By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Feb 13, 2024 at 5:01 PM

Love may be in the air this month, but obsession, crazy and crimes of passion are on the screen at the Oriental Theatre as Milwaukee Film is celebrating Valentine's Day with a special Love Hurts collection of twisted showings about love gone wrong (in all the most viciously entertaining right ways). 

Yes, throughout the month of February, the Oriental has choo-choo-chosen violence, screening several movies that ignore swooning and heart-warming in favor of screaming and heart-stabbing. Those crazed cinematic spectacles include the demented murder doll sequel "Bride of Chucky" and, on Valentine's Day itself, the recent internet obsession "Saltburn," a "Talented Mr. Ripley" riff from "Promising Young Woman" writer-director Emerald Fennell that does unspeakable things to bathtubs and grave plots. (Does great things to Sophie Ellis-Bextor's "Murder on the Dancefloor," though!)

Here's the full lineup of movies worth obsessing over this Valentine's Day season (but in, like, a healthy way, not in like a blinding-yourself-in-the-name-of-love way):

  • Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. – "Saltburn"
  • Friday, Feb. 16 at 9 p.m. – "Sid and Nancy"
  • Saturday, Feb. 17 at 9 p.m. – "Cemetery Man"
  • Friday, Feb. 23 at 9 p.m. – "Bride of Chucky"
  • Saturday, Feb. 24 at 4 p.m. – "The Lobster"

If none of those movies inspire love or hate, the East Side cinema has a number of other special showings this month worth swiping right. For those looking for more obsessive movies worth obsessing over, Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" screens on Sunday, Feb. 18 – and for even more twisted entertainment, "Mulholland Dr." and Gaspar Noe's dance-happy and sanity-maddening "Climax" will hit the Oriental this month as well. And for those more into the Galentine's Day spirit rather than Valentine's Day, the theater will celebrate friendship with the critically acclaimed, vividly directed indie dramedy "Tangerine" on Tuesday night.

And that's not even including the Oriental's regular screenings: current Best Picture nominees "Poor Things" and "American Fiction," with "The Zone of Interest" arriving later this month.

For complete listings and to buy tickets, check out Milwaukee Film's website. And for what's showing on big screens throughout the Milwaukee area, stay up-to-date with our weekly movie listings

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.