We’re 88Nine’s Justin Barney and Milwaukee Film’s Kpolly. We’re buds, we like cinema — we’re Cinebuds.
On 88Nine we have been playing the new Janelle Monae song, “Turntables,” which plays during the end credits of “All In: The Fight For Democracy.” The song was intended to generate interest in the documentary about voter suppression, and I’m so glad that it worked out and we became interested in watching the doc after hearing the song because this is a doc that everyone should see before Nov. 3.
The fight for democracy of which the title speaks is the fight to vote. Voting seems like a foundational part of our democracy of which we hold sacred, but the film shows how those in power have fought against voting since the beginning of our democracy.
“All In: The Fight For Democracy” | Amazon Studios
It is produced by Stacy Abrams, who ran, and lost to Brian Kemp, for Governor of Georgia earlier this year and in her concession speech she said that her concession was a recognition of a system that suppresses it’s voters instead of encouraging them. And then goes on to show again and again and again how that suppression has played out over the past 200 years.
The film is astoundingly up to date, including Wisconsin’s April primary. Usually something that has footage so recent would seem rushed and sacrifice the research to make a compelling argument, but this doc sacrifices nothing. It shows the large picture of voter suppression and backs that up with personal, and often horrific stories of individual suppression.
It will get you mad. It will inspire you. It will inform you. And that’s exactly what a good doc like this does. Listen to further conversation about “All In: The Fight For Democracy,” as well as what else me and Kpolly are watching (including a very big binge that I am on) in the podcast below.
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We’re 88Nine’s Justin Barney and Milwaukee Film’s Kpolly. We’re buds, we like cinema — we’re Cinebuds.
Kpolly here. This week on Cinebuds we enter the labyrinth of Charlie Kaufman’s world with his new Netflix film “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.”
Kaufman is the fragmented mind behind such films as “Being John Malkovich,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Synecdoche, New York.” The worlds he creates are often confusing examinations of the human mind and the films visually represent that to an alarming, but often whimsical degree.
The whimsy in his new film is present, but that word feels too colorful and light this time. The spine of the story is a couple driving home to meet the young man’s parents, coupled with a parallel story of a quiet janitor and his humdrum life. But, the complexity and hallucinations are slowly heaped on as the story moves…. I was about to say “forward” but that’s not always accurate.
Love it or hate it, Kaufman has made a much more interesting and challenging film than much of the fare you’ll get this year.
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Get all of 88Nine’s podcasts delivered right to you weekly at RadioMilwaukee.org/Podcasts. We’ve got podcasts about music, food and film, with fresh episodes dropping every week! And don’t forget to check out our new podcast “By Every Measure,” a six-part exploration of systemic racism in Milwaukee.
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The response to this festival last year from the community was overwhelming, so Milwaukee Film decided it needed to return. But, they also have another two-week festival a month later?! Yeah, so? What else is there to do? Why not?!
Last year’s Minority Health Film Festival | mkefilm.org/mhff
The Minority Health Film Festival (MHFF) uses film to spark conversation and create critical dialogue around well-being. By connecting film with personal health experiences, the MHFF confronts stigmas and removes barriers limiting wellness discussions—ultimately helping our community address health disparities in minority communities.
The films are serious and important, and sometimes heart-breaking. But, just as much, they are inspiring and hopeful and a real call-to-arms for our community. And they’re just really, really good films!
You can find out more about the films, events and a DRIVE-IN? — yep! — at mkefilm.org/mhff! Passes on sale now. Individual tickets on sale starting Sept. 10.
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Get all of 88Nine’s podcasts delivered right to you weekly at RadioMilwaukee.org/Podcasts. We’ve got podcasts about music, food and film, with fresh episodes dropping every week! And don’t forget to check out our new podcast “By Every Measure,” a six-part exploration of systemic racism in Milwaukee.
Help us unlock our largest matching challenge ever! Give anything and Herb Kohl Philanthropies will double your support of everything 88Nine does – the music, events, and the community stories you love!
We’re 88Nine’s Justin Barney and Milwaukee Film’s Kpolly. We’re buds, we like cinema — we’re Cinebuds.
