Project Projection screening of local film and video next week, Wednesday April 29
Deadline is Friday, April 24 for submissions of experimental films, short docs, animation, and music videos by filmmakers in Madison and Dane County.
Scroll down for Now Showing in Madison, April 20–27, 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.
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.
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.