Rain's not supposed to be a problem, but the heat may drive you indoors into an air-conditioned movie theater over the 4th of July holiday, and it's a blockbuster weekend with the release of "Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon."
Obviously, that's going to be a draw around these parts, thanks to scenes shot at our signature Milwaukee Art Museum. Don't expect too much Milwaukee, but the Santiago Calatrava-designed museum will be a bit of a draw.
It also put a few Milwaukee faces on the big screen. The Milwaukee extras are gathering at 6 p.m. today for a screening at Marcus Menomonee Falls Cinema, with their family and friends.
Here's the trailer:
Personally, I'm happier to see "Beginners" finally open today at the Downer. I caught it at last fall's Toronto Film Festival, and amid all the summer blockbusters, a charming little film like this is a nice break from the explosions and special effects.
Ewan McGregor plays a man dealing with the recent death of his father, played by Christopher Plummer, who had come out of the closet after the death of his wife of 44 years. McGregor meets at unconventional woman -- played by the wonderful Mélanie Laurent (from "Inglourious Basterds") and begins a romance that helps him understand his father's dramatic life shift.
It's funny and touching and filled with great performances.
Here's the trailer for "Beginners":
Another little summer film: I have to admit that Woody Allen lost me a number of movies ago. So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw his latest, "Midnight in Paris" a couple weeks back.
It's the story of a writer (Owen Wilson plays what would have been Allen's role a few years go) who's in Paris with his fiancee, the lovely Rachel McAdams playing against type as a less-than-lovable young woman. Wilson's character dreams of the glories of 1920s Paris and ultimately learn that the romance of the past isn't necessarily what it seems.
It's funny and charming and deals with the issue some of us have pondered – what would it be like to live in a specific period of the past.
Here's a look at "Paris at Midnight":
Another Milwaukee connection: And before we finish up the weekend movie line up, there one other flick with a Milwaukee link. Car dealer (and veteran race car driver) David Hobbs is one of the voices (David Hobbscap) in "Cars 2."
Here's a glimpse of that one:
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
