James Kreul argues that Dear Zindagi is the most broadly appealing Bollywood film to play Madison in 2016, despite its use of bland music montages instead of dance sequences. After a year of particularly shallow female characters, writer/director Gauri Shinde and star Alia Bhatt play with Bollywood conventions about romance, family, sexuality, and gender roles to deliver an intriguing character study of a young professional woman. […]
Mushi Productions’ Belladonna of Sadness pushes to extremes the tension between motion and stillness often found in Japanese animation (“anime”) to great aesthetic effect. James Kreul argues that despite a decidedly 1970s male-fantasy (and a little rapey) take on sex and power, the film delivers a uniquely rich and textured visual experience. […]
James Kreul looks at the most recent popular Indian film to open “wide” (two screens!) in Madison, Vikram Kumar’s 24. Despite flamboyant performances from Suriya (in a triple-role) and audacious time-travel enabled moments, director Kumar (Manam) seems content with lackluster action, romance, and music. […]
Missed Madison Film Festival Kilo Two Bravo | Paul Katis | UK, Jordan | 2014 | 108 minutes Netflix | Amazon Video | GoWatchIt In a true story of the war in Afghanistan, Jake Smith finds a director worth watching […]
Missed Madison Film Festival Office | Johnnie To | China, Hong Kong | 2015 | 119 minutes Queue at GoWatchIt for availability updates» Jake Smith looks at Johnnie To’s latest and finds a brilliant film that has distinctive […]
Currently in its third week at Point Cinemas (at $20 a pop, no matinees), Baahubali: The Beginning has set box-office records for Telugu-language Indian cinema. This Tollywood epic has something for everyone—melodrama, romance, music and action—even if these elements are not distributed equally across the film. And those already missing Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings adaptations should enjoy its climactic 40-minute battle sequence. […]
Review: One Night Only Port of Shadows (Le Quai des brumes) | Marcel Carné | France | 1938 | 90 min UW Cinematheque, 4070 Vilas Hall, Wednesday, July 1, 7pm» About 28 minutes into Port of Shadows, […]
Review: Limited Run Bombay Velvet | Anurag Kashyap | India | 2015 | 149 min Now Playing at AMC Star 18 Fitchburg through May 28» More Hollywood than Bollywood (songs yes, dancing no), Bombay Velvet is […]
Review: One Night Only Winter Sleep | Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Turkey | 2014 | 196 min UW Cinematheque, 4070 Vilas Hall, Friday, February 27, 7:00pm» Catch what certainly will be one of the best films […]
Madfilm Meetup: Kollywood Matinee Yennai Arindhaal | Gautham Menon | India | 2015 | 168 min Marcus Point Cinemas, Saturday, February 7, 3:00pm» Visit our Facebook Event Page and click “Join.” Join us for our first Tamil-language film […]
Copyright © 2016 Madison Film Forum