“Nomad” is a new documentary from Werner Herzog. Werner Herzog is probably more famous for being Werner Herzog than he is for any iconic films that he’s made. His kind of strained and slow delivery in a gentle German accent is immediately iconic, and, in 2020 he’s probably best known for his role as The Client in Star War’s “Mandalorian” than he is for his decades long kinship with Klaus Kinski in movies like “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” or “Fitzcarraldo” or his stunning documentary work. But, hopefully that role and his celebrity will do to others what it did to me and Kpolly, got us to go back and watch his work.
In his heart, the central feature of most of Herzog’s work is anthropology. In this documentary he says that both he and Bruce Chatwin share a “search for strangeness.” Bruce Chatwin was an anthropologist from the time he was born until his untimely death at the age of 49 years old in 1989. Chatwin and Herzog were friends and their interest in the world and it’s culture intersected frequently and this documentary is part love letter to this male friendship, part ethnography and part cabinet of curiosities.
More chat on Herzog, this particular doc, Chatwin, and suggestions of other things to watch if you like this sort of thing in the pod. Check it out.
Like what you hear? Subscribe!
Get all of 88Nine’s podcasts delivered right to you weekly at RadioMilwaukee.org/Podcasts. We’ve got podcasts about music, food and film, with fresh episodes dropping every week! And don’t forget to check out our new podcast “By Every Measure,” a six-part exploration of systemic racism in Milwaukee.
Help us unlock our largest matching challenge ever! Give anything and Herb Kohl Philanthropies will double your support of everything 88Nine does – the music, events, and the community stories you love!
We’re 88Nine’s Justin Barney and Milwaukee Film’s Kpolly. We’re buds, we like cinema — we’re Cinebuds.
Kpolly here. This week on Cinebuds we are talking about a new documentary that won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year. Oooh la la!
Available on AppleTV, “Boys State” takes a look at the summer leadership program that explores the mechanics of American government and politics. The program has been around for about 85 years and allows high school kids to get a feel for how the American political system works, through mock campaigns, elections and other government processes.
The film focuses on a few personalities over a week in Texas Boys State and we see how the current climate informs these young men and who can rise above and who discovers the roots of their future selves.
When we say “personalities,” we mean it. Oh, man I can’t wait for you to meet Rene!
Also, among the luminaries who’ve attended Boys State (Corey Booker, Rush Limbaugh and Mr. Jon Bon Jovi) there’s another distinguished attendee that you’ll discover in the podcast.
Like what you hear? Subscribe!
Get all of 88Nine’s podcasts delivered right to you weekly at RadioMilwaukee.org/Podcasts. We’ve got podcasts about music, food and film, with fresh episodes dropping every week! And don’t forget to check out our new podcast “By Every Measure,” a six-part exploration of systemic racism in Milwaukee.
Help us unlock our largest matching challenge ever! Give anything and Herb Kohl Philanthropies will double your support of everything 88Nine does – the music, events, and the community stories you love!
We’re 88Nine’s Justin Barney and Milwaukee Film’s Kpolly. We’re buds, we like cinema — we’re Cinebuds.
What’s going on with movie theaters now?
At the end of March we had OnMilwaukee culture critic Matt Mueller on Cinebuds to talk about how the film industry was handling the pandemic and at the time everyone’s strategy was PUSH IT TO AUGUST! Now that it is August and the world isn’t how they, or any of us, imagined it would be, it seems as if every production company has a different strategy.
The Oriental Theatre in March | facebook.com/OrientalTheatreMKE
Some are releasing movies INTO THEATERS. Yes, new movies are are going to be in theaters in the coming weeks. “The New Mutants,” “Bill and Ted’s Face the Music” and “Tenant” are some of the movies that will actually play in theaters next week. Some companies are leaning into video-on-demand. Some are coming straight to steaming. Some, like Disney, are starting a hybrid, with their summer blockbuster, “Mulan” going to their streaming service which you have to have a subscription to, and then you are able to rent it for $30. All these strategies are studios seeing what will make their money back. Will it be video-on-demand? Will people go back to the theater in the middle of a pandemic? What will movies look like next year? Matt Mueller comes on to talk it through and to tell us what’s going on in the film industry, what is working, and why nothing is.
Also! The Milwaukee Film Festival is BACK! This year Milwaukee Film will host not one, but TWO festivals. Their triumphant Milwaukee Film Festival, and for the second year, the Minority Health Film Festival. Both will be completely virtual, BUT they will have plenty of Q&A’s and talk backs and events to keep the atmosphere as close to normal as possible. Kpolly talks about how the festivals will look this year.
