Badger cinema: 24 movies with Wisconsin connections in 2017
Wisconsin may not get a lot of traffic from Hollywood production crews, but the state has had a hand in many of this year’s biggest hits.
Eight of 2017’s 20 highest-grossing movies have a Wisconsin connection, behind the scenes, in front of the camera or on the soundtrack.
And for the fifth year in a row, a person with state ties could bring home an Oscar.
Last year’s Oscar winner from Wisconsin, Justin Hurwitz, who took home two trophies for the music for Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land,” has been working on the soundtrack for Chazelle’s next movie, “First Man,” about Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 mission.
Wisconsin’s 2015 Oscar winner, production designer Adam Stockhausen (for Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel”), is likely to be in the mix next time around, too; he’s working on “Isle of Dogs,” also by Anderson, and “Ready Player One,” directed by Steven Spielberg, both due out in 2018.
Here are some of the movies that made it to Milwaukee theaters in 2017 (or will in early 2018) that featured work by people with Wisconsin ties.
Homegrown contenders
“The Florida Project”: Appleton native Willem Dafoe, who was active in theater in Milwaukee at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Theatre X, is the current oddsmakers’ favorite for best supporting actor at the Oscars for his performance as the gruff but big-hearted manager of an Orlando-area motel.
“Dunkirk”: Another serious contender for an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor this year is Mark Rylance, the English actor who went to University School of Milwaukee. Rylance, who won an Oscar in 2016 for “Bridge of Spies,” gives an indelible performance as a father who takes his small boat across the English Channel to rescue British soldiers at Dunkirk.
“The Post”: Steven Spielberg’s drama about the Washington Post’s decision to publish the Pentagon Papers — released in New York and Los Angeles at the end of the year but not arriving in Milwaukee until Jan. 12 — has a pretty heavy-duty cast, led by Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. It also stars Carrie Coon, who cut her theatrical teeth at the UW-Madison and in Madison-area theater, as editorial writer Meg Greenfield; and Madison native Bradley Whitford, who plays a fictional executive at the Post.
“Get Out”: Whitford is also among the nominees for best cast at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Jordan Peele’s horror movie about an African-American man visiting his white girlfriend’s suburban family and discovering a conspiracy.
Heroes, assemble
“Thor: Ragnarok”: Kenosha native Mark Ruffalo returned as the Hulk and his brainy alter-ego, Bruce Banner, in this semi-comic Marvel sequel.
“The Great Wall”: The Chineseproduced spectacle about battling monsters at, well, the Great Wall features Dafoe in a supporting role as a Western prisoner trying to flee.
“Murder on the Orient Express”: Dafoe (yes, again), as a professor who is not what he seems, squares off against the great detective Hercule Poirot on that delayed train trip.
“Justice League” and “Wonder Woman”: Green Bay native Zack Snyder was one of a league of producers on “Wonder Woman,” one of the year’s biggest superhero hits, and directed (with help from Joss Whedon) the allstar follow-up.
“Spider-Man: Homecoming”: Madison native and Broadway denizen Tyne Daly has a small role as Anne Marie Hoag, a recurring figure in Marvel’s comic-book universe.
“Sleight”: Milwaukee singer-actor Jacob Latimore plays a street magician with a jury-rigged superpower.
“Thank You for Your Service”: In the drama about soldiers coming back from the war in Iraq, Waukesha native Brad Beyer plays one of those who didn’t return.
Serious-minded stuff
“A Ghost Story”: Waukesha native David Lowery reunited with his “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” stars Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara for this stillwaters drama.
“Gifted” and “The Only Living Boy in New York”: Madison native Marc Webb directed the former, about a man (Chris Evans) raising his late sister’s math-prodigy daughter, and the latter, a coming-of-age drama.
“Let It Fall: Los Angeles 19821992”: Mequon native and Oscar winner John Ridley’s documentary on L.A. in the decade leading up to the riots case had a limited big-screen release — including at the Milwaukee Film Festival — in addition to airing on ABC.
“Detroit”: Latimore played Fred Temple, one of the young African-American men victimized by police during a hotel raid during the 1967 riot in “Detroit.”
Not-so-serious stuff
“The Mummy”: Screenwriter David Koepp, a Pewaukee native, was one of three writers credited with the screenplay for the movie reboot.
“The Greatest Showman”: Brookfield native Timothy Hughes, whose Broadway credits include a role in the upcoming “Frozen” musical, plays a strongman in the new screen musical about P.T. Barnum.
“CHIPS”: In this summer’s R-rated redo of the 1970s TV series, Greendale native Jane Kaczmarek is a California Highway Patrol captain with a raunchy side.
Wisconsin accents
“Cars 3”: Green Bay’s Tony Shalhoub reprised his voice role as tireshop operator Luigi in the Pixar animated sequel.
“The Star”: In this tale of the birth of Jesus, told from the animals’ perspective, Oprah Winfrey, the talk show and media titan who attended Nicolet High School, provides the voice of a camel named Deborah.
Milwaukee music
“Baby Driver”: In Edgar Wright’s jukebox heist movie, the song playing when Baby (Ansel Elgort) calls Deborah (Lily James) at the diner is “Threshold” by the Steve Miller Band (Miller’s a Milwaukee native).
“The Lego Batman Movie”: Batman tries on a rack full of gaudy tuxedos while the soundtrack kicks in with “Girls Know How” by Milwaukee native Al Jarreau.