Calendar: Aug. 28-Sept. 3, 2020
Our movie and media Calendar appears every Friday/Saturday on C-U Blogfidential and caters to the downstate region anchored by Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA.
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MILESTONES | Happy Birthday to You!
9/1: Matt Wiley (senior design specialist, University of Illinois Extension, Champaign, IL)
9/2: Matt Harsh (producer, HarsH Pro. Video, Champaign, IL)
9/2: Megan Johns (director/writer, FEATHERS, Tendrile Productions, Eugene, OR)
MFHQ MEMO | From Chambana Cinemas with Love Protocols
Here we go, dearest waverers, for the first-run movies are back among us. Even though other locations on this here Calendar have been active for several weeks already, it took the reopening of the AMC Champaign 13 this Thursday, August 27, for audiences of the C-U to have their first public viewing choices within city limits since March. Your individual decision-making processes are now much more complex than a half-year ago when the Hollywood machine rumbled along as usual. What could you see? Does anything look enticing to you? Is the same title catching your eye also playing on premium video-on-demand (PVOD) and giving you second thoughts about watching it a home? Can you afford ticket prices on any platform or at any box office if your finances were ravaged by loss of work due to the pandemic? Even more so, should you risk your personal health just to catch a flick right now? We obviously can’t answer these for anyone else and hope you make the correct calls that you feel comfortable with but can also live by. Industry suits as well as watchdogs in the trades and news media will ask and rephrase the same question repeatedly in the coming weeks – “Will anyone go?” – while scientists and medical professionals cast worried looks due to the continuing potential for infection in a theater auditorium or lobby. AMC has its own “Safe & Clean” policies and the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is banking on their “CinemaSafe” initiative to offer guidance for member locations and simultaneously “restore consumer confidence.” As can be expected during this trying time for businesses that rely heavily on customer presence and turnover, nothing is a guarantee; the Springfield Journal-Register reported that AMC has closed down for good the Parkway Pointe 8, one of their three Capital City locations. Veteran reporter Anne Thompson of IndieWire attempts a much broader screed on how exhibition has ultimately been failing itself and the motion picture as a primary form of entertainment, bowing to a 21st-century array of delivery options that mobilized well before the year 2020. We will probably be moving very quickly from an optimistic upswing to a reckoning phase, and a pretty picture it may not be.
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
NOW OPEN! @ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
THE EIGHT HUNDRED, INCEPTION 10th anniversary event, THE NEW MUTANTS, THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD, UNHINGED, WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS (8/28 on), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME, SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (8/28-8/30), ROCKY marathon: ROCKY (8/28), ROCKY II (8/29), ROCKY III (8/30), ROCKY IV (8/31), ROCKY V (9/1), and ROCKY BALBOA (9/2), TENET (8/31 on)
@ Family Video, Champaign-Urbana, IL
THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND, THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY, YES GOD YES, INFAMOUS, OPEN 24 HOURS, DEEP BLUE SEA 3, G-LOC, INFESTATION, more! (8/25 on)
NEW! @ Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Throwback Films at the Union” feat. STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, Illini Union Ballroom, 2nd floor (8/28, 7 p.m.; free w/i-card)
Events featuring locally produced movies are marked with an asterisk (*). Additional “Now Playing” and “Coming Soon” listings appear after the jump!
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NOW PLAYING | The Cities Beyond
@ AMC Classic Village Mall 6, Danville, IL
Reopening September 3.
@ AMC Peru Mall 8, Peru, IL
Reopening September 3.
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC, E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, UNHINGED (8/28-8/30)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
BRIDESMAIDS, MAGIC MIKE (Screen 1), THE HANGOVER, 21 JUMP STREET (Screen 2) (8/27-8/28, 8/30), “Encore Drive-in Nights concert: Metallica” (Screen 1 & 2) (8/29, 9 p.m. (sold out))
@ The Lincoln Family Theater & Community Center, Lincoln, IL
Closed for the week.
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
LITTLE WOMEN (8/28-8/30)
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
Closed for the week. “Living Room Film Festival” virtual screenings: DOG STUPID, REPRESENT (through 9/3) Purchase
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
Closed for the week.
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
Closed for the week.
@ Route 34 Drive-in, Earlville, IL
FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, BEVERLY HILLS COP (8/28-8/30)
@ Route 66 Twin Drive-in, Springfield, IL
UNHINGED, BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC (Screen 1), THE NEW MUTANTS, DEADPOOL (Screen 2) (8/28), “Encore Drive-in Nights concert: Metallica” (Screen 1), THE NEW MUTANTS, DEADPOOL (Screen 2) (8/29),
@ Roxy Cinemas, Ottawa, IL
CUT THROAT CITY, THE NEW MUTANTS, THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD, UNHINGED, WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS (8/28 on), TENET (8/31 on)
@ Streator Eagle 6, Streator, IL
BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC, HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, UNHINGED, WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS (8/28 on), ROCKY marathon: ROCKY (8/28-8/30), ROCKY II (8/29-8/31), ROCKY III (8/30-9/1), ROCKY IV (8/31-9/2), ROCKY V (9/1-9/3), and ROCKY BALBOA (9/2-9/3), TENET (8/31 on), “Drive-In Week” outdoor screenings: THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE (8/28-8/29)
NOW PLAYING | Midwest
For detailed and curated listings of Chicago-area film presentations and related events, as well as cancellations and postponements due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, please visit the fine folks at Cine-File and subscribe to their definitive “Cine-List” weekly blast.
COMING SOON | Area-wide Events
9/4-9/5
7th annual Flatlands Dance Film Festival
@ University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (virtual event)
9/24-10/4
38th Reeling LGBTQ+ International Film Festival
@ Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago, IL (virtual event)
11/6-11/7
19th annual Route 66 Film Festival
@ State House Inn, Springfield, IL
9/8-9/11, 2021
22nd Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
Illini Union Board presents “Throwback Films at the Union”
@ Illini Union Ballroom, 2nd floor, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m. Fri., free w/i-card
8/28: STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER; 9/4: FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF; 9/11: FORREST GUMP; 9/25: TITANIC; 10/2: THE BREAKFAST CLUB; 10/9: UP; 10/16: PRETTY WOMAN; 10/23: PULP FICTION; 10/30: JURASSIC PARK; 11/6: MALCOLM X; 11/13: CLUELESS; 11/20: THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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“Calendar du C-U”
© 2020 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential