You probably thought the opening of Summerfest was going to take up all of the festival spotlight this week. But joke's on you, as in swoops the Milwaukee Film Festival this morning, revealing the first eight highly anticipated selections for this year's two-week cinema soiree – from brand new buzz-worthy festival favorites to spectacular silent era legends to classics both for children and definitely not for children.

Here are the eight picks:

"Beauty and the Beast"

Just in time for its 25th anniversary – as well as the new live-action remake starring Emma Watson and Dan "God's Gift to Mankind" Stevens – the Milwaukee Film Festival will present a special sing-a-long version, complete with on-screen lyrics, of the 1991 Best Picture-nominated Disney classic "Beauty and the Beast."

"Blue Velvet"

And on a completely different wavelength from a children's animated classic, the Milwaukee Film Festival's Cinema Hooligante program will present a special 30th anniversary restoration of David Lynch's 1986 surreal small-town Americana nightmare "Blue Velvet." The perfect Lynch appetizer before next year's "Twin Peaks" revival.

"The Fits"

A well-received Sundance selection, "The Fits" follows an 11-year-old tomboy who shifts from the world of boxing to the world of dance. Her quest for acceptance in her new dance squad, however, takes a peculiar turn as many of her fellow dancers begin falling victim to fainting spells and violent fits. 

"Metropolis"

Did you miss when Milwaukee Film brought Fritz Lang's 1927 silent era masterpiece "Metropolis" to the 2010 festival – complete with a live score from the renowned Alloy Orchestra? How embarrassing ... but also how lucky, because they're bringing both the mesmerizing cinematic landmark and the Alloy Orchestra back to the Oriental this year. Don't miss it again. And if you saw it already before ... well, you know better than anyone to not miss it this time too. 

"Neither Heaven Nor Earth"

Coming from the Milwaukee Film Festival's Worldviews program, "Neither Heaven Nor Earth" is a French psychological thriller about an army unit whose monotonous days monitoring the Afghan-Pakistani border near the end of the war effort are rattled when two soldiers from both their side and the Taliban side mysterious disappear in the middle of the night.

"Orange Sunshine"

It may sound like a delicious breakfast drink, but "Orange Sunshine" is actually a documentary about the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, a band of SoCal hippies and beach bums that soon became the country's leading supplier of LSD during the '60s. 

"A Song for You: The Austin City Limits Story"

If you like music – any music, of pretty much any genre – you'll probably find something to satisfy the ears and the eyes in "A Song for You: The Austin City Limits Story," an oral history-esque rock doc paying tribute to the longest running music show in television history and the plethora of stars that made the Austin stage truly sing. 

"Yarn"

A documentary from the Art & Artists program, "Yarn" spins a, well, you know what about a quartet of female artists pushing techniques like knitting and crochet out of its typically domestic, casual domain and into the art world spotlight with adventurous yarn-based installations scattered across the globe. 

In addition to these eight films, Milwaukee Film also announced a new program added to this year's festival: Cine Sin Fronteras, a collection of stories focused on the Latinx diaspora. Expect to hear more about the selections in that program – as well as the rest of the Milwaukee Film Festival's movie lineup in the upcoming few weeks and months. Judging by simply this first handful of picks, it would seem we have a lot to look forward to yet again.

This year's festival runs from Sept. 22 through Oct. 6. Discounted festival passes and ticket six-packs are now on sale at mkefilm.org/tickets.