Sponsor

Author

David Boffa

David Boffa is a cinephile, filmmaker, and one-time art historian. He’s been happy to call Wisconsin home for over a decade, although he still misses East Coast bagels. There is a very good chance he will ask to pet your dog.

Sponsor

David's Latest Articles

Simple rectangular image collage of four film stills. At the top left, teenager Willa (Chase Infiniti) practices shooting an assault rifle in an open field in "One Battle After Another." At the top right, thirtysomething parent J.B. Mooney (Josh O'Connor) scopes out the Framingham Art Museum before he plans a robbery in "The Mastermind." At the bottom left, teenager Kyle (Jackson Sluiter) skates through the suburbs of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. At the bottom right, frazzled mother Linda (Rose Byrne) stops for a moment at her motel after visiting the convenience store in "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You."
One movie meditation after another: toiling through 2025
By , , , , , , , &
●
Film
●
January 21, 2026

Nine writers processed these trying times through cinema, at the theaters and at home.

At a medium shot, two people sit in a simple conference room at two elongated desks arranged in a triangular-like formation. The two people are turned towards one another, smiling jovially. Paper notes, steel water bottles, and a phone are placed on the tables in front of or to the side of the people.
Video: Did we discover an oasis during the summer movie drought?
By &
●
Film
●
September 16, 2025

A second collaborative sit-down with Josiah Wampfler at OCA Media to recap a strained but not irredeemable viewing season.

A still image from the film "The Phoenician Scheme" shows three figures aboard a small aircraft in the cramped cockpit. A man in his 50s wears a business suit, sitting at the left with a broken arm; but he's flying the plane nonetheless. To his immediate right and behind him, a younger woman crouches and stares ahead with a concerned expression. She is dressed in a white habit as a novice nun. And to her right is a slightly older man dressed in a tan corduroy suit with a vest and bowtie. He stares out the lefthand window of the plane. All their expressions reflect concern or alarm.
Crises of faith and fortune in “The Phoenician Scheme”
By &
●
Film
●
June 28, 2025

David Boffa and Sara Batkie contemplate the spiritual and reflexive dimensions of Wes Anderson's latest deadpan adventure.

A still from the political documentary "No Other Land" shows two men sitting outside in the foreground. They wear jackets and turn towards one another with tentative expressions. White structures behind them extend into the hills in the distance along with trees and a bright white sky.
“No Other Land” centers the resilience of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation
By
●
Film
●
May 21, 2025

The urgent documentary by a Palestinian-Israeli collective sees its belated Madison premiere at the Bartell on May 25.

In the foreground of an image in a forested area, a woman in a white lab suit lays on the grass in the fetal position. Behind her, yellow tape that faintly reads "crime scene do not enter" is wrapped in a semi-triangular shape around a cluster of trees.
Mortal and moral inquiries at the 2025 Wisconsin Film Festival
By , , &
●
Wisconsin Film Festival
●
April 3, 2025

Our writers ponder four incisive, formidable documentaries (and essay films) screening as part of the fest from April 4 through 10.

A color-muted image shows a middle-aged male hospital patient laying on a bed out of focus. Behind him is a younger woman sitting in the middleground of the frame. She is in focus, and stares affectionately at him with her left hand cradling her chin.
“Relationship To Patient” navigates physical and emotional discomfort with refreshing candor and humor
By
●
Wisconsin Film Festival
●
March 27, 2025

Caroline Creaghead's compelling narrative short film makes its local premiere at the Wisconsin Film Festival on April 6.

Five people sit at an elongated table in a moviehouse lobby. Two are seated on the right side, closer to or in the foreground, while the three on the left sit further away in the middle ground. All of them carefully pore over printed materials on the table. Other attendees mill about in the background.
The sights and shape(s) of the 2025 Wisconsin Film Festival
By , , , , , &
●
Film
●
March 9, 2025

Seven writers size up the programming patterns in the eight-day celebration of movies, which runs April 3 through 10 across UW–Madison campus and beyond.

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
By , , , , , , , , &
●
Film
●
January 20, 2025

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

A surrealistic aerial view of part of the Amazon that renders trees in a burnt orange color in the foreground. The background features a more barren, deforested, scorched landscape in various shades of green, black, and white.
“Broken Spectre” reframes the Amazon as an urgent, revisionist Western
By
●
Film
●
December 16, 2024

Richard Mosse's experimental environmental film is showing in MMoCA's main second-floor gallery through mid-February 2025.