C-U Blogfidential

I discovered last month that the Decatur Herald & Review has launched an unofficial news page for THE INFORMANT, which allegedly began location photography in the Soy Capital yesterday, May 3, and will continue for two weeks after which the production moves to Moweaqua, Springfield, St. Louis, and Hawaii. Among other business, H&R will entertain reports and snaps of Matt Damon sightings, thereby undermining the level-headed arguments of staff writer Tim Cain (see also: 3/16/08) that Decatur citizens will probably be hard-pressed to mingle with their visitors and should let them do their work. [Sighs.] Quoteth Don Henley, “crap is king.”

Elsewhere, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has fleshed out its list of principal INFORMANT cast and crew. Assuming the details hold water, Damon will be joined by the charming Melanie Lynskey, who has a recurring role on the Mark Roberts sitcom TWO AND A HALF MEN, as well as Scott Bakula of QUANTUM LEAP and STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE fame. Several performers more noted for their comedic work have also been cast, including Rick Overton (WILLOW) and Thomas F. Wilson (BACK TO THE FUTURE), so who knows what Steven Soderbergh hopes to gain with this strategy. It could work (think Robin Williams in INSOMNIA or John Candy in JFK) or haunt the final product forever (um, GODZILLA?).

If nothing else, IMDb nicely summarizes the fascinating story of what went down at Archer Daniels Midland Company two decades ago. Damon will have his work cut out for him portraying the delusional head case that was Mark Whitacre. Maybe Sarah Silverman can drop in to provide timely (and characteristically tart) inspiration. Eh, Jimmy?

~ Jason Pankoke

After taking a few days off to rest up and gather together some restless thoughts, your humble editor returns! During the summer months I’ll be posting numerous items of interest, strewn in between installments of an exclusive overview of the tenth Roger Ebert’s Film Festival by MICRO-FILM scribe Anthony Zoubek. His insightful work will mark the first multi-part feature to appear on C-U Blogfidential and we couldn’t be happier to welcome him aboard.

Soon, we’ll discuss local DVD releases, the semi-sequel to Dark Maze Studios‘ PRESS START, the Essence Films short PRELUDE, an outreach event to be presented by the Illinois Film Office, visiting New York filmmaker Johnny Robinson, the production of THE INFORMANT in Decatur, the rise of THE TRANSIENT, potential C-U Confidential spin-offs, and - are you sitting down? - the return of MICRO-FILM in the fall! We’ll also begin the long-mooted “filmography of a small town” and interview the filmmaking likes of Brandon Clayton (ZOMBIE MOVIE), Thomas Bender (HOOPESTON), and Craig Lindvahl and Joseph Fatheree (COBB FIELD). Heck, we might even crack open a can or two of worms just because constructive criticism is good for Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond!

Finally, mark on your calendars a reminder to attend the other end-of-semester cinema event, BNFilmFest, which will take place Tuesday, May 13, and Wednesday, May 14, at the Normal Theater in downtown Normal. Start time is 7 p.m. both nights. Look for me there on the second, “indie” evening!

~ Jason Pankoke

“America’s Forgotten ‘Matinee’ Idol”
An interview with Daniel Griffith of
THE WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY

by Jason Pankoke

Oftentimes, the people, places, and things that validate local culture come from outside its geographic sphere. Such is the case with Chattanooga, Tennessee, filmmaker Daniel Griffith, who has turned a childhood fascination with B-movie impresario K. Gordon Murray (1922-1979) into the first-ever documentary about the late showman. Its significance to C-U Blogfidential is that Murray is a native son. More than once, Griffith traveled to nearby Bloomington-Normal to conduct interviews with surviving family and friends as well as capture B-roll (no pun intended) of the area which Murray called home for most of the first three decades of his life.

From the late Fifties on after settling in Florida, Murray milked a library of English-dubbed horror and fairy tale films from Mexico and Germany, as well as domestic potboilers and his own exploitation flicks, by continually re-releasing them to theaters and television. In fact, his marketing schemes for the fairy tales – which included restricting their show times to Saturday afternoons and freezing ticket prices at children’s rates for all ages – gave birth to the “kiddie matinee.” A smattering of this strange oeuvre can be found on Mike Vraney’s ephemeral label, Something Weird Video, and in uncut, Spanish language editions through Casa Negra Entertainment, but one wonders why it took so long for someone to engineer a movie about this man’s colorful life story.

