Isthmus has always had a thing for film. In the publication's early days we featured movie critic Mike Wilmington, who went on to work at the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, all while continuing to write for Isthmus. Then Kent Williams arrived and won armloads of state and national awards for his brilliant movie criticism. I'll never forget the day the late New Yorker writer Pauline Kael -- arguably the greatest American movie critic of all time -- called Kent to tell him how much she admired his work in Isthmus.
Our love affair with the movies is still going strong. In this week's cover story, Kenneth Burns, Phil Davis and James Kreul offer a perspective on the Wisconsin Film Festival. We've also been posting previews and interviews on TheDailyPage.com, and we'll continue our coverage there during the event itself, April 3-10. We hope that, somewhere, Pauline Kael is smiling.
While we're waiting for the Film Festival to start, we have another big project to keep us busy: "Madison at Play." From 6 p.m. on Friday, March 28, to 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, Isthmus reporters will go to restaurants, nightclubs, sporting events, museums, theaters, golf courses and anywhere else we can think of where Madisonians are having fun. You'll find our stories, photos and social media updates at MadisonAtPlay.com, which we'll continually update over the 24-hour period. And we'll run excerpts in the April 3 edition of Isthmus.
You can get involved, too. Let us know how you're amusing yourself on March 28 and 29. Tweet using the hashtag #madplay, and we'll aggregate some of them on the live blog and in print. Use the same hashtag for Instagram, YouTube and Vine.
The goal of "Madison at Play" is to learn something about ourselves and our city, and to have a good time doing so. We hope you'll join in the fun.
