This Thursday through Sunday, filmmakers from Spooner to Sao Paulo convene in Madison for the Wisconsin Film Festival, which features 177 films from 27 countries. Not sure what to go see? As always, The Daily Cardinal is here for you. We give a sneak preview of seven of the hottest films to hit Madison since this one reel of film literally burned up, like, this one time. Festivities include book signings by Roger Ebert and UW-Madison film scholar David Bordwell. For more information, visit www.wifilmfest.org. Film Fests and Madison: as Bogey once said, This looks like the continuation of a beautiful friendship.\ Or something.
""Triviatown""
Directors Patrick Cady and Brit McAdams' ""Triviatown"" documents an annual festival of Wisconsin weirdness, the UW-Stevens Point Media Trivia Contest. Every year, 12,000 participants on 450 teams take part in a 54-hour marathon of useless information.
The documentary profiles a diverse group of the people involved, from teams of just three family members to the dynastic super-team Network and those who try to take them down. Commanding plenty of screen time is the master of it all, the contest's Wavy Gravy-like godfather Oz. What the contest means to him and the wide cross-section of players depicted, from nerdish fact-zealots to wild spirits recapturing their partying days for a weekend, touches the audience like only our bizarre state can.
—Dan Wohl
""Kill Your Idols""
The jumpy, disjointed nature of the documentary ""Kill Your Idols"" compliments its subject matter, the New York no wave punk rock movement of the 1970s, an experimental art form attempting to break free of the Chuck Berry blues-based form of rock 'n' roll.
Well-conducted interviews and extensive live footage show how every band attempted to break free of convention and sound radically different from others even within the movement. As a result, the acts ranged from amateurish and noisy (Teenage Jesus) to remarkably creative and compelling (DNA and Suicide).
The film exposes a certain shallowness of the no wave movement when many of the key players claim they could not really play their instruments, nor really even consider themselves musicians. Above all, however, ""Kill Your Idols"" seems to offer a reason why this was OK: They were genre-bending purists, intent on taking rock 'n' roll where it had never been before, and unconcerned with any previous standards set by mainstream music.
—Ben Peterson
""Conventioneers""
""Conventioneers"" is a poignant and soulful exploration of the nation's partisan divide in the face of the reality and complexity of human relationships. This film questions whether the nation as individuals and as a whole can put aside political differences and listen to each other's concerns, or whether those swept up in polar politics will be the worst of pundits and victims of stereotypes.
Shot among the real-life New York City protests and from within the Republican National Convention 2004, ""Conventioneers"" explores the red-blue divide through the fictional love affair of Lea, a spirited liberal activist, and David, a conservative college friend who's in town as a member of the Texan delegation.
Combining the intensity of the couple's clashing politics with the summer's heat, abundance of hotel minibars and the general mayhem of that week in New York City, the film is a weighted portrayal of the loss of idealism in a post-college world that leaves the audience guessing the outcome of Lea and David's relationship until the film's final frames.
—Bridget Maniaci
""Voksne Mennesker (Dark Horse)""
Most people would be concerned if they had only made $7 in the past four years. Not Daniel, the lovable, laidback protagonist played by Jakob Cedergren in Icelandic director Dagur Kári's second feature film, ""Voksne Mennesker (Dark Horse).""
His tax accountant, landlord and dad pressure Daniel to find a job, but he continues to spend his time as a freelance graffiti artist. Daniel's friend, Roger, aka Grandpa (Nicolas Bro), works as a technician at a sleep monitoring clinic but dreams of being a soccer referee. The two friends fall for the same girl, cute bakery worker Franc (Tilly Scot Pedersen), who is on psychedelic mushrooms when Daniel first meets her at the bakery.
""Voksne Mennesker"" is a playful, funny movie with memorable characters. It is well worth your $7, and that is most likely not the sum of your four-year earnings.
—Stephen Dierks
""Isolation""
A pretense of bovine experimentation gone awry may lead a viewer to prepare for a ""Cabin Fever""-like experience, but Irish filmmaker Billy O'Brien keeps his horror movie grounded firmly in reality, creating his film's horrific quality.
To achieve his realistic aesthetic, O'Brien makes frequent use of the handheld camera. He also relies heavily on close-ups and extreme close-ups to cultivate a sense of intimacy between viewer and character. The cast, as a whole, turns in above average performances with Marcel Iures bringing an exceptional energy to the otherwise stale role of mad scientist.
The film's horror and tension also rest heavily on hard lighting and a very solid sound design. Despite a creative and interesting central story, character arcs and plotlines are otherwise almost non-existent or simply glossed over in exchange for a very tedious set up to the film. Horror fans, steer clear of these steer but go see this film.
—Steven T. Slack
""I Like Killing Flies""
Watching ""I Like Killing Flies"" is somewhat analogous to eating at ""Shopsin's,"" the restaurant that this documentary centers on: Despite its many flaws, it is an unforgettable experience. Kenny Shopsin is the cook, owner and founder who often plays judge, jury and executioner, kicking out customers for whatever he deems reasonable. In spite of this great character, Matt Mahurin's film still falters.
The first 40 minutes or so seem to wander as aimlessly as the subject's soapbox rants. Mahurin also encountered problems with lighting, framing and sound (a hand holding a microphone appears in many shots) but these technical errors seem likely due to constraints placed on the filmmaker by his subject and location.
No matter how many technical errors this film could have, it should not be enough to keep a viewer away. Shopsin is the type of person that few will be privileged enough to hear ramble in real life so take this opportunity to hear philosophize. Just don't come in a group of five.
—Steven T. Slack
""Metal: A Headbanger's Journey""
Sam Dunn, a 30-year-old metalhead and anthropology grad student, helms this documentary about the culture and history of heavy metal. At the beginning of the film he sets to discover why his musical obsession of choice has ""been consistently stereotyped, dismissed and condemned, yet loved so passionately by its millions of fans.""
It takes no more than 10 minutes for the film to devolve into a collection of interviews with metal icons, sociologists, fans and some totally friggin' sweet concert footage. But that's OK. Considering the film's director is a die-hard metal fan, he hardly works as a neutral investigator but excels as a tour guide through the expansive, masculine, misunderstood and leather-clad world of heavy metal.
Highlights include interviews with Ronnie James Dio, ex-Black Sabbath frontman and inventor of the ""devil horns,"" Bruce Dickinson—who talks about opera being a major influence on his vocal styling for Iron Maiden—and the Norwegian death metal band Mayhem, that actually answers questions with little more than drunken exhortations like ""fuck you!""
Come at least to see the fantastic scene where Dunn fades the sound of a Wagnerian organ solo into Eddie Van Halen's furiously virtuosic guitar playing. Yes, headbangers live at a pace that kills.
—Joe Lynch
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