It doesn’t matter. Let’s thank Griffith for following his whims and inadvertently fitting this piece into the puzzle that is the movies of Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond.

Read on, Murray buff…

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Once again, it’s time to uncover that which occurs on the fringe…

You like? If so, make sure to nab the real deal next week at Roger Ebert’s Film Festival in downtown Champaign between April 23 and April 27, when it will be available FOR FREE thanks to our advertisers! Behind the shadowy scene featuring Michael Bach and Tonie Sadler, you will find excerpts from our interviews with local micro-filmmaker Ed Glaser (PRESS START) and non-local storyteller Daniel Griffith (THE WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY) as well as previously unseen photo galleries from Chris Lukeman’s weirdo comedy THE TRANSIENT and Chris Folkens‘ stylish concept video THE LIFELINE: TRILOGY! We also summarize the past year in downstate Illinois film, reprint several choice postings from C-U Blogfidential, and take a brief look back at twin cities cinema circa 1973.

Not enough, true believer? We did manage to cook up one extra morsel to help celebrate the return of CUZine - a bonus cover - although you won’t get your first look at the artwork on CUBlog. Our friends at Smile Politely revealed the artwork on Wednesday, April 23, so hop on over to this permalink for the reveal!

As you hoist your copy high to show everyone within sight that our little “magazine of the blog” has returned most triumphantly, we’ll be hunkering down and getting back to business here in the digital realm. (We’re finding that creative publishing, film set shenanigans, and tax preparation just don’t mix in mid-April. We’ll have to work on that…) The information flow resumes later tonight when we post our discussion with Mr. Griffith in its entirety.

~ Jason Pankoke

[Updated 04/24/08, 07:00 p.m. CST]

From April 4, 2008:

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Articles in Champaign daily The News-Gazette and Danville daily Commercial-News about the debut of Thomas Bender’s documentary HOOPESTON during the final installment of the New York Underground Film Festival at Anthology Film Archives in New York City. (Remember that the direct link to the News-Gazette article will expire after Thursday, April 10.)

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Editor’s note: Are any of you sensing the same sinking feeling that I am, given several of my recent postings, that C-U Blogfidential is not exactly the first to know about numerous developments in Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond? Why is that? [Grumbles.] Visit here for a bit more about HOOPESTON, including a trailer, and don’t say I never did nuthin’ for ya.

I’ll just clam up now and go back to work on C-U Confidential. More soon, peeps… [Grumbles again.]

~ Jason Pankoke

Today, The College of Media at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign announced the movies to be showcased at the tenth annual edition of Roger Ebert’s Film Festival:

Wednesday, April 23
7:00 p.m. HAMLET (1996, 238 min)

Thursday, April 24
1:00 p.m. DELIRIOUS (2007, 107 min)
4:00 p.m. YES (2004, 99 min)
8:30 p.m. CANVAS (2006, 100 min)

Friday, April 25
11:30 a.m. SHOTGUN STORIES (2007, 92 min)
2:30 p.m. UNDERWORLD (1927, 80 min, w/Alloy Orchestra)
7:00 p.m. THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN (2006, 83 min)
10:00 p.m. MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS (1985, 121 min)

Saturday, April 26
11:00 a.m. HULK (2003, 138 min)
3:00 p.m. THE BAND’S VISIT (2008, 89 min)
7:30 p.m. HOUSEKEEPING (1987, 117 min)
11:00 p.m. THE CELL (2000, 108 min)

Sunday, April 27
12:00 p.m. ROMANCE & CIGARETTES (2007, 115 min)

Roger Ebert’s Film Festival will take place at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign, Illinois.

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The official site of “Ebertfest” features a detailed schedule, including signings and panel discussions.

From March 13, 2008:

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Article in Bloomington (IL) daily The Pantagraph about Hollywood filmmaker Graham Streeter visiting Bloomington-Normal to scout locations for his upcoming narrative feature NORMAL FOLK, which will star Normal resident Marty Murphy as a woman living with severe autism. (Remember that the direct link to this article will expire soon.)

