a whole host of ppl contributed to this initial survey of the 2026 #wifilmfest.
it's also important to me to capture the visual identity of the festival, and I appreciate Art Director Christina King sharing her design philosophy behind this year's infinite ribbon.
SHANGHAI BLUES: Pure melodrama, gorgeously restored. Evokes classic Hollywood with its “backlot” vibe, quality gags and clever complications. Walks and talks like a tearjerker but never quite quacks like one — slight miscalibrations in pace and plot (but not performance). #wifilmfest
MIDDLETOWN (2025, A-): Feeling the importance of film & journalism these days is motivating but jeez, the one good politician wore a wire against the mob! They coulda let that moment hit a little harder. Stories of the Story of can already land a little softly. "What if we did it right?" #wifilmfest
Closing night, and our only trip to Flix for the 2025 Fest. The MIDDLETOWN line is already stretching outdoors -- but we are not, thanks to ✨anxiety✨. #wifilmfest
BREAKING GLASS: Amazingly, the lead in this new wave musical was a competitive gig, who then got to write the songs that define it. Impossible to imagine this Thatcher-era paean to nonconformity without Hazel O’Connor’s songs and galvanic screen presence. #wifilmfest
MOTEL DESTINO: An exercise in why certain story templates work — what knobs can be twisted on POSTMAN? Sympathy for husband? Possibility of throuple? What if wife doesn’t backstab? What if there’s no murder? What if it’s set at a sex hotel? Good & sleazy, but more sleazy than good. #wifilmfest
#wifilmfest Lifers was a blast!
Great pre-show set by Scott
Great concert movie
And great post show discussion!
TWO WOMEN: Sorry to report that 14 years after TAKE THIS WALTZ, Canada’s wife satisfaction problem remains unaddressed; here, two couples struggle to stay the course. Each scene works, but the ending could have reversed polarity with equal credibility, so … does it have credibility? #wifilmfest
THE SHROUDS: Kassel’s dental appointment/bad date twofer at its start acknowledges the movie’s off-putting essence. Despite thinking I was onto its Cronenbergundian wavelengths from the jump, I was unprepared for its reality-shredding conceit. Need to sit on whether it’s deep or trite. #wifilmfest
NO PACKERS, NO LIFE (2024, A+): The Americans who engineered this fandom exchange talked about believing in the power of experience, and that's what this movie is: a fan experience. That in mind, it couldn't possibly be better. Be as excited about anything as Suh meeting Mason Crosby. #wifilmfest
COCKSUCKER BLUES: Absolutely lives up/down to its reputation — hedonists hoist by their direct cinema petard. Tour tedium punctuated with genuine shocks, assembled in a(n intentionally?) non-illuminating way; muddy sound contributes to its fugue. Stevie Wonder collab is truly ecstatic. #wifilmfest
Is it Sunday? Am I drinking an old fashioned? Do I have a big G on my t-shirt? Yes? Then let's watch the Green and Gold. Back at the Barrymore one more time, for NO PACKERS, NO LIFE. #wifilmfest
MILK PUNCH: A lost transmission from the passed-away analog world, set in the Madison I moved to 30 years ago. Three hand-to-mouth non-strivers get 12 hours of wish fulfillment, and two settled suburbanites get unsettled — gentle* comedy, lovingly observed. #wifilmfest (*Give or take the title.)
FLORENCE: Last year I saw a concert by a ‘90s-one-hit-wonder-no-longer-making-new-music. It was truly great, for reasons legitimate and nostalgic. This short doc about such a band ably addresses both reasons, serious about musicians’ gifts and lives, and what lies at the end of 30 years. #wifilmfest
Had a nostalgic #wifilmfest meal at Dumpling Haus on Friday, but today's Mint Mark pancakes and Calabrian potatoes might be the true spiritual fuel for the week.
#wifilmfest Cocksucker Blues, rolling stones from 1972, was loud! And about what I expected and crowded with old people. Great to see and see so many out. And a few compliments on my Local H shirt for Lifers tomorrow night
#wifilmfest Tex and the short before it was good. Nice chat with the director after.
GAZER (2024, C): There's a story in here somewhere that's probably worth telling, but it's awkwardly crammed into a disjointed movie that feels like every one of its nearly 120 minutes of runtime -- ironic considering the lost-time condition of its protagonist. #wifilmfest
Great day at the @WIfilmfest repping @pbswisconsin.bsky.social hosting Meet the Parents screening, watching a great rom com flick ‘Threesome’ and now about to watch a rare screening of the Stones &$@/ Sucker Blues! Movies! #Wifilmfest
Impossible to consider it's been 13 years since the last Wisconsin Film Festival screening I've attended at the Bartell. Will be gazing upon GAZER, I'll say hi to the old Sundance projector for you all. #wifilmfest
WHEN FALL IS COMING / Quand vient l'automne (2024, B): A quiet story about mothers, their mistakes, and their legacies. A perfectly fine little film that I must endeavor to not be too hard on because I was WILDLY misled as to the film's tone by the Film Fest capsule text. #wifilmfest
An extremely Barrymore-heavy lineup for us continues with WHEN FALL IS COMING, our only foreign-language film of this Film Festival slate. #wifilmfest
SHELF LIFE (2024, A): A dead bird, dating at 50, corpse skin, happy skin. From the very first shots, this cheese movie is clearly not just about cheese. Thematic elements firmly in hand, this film will absolutely instill in you a basic understanding: cheese is a human condition. #wifilmfest
Taking our seat to the strains of Primus' "Sailing the Seas of Cheese" on the PA for SHELF LIFE, a very Wisconsin documentary. (If there's a Wisconsin Film Festival movie about food, you can be assured I'll be there.) #wifilmfest
#wifilmfest The Surfer starring Nicolas Cage was crazy, odd, weird. Just as you'd expect it to be.
I'm finally getting back to #wifilmfest this year!
Theater lights shining with a red & gold curtain in the background
Opening night at the Wisconsin Film Festival.
#escapism #wifilmfest
FRIENDSHIP (2024, C-): What if Job was your doofus neighbor and kind of deserved all his suffering? What if you saw the Dude's life before he found friends? What if The Truman Show was a midseason cancellation? The audience loved it, but this one's not for me. Except for the toad scene. #wifilmfest
Welcome one and all to the first night of the 2025 Wisconsin Film Festival, and my first posting reviews to Bluesky. In a pleasantly sun-shiny line for Paul Rudd, Kate Mara, and Tim Robinson in FRIENDSHIP. #wifilmfest
(Reposted because I couldn't stand the error on Robinson's name in the original)
