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Ian Adcock

Ian Adcock is a writer, “musician,” and DJ living in Madison.

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A still image from the 1980 film "Night Of The Juggler" shows a man and a woman standing at a medium close-up in an area of the South Bronx, New York City. They stare off into the distance and look worn out in the waning daylight. The woman on the left wears a thin, pale blue tank top. The bearded man on the right wears a heavier red and gold plaid shirt that is partly unbuttoned.
The unrelenting chase of “Night Of The Juggler” captures the turbulence of late ’70s New York
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Film
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August 27, 2025

Robert Butler's gritty action-thriller screens in a new restoration at UW Cinematheque on August 29, and kicks off their fall calendar.

A still image from the film "Shanghai Blues" shows a young couple sitting somewhat anxiously on a couch that's in front of a bedroom area behind them. They stare at each other intently with straight faces. The woman on the right's left arm is resting on the arm of the couch, while the man on the left is holding a thin, elongated wooden prop or piece of a wooden frame that's resting on the floor.
The lovesick silliness of “Shanghai Blues” turns exhilaratingly bittersweet
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Wisconsin Film Festival
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March 31, 2025

Tsui Hark's lively romantic comedy from 1984 screens in a new 4K restoration at the Wisconsin Film Festival on April 7 and 10.

In a dusty, desert landscape, four cowboys sit on horses in an askew vertical row extending from the foreground into the middleground of the frame so that each of their bodies is visible. Each man stares down at something in their hands.
Sam Peckinpah’s Westerns serve as autobiographies for a man out of time
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Film
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March 5, 2025

UW Cinematheque celebrates the maverick director's centennial throughout March with three Saturday features that kick off with "The Wild Bunch" on March 8.

At a long shot, a man, with his back turned to the camera, peers out into the open desert marked with some criss-crossing tire tracks. His white Dodge Challenger car is parked to his right.
Action vehicles on America’s sentimentally skewed open road
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Film
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July 9, 2024

UW Cinematheque presents a trio of wildly varied 1970s car-centric features across three Fridays in July—"Vanishing Point" on July 12, "Race With The Devil" on July 19, and "Damnation Alley" on July 26.

A woman in a white kimono brandishes a sword. She stands, posed at an angle, with a determined look on her face amid a foggy forest of bamboo reeds behind her.
The painterly and methodical martial arts landscapes of “A Touch Of Zen”
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Film
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April 24, 2024

King Hu's epic, influential wuxia masterpiece from 1971 screens on 35mm at UW Cinematheque on April 27.

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.

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.

Zed, wearing a red bandolier, stares heatedly at the camera and points a gun. Two stone-masked characters revel behind him to the right, heaving their rifles into the pale sky.
The psychedelic dystopia of “Zardoz” captures a singular, kaleidoscopic vision
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Film
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July 3, 2023

John Boorman's eccentric sci-fi satire from 1974 screens in a DCP restoration at UW Cinematheque on July 6 at 7 p.m.

A simple image collage of the three grindhouse films at this year's Wisconsin Film Festival. Clockwise from top left: Looking debonair, Matt Stone (William Shatner) smokes a cigarette in "Impulse." Mark (Christopher Augustine) stares intensely at the camera in "Hollywood 90028." Vincenzo Moretto (Tomas Milian), in a grey cabbie cap, points a gun off-screen in "The Tough Ones."
The 2023 Wisconsin Film Festival goes grindhouse galore
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Film
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April 11, 2023

Grindhouse Releasing's co-founder Bob Murawski presents three obscure, unflinching genre gems—"The Tough Ones," "Hollywood 90028," and "Impulse"—on April 15, 17, and 18.

A simple image collage featuring Michael Mann's "Thief" and "Heat." On top, Frank (James Caan) points a gun at plating company boss Attaglia (Tom Signorelli) in "Thief." Below that, Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) and Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), armed with assault rifles, face off against the police on the Los Angeles streets in "Heat."
Michael Mann’s gruff humanism characterizes his best heist films
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Film
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March 28, 2023

"Thief" and "Heat" get the 35mm treatment at UW Cinematheque on April 1 and 8.