Screenings announced for UW Cinematheque, Mills Folly Microcinema
Ctek Spring Series 2026, Project Projection (Jan 21), and Cosmic Rays tour (Jan 28)
Scroll down for Now Showing in Madison, January 12–19, 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.
UW Cinematheque announces Spring Series 2026, starting January 22
The big local news this week was the release of the UW Cinematheque Spring Series 2026 schedule. As usual there’s a lot to talk about! I’m going to dole out my reactions slowly across several posts, and I plan to do at least one video featuring some of the titles I’m most interested in. If you want a response from a fellow-Substacker right now, I’d suggest checking out Alex Lovendahl’s overview at The Horizon Line Madison.
Okay, I’ll mention a few titles right now: two films from 1995. Many people seem to forget that Todd Haynes’s Safe (1995) often appeared on Best of the 1990s lists at the end of that decade. It has been a while since I revisited it, but as an asthmatic my memory of it is that it really nails how some people respond to finding out that you have allergies with disbelief. So the ambiguity about what Carol (Julianne Moore) is goes through really resonated with me. Safe screens on Friday, January 23, 7:00pm.
I was very excited to hear The Criterion Collection announce that they would release Tsui Hark’s The Blade (1995) in March. Somewhere I have a Video CD (or VCD) of The Blade (if I find it I’ll show it in the video preview). It would be fun to revisit it (well, it is pretty violent and gruesome, but you know what I mean) on the big screen when the Ctek screens it on April 18, 7pm. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this Wisconsin Center for Film and Research print, thanks to the late David Bordwell.
I’ve posted the Ctek’s schedule for its first weekend, which kicks off with Óliver Laxe’s Sirāt, in the Looking Ahead section below.
Lineup of local films now posted for Project Projection at Mills Folly Microcinema on Wednesday, January 21
The decision to hold Project Projection screenings at Mills Folly Microcinema every three months instead of every six months seems to be bearing fruit. We had no problem assembling an 80-minute program. And, as hoped, we’ll be featuring more first-time local filmmakers at the screening. This is inspiring me, and hopefully I’ll have a submission of my own ready for the April Project Projection. (You should make something, too!)
Mills Folly’s Project Projection screening will be held on Wednesday, January 21, 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory. By the time this is posted, you should be able to see the program lineup at the Project Projection event page (or check back soon if it is not there).
The Cosmic Rays Film Festival tour visits Mills Folly Microcinema on Wednesday, January 28
A late add to the schedule: the regularly scheduled Mills Folly screening (last Wednesday of the month) will be the 2025 Cosmic Rays Film Festival touring program, You Don’t Know Me. Founded by filmmakers Sabine Gruffat and Bill Brown, the Cosmic Rays Film Festival is an annual celebration of short films in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that expands our idea of what film is and what it can be.
What happens to our bodies in an age of disembodiment? The films in the You Don’t Know Me program explore “the roles our bodies play, the data they generate, the avatars they adopt, and the traces they leave behind. Films that ask if we’re evolving into something new, or just heading for extinction.” Don’t miss this screening on Wednesday, January 28, 7:00pm!
I appeared on The Oscar Project podcast, discussing Maurice Chevalier in The Big Pond (1930)
Big thanks to Jonathan Ytreberg for inviting me to appear on The Oscar Project podcast to discuss The Big Pond (1930) with Maurice Chevalier. The goal of The Oscar Project is to discuss as many Oscar nominated films as possible, focusing on one year each season. Jonathan wrapped up the 1930 season with The Big Pond, for which Chevalier was nominated for Best Actor (along with his role in The Love Parade).
A poor but watchable copy of The Big Pond is posted on YouTube, but you can enjoy the episode without having seen the film (although there are many spoilers if you decide to watch it later).
Now Playing In Madison: January 12–19, 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. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).
This week features films from Gus Van Sant, Jim Jarmusch, and Park Chan-wook! If you need to prioritize, Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother appears to be leaving AMC Fitchburg after Wednesday, January 14.
AMC Theatres, Flix Brewhouse, Marcus Theatres
28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE at AMC, Flix, Point, Palace.
