Kinni River Theater presents free films

The University Center has a lot to offer students, including the Kinnickinnic River Theater, where students can watch a variety of different movies for free all semester long.

Entertainment coordinator Karyn Kling said the 150-seat theater is the closest UW-River Falls has come to having anything resembling a movie theater on campus.

“I think that this theater is unique because it is our theater. This is a theater that is on campus for students to use, and you do not need to drive to see films there,” said Leadership Development and Programming Board (LDPB) Chair Natalie Hagberg said. “Students can come for dinner or hang out in the game room and catch a show in the same building.”

The Kinni Theater has already shown “An Inconvenient Truth,” “National Treasure” and “The Mighty Ducks.”

The first three films have been well received by a number of the students on campus.

“The students who have attended the movies have enjoyed their experience,” Kling said. “Many have said it’s better than an average movie theater experience because it’s free and you can bring your own food.”

Freshman Janna Grassel was one of the students who decided to attend one of the first showings in the theater.

“I thought “An Inconvenient Truth” was interesting, but a bit boring,” Grassel said. “I probably wouldn’t go to the theater anymore if they constantly played movies of the same nature; they just really aren’t my style. But the list of movies coming out looks promising.”

For the remainder of the semester, the theater will be showing different films on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Some of the movies to come include “Bobby,” “Back to the Future,” “Dirty Dancing” and “Finding Nemo.”

“I think they have a great variety of movies coming up,” Grassel said. “And the actual theater is really nice and the food trays were a great idea.”

The Film Series is being put on by the LDPB and Committees. All movies are free and students are encouraged to bring their own snacks.

A number of the first showings have had nearly a full crowd.

Following the first showings of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the campus ECO Club held their own showing of the film and followed it with a discussion.

“ECO’s showings were not quite as populated,” club member Matthew Meyer said. “[It was] simply because of the redundancy of the showings. Many students who wanted to see the film already had the chance during the LDPB showings.”

“We did not realize LDPB was planning on showing the same movie until all plans were finalized. We just decided to carry on with the original plans,” Meyer said.

While the room is great for showing movies, it’s also useful for other things.

“I like how versatile the theater is,” Kling said. “It is the perfect place to show a film, yet also a great space to feature a small lecture or presentation because of the small, raised stage area. The technology in the room gives you the ability to project a DVD, VHS or computer presentation on the large screen. There is also a microphone built into the podium.”

This weekend, the newest James Bond movie, “Casino Royale” is being shown at 4:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on Saturday.