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C Nelson-Lifson

C Nelson-Lifson is a Madison based artist, musician, and writer. They are currently in the band Proud Parents.

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A simple rectangular image collage that features stills from four films. At top left, a man observes the royal treasures of Benin in "Dahomey." At top right, Patrick (Josh O'Connor) and Tashi (Zendaya) share a heated moment at night in "Challengers." At bottom right, Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) observes herself in the bathroom mirror in "The Substance." And at bottom left, gym rats Jackie (Katy O'Brian) and Lou (Kristen Stewart) contemplate something serious in "Love Lies Bleeding."
We contained multitudes: an uncontained year in cinema
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Film
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January 20, 2025

In this inclusive diary compendium, 10 writers share their thoughts and experiences on the 2024 year in moviegoing.

A photo shows a large city bus pulling up to a station in the middle of a wide road. The bus is blue and white, and a grey accordion section in the middle joins its two halves. A figure is visible walking down the concrete platform of the station. Sky, tree, and a local coffee shop are visible in the background.
We set out in search of rapid on Metro Transit
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Politics
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September 30, 2024

Ground-level views from the long-awaited arrival of BRT.

In an lavish room, a man in a lightly colored dress shirt and dark-colored tie stands at the right, holding a liquor glass. He stares into the distance with a brooding look. A framed, painted portrait of a woman in a black dress looms over him to the left.
“Laura” is a haunting portrait that looms over cinema to this day
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Film
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July 11, 2024

Otto Preminger's classic 1944 noir mystery screens on 35mm at UW Cinematheque on July 17.

A rectangular collage of film stills in different colors and intensities. A black-and-white image from "Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World" appears at the top left; the top right displays a character close-up from "Red Rooms" in luminescent red; bottom left displays archival footage in "So Unreal" digitally distorted in shades of green and blue; and the bottom right is a table read from "Ghostlight" in a room with a dark background.
A 2024 Wisconsin Film Festival preview in full bloom
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Film
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March 12, 2024

Nine of our writers offer their picks and advice on the annual cinematic rite of spring that runs between April 4 and 11.

Two brunette women in their thirties sit on a bed at night and stare lustfully at one another.
“Bound” is a horny condemnation of the straight and narrow
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Film
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March 7, 2024

The Wachowskis' remarkably erotic, queer neo-noir from 1996 screens at OutReach on March 13.

A man in his late 20s, dressed stylishly in a tan suit, unveils a late 1950s-model camera in a living room area with floral wallpaper and multicolored curtains. He intently stares forward off-screen at his subject.
The voyeurism of “Peeping Tom” still offers a transgressive take on trauma
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Film
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January 23, 2024

Michael Powell's quintessential 1960 psychological thriller screens at UW Cinematheque on January 26.

A basic four-image collage collects colorful stills from different movies mentioned in this compilation piece. At top left is "Barbie," in shades of pink, as Margot Robbie's Barbie drives her convertible and harmonizes with Ken (Ryan Gosling) in the backseat. To its right, a dark red-toned still of "Sanctuary" shows the co-leads, Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott, during a moment of respite. Below that, Tanya Tagaq sings into a microphone on a neon blue-lit stage during a performance scene in "Ever Deadly." On the bottom left, neighbors Lizzy (Michelle Williams) and Jo (Hong Chau) stare up towards the sky from a Portland, Oregon, sidewalk.
Getting closer to fine cinema: our year in Madison moviegoing
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Film
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December 20, 2023

In 2023, Tone Madison's film writers went to some interesting places, and unearthed some new favorites.

A basic collage shows two images. The top features Lon Chaney as Alonzo the Armless, who drinks tea with his feet in "The Unknown" (1927). Below, the sideshow performers celebrate the wedding of Hans and Cleopatra in "Freaks" (1932). Minnie Woolsey aka Koo-Koo the Bird Girl dances on the table.
Tod Browning celebrated the “freaks” in his subversive silent and early sound cinema
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Film
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September 12, 2023

"The Unknown" (1927) and "Freaks" (1932) screen in new restorations at UW Cinematheque on September 16 starting at 6 p.m.

In a convent's lamplit chambers, a nun in a habit (right) shows a young woman in a nightgown the bottom of a wood-carved Virgin Mary.
“Benedetta” offers satirically profane, stimulating visions of sanctity
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Film
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July 21, 2023

Paul Verhoeven's transgressive religious period piece screens at OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center on July 26.

The amphibious-looking Martians cradle an incapacitated David (back left) and Dr. Patricia Blake (center).
“Invaders From Mars” spiritedly reflects the rampant McCarthyism of its era
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Film
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March 11, 2023

The 1950s B-movie horror classic screens at UW Cinematheque on March 17 in a new 4K restoration.