By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Oct 06, 2015 at 11:16 AM

The end of the Milwaukee Film Festival is nigh, but don't be scared of that. Instead, be scared of an insane Jack Nicholson wandering around a snowed-in hotel with an axe and a honestly lukewarm at best Ed McMahon impression. That's right: "The Shining" is tonight, as well as two other films more than worthy of helping to wrap up the festival. 

"The Shining"

There are lots of reasons to see "The Shining" tonight. It's being projected in 35mm, a rare beautiful format, in the Oriental's big house, a rare beautiful setting. John Axford will be there, and he's pretty much the coolest guy out there (not even being a St. Louis Cardinal could sully his cool). But the simplest and most obvious one is that "The Shining," created by a true cinematic genius, is the greatest horror movie ever made. It will be interesting to see how a late (or late-esque) screening will work; it's easy to forget that the movie takes its sweet time before the crap hits the fan. But basically this is film-watching nirvana tonight.

Random fun fact about the following trailer: The MPAA approved the blood-soaked preview after Kubrick convinced the board that it was sewage water, not obviously, clearly blood. The MPAA: Stupid then, stupid now, stupid forever. 


"The Shining" screens tonight at 9:45 p.m. at the Oriental Theatre. 

And speaking of things you'll probably be shouting during "The Shining" ...

"Run Boy Run"

"Run Boy Run" tells the story of a young Polish boy fighting to survive, both in and out of civilization, as the Nazis begin to occupy his country. Seeing as the film is based on a remarkably true story, I imagine there will won't be any terrified sprints through snowy hedge mazes (oh, but if there were), but that doesn't make the story of "Run Boy Run" any less fascinating and rich with potential. 

"Run Boy Run" shows today at 6:15 p.m. at the Oriental Theatre, as well as Thursday, Oct. 8 at 4:15 p.m. at the Oriental Theatre. 

"Theeb"

The final entry in today's "traumatizing kids" trilogy is "Theeb," an adventure featuring a young Bedouin who steals away on a trip into the desert alongside his brother and a British soldier. The big selling point here is the setting, shot in many of the same locales as "Lawrence of Arabia," which was very good at the whole jaw-dropping cinema thing. Considering the use of such legendary vistas, there's no doubt that "Theeb" will be gorgeous – especially on the big screen. Here's to the story keeping up with them. 

"Theeb" shows today at 1 p.m. at the Oriental Theatre, as well as Thursday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m. at the Fox-Bay Cinema Grill. 

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.