Movies
Palace intrigue
Director Yorgos Lanthimos has created a masterpiece in “The Favourite,” a behind-the-scenes palace thriller featuring a trio of strong women. more
"Schindler’s List" revisited
Film critic MaryAnn Johanson shares lessons for 2018 from revisiting the film “Schindler’s List.” The film is in theaters for a limited release 25th anniversary edition. more
GOLD BALLS
Powless power
"Gold Balls," the documentary about senior league tennis star John Powless, will be shown to benefit repairs to his namesake stadium. The facility sustained major damage during August’s floods. more
Alabama up close
By focusing on the details of everyday life in a black community in Greensboro, Alabama, “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” strikes with the force of an imagist poem. more
Dogs at the movies
We love dogs. And we love watching dogs — in real life and onscreen. Here are some of Isthmus’ favorite movies (and one TV episode) featuring canines and their humans. more
Dogged determination
Despite a government ban, Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has made another film: “3 Faces” is a low-key drama about a young girl who wants to become an actor. It shows as part of MMoCA’s Spotlight Cinema on Nov. 28. more
Addiction up close
In “Beautiful Boy,” Steve Carell delivers a heartbreaking performance as a father trying to help his meth-addicted son, played by the screen sensation Timothée Chalamet. more
The Arb wins an Oscar
The UW Arboretum, considered the birthplace of restoration ecology, attracted Disney Studios in the early 1950s. The resulting documentary, The Vanishing Prairie, won an Oscar in 1954. more
Funny girl
The new documentary “Love, Gilda” is a loving, risk-free way to get to know the luminous Gilda Radner. more
The reenactors
The “Bisbee Deportation” on July 12, 1917, resulted in the brutal death of 1,200 immigrant mine workers. A new film, “Bisbee ’17,” explores the past by gathering locals to confront and reenact the events. more
Gaga reborn
Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, “A Star is Born,” is a cinematic marvel. With loads of onscreen chemistry between him and the astonishing Lady Gaga, this is why we go to the movies. more
Listening carefully
The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art has launched its fall Spotlight Cinema series. Don’t miss the amazing documentary, “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” which screens on Oct. 10 at the museum. more
Nicholas Cage unhinged
Nicholas Cage plays a completely unhinged version of himself in Pano Cosmatos’ “Mandy,” a psychedelic horror flick that fails to live up to its promise. more
Alarmed and motivated
Michael Moore is still Michael Moore, but the agitprop of his new “Fahrenheit 11/9” manages to leave the viewer with some hope of mitigating Trump’s harm. more
Massachusetts death trip
Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart team up for a cinematic take on the legendary double murder case in “Lizzie.” more
Doing nothing amid turmoil
“In the Last Days of the City” suffers from some self-conscious filmmaking techniques, but director Tamer El Said presents a moving mosaic of a tumultuous time in his native Egypt. more
Corey Rich
Friends in high places
Madison band Searchlights featured in “The Dawn Wall,” a film documenting a near-impossible ascent of El Cap in Yosemite National Park. more
Real World
“Documentaries aren’t just one thing!” Cinematheque’s “Spotlight on Documentary” series explores the wide-ranging possibility of documentaries and alums’ sweeping achievements more
Haunted Wisconsin
For decades strange reports of a wolf-like creature have been surfacing on the outskirts of Elkhorn. A new documentary, “The Bray Road Beast,” explores the legend. more
Facing racism
Spike Lee’s new film, “BlacKkKlansman” offers up deft comedy, along with the cold hard truth about racism, in the 1970s and now. more