ALL YOU NEED IS KILL at AMC, Point, Palace.
Opens Thursday, January 15. Anime feature adapted from the same source material as the Tom Cruise vehicle Edge of Tomorrow.
ANACONDA at AMC, Flix, Point, Palace.
AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH at AMC, Flix, Point, Palace.
BARBIE at Flix.
CHARLIE THE WONDERDOG at AMC, Point, Palace.
This week’s sketchy low-to-medium-budget family friendly animated feature.
CHORAL, THE at AMC.
Opens Wednesday, January 14. Ralph Fiennes stars as a German music teacher leading a choral group in England as young men are enlisting in World War I.
CHRONOLOGY OF WATER, THE at AMC.
Directoral debut of Kirsten Stewart, adapted from the memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch. Read Rob Thomas’s review.
DAVID at AMC, Point.
Faith-based animated feature, telling the story of young David and his battle with Goliath.
DEAD MAN’S WIRE at AMC, Point, Palace.
Opens Thursday, January 15. Latest from director Gus Van Sant. Indianapolis entrepreneur Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) stages a hostage standoff, and turns an eccentric outlaw folk hero.
DHURANDHAR at AMC.
Only afternoon screenings through Wednesday, January 14. The top grossing Indian feature film of 2025. I’ve had a chance to see this, and I liked its scope and ambition, despite occasionally wallowing in some brutal violence. This plays for only a few more days in town, and it is worth catching if you can spare 214 minutes. I hope to return to it to write about the evolving nationalist tone of current Indian action dramas. Meanwhile, Dhurandhar is a Hindi-language spy action thriller with some big Bollywood stars (Ravneer Singh, Sanjay Dutt) very loosely based on a crackdown against organized crime in Karachi, Pakistan.
EVENT HORIZON at Flix.
FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER at AMC.
As of this writing, no screening scheduled past Thursday, January 15. The latest from Jim Jarmusch, and the winner of the 2025 Palm d’Or at Cannes. A triptych of short films examining family relationships, with a cast that includes Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps.
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2 at AMC, Point.
GODFREY: REBEL WITH A CAUSE at Point.
Standup comedy by Nigerian-American comic Godfrey.
GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION at AMC, Flix, Point, Palace.
GUNDAM PREMIERE NIGHT (DOUBLE FEATURE) at AMC, Point, Palace.
Anime program. Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt + Wedge of Interposition, followed by the 4K remastered Gundam Wing Endless Waltz Special Edition
HOUSEMAID, THE at AMC, Flix, Point, Palace.
I WAS A STRANGER at AMC, Point, Palace.
The directorial debut of Brandt Anderson, which premiered at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival about the refugee exodus after the Arab Spring and Syrian Civil War. Starring French actor Omar Sy and Lebanese-born Yasmine Al Massri. Distributed by faith-based streaming platform, Angel.
IRON GIANT, THE at Flix.
IS THIS THING ON? at AMC, Flix, Point, Palace.
Another backstage drama from director Bradley Cooper, this time the stage is at a comedy club. Read Rob Thomas’s review.
LABYRINTH 40TH ANNIVERSARY at Point, Palace.
LAST STARFIGHTER, THE at Flix.
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP, THE at Point, Palace.
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE at AMC, Flix.
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, THE at AMC, Flix, Point, Palace.
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, THE at AMC, Flix, Point, Palace.
MADAGASCAR 20TH ANNIVERSARY at AMC, Point, Palace.
MANA SHANKARAVARAPRASAD GARU at AMC.
Missed this last week. Currently, screenings scheduled through Wednesday, January 14. Indian Telugu-language comedy-action-drama about a security officer protecting his estranged wife and kids from a vengeful ex-cop.
MARTY SUPREME at AMC, Flix, Point, Palace.
Until I can finish my review/thoughts, read Rob Thomas’s review.
METROPOLITAN OPERA: I PURITANI, THE at Point.
MINECRAFT MOVIE, A at Point, Palace.
MONDAY MYSTERY MOVIE at AMC.
NIGHT PATROL at AMC.
Action drama with Justin Long and Dermot Mulroney. Police task force is doing not so great things at night.
