33 movies from 2023 with Wisconsin ties, from 'Barbie' to 'Air'

Even though there weren't many movies set in Wisconsin in 2023, Hollywood found other ways to put the Badger State on its map — and not just by casting Willem Dafoe in every third movie.

Here are 33 movies released this year with notable state ties, in alphabetical order by movie title.

Violent Femmes songs in 'Air'

Ben Affleck made a playlist of 1980s music to be used as inspiration and backdrop for the movie about Nike's all-or-nothing bid to sign Michael Jordan as the face of the sneaker company. Among the tracks that made the movie's soundtrack were two from Milwaukee's Violent Femmes' first album: “Blister in the Sun” and “Good Feeling.”

Willem Dafoe acting, Adam Stockhausen designing in 'Asteroid City'

Wes Anderson's meta-dramedy — about, among other things, the making of a play about strange doings in the desert of the American Southwest in the 1950s — features a cameo by Appleton native Willem Dafoe as a celebrated acting teacher named Saltzburg Keitel. Brookfield Central alum Adam Stockhausen, a frequent Anderson collaborator who won an Oscar for his work on the director's "The Grand Budapest Hotel," is behind this movie's Midcentury-Modern-meets-nuclear-anxiety production design.

Ava Max on 'Barbie' soundtrack

The year's biggest movie didn't include a shout-out to Barbie's "hometown" of Willows, Wisconsin, but Milwaukee native Ava Max's song "Choose Your Fighter" gets some prime placement in it — in the scene when Barbie and Ken get arrested shortly after coming to the real world.

George Tillman Jr. writing and directing 'Big George Foreman'

Milwaukee filmmaker George Tillman Jr. ("Soul Food," "The Hate U Give") co-wrote and directed this faith-centric biopic of boxing legend (and grill namesake) George Foreman, whose anger powered him to Olympic gold and the heavyweight title but whose later-in-life rediscovery of his faith helped him lift up his community — and return to the ring.

Mel Eslyn directing 'Biosphere'

After making movies for two decades, Mel Eslyn, a Menomonee Falls native who graduated from Pewaukee High School, made her feature-film directorial debut this year with "Biosphere," a thought-provoking, idea-filled comedy about the last two men on earth (Mark Duplass, Sterling K. Brown).

Carrie Coon in 'The Boston Strangler'

Carrie Coon, who got her start as an actor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in Madison-area theater, plays a veteran reporter who collaborates with newcomer Keira Knightley to break the story of "The Boston Strangler" in this period made-for-Hulu drama.

Willem Dafoe in 'The Boy and the Heron'

Dafoe voices "Noble Pelican" in the English-dubbed version of "The Boy and the Heron," Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki's first movie in a decade.

Steve Boettcher directing 'Carol Burnett: A Celebration'

Milwaukee filmmaking partners Steve Boettcher and Mike Trinklein's salute to comedy legend Carol Burnett made it into theaters nationwide for a two-night stay this spring.

Danny Pudi in 'Corner Office'

Marquette University graduate Danny Pudi co-stars in this dark workplace comedy about an ambitious man (Jon Hamm) who discovers an office that his employer tells him doesn't exist.

Hamm's beer shout-out and ShopKo slam in 'Dumb Money'

Several Wisconsin businesses rate mentions, good and bad, in "Dumb Money," the engaging, true-story drama about the individual investors who boosted the stock of GameStop and took on Wall Street's short-selling hedge funds.

In one scene, YouTube stock analyst Paul Dano meets a Wall Street pal for a beer and insists on drinking Hamm's, most of which these days is brewed at MolsonCoors' brewery in Milwaukee. "It’s a nice one outta Milwaukee. Good quality. Fifty cents a can before markup. … The fact that it’s a good value only makes it taste better to me."

In another scene, when her roommate asks why she doesn't sell her GameStop shares after a huge runup, a Texas college student says it's because of what happened to her father while he worked at ShopKo, the now-shuttered Green Bay-based retailer. "My dad, he worked his way up from bag boy to general manager. And then a Wall Street fund bought it, vampire-sucked all the money out and then declared bankruptcy. … He lost his pension. Everything. It’s why he had to work at Pick ’N (expletive) Save till the day he died. And it’s why I’m now up to my ass in debt. These (expletive) are trying to do the same thing to GameStop."

Jason Momoa's Harleys in 'Fast X'

Jason Momoa used his corporate connections with Harley-Davidson (the "Aquaman" star has his own Harley-themed clothing line) to talk the Milwaukee-based motorcycle company into providing a half-dozen custom bikes for his over-the-top villain character in "Fast X."

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Singer-actor Tank in 'Favorite Son Christmas'

In a holiday movie that streamed on BET+, singer, actor and Milwaukee native Tank plays a man who stages a reunion of his family singing group to revive his struggling church at Christmastime.

