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Woah! 'The Matrix' is 20 years old, and it's on Elk Grove's big screen

The movie described rather crudely by 20-year-old Sean Stangland in the pages of the Daily Eastern News as "'T2' on crack" is about to turn 20 itself, which means I'm probably too old to be playing "Call of Duty's" Blackout mode for three, four hours a night. But I digress.

"The Matrix," the philosophical action masterpiece written and directed by Chicago's own Lana and Lilly Wachowski, will return to the big screen 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, at Classic Cinemas' Elk Grove Theatre, 1050 Elk Grove Town Center, Elk Grove Village, as part of its partnership with the Chicago Film Critics Association. Admission is $5 and will include a post-movie Q&A with Patrick Bromley, who does a movie podcast and blog.

Has there been a moviegoing experience as exciting as "The Matrix" in those ensuing 20 years? I'll never forget seeing Neo (Keanu Reeves) learn kung fu on opening weekend at the Showplace 8 in downstate Mattoon. The packed, awestruck crowd of my fellow Eastern Illinois University students all exclaimed a certain two-word phrase when that helicopter hit the high-rise in the third act. (Remember how the glass rippled before shattering?)

After the movie, I called my parents on my dorm room's landline phone - college students weren't carrying cellphones back in '99 - and told them they had to see it immediately. They did, and they said I was right.

Luke Perry, seen here in a 2018 photo shoot, died Monday at age 52. Associated Press

Luke Perry

Multiple generations of TV watchers were saddened Monday to learn that Luke Perry had died at age 52 after suffering a stroke the week before.

I had always enjoyed his presence, first as the smoldering Dylan McKay, who let the bridges he burned light the way on Fox's "Beverly Hills 90210." In the opening scene of 1997's "The Fifth Element," he's an explorer's funny young traveling companion and plays about 12 different emotions in two minutes after metal, penguin-shaped aliens land in Egypt.

In recent years, his Fred Andrews was the wise, calming heart of the talented, impossibly beautiful cast of "Riverdale," The CW network's soapy riff on the Archie comics. The show, which is in the middle of its third season, suspended production Monday, and creator Roberto Aguirre Sacasa wrote this tribute on Twitter: "So heartbroken about Luke. He was a father, brother, friend, and mentor. Each night before he had to shoot a scene, he'd call me and we'd talk about ... everything. I will miss those calls. And my heart goes out to all his family and friends."

Jack (Jacob Tremblay) and Joy (Brie Larson) are domestic hostages in "Room." Associated Press

Brie Larson

Before she became intergalactic superhero "Captain Marvel," opening in theaters this weekend, Brie Larson won the best-actress Oscar for 2015's "Room," the harrowing, decidedly adult tale of a young mom and her 5-year-old son (Jacob Tremblay) who have been held captive in a stranger's bedroom for his entire life. You can catch up with it on Netflix.

"Captain Marvel" isn't her first foray into comic-book movies - that was her rocking the mic for a blistering cover of Metric's "Black Sheep" in Edgar Wright's 2010 cult classic "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," also on Netflix. Her small role as singer Envy Adams leaves a big impression in the outlandish, video-game-inspired tale of the title character (Michael Cera) vanquishing his girlfriend's exes. And she's not the only future Marvel captain (see what I did there) in the movie, either - Captain America himself, Chris Evans, also faces off with Scott.

• Follow Sean on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.

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