The Oriental and the Downer Are Running Two Different Decembers on the East Side

On Milwaukee's East Side, the holiday season at the Oriental Theatre starts Dec. 10 this year, when Gremlins opens. Inside the next two weeks come White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, Tokyo Godfathers and a 70mm run of Dune: Part Three. The East Side Business Improvement District's Shop Local Weekend falls in the middle of that stretch, on Saturday, Dec. 12 and Sunday, Dec. 13.

Before Dec. 10, the big house on Farwell is showing crime pictures, cult favorites and a Thanksgiving comedy. Up on Downer Avenue, Wisconsin's oldest operating cinema is heading into its first December under a new owner. Taken together, the listings put most of the neighborhood's holiday season into about fourteen days, all within walking distance of North and Farwell.

The weeks before December 10 belong to classic crime films and cult picks

The Milwaukee Film calendar for late November barely mentions the holidays. It does have a steady run of classic crime films. Gun Crazy plays the Oriental on Nov. 24, Kiss Me Deadly on Nov. 28, Elevator to the Gallows on Nov. 30, and Blast of Silence returns the thread on Dec. 12 and 13.

Several other late-November titles are worth booking:

• WMSE's Friday Night Freak Show presents All the President's Men on Nov. 20.
• To Kill a Mockingbird plays Nov. 21.
• National Theatre Live's The Misanthrope, starring Sandra Oh in Martin Crimp's new version of Molière, screens Nov. 21 and 22.

Thanksgiving weekend is where the calendar and the neighborhood's shopping dates first meet:

1. Wednesday, Nov. 25: Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz.
2. Thursday, Nov. 26: Planes, Trains and Automobiles, the story of a man trying to get home to Chicago for Thanksgiving, plays on Thanksgiving Day itself.
3. Friday, Nov. 27: Best in Show, a staff pick, and Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, presented in recognition of Native American Heritage Day.
4. Saturday, Nov. 28: This is the East Side BID's Small Biz Saturday, billed as a neighborhood-wide day to shop local businesses and makers. That evening the Oriental has Kiss Me Deadly, and Kurosawa's Ikiru runs Nov. 28 and 29.

The first week of December stays offbeat. A new 35mm print of Tsai Ming-liang's The Hole screens Dec. 1. Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie plays with its commentary track on Dec. 2. Dirty Dancing, a board pick, is on Dec. 3. Hundreds of Beavers runs in 35mm Dec. 3 through 5. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? plays Dec. 5, Bell, Book and Candle Dec. 5 and 6, and Harvey closes out the stretch on Dec. 8.

Then the two weeks that carry the season

The holiday titles all start within about ten days of each other, and the BID's second shopping weekend sits right in the middle.

The BID describes Shop Local Weekend as a weekend of "thoughtful gifts, cozy vibes, and festive finds." It also points shoppers to the East Side's Holiday Gift Guide for local deals and gift card specials. On Saturday, Dec. 12, White Christmas is in its second day, so the weekend's gift shopping and a 1954 musical share the same blocks. It's a Wonderful Life runs every day through Christmas Eve, the night of the year the film's own story builds toward.

The Cameron Winter film on Dec. 13 is a concert documentary. Paul Thomas Anderson directed it and shot it on 35mm and 16mm. It records a single Carnegie Hall show from December 2025, which Winter played after a long sold-out tour with his band Geese.

For a daytime start on a shopping weekend, the lunch option on Brady Street has changed. Milwaukee Magazine reported on Nov. 6 that The Diplomat, at 815 E. Brady St., has brought back weekday lunch for the first time in six years. Service runs Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Why the 70mm run lands in the same weeks

The Oriental can handle most of a month's programming at once because of what Milwaukee Film rebuilt. Milwaukee Film took over operations in July 2018. Urban Milwaukee reports that the larger property is owned by New Land Enterprises. Between 2018 and 2021, Milwaukee Film completed three phases of a $10 million renovation, according to the theater's official history. The work restored historic features, replaced seats and carpet, upgraded concessions and restrooms, and brought back 35mm and 70mm projection.

The main room, the Abele Cinema, has 1,020 seats and a masked screen 39.35 feet wide by 20.5 feet tall. It has a Wurlitzer theatre organ and projects 35mm, 70mm, 16mm and digital. Each of the two smaller cinemas holds 228. Few theaters can show 70mm film, so a 70mm run of Dune: Part Three is a large-format event. It opens Dec. 15 and plays through New Year's Eve. With three screens, the Oriental can keep Dune going while Tokyo Godfathers and It's a Wonderful Life run on their own schedules. In the week before Christmas, the same building has a 70mm science fiction epic and a 1946 holiday classic playing at the same time.

After Christmas Eve, the listings move toward the new year. Fiddler on the Roof plays Christmas Day, and Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game plays Dec. 26 and 27. Phantom Thread and When Harry Met Sally... both screen Dec. 31. On the lakefront, the North Point Lighthouse keeps public hours on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m., but Dec. 26 is one of its listed closed dates for 2026. That Saturday is better spent at the Renoir film.

Both theaters are cashless, and Milwaukee Film members get a discount on concessions.

The Downer, in its first December under Milwaukee Film ownership

The Downer Theatre at 2589 N. Downer Ave. is heading into a different kind of season. Milwaukee Film bought the building on Feb. 27, 2026. It had been running the theater since April 2024, after Landmark closed it in September 2023. BizTimes reported a purchase price of $1.55 million and an $8 million fundraising goal. The goal covers the building, the renovation phases and a reserve.

The Downer opened in 1915. Milwaukee Film calls it the oldest operating cinema in Wisconsin. It is still a two-screen house, with 465 seats across its twin cinemas. On the Save the Downer campaign page, Milwaukee Film lays out a schedule that makes this winter the last one in the building's current form:

• Phase one is the purchase plus a replacement projector, with installation planned for early 2027.
• Phase two restores the vestibule, expands the lobby and concessions area, renovates the bathrooms with an accessible family bathroom, and adds 35mm capability to the projection booth. It is planned to begin in 2028, after the Milwaukee Film Festival.
• Phase three covers seating and sightlines, sound isolation between the two houses, screen masking and a hearing loop. It could start as part of the 2028 work or after the 2029 festival.

A bonus phase on the same page sets a goal of repairing the current marquee so its neon glows brighter.

The Downer's specialty listings for the season are short and serious. I Play Rocky, about Sylvester Stallone's fight to play the role he wrote, runs Nov. 19 through 22, opening the day this post publishes. Elsinore, about the actor Ian Charleson, plays Dec. 4 through 6. Milwaukee Film says it has made only limited cosmetic updates since reopening the Downer in 2024, and the 35mm booth is planned for phase two. This December, Downer Avenue's 1915 twin cinema is still close to how Milwaukee Film found it. The changes start with the new projector planned for early 2027.

If you're hosting guests for White Christmas or catching Dune in 70mm before the year ends, the Shar Borg Team is glad to share what we know about the blocks between the Oriental and the Downer, and how they're changing. Request a complimentary concierge consultation when you're ready to talk about your next season on the East Side.