It’s been a hot minute since I was at a movie theater, but last week I took the chance to see several in theaters.

The first was the “Zadar!” Screening at the Bijou on Monday with numerous other community members, to help raise funds for the Mount Vernon Post Prom.

As Kim Tucker also noted, this may have been the first opportunity this movie, the majority of which seems to have been shot locally, was ever screened here. And it was a hoot.

I can get the criticism that it has many story lines at once at certain points, but it has great jokes, call backs, and a reminder in the end of the importance of community.

It should not have been panned as badly as it was on release. And it was a success for the post prom raising more than $300 in the one-night run.

Tuesday saw me over at Marcus Wehrenberg Theater in Cedar Rapids for four other movies as I recovered from Discover Guide and Mount Vernon Homecoming.

The best film of the day was definitely “The Wild Robot.” I’ve never read the book series it was clearly inspired by, but I was won over by the mission of the robot and the wild animal friends, the gorgeous animation, the excellent humor and the terrific voice acting. I’m always an easy mark for animated movies, but I feel this one is going to give some serious com- petition to “Moana 2” in best animated feature races.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” was a fine legacy sequel. I liked that the practical effects were happening, but it has a pretty dull 45 minutes before the film actually gets to any shenanigans that we were all here for, and because of that, the second and third act feel very compressed.

There were a couple of great musical montages and set pieces, but the villain in the end seemed totally unnecessary.

“My Old Ass” and “Azrael” were the bottom of the four I watched. I had issues with the pacing in the former, and with the third act undercutting the messages the film was trying to get across.

As well, when you cast a person like Aubrey Plaza and she’s only in the thing for 10 minutes, you have created a “Poochie” problem in that when she isn’t on screen, we’re constantly going “when is Aubrey Plaza returning to give this a little more life?”

“Azrael” was an experiment in horror filmmaking on whether a film can still be scary without people screaming throughout because of a plot element?

The answer is yes, but the film suffers from not having more of a plot than a short film, and the violence is still really unsettling and unrelenting.

Tuesday also brought the news of new ownership of the Bijou movie theater. I commend Chris and Kira Moore for keeping the Bijou running through some very rocky waters these past few years, and I look forward to catching my next movie there with Kelli and John Lane helping to run said movie theater later this holiday season.