Michael Mann directing 'Ferrari'

The holiday-season biopic "Ferrari" was the latest from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Michael Mann, who developed his passion for movies as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Tony Shalhoub as a CEO in 'Flamin' Hot'

In a year in which Shalhoub was immersed in his two most-awarded roles (Monk and Abe Weissman in "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"), the Green Bay native also played PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico in Eva Longoria's story of the Frito-Lay janitor who was credited with coming up with the idea for Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

Helen Mirren as Golda Meir in 'Golda'

Oscar winner Mirren joined the list of powerful actors who have played Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir with "Golda," following the world leader who grew up in Milwaukee during the dark days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

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A former Milwaukee Brave featured in 'The Hill'

In the inspirational, based-on-a-true-story sports drama "The Hill," veteran actor Scott Glenn plays Red Murff, a former relief pitcher with the Milwaukee Braves who reluctantly agrees to give a look to a young player battling physical challenges for a shot at organized baseball.

Jacob Latimore in 'House Party'

Milwaukee actor and singer Latimore, who also co-stars in the acclaimed Showtime series "The Chi," co-starred with Tosin Cole in this updated/remix of the 1990 Kid 'N Play comedy, as a pair of house cleaners who decide to throw a huge party in the mansion of their out-of-town client — Lebron James.

Musician Leland Sklar in 'Immediate Family'

Four veteran session and touring musicians who were part of scores of great songs from the 1970s and '80s — Waddy Wachtel, Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Sklar, a Milwaukee native — are the focus of this documentary.

David Koepp writing, Adam Stockhausen designing 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'

Koepp, a Pewaukee native and Steven Spielberg's go-to screenwriter, returned to the "Indiana Jones" franchise as one of the movie's four credited writers, and Stockhausen — another Spielberg regular — designed the period sets for "Dial of Destiny," the swan song in the role for Harrison Ford, who first got the acting bug when he was a student at Ripon College in the early 1960s.

Willem Dafoe in 'Inside'

Dafoe plays a master thief who becomes trapped in a high-tech penthouse apartment in this (mostly) one-person thriller.

Milwaukee ballplayers in Yogi Berra documentary 'It Ain't Over'

"It Ain't Over," a loving look at baseball legend Berra, is chock full of interviews with former ballplayers, including two former Brewers (Al Downing and Willie Randolph), a former Milwaukee Brave (Joe Torre) and one of the best Milwaukee-born major-leaguers (Tony Kubek) — all former Yankees.

Tony Shalhoub in 'Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie'

Tony Shalhoub reprised his Emmy-winning character, OCD-fueled detective Adrian Monk, in a new made-for-streaming movie.

Heather Graham in 'On a Wing and a Prayer'

Graham, who was born in Milwaukee, co-stars in this inspirational based-on-a-true-story drama about a man (Dennis Quaid) who, to save his family, has to take the controls of a plane when the pilot dies midflight.

David Lowery directing 'Peter Pan & Wendy'

Waukesha native Lowery, who also made the live-action remake of "Pete's Dragon" for Disney, returned to the studio to direct this "Peter Pan" story.

Errol Morris directing 'The Pigeon Tunnel'

Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris ("The Fog of War") turned what ended up being the last-ever interview with spy novel master John le Carre into this well-received documentary for Apple TV.

Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo in 'Poor Things'

Dafoe and Ruffalo, a Kenosha native, are at odds in Yorgos Lanthimos' fantastical comedy about a woman (Emma Stone) who has to learn from scratch how to be a human. Dafoe is her creator/mentor, Ruffalo is the rake pursuing her.

Zack Snyder making 'Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire'

Green Bay native Zack Snyder, the guy behind the first DC Movie Universe ("Man of Steel," "Batman v. Superman"), launched a universe of his own for Netflix with the first part of a new two-part sci-fi epic.

John Scheinfeld directing documentaries on Elvis and Blood, Sweat & Tears

Prolific music documentary filmmaker Scheinfeld, a Fox Point native, brought two more to theaters in 2023: "Reinventing Elvis: The ’68 Comeback" and "What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears?"

CCH Pounder co-starring in 'Rustin'

Colman Domingo is expected to earn an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of civil rights stalwart Bayard Rustin. Among the movie's impressive cast: CCH Pounder, who performed with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in the 1970s, plays Anna Hedgeman, a fellow civil rights warrior who worked with Rustin to organize the 1963 March on Washington.

Danny Pudi in 'Somebody I Used to Know'

Pudi, a Marquette University alum, co-stars as the voice of reason (or least caution) with former "Community" colleague Alison Brie in this romantic comedy.

Ruth Lambert doing voice casting for 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts'

Lambert, a Nicolet High School grad who has lined up voices for everything from Disney movies and Adult Swim shows, is credited with “additional voice casting” for the latest installment in the robots-in-disguise action movie series.

Chris Smith directing 'Wham!'

Smith, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee film school alum behind non-fiction screen hits from "American Movie" to "Tiger King," directed this feature-length look at the music and legacy of the 1980s pop duo.

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