Movies
Baring souls
Podcaster Kulap Vilaysack journeys to Minnesota and Laos to confront her past and explore her identity in “Origin Story.” The film screens at Cinematheque on UW-Madison campus on April 25. Read more
Simon Mein
History repeating itself
Writer/director Mike Leigh’s latest historical epic, “Peterloo,” revisits a harrowing historical event when the British Army massacred peaceful protesters. Read more
Wisco dining
Wisconsin filmmaker Holly De Ruyter’s movie “Old Fashioned: The Story of the Wisconsin Supper Club” explores the state’s cultural — and culinary — treasures. Read more
Gillian Laub
The rest of the story
Madison audiences get a chance to meet the creators of the HBO documentary “Southern Rites.” It screens on April 16 at Union South, and photographer Gillian Laub’s exhibit is up at the Chazen Museum. Read more
Brian Douglas
Library dysphoria
With homelessness on the rise, “The Public” examines the role of libraries in providing shelter for patrons amid a housing crisis. But will the movie reach the people it is meant to move? Read more
No-budget cinema
It’s pretty rare to find a feature-length indie film that’s interesting, cohesive or competent. But “Lake Michigan Monster,” showing April 7 at the Wisconsin Film Festival, is inventive and weird. Read more
Movies with heart
Tickets are still available for some fantastic films showing at this year’s Wisconsin Film Festival. Isthmus critics dug in to another round, to help procrastinators pick their films. Read more
Jennifer Johnson
Many voices of Wisconsin
As debates rage about representation in Hollywood and on television, we chatted with five Wisconsin filmmakers, women and people of color, showing work at this year’s Wisconsin Film Festival. The results were illuminating. Read more
Cinema for troubled times
Forget your troubles by laughing at ridiculous corporate musicals in “Bathtubs Over Broadway” or get some perspective by viewing the majestic creatures in “Elephant Path.” Here’s our first round of reviews for this year's Wisconsin Film Festival. Read more
Mystery in Spain
Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi doesn’t quite live up to his previous works with his first Spanish-language film, “Everybody Knows.” Read more
Old films and new blood
This year’s Wisconsin Film Festival looks to the future — with a doc starring superstar freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — and the past. Restorations include a 3-D screening of “The Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Read more
Making Portugal great again?
“Diamantino” is a broad and wacky farce touching on sports, globalization, and making Portugal great again. It screens March 1 at UW-Cinematheque Read more
Call to action
FairShare CSA Coalition screens three important documentary shorts in this year’s Food & Farms Film Festival. They are "Local Thirty," "Big River" and "Last Man Fishing." Read more
Catherine Zdeblick
No more secrets
Mary Sewell writes a screenplay based on her memories of child sexual assault. The short film, “Let Your Sisters Be,” is designed to be a tool to identify signs of abuse. Read more
Culture clash
“Birds of Passage” examines the violence triggered by the Colombian marijuana trade of the 1970s through the eyes of the indigenous Wayuu community. Read more
Dynamic duo
“Stan & Ollie” introduces new audiences to the groundbreaking comedy of Laurel and Hardy. Read more
the bomb
Fearsome filmmaking
The Outrider Foundation is sponsoring a showing of the experimental film “The Bomb,” hoping to reinvigorate public awareness of the ever-present nuclear threat. Read more
Naughty auteur
Mills Folly Microcinema screens a triple bill of videos from the brilliant and perverse George Kuchar, who died in 2011. The screening is at Arts + Literature Lab on Jan. 31. Read more
When grunge ruled
A double header of films featuring 1990s grunge pioneers screens at the Barrymore to celebrate the release of a new Smart Studios vinyl compilation. Read more
Domestic revolution
Don’t expect fireworks in “On the Basis of Sex,” the biopic about the early life of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But the film’s portrayal of Ginsburg’s balanced relationship with her husband, Marty, is worth the price of admission. Read more
