Brewmaster
Saturday, April 7, Shannon Hall, 8:30 p.m.
Documentarian Douglas Tirola (Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon), fresh off a three-year break, comes back stronger than a double IPA with Brewmaster, an in-depth look at beer creators. Ditching most hyper-masculine, “beer is so cool!!” college bro mentality, this documentary shows beer as an art form. It shows why beer is important to American culture and, specifically, to our two protagonists: New York City’s Drew Kostic and Milwaukee's own Brian Reed. Kostic, who once dreamed of being a lawyer, now dreams of opening Droo's Broos after years of homebrewing. Brian, on the other hand, wants to become a certified master cicerone, of which there are only 11 in the entire world. Much like a drunken conversation, the documentary veers off into tangents occasionally, and it drags toward the middle as focus shifts away from our two hopefuls. Nevertheless, Brewmaster is entertaining, educational and — like your favorite ice-cold brew — refreshing.
Western
Saturday, April 7, AMC Madison 6, 11:15 a.m.; and Wednesday, April 11, AMC Madison 6, 3 p.m.
Writer-director Valeska Grisebach's third feature certainly attempts to live up to its namesake. It’s got the charmingly tight-lipped-yet-simmering-with-anger lead, a subdued, gritty feeling, and a big ol’ white horse for him to trot about on. Set in Bulgaria and featuring characters speaking German, French, Russian and Bulgarian, the film is a heavy-handed attempt to tackle topical themes, including xenophobia and assimilation. But Western's two-hour run time is a drag, and there's not much of a plot to speak of. While it’s obviously a thoughtful piece, made with love, this thinking man's Western lacks heart. It seems to be too preoccupied with using genre tropes in a post-modern fashion to present much more than a strong lead performance and some gorgeous vistas of Bulgarian mountainsides.
