WAUKESHA
- The Milwaukee Film Festival may be named after a city, but
it has truly become a regional affair. The event now spirals
outward from Milwaukee’s east side, spreading north to
Mequon and then west to Waukesha County - to New Berlin’s
Ridge Cinema.
The festivities kick off Friday evening, with "Make
Believe"
(7 p.m), a documentary about six teenage illusionists all
vying to reach the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas. Some
young magicians are scheduled to perform tricks in the theater
lobby.
Last week in these pages, we detailed a handful of other
Ridge highlights from the festival’s opening weekend,
including the Venezuelan soccer-poverty drama "Hermano"
(4:45 p.m. Saturday) and the adoption documentary
"Somewhere Between" (5 p.m Sunday). But the festival
continues through Oct. 2, and many of the festival’s top
titles are still yet to arrive to Waukesha County movie
screens. Here are five highlights from next week’s schedule
at the Ridge Cinema:
"The White Meadows"
7:30 p.m. Sunday
Accomplished Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof weaves this
metaphorical tale of an elderly seaman sailing the coast,
hearing the plight of the next generation of villagers
struggling to endure.
"El Bulli: Cooking
In Progress"
7 p.m. Monday
A few months ago, the world’s greatest restaurant, Spain’s
El Bulli, shut its doors. Prior to its final meal, director
Gereon Wetzel took his cameras into the kitchen, to catch the
unrivaled creativity of chef Ferran Adriˆ in motion. A true
story of art, passion, and groundbreaking achievement.
"Robot"
7:45 p.m. Tuesday
Prepare to bask in the giddiness of Bollywood. Featuring
the largest budget in the history of Indian cinema (and a
soundtrack by A.R. Rahman, the music maestro behind "Slumdog
Millionaire"), "Robot" tells the story of
Chitti, a humanoid robot who is more intelligent and more
suave than you. Perfect in every way, the story goes haywire
when a scientist gives this emotionless creation the ability
to feel joy and sorrow. The result is a sprawling, hysterical
celebration of life’s ups and downs. With plenty of
Bollywood dance routines.
"Strongman"
4:30 p.m. Wednesday
Zachary Levy’s documentary is haunting in its depiction
of a muscle man who can lift 10,000-pound dump truck with his
legs and bend a penny with his fingers, but who can’t quite
figure out how to convert his minor fame into a paycheck - or
stable personal relationships. Stanley "Stanless
Steel" Pleskun is one of the world’s toughest
creatures, but also one of its most flawed.
"The Last Mountain"
5 p.m. Wednesday
A harrowing environmental documentary about mountaintop
mining - in which mining companies use dynamite to obliterate
mountains - "The Last Mountain" chronicles the
medical fallout of this questionable process. Brain tumor
rates in Appalachia are soaring, just as reservoirs of toxic
byproduct are being built nearby elementary schools. Traveling
out to the front lines of the protests, director Bill Haney
captures the growing divide between the companies exploiting
the Earth and those trying to live in the same region.
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