel phones, are actually getting us any closer to documenting the truth.

I think what makes Sherman’s March so valuable looking back at it now is how hard McElwee had to work to get his images and how willing he was to make himself vulnerable to judgement as he attempted to examine his personal relationships.

I won’t have a chance to see his new film, Remake, until the Wisconsin Film Festival screening on Saturday, April 11, 1:15pm at the Chazen Museum of Art. (There is also a repeat screening on Monday, April 13, 12:00pm at Flix Brewhouse.) But based on the topic of Remake, an examination of his relationship with his son Adrian, who passed away at 27 in 2016, it is clear that McElwee has opened himself up to vulnerabilities about his role as a father and as a filmmaker. Image making was a part of Adrian’s upbringing and family life, and McElwee will no doubt question his own documentary practice as he examines his and Adrian’s footage from over the years.

I found a great, concise introduction to Ross McElwee and his work in a Substack post at Getting Personal with Doug Block. Block, a documentary filmmaker himself and director of the great 51 Birch Street, breaks up this brief portrait into three parts, memories of a Sherman’s March screening in 1985, an interview with McElwee from 2015, and a brief contemplation about Remake after seeing it in 2026. I’m confident that after reading Block’s insightful post, you’ll want to join me and catch one of the screenings of Remake in April.

Now Playing In Madison: March 16-23, 2026

Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another Now Playing source that posts on Wednesdays is The Horizon Line Madison.

Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).

UW Cinematheque

• THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND, 4070 Vilas Hall, Friday, March 20, 7 p.m.

  • John Ford, USA, 1936, 95 min.

• DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE FOREST, 4070 Vilas Hall, Saturday, March 21, 7 p.m.

  • Satyajit Ray, India, 1970, 116 min.

• WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, Chazen Museum, Sunday, March 22, 2 p.m.

  • Mike Nichols, USA, 1966, 129 min.

Wisconsin Union Directorate Film

• WHITE WITH FEAR (2024) [OPEN CAPTION SCREENING], Union South Marquee Theater, Thursday, 3/19, 6:30 p.m.

• NO OTHER CHOICE (2025), Union South Marquee Theater, Friday, 3/20, 6 p.m.

• THE ROOM (2003), Union South Marquee Theater, Friday, 3/20, 9 p.m.

• ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (2025) [OPEN CAPTION], Union South Marquee Theater, Saturday, 3/21, 7 p.m,

Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch

• INSIDE MAN (Spike Lee, 2006), Tuesday, March 17, 6:30pm.

Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)

• AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: MARCH 16 at AMC.

• AMC SCREAM UNSEEN: MARCH 23 at AMC.

• AMERICAN UNDERDOG at AMC.

  • Re-release of 2021 sports drama with an inspirational emphasis about the career of NFL quarterback Kurt Warner.

• ANACONDA at AMC, Point, Palace.

• BRIDE, THE! at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

  • Christian Bale as Frankenstein and Jesse Buckley in a very different role than in Hamnet, as The Bride. Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Generally getting negative reviews, with some being particularly blunt.

• CRIME 101 at AMC, Point, Flix.

• DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA INFINITY CASTLE at Palace.

  • Japanese dark fantasy action anime feature.

• DEPARTED, THE at Flix.

  • Marty won his Oscar for this one.

• DHURANDHAR: THE REVENGE at AMC, Point.

  • Indian Hindi-language crime action drama, and a sequel to the top grossing Indian feature film of 2025. I saw the first film in January, and I liked its scope and ambition, despite occasionally wallowing in some brutal violence. Very loosely based on a crackdown against organized crime in Karachi, Pakistan.

• EPIC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT at AMC, Point, Palace.

• ERIN BROCKOVICH at AMC.

• GOAT at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

• HE CALLS ME DAUGHTER at AMC, Point, Palace.

  • Faith-based documentary focusing on women with absent, distant, or broken fathers.

• HOPPERS at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

• HUBBLE at AMC.

  • IMAX documentary

• KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE 4K at AMC.

• KING OF KINGS, THE at AMC.

  • Re-release of 2025 animated feature about the life of Jesus Christ, presumably in theaters for the Easter season.

• MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE at Palace.

• METROPOLITAN OPERA: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, THE at Point, Palace.

• ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER at AMC.

• PEAKY BLINDERS: THE IMMORTAL MAN at Flix.

  • Continuation of the British television series Peaky Blinders (2013-2022). This feature film starring Cillian Murphy and directed by Tom Harper will have a limited theatrical release, followed by a debut on Netflix on March 20. Read Rob Thomas’s review.

• POUT-POUT FISH, THE at AMC, Point, Palace.

  • I usually mark films like this as “this week’s sketchy mid-tier animated feature film for kids,” but this is based on a New York Times best-seller, and actually has a pretty interesting voice cast: Amy Sedaris, Nick Offerman, Miranda Otto. Opens wide March 20.

• PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

  • Finally, your chance to see a film very heavily promoted and advertized in the hopes of cashing in on the success of the previous Andy Weir novel adaptation, The Martian.

• RAD 40TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

  • Join me in celebrating the 40th anniversary of skipping this film in 1986.

• READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

  • Remember the one (in 2019) about the bride who gets hunted down by her new inlaws? I guess she survived, and is up against some more distant relatives this time.

• REMINDERS OF HIM at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

  • Adaptation of the book by Colleen Hoover. Somehow I have managed to see this trailer several times before films, which cumulatively add up to about 15 to 20 minutes more than I care to spend thinking about it. But you might like it?

