Calendar: January 7-13, 2022
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!
1/7: Steve Christopher (actor, 13 SLAYS TILL X-MAS, Blood Moon Pictures, Owensboro, KY)
1/12: Damian Duffy, (adapter & letterer, Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, Abrams ComicArts, New York, NY)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
Yeah, right, I’m so slick that I picked the perfect weekend to take forever on compiling the Calendar, jolting it to life just as a treacherous coating of very thin ice covers Illinois. Please play it smart and stay put if you can help it. Most of this week’s movies will play again somewhere from Monday on, except for the few houses that decided to temporarily close for their reasons. Not much afoot at MFHQ Remote to share, anyway. We’ll have a pair of posts next week and ideas have been tumbling about in regards to activities in the near future. We’ll make announcements about the ones that gel when we can. Until then, have an impromptu and brand-new Almanac entry to kick off 2022 that I spent way too much time cross-checking in the Daily Illini archives of the invaluable Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections hosted online by the University Library at UI. It’s the good kind of rabbit hole to be sucked down into after a blah day.
CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History
100 Years Ago … Monday, January 9, 1922: For tonight and the next two evenings, the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Champaign includes in their vaudeville bill a student-made photoplay, A DAY AT ILLINOIS, conceived and photographed by Clarence Welsh of the class of ‘23. Similar to PRO PATRIA, the melodramatic and made-on-campus production by students from a few seasons ago, ILLINOIS strings together images of the University of Illinois and undergraduate life with a storyline, although the focus in Welsh’s hands seems to be on documentation and school spirit instead of stirring intrigue of a fictitious sort. The more straightforward idea involves a pair of siblings enrolled at Illinois, played by Thelma Scott ‘23 and football and basketball star Charles “Chuck” Carney ‘22, who meet up with their parents, played by engineering professor A.M. Talbot and Kappa Alpha Theta chaperone Harriett Barr, and they all enjoy the wonders of university by land and air during homecoming. Sights promised in the picture, as teased by several Daily Illini articles from the fall and advertisements in recent issues, include the greenhouses, the Union, the Illinois Central train station, R.O.T.C. maneuvers, football pageantry, and bird’s eye vistas taken from an airplane. Welsh’s faculty supervisor for the project is C.H. Woolbert, professor in the department of public speaking, and it will be shown to booster and civic groups all around the state of Illinois, as told to the DI by director of university publicity Josef F. Wright in the November 16 issue. This will follow the unveiling of A DAY AT ILLINOIS in the Champaign community today and its premiere for the student body that was held last semester at the Auditorium on Thursday, December 8. It is presumed that “many of the scenes finished in colors” in the three-reel promotion, which runs around 45 minutes, are tinted by hand as is done with many popular movies from Hollywood that appear at the local cinemas.
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
THE 355, ’83, AMERICAN UNDERDOG, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN, THE KING’S MAN, THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS, SING 2, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, WEST SIDE STORY (1/7 on), BELLE, SCREAM (1/13 on)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
THE 355, AMERICAN UNDERDOG, ENCANTO, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN, THE KING’S MAN, LICORICE PIZZA, THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS, NIGHTMARE ALLEY, SING 2, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, WEST SIDE STORY (1/7 on), STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1/9, 3 & 7 p.m.; 1/12, 7 p.m.), SCREAM (1/13 on)
@ Redbox, Champaign-Urbana, IL
AMERICAN SIEGE, THE FRENCH DISPATCH, NIGHTSHADE, ZEROES AND ONES, more! (1/4 on) Online rentals
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
Illini Radio Group presents “Mix 94.5 Throwback Thursdays” feat. CLUELESS (1/13, 7 p.m.)
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 Parkway Pointe 8, Springfield, IL
Springfield Art Association presents Molly Schlich Independent | International Film Series feat. PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (1/9, 1 & 4 p.m.; 1/11, 7 p.m.)
@ AMC Classic Village Mall 6, Danville, IL
THE 355, AMERICAN UNDERDOG, THE KING’S MAN, THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS, SING 2, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (1/7 on)
@ AMC Peru Mall 8, Peru, IL
THE 355, AMERICAN UNDERDOG, A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN, THE KING’S MAN, THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS, SING 2, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (1/7 on)
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
NIGHTMARE ALLEY, THE TENDER BAR, SING 2 (1/7-1/9)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
Closed for the week.
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
Private rentals for the week.
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1/7-1/9), THE GREEN KNIGHT (1/13)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
Closed for the week.
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
WEST SIDE STORY (1/7-1/9)
@ Streator Eagle 6, Streator, IL
THE 355, A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN, AMERICAN UNDERDOG, SING 2, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, WEST SIDE STORY (1/7 on), SCREAM (1/13 on)
@ VIP Lincoln Grand 6, Lincoln, IL
THE 355, AMERICAN UNDERDOG, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, SING 2, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (1/7 on)
@ VIP Roxy Cinemas, Ottawa, IL
THE 355, AMERICAN UNDERDOG, NIGHTMARE ALLEY, SING 2, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (1/7 on)
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
2/18-2/19
B-Fest 2022
@ Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
3/31-4/3
32nd Onion City Experimental Film + Video Festival
@ Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago, IL
4/7-4/17
24th annual Wisconsin Film Festival
@ University of Wisconsin, etc., Madison, WI
4/8-4/10
Dead in Decatur presents “The Art of Fear”
@ Heroic Age Art Center, Mt. Zion, IL
4/20-4/23
22nd Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
9/22-10/2
40th Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, Chicago, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
“The Arthouse Experience Film Series” curated by Sanford Hess
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
1/19: WILD TALES; 2/23: ADAPTATION; 3/23: THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS; 4/6: BIG NIGHT; 5/25: EIGHTH GRADE; 6/1: THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI: to be rescheduled: THE ARTIST
Illini Radio Group presents “Rewind 92.5 Film Series”/“Mix 94.5 Throwback Thursdays”*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
1/13: CLUELESS*; 1/20: SAY ANYTHING; 2/2: GROUNDHOG DAY; 3/21: ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK; 4/4: FACE/OFF; 5/23: MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME; 6/30: WAYNE’S WORLD; 7/14: STARSHIP TROOPERS
NEW! Springfield Art Association presents the 30th annual Molly Schlich Independent | International Film Series
@ AMC Classic Springfield 12, Springfield, IL, 1 & 4 p.m. Sunday + 7 p.m. Tuesday
1/9, 1/11: PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE; 1/16, 1/18: THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS; 1/23, 1/25: THE TRUTH; 1/30, 2/1: SPOOR; 2/6, 2/8: INDIA SWEETS AND SPICES; 2/13, 2/15: THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN; 2/20, 2/22: THE RESCUE; 2/27, 3/1: RIDERS OF JUSTICE
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
1/22: ALL ABOUT EVE; 2/19: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT; 4/30: DUCK SOUP; 6/25: HIGH NOON; 7/29: TOP HAT
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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“Calendar du C-U”
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