Freeland Film Festival
Film festivals have spread across the world in recent years, flowering even in smaller communities, in an ever-thickening network of cinematic commerce and culture. With larger festivals as its model, Green Lake’s Freeland Film Fest will present a mix of documentaries, drama, animation and classic titles along with panel discussions, workshops, lectures and music. Many guest artists will be on hand, including Emmy and Golden Globe-winner Jane Seymour.
Sept. 13-15, various locations in Green Lake, Wis. For more information, visit freelandfilmfest.org.
The Goldfinch R
A 2013, 750-page, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is adapted into a two-and-a-half-hour film sparking debate among Donna Tartt's eager readers. Condensed into a commercial film, the story spans more than a decade. Theo Decker (Ansel Elgort) was just 13 when a terrorist bomb killed his mother during the pair's visit to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Through that tragedy, Theo came into possession of The Goldfinch, a 17th-century masterwork by Dutch painter Carel Fabritius. The events and people shaping Theo's life, along with the painting’s fate, are the heartbeat of this visually glorious, sometimes plodding, melancholy tale of Theo's long and winding road to redemption. (Lisa Miller)
Hustlers R
Writer-director Lorene Scafaria wrote this screenplay drawing on Jessica Pressler's 2015 New York magazine article. After Destiny (Constance Wu) is charged with stealing from strip club clientele, she confides all to a seemingly sympathetic journalist (Julia Stiles). The scheme began when newbie stripper Destiny became protégé to seasoned exotic dancer Ramona (Jennifer Lopez). Aided by a ring of conspiring strippers, the pair prey on wealthy married men, drugging them in order to charge big bucks to the men's credit cards. Giving a nuanced performance as ruthless mastermind Ramona, Lopez nearly steals the movie while Wu tugs at its heart, displaying moments of regret that are defanged by greed. (L.M.)
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice PG-13
Linda Ronstadt emerged fully formed in the late 1960s—a full-throated singer and an emotive balladeer straddling pop, country and rock. Even then, her vocal range couldn’t be contained within even a handful of genres. The Sound of My Voice is a lively documentary built on a priceless trove of archival footage and photos. It’s told in Ronstadt’s voice, with the help of a slew of collaborators such as Don Henley, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt and David Geffen. The dislocating paranoia of arena rock pushed Ronstadt to her next step—operetta! And it didn’t stop there. (D.L.)
Opens Sept. 13, Oriental Theatre.
