It is a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful week. If you plan on staying in, the comedy "Death at a Funeral" opens in theaters, and the new MGMT album, "Congratulations," is out in stores later this week. If you really want to celebrate, though, you'll get outside and check out the annual Boneyard Arts Festival! Check below for more.

MOVIE RELEASES THIS WEEK

"The City of Your Final Destination"
Rated PG-13, dir. James Ivory
Nationwide release: Friday, April 16
Omar Razaghi (Omar Metwally) is a graduate student at Kansas University in the small town of Lawrence. He has recently won a grant to write a biography of Jules Gund, a Latin American writer. In order to get the story straight, he must get to know Gund's former wife, mistress, and brother. This movie also stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Anthony Hopkins, and Laura Linney.

"Death at a Funeral"
Rated R, dir. Neil LaBute
Nationwide release: Friday, April 16
Something of a farce, "Death at a Funeral" follows two brothers (played by Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence) mourning the loss of their father. At his funeral they happen into several unexpected events, including meeting his gay partner. Surprise.

"Kick-Ass"
Rated PG-13, dir. Matthew Vaughn
Nationwide release: Friday, April 16
It's easy to be a superhero. All you need is a costume, some face paint, and a cool name — right? Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) and his friends quickly discover otherwise.

"The New Art Film Festival"
Thursday, April 15, thru Tuesday, April 20, Art Theater, 126 W. Church St., Champaign
In conjunction with the 2010 Boneyard Arts Festival (see local events below), the Art Theater and C-U Confidential are presenting a celebration of movies by local filmmakers. Most of the films will be shown Thursday through Sunday, but the festival will continue with one movie next Monday ("The Scientist" at 7:30 p.m.) and a "Best of the Festival" showing on Tuesday, also at 7:30. For a complete schedule, click here.

Eleni's Pick: "The City of Your Final Destination" has an amazing cast list. I would check it out, or you can just head to the Art Theater for their film festival.

CD releases this week

"Congratulations"
MGMT
MGMT are a Uni favorite, and though I'm not so hot on dance music, I have to agree: These boys have got some serious talent. But with their newfound fame after "Oracular Spectacular," they've been taking a little bit of a different approach with this album. There is no "Kids," no stunning, spectacular single. Instead, they've waited to release the album as a whole, and they intend for it to be listened to as a whole. I'm ready to hear it.

"The Dark Leaves"
Matt Pond PA
Sweet, cool, indie rock. Matt Pond PA are a quietly eclectic group featuring cello, violin, acoustic and electric guitar in lovely floating melodies. "The Dark Leaves" is their eighth studio album, and I am greatly looking forward to it. If it manages to even be half as good as their previous release, "The Last Light," I'll be infinitely pleased.

"Year of the Black Rainbow"
Coheed and Cambria
Well, so far this album has been noted to be "more musical" than Coheed and Cambria's previous works. In my opinion, this sums up the band: not musical, but really, really noisy. Deluxe editions of the album include a 300-plus-page novel of the same title, which I'm hoping is where the band's efforts went, because they're certainly not evident here.

Katy's Pick: Matt Pond PA looks good; MGMT looks great.

DVD Releases This Week

"Pirate Radio"
Rated R, dir. Richard Curtis
Original U.S. theatrical release: Nov. 13, 2009
Set in the 1960s in the North Sea, this is a comedy about illegal radio stations. A group of rogue DJs captivate the hearts of young Britain by standing up to the government for freedom of music and … well, everything else that goes along with rock 'n' roll! The stellar cast includes Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Count, the American DJ at the center of the pirate radio craze, Bill Nighy as Quentin, the boss of the North Sea floating radio station, and Kenneth Branagh as Sir Alistair Dormandy, the government minister dedicated to eliminating the scourge of pirate radio.

"Defendor"
Rated R, dir. Peter Stebbings
Original U.S. theatrical release: Feb. 26, 2010 (limited)
What is it with the theme of ordinary people wanting to be superheroes? (See "Kick-Ass" above.) Is life really that barren and meaningless? Oh well. From Wikipedia: "Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson) is a regular but delusional man who believes that he is a superhero named Defendor. He combs the city streets at night in search of his arch enemy, Captain Industry, befriending a young prostitute (Kat Dennings) in his quest."

Gargoyle Pick: "Pirate Radio" features classic '60s rock 'n' roll and some of the best actors working today — hard to beat that combination.

Video game releases this week

"Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction"
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
The "Splinter Cell" series may not be the best stealth shooters, but they are certainly the coolest. In "Conviction," you play as the awesome spy Sam Fisher, a rogue agent of a secret agency known as "Third Echelon." After discovering that your daughter's recent death was not the accident you believed, you must track down those responsible. This might sound a little clichéd, but it is enlivened by the presence of a bomb in the middle of D.C., as well as the attempts of your former bosses to silence you. All in all, the graphics look excellent, the story complex, and the multiplayer improved. You can get "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction" this Monday for the princely (but not unexpected) sum of $59.99.

"Dark Void Zero"
Developer: Other Oceans Interactive
Publisher: Capricom
"Dark Void" was released, played, and promptly forgotten. It was buggy, short, and poorly executed. However, it seems that the developer has found a way to salvage their video game flop by releasing a dumbed-down version, with fewer features and eight-bit graphics. Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me, either. Following the original's story, "Dark Void Zero" takes place in an alternate universe, known only as the Void. Fighting against a maniacal alien race, you use a series of inventions to survive and, hopefully, return to earth. "Dark Void Zero" is available Tuesday for iPhone, PC, and DS.

Luke's Pick: "Splinter Cell" is what I will be playing.

Local shows and events this week

Boneyard Arts Festival
Thursday, April 15, thru Sunday, April 18
Various locations around Champaign-Urbana
This week is beautiful all over town. The Boneyard Arts Festival is a great conjugation of every form of artistic expression all over the Twin Cities. Just from skimming over the selection, we see that Thursday features original works of poetry and prose by local writers at The Blind Pig (120 N. Walnut St., Champaign), while on Saturday Exile on Main (1 Main St., Champaign) is going all out for a belated Record Store Day. Check out the full program here.

Katy's Pick: There can be no question: Get outside and see the Boneyard — the festival, that is; the Boneyard itself is not worth the time or effort.