Bleak Week and Beyond at UW-Cinematehque This Summer
Not-so-cheery films every evening for seven days, including horror and general bummers, from July 24 through July 30.
Scroll down for Now Showing in Madison, June 23–June 29, 2026
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.
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.