UW Cinematheque, Sundance Cinemas, and Micro-Wave Release New Calendars
Keep checking our Alternative Screening Calendar for updates
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Both the UW Cinematheque and Sundance Cinemas have recently updated their repertory schedules, and the Micro-Wave Cinema Series has announced its lineup of recent independent features and Q & A sessions. The Cinematheque’s schedule, of course, extends through the entire Fall semester, and you can find fine overviews of the entire schedule from our good friends at LakeFrontRow, and Arts Extract. And at the bottom of this post, I’ve included the introduction to the schedule from the UW Cinematheque press release, including comments on their installation of DCP equipment and their continued commitment to 35mm projection, which we hope to address in future coverage.
Focusing on Cinematheque events in the first month of September (all of which have been added to our Alternative Screening Calendar), there’s something old and something new, something borrowed and something goo (okay, I’m assuming that there’s some goo in William Friedkin’s Bug; if not, there’s plenty of it in The Exorcist in October). In the new category, the Premiere Showcase series continues on September 5 with the Madison premiere of Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning. We’ll see if Reichardt’s now familiar mannered minimalism translates well in a Hitchcockian suspense thriller. A Special Presentation at the end of the month, September 28, will be a screening of the documentary Stray Dog with an in-person appearance by director Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone) and Stray Dog subject Ron Hall. Granik followed up on her experience directing Hall in Winter’s Bone by producing this portrait of his life as a Vietnam veteran still struggling with past demons.
The other major Cinematheque retrospectives that begin in September include six films to celebrate the centennial of the birth of Alec Guinness; an extensive look the ups-and-downs of William Friedkin; a short burst of madness from David Cronenberg; and a continuation of the very popular Alfred Hitchcock series. And the Cinematheque’s collaboration with WUD Film, Marquee Mondays, will continue on September 29 with Abel Ferrara’s cult classic, Ms. 45.
Obviously, we will have more Cinematheque coverage as October, November, and December approach. Don’t want to lose all of our breath in excitement right now.
Sundance Classics
After a somewhat 80’s-centric summer around Madison, the Sundance Classics series first continues with a few more 80’s classics (Ghostbusters and Scarface) before moving on to a pretty wide-ranging collection of films. The Wednesday series will resume on September 3 (my birthday!) and continue for six continuous weeks. Usually there will be a matinee and an evening show, but be sure to check the Sundance website for showtimes.
Sept. 3: Ghostbusters (Ivan Reitman, 1984)
Sept. 10: Scarface (Brian DePalma, 1983)
Sept. 17: The Nutty Professor (Jerry Lewis, 1963)
Sept. 24: Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
Oct. 1: Gone With the Wind (Victor Flemming, et al., 1939)
Oct. 8: MASH (Robert Altman, 1970)
And again, all of these titles have been added to our Alternative Screening Calendar.
Micro-Wave Cinema Series
This Fall we will follow up on our previous coverage of the Micro-Wave Cinema Series, which is the most important new series to arrive in Madison since, well, the original Madison Film Forum back in the 1990s. For now, all we have is the poster on the Micro-Wave Cinema Series Facebook page, with a list of dates and titles. But we look forward to learning more from series coordinator Brandon Colvin as the events approach. As usual, the focus will be on low-budget independent features, with one evening dedicated to “No-Budge Shorts.” The first event on Sunday, September 14, Black Box, will feature an in-person Q & A with filmmaker Stephen Cone. The subsequent events (two each month, tentatively) will have Skype Q & A’s with the directors. Showtimes for all of the following dates will be Sundays, at 7:00pm in 4070 Vilas Hall (821 University Avenue).
Sept. 14: Black Box (Stephen Cone, 2013)
Sept. 21: See You Next Tuesday (Drew Tobia, 2013)
Oct. 5: Joy Kevin (Caleb Johnson, 2014)
Oct. 12: Hawaiian Punch (Nandan Rao, 2013)
Nov. 16: Menthol (Micah Van Hove, 2014)
Nov. 23: No Budge Shorts Showcase
It looks like it is going to be a great, and very busy, season for cinema in Madison.
From UW Cinematheque Press Release, 8/8/14:
UW CINEMATHEQUE ANNOUNCES FALL 2014 SCREENING CALENDAR
The UW Cinematheque launches its Fall 2014 screening series on Friday, September 5 with a screening of Kelly Reichardt’s critically acclaimed new thriller, Night Moves starring Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning, part of the Cinematheque’s ongoing Premiere Showcase series.
DCP (Digital Cinema Package) has been added to the list of formats that can currently be shown in the UW Cinematheque’s main exhibition venue, at 4070 Vilas Hall. For the addition of DCP, currently the standard commercial exhibition format, we owe thanks, in part, to the contributions and donations of our generous and loyal Cinematheque audience.
We think you will be pleased with the DCP experience. The format provides a bright and clear digital image which, in the cases of those titles shot on film, preserves the grain of 35mm or 16mm stock. Best of all, the addition of this format will allow us access to a greater number of titles from throughout international film history, titles such as the new restorations of Alexander Mackendrick’s The Man in the White Suit and The Ladykillers, William Friedkin’s Sorcerer, Philippe De Broca’s That Man from Rio, Abel Gance’s WWI epicJ’Accuse, and Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist, to name just a handful of titles that will be showing in our current programming season.
That said, the Cinematheque remains committed to screening 35mm prints, and more than two-thirds of this current season will be screened on that format, the standard for the first 120 years of cinema history! In the months ahead, you’ll be able to see, among many others, prints of Friedkin’s The French Connection, the heist-comedy classic The Lavender Hill Mob (a print from our own Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research collection), Charles Chaplin’s Shoulder Arms, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion.
Other changes are also coming to the Cinematheque that will allow us to be one of the most versatile screening facilities in the region. These changes include new carpeting and more comfortable seats.
All Cinematheque screenings are free and open to the public. Please see below for a complete listing of programs and series descriptions. The Cinematheque’s website (http://cinema.wisc.edu) will go live with the fall calendar at noon on Monday, August 11 at 12 noon.