Get all of 88Nine’s podcasts delivered right to you weekly at RadioMilwaukee.org/Podcasts. We’ve got podcasts about music, food and film, with fresh episodes dropping every week! And don’t forget to check out our new podcast “By Every Measure,” a six-part exploration of systemic racism in Milwaukee.
Help us unlock our largest matching challenge ever! Give anything and Herb Kohl Philanthropies will double your support of everything 88Nine does – the music, events, and the community stories you love!
We’re 88Nine’s Justin Barney and Milwaukee Film’s Kpolly. We’re buds, we like cinema — we’re Cinebuds.
“First Cow” is a new film from director Kelly Reichardt. It is from production house A24, which has made “Uncut Gems,” “Hereditary” and other truly beautiful and thoughtful films. It was in theaters for a blip. Its doomed theatrical release was on March 6, 2020, but it has now come to the internet where we rented it on Amazon for six dollars and you should do the same because we LOVED this movie.
I had heard some mixed reviews. When people talk about Kelly Reichardt they use words like “meditative” and “patient.” I heard one critic say that the movie suffered from watching it at his house with his cell phone by his side. However, we did not have these problems. When it was over Kpolly and I thought about running it back and just starting it again. Sure, it is “quiet” and “thoughtful,” but it really is so much more. I don’t want to say too much here so you should listen to the conversation ESPECIALLY if you have already seen it. Or, watch it, and then listen to the conversation. It’s worth the six bucks. And since “First Cow” implies the existence of a second cow, we can’t wait for the sequel.
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Get all of 88Nine’s podcasts delivered right to you weekly at RadioMilwaukee.org/Podcasts. We’ve got podcasts about music, food and film, with fresh episodes dropping every week! And don’t forget to check out our new podcast “By Every Measure,” a six-part exploration of systemic racism in Milwaukee.
Help us unlock our largest matching challenge ever! Give anything and Herb Kohl Philanthropies will double your support of everything 88Nine does – the music, events, and the community stories you love!
Thanks to COVID-19, one of my favorite events in the city, the Milwaukee Film Festival, will go virtual this fall. The virtual festival will take place over 15 days from Oct. 15-29.
In addition to the main festival, Milwaukee film will also host the Minority Health Film Festival presented by Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin virtually as well, which will take place from Sept. 10-24.
Photo via Milwaukee Film’s Facebook page
From the press release
Milwaukee Film will present both festivals through CineSend, a platform that has powered a number of other film festivals that switched their events from in-person to virtual. CineSend provides viewers the opportunity to consume content on their televisions through integrations with platforms like Amazon Fire, Android TV, Apple TV and ROKU.
In a year when minority communities have been highly impacted by both the coronavirus pandemic and the increasingly urgent fight against racism, Milwaukee Film believes presenting films and events that spotlight minority health to be critically important.
That importance, combined with the support of partners such as Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, led to a decision not only to move forward with a virtual MHFF, but also to greatly expand its length and scope.
More than 25 feature films and three shorts programs will pair with about a dozen events, all structured around themes of family, community and institutional health. The festival will also highlight health resources and ways for festival attendees to take action toward improving health outcomes.
“We started this festival last year thinking that we knew exactly how important it was to have conversations around minority health, and then 2020 happened,” said Geraud Blanks, director of Milwaukee Film’s Cultures and Communities program. “It turns out these topics are even more vital to explore after everything that’s taken place in the last few months.
“We see this festival as an amazing opportunity to leverage the power of film and conversation – and turn it into action,” he noted. “A lot of people have seen the impacts of the coronavirus and of racism on our community and wondered what they can do. Our hope is that, if you take part in the Minority Health Film Festival, you’ll have more of the tools you need to help change things for the better.”
Festival attendees will be able to purchase either passes to access all virtual content or tickets to view individual films.
MHFF passes are available starting Monday, Aug. 24, through Monday, Sept. 7. Passes will be $19.99 for Milwaukee Film Members and $24.99 for the general public. For every pass purchased, Milwaukee Film will donate a pass to a community partner organization.
Individual tickets will go on sale starting Thursday, Sept. 10, the first day of the festival. Tickets will be $.99 for Milwaukee Film Members and $2.99 for the general public.
All tickets and passes will be sold online only and may be shared among members of the same household. The full lineup of films and events will be announced in late August.