NO OTHER CHOICE at AMC.
Opens Thursday, January 15. The latest from director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy; Decision to Leave). Golden Globe nominee, and shortlisted for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award nominations.
PLAGUE, THE at AMC.
Joel Edgerton co-produces and stars in psychological thriller which also marks directorial debut from screenwriter Charlie Polinger. The film debuted in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. A socially anxious 12-year-old boy is pulled into a cruel tradition at an all-boys water polo camp.
PRIMATE at AMC, Flix, Point, 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.
RAJA SAAB, THE at AMC.
Screenings through Wednesday, January 14. Indian Telugu-language fantasy/horror/comedy. A young man, played by Prabhas, seeks relief to his financial problems, but instead finds himself in a haunted mansion.
SHEEPDOG at AMC.
Indie drama focusing on the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, starring writer/director Steven Grayhm with Vondie Curtis-Hall and Virginia Madsen.
SONG SUNG BLUE at AMC, Point, Palace.
I forgot to mention last week that 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
SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS, THE at AMC, Point, Palace.
WE BURY THE DEAD at Palace.
Zombie survival thriller starring Daisy Ridley. A desperate woman (played by Ridley) searches for her husband after a catastrophic military experiment goes wrong. And we all know that can only mean one thing: zombies.
WICKED: FOR GOOD at AMC, Flix, Point, Palace.
ZOMBIELAND SAGA: YUMEGINGA PARADISE at Point.
One day only, Monday, January 19. Anime horror film.
ZOOTOPIA 2 at AMC, Flix, Point, Palace.
Looking Ahead:
Mills Folly Microcinema
Project Projection: Winter 2026, Wednesday, January 21, 7pm.
Experimental film, short docs, music videos, and animation produced by filmmakers in Madison and Dane County.
You Don’t Know Me: 2025 Cosmic Rays Film Festival Tour, Wednesday, January 28, 7pm.
Highlights from the experimental film festival held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
UW Cinematheque
SIRĀT, 4070 Vilas Hall, Thursday, 1/22, 7 p.m.,
Oliver Laxe, France, Spain, 2025, 115 min.
SAFE, 4070 Vilas Hall, Friday, 1/23, 7 p.m.,
Todd Haynes, USA, 1995, 119 min.
AN OFFICER AND A SPY (J’ACCUSE), 4070 Vilas Hall, Saturday, 1/24, 7 p.m.,
Roman Polanski, France, Italy, 2019, 111 min.
DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, Chazen Museum, Sunday, 1/25, 2 p.m.
Susan Seidelman, USA, 1985, 104 min.
NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE, 4070 Vilas Hall, Thursday, 1/29, 7 p.m.,
Matt Johnson, Canada, 2025, 98 min.
Wisconsin Union Directorate Film
FROZEN (2013), Union South Marquee Theater, Friday, 1/23, 6:30 p.m.
NOSFERATU (2024), Union South Marquee Theater, Friday, 1/23, 9 p.m.
TITANIC (1997), Union South Marquee Theater, Saturday, 1/24, 6:30 p.m.
Four Star Video Pop Up, Nottingham Co-op
Flesh Isn’t What It Seems and Spirit Riser, Friday, 1/23, 7:30pm, 146 Langdon Street.
Side Room Cinematheque
Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for upcoming screenings, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.
Ska Documentary Night at Muskellounge
Private screening of Pick it Up! (2019), Sunday, February 22, 5pm–9pm
$35 per person, you’ll get the full rude-boy treatment: All-you-can-eat Fraboni’s Pizza, (2) Half Acre Brews, and a live two-song musical break to keep you skanking between acts
"A socially anxious 12-year-old boy is pulled into a cruel tradition at an all-boys water polo camp."
While I realize this is the synopsis offered up by, I think, Wikipedia, it turns out to be fairly inaccurate, unless "tween boys generally being little dicks to one another" counts as a "tradition", and even if it does, I doubt it's specific to the one water polo camp. Decent film, though, despite the lack of being "pulled into a cruel tradition". Creates an overwhelming sense of horror, despite no actual horror-stuff happening, mostly because of the somewhat overbearing score.