It's a rainy, crummy day outside on Day 6 of the Milwaukee Film Festival, so what better reason to head indoors for some of the best movies this two-week movie marathon has to offer. Here are your picks for Day 6:
"Welcome to Leith"
The tiny town of Leith, North Dakota has barely enough residents to fill a football team roster, but that changes quickly when Craig Cobb and his group of white supremacists move into town in the hopes of making it a new haven of hate. Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker's shockingly even-handed look at a small-town takeover, making the audience question who's actually right in a scenario that seems clearly black and white on paper, was all the buzz around Sundance – and not just because of a heated post-screening Skype Q&A with Cobb that the festival hosted inside, of all places, a synagogue.
"Welcome to Leith" shows today at 7 p.m. at the Downer Theatre, as well as Thursday, Oct. 1 at 9:30 p.m. at the Oriental Theatre.
"White God"
Obviously white supremacists aren't the easiest topic, so let's move onto something lighter: puppies! Or ... maybe not that much lighter. The Hungarian drama "White God" snatched the Prize Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year for its tale of dogs suppressed and abused by government policies to point of storming the streets in rebellion. That's right; "White God" features scenes of over 100 dogs scampering through streets, and though it's probably not as cute as it sounds, it certainly sounds captivating as hell.
"White God" shows today at 9:45 p.m. at the Downer Theatre and again at the same time and location on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
"The Armor of Light"
Nazis, canine abuse and now, with "The Armor of Light," religion and guns. I sure did pick a whole sunny bunch of joy for today, didn't I? Even if it's not uplifting material, the story of a priest confronting his own beliefs – being pro-life and anti-gun, the latter causing problems within his pro-gun community – sounds relevant and fascinating. Hopefully, it'll get the audience to ask itself similar questions about their own beliefs and contradictions.
"The Armor of Light" screens today at 1:45 p.m. at the Times Cinema, as well as Sunday, Oct. 4 at 9:30 p.m. at the Fox Bay Cinema Grill and Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 6:15 p.m. at the Oriental Theatre.
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.