See this email hangin’ in your inbox / in the P.M. on a Thursday, right? /
A little light a-shinin’ from your browser / lets you know everything is alright
Weekly newsletter / makes me feel fine / reviewing all the movies in my miiiiiiind!
Baby Driver @ Marcus Ridge (now playing) (Dir. Edgar Wright | UK/USA | 2017)
In a less professional setting, our write-up for this film would be something like:
“AHHHHHHHHHHHH THE GUY WHO MADE SHAUN OF THE DEAD AND HOT FUZZ MADE A HEIST MOVIE AND THERE ARE NON-STOP CAR CHASES AND DON DRAPER AND JAMIE FOXX AND HOUSE OF CARDS GUY AND A SOUNDTRACK FULL OF JAMS AND RUN THE JEWELS AMIRITE?!?”
The Beguiled @ Downer Theatre (Opens Thu, June 29) (Dir. Sofia Coppola | USA | 2017)
One of our favorite directors, Sofia Coppola, returns to the big screen with this atmospheric adaptation of Thomas P. Cullinan’s A Painted Devil. Set during the American Civil War, The Beguiled primarily takes place at an all-girls boarding school in the South, where an injured Union soldier winds up in the care of the school’s very sheltered female residents. As sexual tensions rise, rivalries develop, resulting in a very unexpected series of events. And unlike the 1971 film of the same name, Coppola chose to tell this tale from the female perspective. The result? Coppola became only the second woman ever to win the Best Director award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Watch the trailer for The Beguiled here.
Sign Painters (from the 2013 Milwaukee Film Festival) (Dirs. Faythe Levine, Sam Macon | USA | 2014)
An expressive call to return to the handcrafted and tactile before entire city landscapes are swallowed by uninspired homogeneity, Sign Painters is an affectionate look behind the curtains of the custom calligraphy and ornate beauty that comprise the trade. With dozens of sign painters as their subjects, co-directors Faythe Levine (Handmade Nation, MFF2012) and Sam Macon provide an unprecedented glance at the process behind sign painting as well as its history: from the apocalyptic 1980s, when computers and die-cut vinyl lettering with its quick and cheap allure nearly brought the movement to its knees, to its thriving past and hopeful future. –Rachel Vander Weit, Development Coordinator Watch the trailer for Sign Painters here.
Holy smokes. Is our campaign art beautiful or what? Thanks, Kate Malone!
• What’s that? You have questions about us taking over the Oriental Theatre?We have answers. Check out our handy FAQ.
• TOMORROW’S THE LAST DAY to apply for several of our great festival positions. Check ’em out here.
• Milwaukee Magazine recently profiled director Erik Ljung, editor Michael Vollman, and the entire Milwaukee team behind the critically acclaimed documentary The Blood is at the Doorstep.
• Milwaukee Film Festival alum David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, MFF2013) opened A Ghost Store for A Ghost Story.
Summerfest June 28 – July 2 + July 4 – July 9 Henry Maier Festival Park
There are a lot of noteworthy anniversaries happening in Milwaukee this year, and this week we find ourselves celebrating one of the biggest: Summerfest is turning the big 5-0. As music festivals go, that’s no small feat. Heck, as most things go that’s no small feat. But they did it: over the course of half a century they’ve managed to host everyone from Dolly Parton and Prince to George Carlin and Kanye West, turning one former mayor’s mere idea into the world’s largest music festival. And best of all, they did it right here in Milwaukee. Not New York. Not L.A. Our city. Happy Birthday, Summerfest. We hope that when we turn 50, we’re even half as cool as you are. Get in on the 50th Anniversary fun here.