Movies forge on amid pandemic with alternative screenings, events in Wichita

Hollywood is still grappling to deal with the ongoing pandemic (just like everyone else), delaying releases of some of the bigger blockbusters we’ve been hotly anticipating (such as ”Wonder Woman 1984,” which was bumped from June to October and now to Christmas -- COME ON!).

But locally, creative programming and cool retro screenings are hopefully helping to keep theaters afloat. Here’s a roundup.

Starlite Drive-in: The drive-in at 3900 S. Hydraulic will present a special double feature of campy musicals on Friday, Sept. 25, of “Little Shop of Horrors,” about a nerdy florist (Rick Moranis) who finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant (really), at 8:30 p.m., and the campiest of all campy musicals, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” about a newly-engaged couple who get stranded at the bizarre residence of flamboyant transsexual Dr. Frank-n-Furter, at 10:30. Tickets are $10.

And Wichita Big Screen’s Scary Movie Mondays series continues at the drive-in on Monday, Sept. 28, with a monster triple feature, literally. The evening starts at 7:45 p.m. with the 1976 version of “King Kong,” followed by “Godzilla vs. Megalon” and “Battle Beyond the Stars.”

Festival posters will be given to the first 250 “kids of all ages” (it’s a very kid-friendly program). Admission will be $7 for a single person or $14 per car load. More information is at http://www.starlitefun.com/. The monster program will be shown again on Oct. 3 at the drive-in.

Regal Cinemas: The theater chain will present a special engagement of “The Empire Strikes Back” to celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary (Really? 40th? Ouch). Locally, it starts Friday, Sept. 25, and continues through Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Warren east theaters, 11611 E. 13th St. If you’ve been living under a rock for the past 40 years and don’t know the storyline, the film picks up after “Star Wars” and finds the rebels being brutally overpowered by the Empire on the ice planet Hoth, while Luke Skywalker begins Jedi training with Yoda. Later, Luke discovers he has some “daddy issues.”

Also, Fathom events and Turner Classic Movies will present special screenings of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” which follows an electric lineman (Richard Dreyfuss) whose life and love for mashed potatoes spirals out of control after he has a close encounter with a UFO. Locally, Steven Spielberg’s classic (and one of my all-time faves) will be shown at 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, at Warren east and west.

Mamafilm: Lela Meadow-Conner’s mama.film microcinema series moved from the shipping container mall Revolutsia to the Lux, 120 E. First St. N., but then had to halt things because of, well, you know. Now she begins a phased re-opening of the series at the Lux with screenings of the documentary “RBG,” about the life and career of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

The film will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4.

Covid protocols will be in effect, as tickets must be purchased online at www.goelevent.com/mamafilm/e/RBG with seating capacity limited to 10 people for each screening (theater capacity is only 30). Seating options will be set up in pod formations to allow for social distancing. No concessions will be served, but patrons may bring their own, including alcohol for those 21 and over. All customers will be expected to wear masks at all times in common areas, restrooms and in the theater when not consuming concessions. More information at https://www.mama.film.

This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 5:01 AM.