College life at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is central to the movie Loose Cannons, which made its world premiere at Monona Terrace late Friday night. The auditorium was bursting at the seams with expectant viewers ready to watch the feature-length debut of director of recent UW graduate Andy Schlachtenhaufen. Many others in the crowd counted themselves Badgers as well, both current students and alumni, with more than a few also having a hand in the making of the film. In other words, it was a party.
Appropriately enough, Facebook page, wherein it's described as a "Campus Kung Fu Buddy Cop Comedy." The movie is indeed all of these things, but it can also simply be described as kick-ass. Schlachtenhaufen, who created an impressive collection of shorts as a film student at Wisconsin -- see backstory, adding to the in-universe approach. And for people familiar with the UW-Madison campus, its particularly fun entertaining to spot the various locations, including Vilas Hall (the aforementioned sports building), the Humanities Building, Memorial Union, Van Hise Hall, Ag Hall, James Madison Park, and Bascom Hill, all in their alternate guises within Madison University.
Also essential are the contributions of two of its stars, Jonathan Lang and Eric Lim, in addition to their acting. Lang composed the soundtrack to Loose Cannons, crafting a great set of Spaghetti Western-inspired tunes that distilled the attitude of the movie. Lim, meanwhile, was responsible for choreographing the fight scenes and training the actors in executing them, making inventive use of weapons like an umbrella and paint roller and adding a little bit of a parkour feel to the action.
Loose Cannons certainly entertained its receptive audience on Friday night, drawing multiple ovations at different points during and after the screening. For those who missed it, the film will be showing again soon in Madison, hitting the Orpheum Theatre in a double feature with Lim's Zero Trooper F