Mike Judge helped usher in the animation renaissance of the ’90s with his inspired short films, iconic Beavis and Butthead cartoons and admirably low-key King of the Hill. He’s still committed to the medium, and along with fellow animator Don Hertzfedlt, he’s compiled a winning collection of shorts for The Animation Show, an annual traveling...

Wilderness Filmmaking Expedition leader Robert Schaller doesn’t have much interest in modern filmmaking technology; he’s much more enamored with classic filming methods, like hand-made emulsion and pinhole cinematography. He’ll discuss some of these unorthodox techniques, as well as his interest in low-budget “wild” filmmaking...

Imagine the shock: Mary is having her nails done at Saks when her babbling manicurist bumbles into a monologue on infidelity involving Crystal, the girl at the store's perfume counter, and a respected Wall Street investment broker. Before the conversation is over, Mary realizes that the broker isn't just some name from the business pages of the Times. He's Steve, her husband of 13 years.

The mastermind and his confederates cased the World Trade Center for entrances and exits and the coming and going of guards, mapping every step of their coup with the meticulousness of professional criminals going for the vault in a heavily secured bank. But although their scheme was against the law, it was more misdemeanor than felony and would have no victims unless a tragic accident disrupted their careful plan.

The Exiles is a window to a world that time has shut forever. Nowadays it might be called a "docudrama," but Mackenzie was determined to avoid imposing his own perspective and plotline. The Exiles was a collaboration between him and a small knot of American Indians who portrayed themselves, scripted their dialogue and helped devise a scenario that amounts to a dusk-to-dawn account of their lives . . .

After winning Oscars with the unrelentingly grim No Country For Old Men, the Coen brothers lighten up a little for Burn After Reading. Their new film traverses territory more familiar to the filmmakers. Here, death doesn't descend in the form of an enigmatic hit man who tosses coins for the lives he encounters.

You’ve got to hand it to Charlie Chaplin. Although he clung tightly to his loveable “Tramp” character, when he broke from it, he really broke from it. In 1947’s black comedy Monsieur Verdoux, which screens tonight for free at 7 p.m. at the UWM Union Theatre, he played an out of work banker who decides to support his wife and kids...

You’ve got to hand it to Charlie Chaplin. Although he clung tightly to his loveable “Tramp” character, when he broke from it, he really broke from it. In 1947’s black comedy Monsieur Verdoux, which screens tonight for free at 9 p.m. at the UWM Union Theatre, he played an out of work banker who decides to support his wife and kids...

Chosen Towns, a clever new documentary by UWM students about the difficulties that small-town Jews face in Wisconsin, will debut on Milwaukee Public Television on Oct. 15, but the Discovery World will host a preview screening tonight at 7 p.m. for those who want to catch a sneak peek. The film interviews nine Jewish families trying to practice their faith in towns where no real Jewish community exists.

An Afghan taxi driver beaten to death by the American military is the starting point for the 2007 documentary Taxi to the Dark Side, a somber exploration of U.S. military torture tactics and policies that screens tonight at the UWM Union Theatre. Directed by Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room documentarian...