PREMIERE SHOWCASE
This spring’s selection of the best in contemporary cinema includes some big names: we kick off with Robert Pattinson in the Madison premiere of Cosmopolis, the latest film by Canadian master David Cronenberg. In February, we’ll have the only local screening of the minimalist knockout The Loneliest Planet, starring Gael Garcia Bernal. A whirlwind portrait of New Orleans, the documentary hybrid Tchoupitoulas complements our Shirley Clarke series by carrying her radical spirit into the era of high-definition video.
- Sat., Jan. 19 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Twilight heartthrob Pattinson stars as a Wall Street billionaire taking meetings in the back of a stretch limo as he is chauffeured across a near-futuristic Manhattan. Cronenberg’s eccentric, claustrophobic adaption of White Noise author Don DeLillo’s novel evokes the economic crisis. Like many of Cronenberg’s works, his latest looks ready to stand the test of time – Cosmopolis was cited as one of the ten best films of all time by esteemed critic Amy Taubin, who ranked it alongside masterpieces by Hitchcock, Godard, Renoir, and Kurosawa in her 2012 Sight and Sound poll. (MK)
- Fri., Feb. 22 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Bernal (Y Tu Mamá También) and Furstenberg star as a young backpacking couple on a guided trek through Georgia’s breathtaking Caucasus Mountain range. Their idyll is ruptured by a chance encounter that exposes both their place in the world and between each other. As rigorous and rewarding as a mountain hike, Loktev’s film unfolds in an exacting series of single-take scenes. (MK)
- Fri., Apr. 5 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
This lyrical cinéma vérité documentary follows three brothers staying out all night on the streets of New Orleans after they miss the last ferry back to their home in Mississippi. With its merging of fiction and non-fiction, this is a rare contemporary film to exhibit the freeform energy of Shirley Clarke. "The Photographic prowess on display never overshadows, only complements, the youths and settings that are its subjects." (Justin Stewart, Film Comment) (MK)