Geneva film fest grows to 4-day affair

Geneva film fest growsLast year, Geneva's fledgling film festival took up a single day. Now, the event has grown to four days, April 14-18, with screenings, workshops, receptions and award ceremonies.Among the highlights: Geneva filmmaker Jose Gomez presents his horror film "Bled White" on April 16, Brian Caunter's local "Chicago Overcoat" and Kartemquin's production of "Typeface" both screen on April 17.The fest begins with an April 14 gala at the Wildwood Restaurant, 477 S. Third St., Geneva. Tickets cost $30 and include the option to buy festival passes at half price.A full festival pass costs $20. Single day passes cost $12. Movie admission costs $3, except for "Typeface," which costs $8. For info and tickets, go to genevafilmfestival.org or call (630) 640-2340.Rock rolls into moviesJoin me and film historian Raymond Benson as Dann Raymond's Movie Club presents "All Shook Up: Rock 'n' Roll Crashes the Movies." We'll show clips from films such as "Rock Around the Clock," "Beach Party," "The Last Waltz," "That Thing You Do," "The Doors," "This is Spinal Tap," and many others. We start at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 8, at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 500 N. Dunton Ave., Arlington Heights. Call (847) 392-0100 or go to ahml.info. Remember: Free admission!'Movies' expiring soonIs there a future for film critics on broadcast TV? First, a brief history.When Chicago film critics Roger Ebert and the late Gene Siskel created their PBS movie review program "At a Theater Near You" 24 seasons ago, it became a cultural and entertainment prototype for dueling critics all over the nation and its airwaves.To no one's surprise, the show's latest syndicated incarnation, "At the Movies," has been given its expiration date. The last original episode will be aired Aug. 14 with Tribune critic Michael Phillips and New York Times critic A.O. Scott at the helm.The show's tempestuous evolutions resulted in a program far removed from its original appeal. Ebert and Siskel crammed their show with the combustible elements of ego, quick wit, intelligence and love #173;#173;#173;- of movies, for sure.When Siskel died in 1999, Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper stepped in. The irresistible combustibility disappeared, but "Ebert Roeper" still retained two of its most important assets: a Midwestern point-of-view and the intangible element of sheer fun.Next, ABC execs began thinking deep inside the box and replaced Roeper with the two younger Bens, Lyons and Mankiewicz, in 2008, otherwise known as the Dark Age of televised American film criticism.ABC's execs dumped the Bens last fall, and tried to return to the original format of two established print critics providing intelligence and insight. Scott and Phillips did that. But they could not regain the program's Midwestern perspective or its sheer sense of Ebertian fun.So, ABC decided to pull the plug on "At the Movies" rather than try once more to find two smart, passionate film critics with combustible personalities who can create good TV.After all, this is the same company that ordered the destruction of the iconic Siskel Ebert theater set rather than let Ben Stiller guard it in the Smithsonian Museum.Now comes word from Ebert that he and his wife Chaz are preparing to launch a new film critics' show from the Phoenix-esque ashes of "At the Movies." No details have been released, yet, except that hosts have already been auditioned.I have two questions: 1. Will the show retain its Midwestern perspective? 2. Will it be fun, again?