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Editor’s note: Amazingly, Murphy has high-functioning autism in real life and speaks to audiences about how she handles the condition. It will also be interesting to see how Graham (who has cast disabled non-actors in prior films) straddles that precarious line between sentimentality and melodrama, although I think it’s pretty obvious from the article that he has something in mind other than stunt casting and Lifetime-level theatrics. Good luck to the production when they touch down in the Other Twin Cities later this year!

And on that note … Decatur gets filmmaking visitors this year, Bloomington-Normal gets filmmaking visitors this year, Springfield gets filmmaking (well, television-making) visitors practically every year with a dollop of Reese Witherspoon plopped on top, and Champaign-Urbana gets … the fading memory of when Warner Brothers sent the crew of WITH HONORS here to shoot one token scene 15 years ago. Anyone want to remedy this, already? Please?

~ Jason Pankoke

From March 7-13, 2008:

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Articles in Decatur daily Herald & Review about the impending location shooting of Steven Soderbergh’s next studio picture, THE INFORMANT, in Decatur, IL, this April and May.

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Editor’s note: As you will glean from the tone of the articles linked above, information about this production - which is obviously one of Steven Soderbergh’s studio productions and not a low-budget, day-and-date experiment like BUBBLE (2006) - apparently leaked, forcing a bit of public relations damage control. What was at stake, you might ask? Revealing too much about when and where the production would be shooting, as well as posting on-line contact information and repeating the same on local television. An informant (ha ha) who lives and works in Springfield, where much of this unauthorized or errant information apparently originated, told C-U Blogfidential that the TV reveal resulted in more than 100 individuals faxing THE INFORMANT production manager Michael Polaire for jobs. Oops.

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From March 12, 2008:

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A preview in The Hollywood Reporter covers the upcoming 10th edition of Roger Ebert’s Film Festival in Champaign, IL, revealing that the opening night attraction is a 70mm print of HAMLET (1996), directed by Kenneth Branagh, and that festival guests will include Paul Schrader (AUTO FOCUS), Sally Potter (THE TANGO LESSON), Fred Schepisi (FIERCE CREATURES), and Bill Forsyth (LOCAL HERO).

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Editor’s note: Let’s demystify the annual ritual where people approach me prematurely and ask what’s playing Ebertfest. I find out these things at the exact same time as John Q. Public - the third week of March - even though it is common practice for Roger Ebert or one of his confidants to let slip a little bit of information early as a tease. By the same token, the credits I noted for the guest filmmakers are just for illustration and not official 2008 selections. Cineastes now know the important selling points for the moment, but rabid Ebertfestarians can glean a few more details from the article linked above.

Elsewhere, the charming Associate Director of Ebertfest, Mary Susan Britt, announced that parking spaces next to the Mental Health Center, across the street from the Virginia Theatre where Ebertfest takes place, can be rented for $100 for the duration of the event. You can guess what is going to happen - attendees with money to burn will snap up all the spots, giving the locals who’ve been complaining about the hike in downtown meter prices yet another reason to bitch. (Seventy-five cents an hour sounds reasonable all of a sudden, doesn’t it?) I can honestly say that I’m glad I planted the Secret MICRO-FILM Headquarters right where it is, because all I have to do is walk. Nyah.

~ Jason Pankoke

For the longest time, the late Expanded Cinema guru Ron Epple has been an enigma to me, especially since his short-film activity in Champaign-Urbana ceased way before the age of Internet research and obsessive documentation. Now, an Expanded cohort that I was unfamiliar with has also left this mortal coil.

Chicago photographer Scott Mutter became well-known through his high-contrast montages, but local residents who knew him during his days as a student and novice shutterbug in C-U remember much more. Among other activities, Mutter interacted with radical leftist groups, studied Chinese culture, philosophised with cafe patrons, and assisted Epple with Expanded, a kind of counter-culture booking agency that brought many seasons of underground, experimental, and foreign films to the University of Illinois campus during the Sixties and Seventies. Man, those were the days…

~ Jason Pankoke

Click to read: Scott Mutter article in The News-Gazette

Click to read: Scott Mutter obituary in Chicago Sun-Times

Click to read: Scott Mutter salute by Seth Fein at Smile Politely

Click to read: On-line gallery of “Surrational Images” by Scott Mutter

There are times when projects come at you from all sides. Then again, there are times when said projects come at you like a runaway train right when you’re supposed to be doing something else such as, oh, C-U Confidential #2. What’s a boy to do? Why, all of it, of course!

