Who doesn’t like movies? Well, some people, I guess, but they’re “rare birds.” Most of us like watching movies, whether on our computers, TVs, or on the big screen. And the big screen is always the most impressive, at least in my opinion. Nothing makes you crawl into the parallel universe of a film better than a large screen. With surround sound and a bucket of popcorn, of course…
C-U doesn’t lack opportunities for watching movies on the big screen. Besides the obvious blockbusters at Beverly Cinema and Savoy 16, there are many opportunities to watch great films you might not otherwise know about:
–The Art Theatre in downtown Champaign often hosts documentaries and independent films of interest (
http://www.thecuart.com/
).
–Famed Chicago Sun Times film critic and Urbana native Roger Ebert holds his highly acclaimed “Ebertfest” (previously known as “Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival”) here in late April at the historic Virginia Theatre (
http://www.ebertfest.com
).
–Global Lens is an international film festival held right here at Parkland this fall, the films shared with UIUC (
http://artgallery.parkland.edu/global-lens.html
).
– And this Friday, September 23, is the kickoff for the Latin American Film Festival (
http://www.clacs.illinois.edu/news/specialevents/
).
Most of these events are free or very reasonably priced. Take advantage of these fabulous film opportunities, and a way to learn about another culture, art, passion, or way of life through the eye of the lens.
paintings credit: Elizabeth Santiago
To me there’s no better theatre experience than going to an older vintage movie theatre. Velvet cushioned chairs and velvet curtains, being surrounded by ornate architecture, infused with the smell of freshly popped corn, all of which makes the experience exciting, plush, rich, and comfortable. Today, just the sight of red velvet ropes in a museum will bring back memories of my childhood in Baltimore when our entire neighborhood of children were sent to the neighborhood movie theater (4 city blocks away) for an entire afternoon. It was common to take in a double or even triple feature, since in those days the cost of admission was about $1.00, regardless of how many films were featured. So each Saturday, around 11:00 a.m., we were sent on our way with 50 cents for drinks or candy and a paper grocery sack full of popcorn (in those days you could bring your own). After about 4 hours or of movie viewing and a belly full of popcorn, we would stroll home while debating which film was better than the other. Oh those were the days.