Cosmic Rays Film Festival experimental program at Mills Folly, Wednesday, January 28, 7pm.
And what do you know, two French feature films in Madison theaters in the same week.
Scroll down for Now Showing in Madison, January 26–February 2, 2026
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.
The Project Projection screening at Mills Folly Microcinema last Wednesday went very well, with about 50 in attendance for the showcase for local experimental films, short docs, music video, and animation. A few ideas emerged after the screening for ways to make Project Projection films available to additional local audiences. It’s too early to comment on the specific ideas, but it is exciting to see a community of filmmakers emerging from the screenings. I hope that Project Projection films and programs will have a life beyond one-time screenings at Mills Folly.
Highlights from the Cosmic Rays Film Festival tour include latest from animator Karen Yasinsky, I Am Not Your Monster (2024)
I hope that many of you can join us for the regular Mills Folly Microcinema monthly screening this week, Wednesday at 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston Street. We will screen You Don’t Know Me: Selections from the 2025 Cosmic Rays Film Festival. Cosmic Rays in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, founded by filmmakers Sabine Grufat and Bill Brown, has emerged as an exciting showcase for new experimental films from around the world.
This will mark the third time that Mills Folly has showcased the Cosmic Rays touring program (the previous screenings were in 2024 and 2022). Each installment has been a strong mix of various types of personal filmmaking and techniques. If you want to get a concise sample of whats going on in the experimental film festival circuit, I strongly recommend attending on Wednesday.
One short featured this week that I’m looking forward to screening is I Am Not Your Monster (2024) by experimental animator Karen Yasinsky. I showed Yasinsky’s Marie (2010) my first year programming Rooftop Cinema at MMoCA in 2018. While Marie reworks a rotoscoped image from Robert Bresson’s Au hasard Balthasar (1966) using various techniques, I Am Not Your Monster reworks rotoscoped images from Young Frankenstein (1974) and other sources, using shaded pencil and charcoal drawings to bring the images to life.
The pencil drawings are on white backgrounds, allowing Yasinsky to play with spatial relationships between the images, sometimes suturing them together using eyeline matches. Yasinsky replaces Frankenstein’s monster with “a person I know” (as she describes her in her program notes for the film at Crossroads), creating a new dynamic between Gene Wilder’s frantic performance (as Dr. Fredrick Frankenstein) and the “person’s” subdued responses to him. Meanwhile, Teri Garr (as Inga) does not seem to be able to piece together what she sees, or know how to respond to it.
Yasinsky’s technique is hypnotic in its deceptive simplicity. Many images of Wilder have excessive detail which seem to transform his eyes into a manic gaze. Although I don’t think that I Am Not Your Monster has the conceptual impact of Marie, it is still a great example of personally produced animation, and well worth seeking out for experimental film and animation enthusiasts.
Two French feature films in Madison theaters the same week?
Week to week, global cinema in the Madison commercial theater market is dominated by Indian popular cinema and occasional Japanese anime or Chinese features. This is great, in my opinion. I try my best to keep up with as many Bollywood films as I can. But it is not very often that multiple recent French films play in Madison’s theaters at the same time.
This week we have two French-produced features. First, the Oscar-nominated animated feature film, Arco, presented in a dubbed version, featuring voices of (co-producer) Natalie Portman, America Ferrera and Will Farrell. And second, Jody Foster (speaking French and English) in the black comedy/thriller A Private Life, also starring Daniel Auteuil and Mathieu Amalric.
Not surprisingly, both are playing at AMC Fitchburg 18 (both opening on Thursday, January 29). While Marcus Point will likely bring in some of the films nominated for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film between now and March, AMC Fitchburg does seem to have the recent edge on international titles. I’m going to attempt to keep closer tabs on how many international titles play at AMC, Marcus, and Flix in 2026.
Now Playing In Madison: January 26–February 2, 2026
Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays.
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
YOU DON’T KNOW ME: SELECTIONS FROM THE 2025 COSMIC RAYS FILM FESTIVAL, Wednesday, January 28, 7pm.
Touring program of films selected from the 2025 Cosmic Rays Film Festival in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. See notes above.
UW Cinematheque
The following films are scheduled to play at UW Cinematheque from Thursday, January 29, through Sunday, February 1, 2026, listed in chronological order:
NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE, 4070 Vilas Hall, Thursday, January 29, 7 p.m.,
Matt Johnson, Canada, 2025, 98 min. I don’t pretend to fully understand what is going on here, but it does seem like it is a lot of fun.
YI YI, 4070 Vilas Hall, Friday, January 30, 7 p.m.,
Edward Yang, Taiwan, Japan, 2000, 173 min.