Like arts organizations throughout the country, Milwaukee Film has had to learn how to adapt to a world in which people can’t safely gather to enjoy experiences together. With the closing of theaters throughout the region in March, including Milwaukee Film’s Oriental Theatre, and reductions in staff and budgets in July, the fate of the 2020 Milwaukee Film Festival was in question during the early days of the pandemic.
“This spring, we struggled with trying to make the best decisions for our staff, our industry and our community,” Jackson said. “It came down to this: The Milwaukee Film Festival is the core of everything we do, and if we can safely have a festival, then we’re having a festival.
“The incredible thing about having a film festival virtually is the opportunity we have to reach a vast number of people that we’ve never reached before through the accessibility provided by these new digital platforms,” he added.
The campaign theme for MFF2020 will be “Adapted for Your Screen,” a nod both to the change to a virtual platform and to the rich artwork created by local artist Jade Watring, which features technicolor butterflies emerging from a fantastical chrysalis.
“Oddly enough, we decided in early 2019 that this year’s theme would be built on the idea of transformation, and we had drafts of Jade’s beautiful artwork in February,” noted Jackson. “Highlighting the adaptations that take place in nature was eerily on the nose.”
Though MFF2020 will offer a slimmer set of film selections than in 2019, Milwaukee Film is confident there will still be something for everyone, and attendees will also have many opportunities to interact with filmmakers. With films being offered on-demand, at a lower price point and without location restrictions, film fans will have more choices than ever before to view all the titles that spark their interest.
MFF2020 attendees will also be able to purchase either passes to access all virtual content or tickets to view individual films.
Milwaukee Film Members can purchase MFF2020 passes starting Wednesday, Aug. 26, for $75. For non-Members, passes will be available starting Monday, Aug. 31, for $140. Passes will be available for purchase through Monday, Oct. 12.
Individual tickets will go on sale starting Thursday, Oct. 15, the first day of the festival. Tickets will be $5 for Milwaukee Film Members and $8 for the general public.
All tickets and passes will be sold online only and may be shared among members of the same household. The full lineup of films and events will be announced in early October.
We’re 88Nine’s Justin Barney and Milwaukee Film’s Kpolly. We’re buds, we like cinema — we’re Cinebuds.
“Palm Springs” is a new movie starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti that is streaming now on Hulu. It’s a dash of “Ace Ventura,” a heaping spoonful of “Groundhogs Day,” and a sprinkling of a Michael Schur sitcom like “The Good Place.”
Practically it’s a comedy, but under that it is a movie about the terrifying commitment of love and unflinchingly embracing that in the face of uncertainty. I. Loved. It. I loved it hard. I was not expecting to love it so much. I’m probably overselling it right now and possibly setting you up for a let down with my level of enthusiasm, but that is only because I want you to watch it so bad because I loved it so much.
How I love thee, let me count the ways, and I do, with Kpolly, this week on Cinebuds. Please dive into it with us in the podcast below.
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Get all of 88Nine’s podcasts delivered right to you weekly at RadioMilwaukee.org/Podcasts. We’ve got podcasts about music, food and film, with fresh episodes dropping every week! And don’t forget to check out our new podcast “By Every Measure,” a six-part exploration of systemic racism in Milwaukee.
Help us unlock our largest matching challenge ever! Give anything and Herb Kohl Philanthropies will double your support of everything 88Nine does – the music, events, and the community stories you love!
“In My Blood It Runs” follows a 10-year-old Aboriginal boy in Australia. It follows him in school and at home, even at times giving him the camera to truly see from his perspective. And from that perspective the film reveals a lot of things about him and the world he lives in. Kpolly notes that he loves a documentary that does not skimp on artistry, which this film has in bunches.
Kpolly also suggests the perfect companion piece as he usually does, and we talk about our favorite question, “What else are we watching this week?” in which I finally finish watching all of the Academy Award Winning Best Pictures on one of the, in my opinion, worst ones to win it.
Listen below!
Like what you hear? Subscribe!
Get all of 88Nine’s podcasts delivered right to you weekly at RadioMilwaukee.org/Podcasts. We’ve got podcasts about music, food and film, with fresh episodes dropping every week! And don’t forget to check out our new podcast “By Every Measure,” a six-part exploration of systemic racism in Milwaukee.
Help us unlock our largest matching challenge ever! Give anything and Herb Kohl Philanthropies will double your support of everything 88Nine does – the music, events, and the community stories you love!
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