MadFilm: Ghostbusters, Death Notes, Parallax Views, Quarantines, A Water Crisis, and an Underground City

There are a great many interesting and unique film opportunities throughout Madison in the coming week. Including a two night showing of one of the highest grossing Japanese films in 2006, the return of a classic 80s comedy, moody paranoia from the 70s, and a look at the global water crisis. Below I take a look at Madison film from big budget to minuscule.

I was recently introduced to the manga/anime called Death Note at this year's Geek.Kon on the University of Wisconsin campus. The story, created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata, follows Light Yagami who finds a journal that he discovers kills anyone whose name he writes within the pages. He uses the "Death Note" to try and rid the world of crime and corruption. Soon the Spider-Man maxim of "With great power comes great responsibility" comes into play as Light begins using the book to not just kill criminals and the corrupt, but also anyone who gets in the way of him cleansing the world. Enter the genius and eccentric detective only known as "L" who makes it his mission to stop Light. The two are equally cunning so they quickly become rivals.

After the plot was explained to me I was intrigued, so I decided to check out the live action version of Death Note (available at Four Star Video Heaven). Turns out the live action Death Note is actually broken into two parts and the first one ends with quite a cliff hanger leaving U.S. audiences frustrated as Death Note II: The Last Name, released in Japan in 2006, has not yet been made available stateside. That is, until October 15 and 16. The studio has decided to show Death Note II: The Last Name at a select number of theaters on those two dates before releasing the DVD later this year. Locally the film will be showing at Marcus Point UltraScreen Cinema on Big Sky Drive. The film will only show once each day at 7:30 p.m.

Starting tomorrow Marcus Westgate Art Cinemas at the Westgate Mall will become the site for fire and brimstone coming down from the skies, rivers and seas boiling, forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes, the dead rising from the grave, Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together...mass hysteria! as they show for one week only the 80s classic Ghostbusters.

The big budget horror film hitting the screens tomorrow is Quarantine. A remake of the Spanish film REC, Quaratine is filmed through the lens of a television news crew camera that was supposedly discovered after the quarantine is lifted. Think Blair Witch meets WKOW.

For those who are into real life horror, you may want to head over to Sundance Cinemas for a special screening room showing of Flow: For the Love of Water. The documentary takes a hard look at the privatization of the world's water supply and the rarely discussed global water crisis. As a screening room selection the film will only be around for one week, but the benefit is there are zero amenity fees for all showings. Wisconsin Rep. Mark Miller will introduce the 7:10 showing of the film on Friday along with members of The River Alliance of Wisconsin.

If you are looking for an under the radar classic UW's Cinematheque is showing 1974's The Parallax View. The film stars Warren Beatty "as a journalist who infiltrates a shadowy corporation he suspects of orchestrating a series of politically motivated assassinations." The film is described as a "masterpiece of moody paranoia." It shows Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

For the kids, you might want to head down into the City of Ember. Based on the book by Jeanne Duprau. It stars Bill Murray as the Mayor of Ember, a self-contained, -maintained, and -sustained city built under the Earth. After 200 years the power system of Ember begins to fail and, according to the book, the box that was entrusted to the Mayor of Ember on how to get out of the city has long been lost. Of course, being a kids film, it is up to two 12-year-olds to save the day. The film is showing at most theaters in Madison.

Also opening widely this week is The Duchess, an 18th Century period piece that explores the scandalous life of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. Wikipedia tells us that under the surface the film is really about a search for true love, but also explores her "doomed affair" with the guy who Earl Grey tea is named after and also features a ménage à trois featuring Ralph Fiennes, Keira Knightly, and newcomer Hayley Atwell.

Finally, opening oddly on Saturday instead of Friday, is Sex Drive. A comedy starring Josh Zuckerman, Clark Duke, James Marsden, and Seth Green about a high school senior who travels cross country so he can have sex with a girl he met online. Sounds like a modern spin on Rob Reiner's 1985 classic starring John Cusack, The Sure Thing.