CAPRICORN ONE, 4070 Vilas Hall, Saturday, January 31, 7 p.m.,
Peter Hyams, USA, 1978, 124 min.
Wisconsin Union Directorate Film
KING IN THE WILDERNESS (2018), Union South Marquee Theater, Thursday, 1/29, 6 p.m.
WEAPONS (2025), Union South Marquee Theater, Friday, 1/30, 6 p.m.
FUNNY GAMES (1997), Union South Marquee Theater, Friday, 1/30, 9 p.m.
NICKEL BOYS (2024), Union South Marquee Theater, Saturday, 1/31, 6 p.m.
WEAPONS (2025), Union South Marquee Theater, Saturday, 1/31, 9 p.m.
Bartell Theater Film Series
XANADU – Friday, 01/30, 8:00pm
SISTER FIGHT - Saturday, 1/31/, 7:00pm
Directed by UW- Madison Graduate Hannah Beck and written/executive produced by Wisconsin native Madeline Rose Thompson comes the world premiere screening of an end of summer comedy about embracing the messiness of sisterhood.
GROUNDHOG DAY – Sunday, 02/01, 1:00pm [start time corrected]
HONEYCOMB presented by Four Star Video - Sunday, 02/01, 3:00pm [screening updated]
Side Room Cinematheque
Monday, January 26, 8:00pm at Aftershock Arcade, 1444 E. Washington Avenue. Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.
AMC Theatres, Flix Brewhouse, Marcus Theatres
28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.
AA BATA AAMA at Point. Opens Friday, January 30.
Nepali-language drama about the emotional weight of preparing to move abroad.
AMC SCREAM UNSEEN: FEBRUARY 2 at AMC.
AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: JANUARY 26 at AMC.
ANACONDA at AMC.
ARCO at AMC.
French feature-length animated feature, co-produced by Natalie Portman, nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar this year.
AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.
BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT at Flix.
BORDER 2 at AMC.
Indian Hindi-language action/war film, a sequel almost 30 years after the original Border (J.P. Dutta, 1997), set during the India-Pakistan war of 1971. I keep promising to write about nationalism in current Indian action cinema, I just have to give it some more thought and research.
CHARLIE THE WONDERDOG at Point.
Week three for this sketchy low-to-medium-budget family friendly animated feature.
DEAD MAN’S WIRE at AMC, Palace, Point.
Latest from director Gus Van Sant. Indianapolis entrepreneur Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) stages a hostage standoff, and turns an eccentric outlaw folk hero. Read Rob Thomas’s review.
EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY at AMC.
Chinese-language comedy. From questionable sources that I don’t have time to research further, my sense is that this is about a retired, ailing steelworker and a good-hearted drifter who form an unlikely friendship.
GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION at Palace.
H IS FOR HAWK at AMC, Palace, Point.
Helen Foy, Brendan Gleeson, and Lena Heady star in this drama about a woman (Foy) grieving for her father, and turns to falconry to recall her memory of birding and exploring nature together. Adapted from a memoir by Helen McDonald.
HAMNET at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.
Nominated for several Academy Awards, which will hopefully give me a few more weeks to catch up with it.
HARD BOILED - HONG KONG CINEMA CLASSICS at AMC, Point.
I have my tickets for Monday night at AMC.
HOBBIT MARATHON, THE at Palace, Point.
HOUSEMAID, THE at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.
Sydney Sweeney spars with Amanda Seyfried. I like both actresses, but I would advise going to see Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee (see below), if you need to make a choice. (That’s the choice I would make.)
IN COLD LIGHT at AMC.
English language debut for Canadian filmmaker Maxime Giroux. A woman (Maika Monroe) is released from prison, and she plans on resuming her drug dealing operation. But it is never that simple, is it?
INTERSTELLAR at Flix.
IRON LUNG at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.
Science fiction horror film, directed by and starring Mark Fischbach. Adaptation of the video game of the same name by David Szymanski (who also appears in the film). I guess Fischbach is best known for his YouTube channel (where he is known as “Markpiler”). God help us all.
ISLANDS at AMC.
German thriller directed by Jan-Ole Gerster in which a tennis coach at a tropical resort gets caught up in a missing persons mystery. Premiered at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival.
IS THIS THING ON? at Flix.
Another backstage drama from director Bradley Cooper, this time the stage is at a comedy club. Read Rob Thomas’s review.
LEGO MOVIE, THE at AMC, Palace.
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE at Flix.
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, THE at AMC.
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, THE at AMC.
MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE at Palace, Point.
MARTY SUPREME at AMC, Point, Flix.
Until I can finish my review/thoughts, read Rob Thomas’s review. This is also returning to some IMAX theaters for Oscar season, but even though I like the film, that would be too much for me.