• REVENANT 10TH ANNIVERSARY RE-RELEASE, THE at AMC.

• ROTTEN MOVIES, FRESH BEER: HOT ROD at Flix.

  • Interesting idea: Camp plus alcohol?

• SCARED TO DEATH at AMC.

  • Horror film, originally on the festival circuit in 2024. Apparently a making-a-movie comedy. In the Whatever Happened To department, this features Rae Dawn Chong (Commando).

• SCREAM 7 at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

  • If you loved 1 through 6 (or is this like the Star Trek films, only the odd numbered ones are good?).

• SEND HELP at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

• SLANTED at AMC.

  • Sci-fi body-horror social satire directed by Amy Wang,about a Chinese-American teenage who feels insecure about her race. Of the self-aware horror films that are opening this week, this one at least has an intriguing and promising premise beyond shocks and gore. Read Rob Thomas’s review.

• STEEL MAGNOLIAS at AMC.

• STORM RIDER: LEGEND OF HAMMERHEAD at AMC.

  • Sci-fi adventure film set in a post-apocalyptic future three centuries after the “Great Flood.” Shot in Croatia.

• TMNT II: THE SECRET OF THE OOZE 35TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

• TOW at AMC.

  • Rose Byrne, fresh off of her Oscar nomination in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, now plays a woman who lives out of her car in Seattle. The title likely refers to a plot point.

• UNDERTONE at AMC, Point, Palace, Flix.

  • Another horror film, this one set around a podcast that explores the supernatural and paranormal.

• UNSUNG HERO at AMC.

  • Faith-based drama, originally released in 2024, based on the story of Rebecca and Joel Smallbone who transformed their family into successful Christian recording artists.

• URBAN COWBOY at Flix.

• USTAAD BHAGAT SINGH at Point, Palace.

  • Indian Telugu-language action comedy starring actor and real-life elected official (Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh) Pawan Kaylan.

• ZOOTOPIA 2 at AMC.

Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.

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Looking Ahead:

Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.

Side Room Cinematheque

• Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.

Mills Folly Microcinema, Arts + Literature Laboratory

• CARRIAGE TRADE, Wednesday, March 25, 7:00pm. Free admission, $5 donation encouraged. Warren Sonbert (1947–1995) was an experimental filmmaker whose work of nearly three decades began in New York in the mid-1960s, and continued in San Francisco throughout the second half of his life. Sonbert considered Carriage Trade (1973) his “magnum opus.” In this film, Sonbert interweaves footage taken from his journeys throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, and the United States, together with shots he removed from the camera originals of a number of his earlier films.

If you have been paying attention to the contributions from the Chicago Film Archives at the Wisconsin Film Festival the past few years, you likely remember the name of Chicago’s Tom Palazzolo. The CFA collection of shorts at WFF 2023, “Tap Dancing Teens & Screaming Sandwichmen: Gems from Chicago Film Archives,” included Palazzolo’s short Jerry’s 1976), which follows deli owner Jerry Meyers, who was famous for berating his customers throughout the day. And if you attended the Heather McAdams screening last year, you may recall a brief discussion of Tom Palazzolo’s role in the Chicago independent film community (I recall it, because I asked the question!).

Palazzolo is so well ingrained in Chicago’s film community that his nickname, often used in in his on-screen credits and publicity for his films, is “Tom Chicago” or “Tommy Chicago.” And as CFA’s Olivia Babler reminds us in her program notes in the Festival guide, Roger Ebert dubbed Palazzolo “Chicago’s filmmaker laureate.”

My first encounter with Palazzolo and his films was as an undergraduate at UW-Madison in the early 1990’s (though it possibly could have been 1989, I haven’t been able to track the date down), when he visited for a screening of his short films and his experimental narrative feature, Caligari’s Cure (1982). My memory of Caligari’s Cure is hazy, beyond its expressionist set design (but in saturated 16mm color instead of black and white) and its riffing on Bunuel and Dali’s Un Chien Anadalou. But Palazzolo’s take on filmmaking, and on life in general, was idiosyncratic and inspiring, just what I needed to see and hear in my impressionable undergraduate days.

In 2023, the Chicago Film Archive received a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation to restore and photochemically preserve Caligari’s Cure. You can see the entire film at the Chicago Film Archives website, but hopefully it will play again in Madison at some point.

In fact, you can see many more Palazzolo films at the Chicago Film Archives website, including those to be included in the Wisconsin Film Festival screening on Saturday, April 12, at 11:00am at the Bartell Theatre. But if you do end up watching one or two online, I’m confident you’ll want to see the whole program with a crowd to appreciate the audience response. As the Chicago Film Archives explains in their notes for another Palozzolo program:

Palazzolo’s unique perspective on everyday life in the city, in combination with his dark sense of humor, results in films that are as tender and heartwarming as they are sharp and critical. Known for making documentaries on subjects as wide ranging as the 1968 convention, a neo-Nazi march in Marquette Park, Maxwell Street, and the “tattooed lady of Riverview” park, Palazzolo is as curious a citizen of the city as he is a filmmaker. His documentary approach ranges from observational to participatory, yet what always rises to the surface is his keen interest in the human condition.

Here’s a link to Jerry’s which screened at the Chicago Film Archives WFF presentation in 2023, and a link to an interview with Palazzolo for the Metrograph in New York, on the occasion of their 2023 retrospective of his films, to get you started on your Palazzolo journey. I hope to see some of you at the screening in April!