Last Thursday, March 6, the physics department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign celebrated the inclusion of the late faculty member and double Nobel Prize winner Dr. John Bardeen in a stamp set honoring American scientists issued by the United States Post Office. At the Loomis Laboratory ceremony, the Champaign-Urbana Stamp Club also issued a first-day cover (a commemorative envelope with a stamp placed in the upper corner and cancelled on the stamp’s first day of issue) featuring original artwork done in a pen-and-ink style that a few of you might be familiar with:

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It’s time to spring forward with some new C-U Blogfidential updates! We have finally revised “Zine of Our Scene,” the home under our roof for C-U Confidential. (Watch for the second issue at Ebertfest 2008!) Also, a PDF of CUZine #1 and our first wallpaper are the initial digital goodies available for you at “Xtras for Download.” (Watch for more additions in the near future!) Finally, the “Swag & Merchandise” emporium is up and running with two offerings that you should pre-order: CUZine #2 and the CUZine #1 “Deluxe Edition” with DVD sampler. (Watch for additional details about both right here on CUBlog!) These revisions complete the initial postings for the Pages.

Apart from all that, we know you want it. You really want it. You want to get on the list so you don’t miss a beat about our beat - the movies of Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond! Surf over to ”General Information“ and join our mailing list. Now. Please? Danke!

~ Jason Pankoke

From March 2, 2008:

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Article in Champaign daily The News-Gazette about the Lincoln FilmFest, planned by former Ebertfest executive director Nancy Casey and C-U historian Dannel McCollum, to take place March 13-15, 2009, at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign. (Remember that the direct link to this article will expire after Saturday, March 8.)

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Editor’s note: Something tells me that BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE will not make the final cut for this, one of probably a gajillion special events timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. That’s too bad because, as your humble editor recently discovered, none other than Amy Poynton - “Missy” (um, I mean, Mom) in the 1989 comedy - is a current faculty member at the University of Illinois. Considering how potentially self-important an event this could be, levity in the form of someone who knew Honest Abe back when he learned to party on, dudes, would probably be a smart addition to draw all the hep kids out there.

Regardless, this (most likely) one-time event certainly tops the James Jones program from the fall (see item: 9/13/07) as the most red-blooded American film festival to appear in the C-U area during the recent explosion of specialty and ethnic showcases. I have to be honest and say that I haven’t exactly been falling over myself to rush out and attend; the Asian cinema fests have been the only ones to tempt my fancy. I just wish that somebody in this town had the balls and know-how to launch what we really need - an annual exploration of motion pictures that are mysterious, gritty, political, challenging, psychedelic, and purely mind-blowing. You know … freaky films.

Finally, when did the News-Gazette Web site start overflowing with entertainment features? I guess that’s a good development. Maybe.

~ Jason Pankoke

The past year has brought about shifts in the trajectory of C-U Blogfidential, the only Web site dedicated to filmmaking and movie viewing in downstate Illinois. A lot of work and thought went into Year 2 and I’m beginning to realize that what transipres in Year 3 will possibly make or break its full potential.

As outlined in last year’s update, we didn’t achieve everything we set out to do. This can be blamed on the bug that inexplicably climbed my chimney and breathed life into the MICRO-FILM News Blog as well as freelance work I took on to alleviate MICRO-FILM debt. Something else happened on CUBlog that wasn’t planned - the appearence of opinion pieces and constructive criticisms of Champaign-Urbana culture along with increased events listings - which took away time from the usual writing.

We did manage to achieve half of our goals. While the Clean Slate open posts bombed, decreasing the likelihood of forums or message boards on CUBlog, the first issue of C-U Confidential appeared at Ebertfest 2007 and did well enough to warrant the follow-up now in the works. Instead of a Newsgroup, we launched a Mailing List in December called the C-U Confidential Telegraph which will connect media-makers in a more direct manner. (However, for this to work effectively, you have to sign up.) Finally, while the Design Adjustments and addition of Archival Material are yet to come, we finished off Year 2 with a bang by adding information, essays, and downloads to all the Pages while beefing up our Links listing.

Upgrades during the next 12 months will most likely entail:

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