MARDAANI 3 at AMC
Indian Hindi-language action film. Friday, January 30 screenings are already sold out.
MELANIA at AMC.
First-time documentarian Brett Ratner, best known for Rush Hour, Red Dragon, and multiple sexual misconduct allegations since 2017, follows Melania Trump for the twenty days leading up to Donald Trump’s second inauguration. Set to premiere at the “Kennedy Center” this week, then it will be distributed by Jeff Bezos’s Amazon MGM Studios.
MERCY at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.
I feel bad for Rebecca Ferguson every time I see an ad or trailer for Mercy. I hope she got a big check for this one, at least.
MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU at Palace, Point.
MOSES THE BLACK at Point.
Crime drama directed by Yelena Popovic, but most tellingly produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who has a cinematic ouvre all his own (and even has his own action-themed FAST streaming channel (Free Ad Supported Television). Moses the Black stars Omar Epps, Wiz Khalifa, and Quavo. A feared gang leader from Chicago’s West Side (Epps) returns home after being released from prison, in order to avenge the murder of his best friend.
NO OTHER CHOICE at AMC, Palace, Point.
The latest from director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy; Decision to Leave). Golden Globe nominee, and shortlisted for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award nominations. This might be the only film I actually get a chance to see this week, despite a lot of interesting options. Meanwhile, read Rob Thomas’s review.
OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI at Point
Indian Telugu-language comedy. Opens Friday, January 30.
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER at AMC, Palace, Point.
It’s back in theaters. Sure, it is streaming on HBO Max at this point, but I might see it again on the big screen if I get a chance. I want to compare one or two specific scenes from Pynchon’s Vineland with its parallel in Anderson’s very loose adaptation. Meanwhile, here are some of my other thoughts on the film.
PARIS HILTON INFINITE ICON: A VISUAL MEMOIR at AMC.
Directors Bruce Robertson and JJ Duncan follow Paris Hilton as she returns to music in 2024 (was she ever there, did she ever leave?) with her first-ever concert at the Hollywood Palladium. As vapid as this appears to be, I’d rather you go to watch this than pay to see Melania.
PRIMATE at AMC, Palace.
I saw the trailer. This looks slick but dumb. A family’s adopted chimpanzee (their first mistake) is bitten by a rabid animal and goes, well, apeshit. I’ve skimmed a few reviews that suggest it might be fun, at least.
PRIVATE LIFE, A at AMC.
French-language black comedy/mystery thriller directed by Rebecca Zlotowski (Grand Central; Planetarium; An Easy Girl) starring Jodie Foster (yes, she speaks French very well, thank you), Daniel Auteuil, and Mathieu Amalric.
RETURN TO SILENT HILL at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.
Horror film and adaptation of the video game Silent Hill 2.
ROOM WITH A VIEW, A at AMC.
SEND HELP at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.
The latest thriller from Sam Raimi appears to be a variation on Swept Away (1974 and 2002), downplaying the sexual tension angle in favor of class and office politics in contemporary corporate capitalism. Raimi’s input and star Rachel McAdams might make this worth a look.
SHELTER at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.
The latest action vehicle for Jason Statham. Former assassin something something must protect girl something something.
SINNERS at AMC, Palace, Point.
Back in theaters for Oscar season. Catch this if you haven’t already.
SONG SUNG BLUE at AMC, Palace, Point.
You can see the original documentary titled Song Song Blue on YouTube. Meanwhile, people seem to really enjoy this fictionalization of the story of Lightning and Thunder starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson
SPACEBALLS at Flix.
SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS, THE at AMC.
TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE, THE at AMC.
A historical musical drama directed by Mona Fastvold, who co-wrote it with Brady Corbet (The Brutalist). This has been getting very good reviews and award season nominations, especially for Amanda Seyfried in the lead role as 18th-century spiritual leader Ann Lee, one of the founders of the Shakers.
VERTIGO at Flix.
WICKED: FOR GOOD at AMC, Palace, Point.
WORLDBREAKER at AMC
Action film starring Milla Jojovich and Luke Evans.
ZOOTOPIA 2 at AMC, Palace, Point, Flix.
Looking Ahead:
Cinesthesia Series at Madison Public Library Central Branch
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (2021), Wednesday, 02/17, 6:30pm
Duck Soup Cinema
PETER PAN (1928), Saturday, February 21, 2pm & 7pm.
Also: The screening of the very excellent "Nickel Boys" scheduled for Saturday at the Marquee in Union South. It's been replaced by "Judas and the Black Messiah", which is also pretty great, and, of course, better seen on an actual big screen...but, of course, it's up against the Cinematheque screening of "Capricorn One", so there's always the 2/17 screening at Cinesthesia.
Claire Foy. Not Helen.