Lewis Peterson

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Mortal and moral inquiries at the 2025 Wisconsin Film Festival

3 weeks ago | tonemadison.com | Maxwell Courtright |David Boffa |Grant Phipps |Lewis Peterson

Documentaries aren’t necessarily Tone Madison‘s eminent go-to for film coverage. Scan our most recent archives, and you’re bound to come across numerous pieces on classic genre films of several shades as well as historically important art-house fare, and even some modern experimental shorts or influentially transgressive pieces. Over the past year, we’ve tried to emphasize brand-new narratives that have popped up in commercial theaters.
The sights and shape(s) of the 2025 Wisconsin Film Festival

1 month ago | tonemadison.com | Grant Phipps |Lewis Peterson |Jason Fuhrman |Edwanike Harbour

It’s that time of year again, when we try to find phrases that aren’t cliché to express the giddiness in expectantly turning the pages of the annual Wisconsin Film Festival (WFF) guide.
"Typhoon Club" candidly captures the whirlwind of adolescence

Jul 8, 2024 | tonemadison.com | Lewis Peterson

Part of the pain of adolescence is realizing that the formalities of the adult world are mostly bullshit, and that the adults in it are perpetuating nonsensical rules out of habit, fear, or desire for personal gain. Another part of that pain stems from trying out new behaviors, identities, and ways of being just to see what sticks, despite potential pushback from your peers and authority figures.
Gig workers the world over, "Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World"

Apr 1, 2024 | tonemadison.com | Lewis Peterson

Romanian writer-director Radu Jude’s latest internet-informed satire, Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World (2023), recognizes both the weight of the past and the fact that only the current moment is relevant. The film strikes back at the proliferation of “content” by trying to subsume it into the history of cinema, rather than the reverse. Commercialism and the manipulation of “documentary” images have been present since the birth of the art form.
Melodramatic emotions in your Heart aren't a Sin at UW Cinematheque

Feb 6, 2024 | tonemadison.com | Lewis Peterson

Dating back to the advent of sound, the musical melodrama is one of the longest running genres that taps into the fantastical potential of the movie medium. This weekend, on Friday, February 9, and Saturday, February 10, at 7 p.m., UW Cinematheque is offering two iterations of that tradition in Emilio Fernández’s Victims Of Sin(1951) and Francis Ford Coppola’s One From The Heart Reprise(1982/2024).
Getting closer to fine cinema: our year in Madison moviegoing

Dec 20, 2023 | tonemadison.com | Grant Phipps |Sara Batkie |Scott Gordon |Lewis Peterson |Edwanike Harbour

As has become customary in mid-December, a troupe of our film contributors have gathered to reflect on their year in cinema. Even if you aren’t a film-lover, no doubt you’ve scrolled past the onslaught of top-10 lists from major and minor publications alike on social media in recent weeks.
Anarchist watchmakers change the tick of history in period drama "Unrest"

Nov 13, 2023 | tonemadison.com | Lewis Peterson

Cyril Schäublin’s Unrest (2022), seeing its Madison premiere at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art this Thursday, November 16, at 7 p.m., rests delicately on the metaphor of clockwork. In 1870s Switzerland, the Russian anarchist Pyotr Kropotkin (Alexei Evstratov) visits the valley of Jura, the home to the factory that produces the famous Swiss watches.
Medieval Japan goes glam in anime musical "Inu-Oh"

Aug 10, 2023 | tonemadison.com | Lewis Peterson

Glamour is timeless, even if the details of its definition morph over time. As one of the most powerful cultural forces, glamour has always been subject to control and debate as to who is fit to wield it. Luckily, it’s hard to deny when you see it, and it can come from anywhere.