C-U Film Leader: 11.15.2012
The C-U Film Leader
November 15, 2012
Featuring: Shatterglass Studios, “Cinema-Scoping” & more!
The C-U Film Leader appears Thursdays on C-U Blogfidential to point our readers towards interesting cinema activity relevant to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and the surrounding area. Please support the artists and their work, attend screenings and events, and otherwise become active in our wondrous little world!
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Good morning, dearest readers! Today and next Wednesday, November 21, we’re going to try out a reinvention of our prior “C-U Biz-en-scène” column, stripped to the core so you can quickly skim the goods! We’re simply going to pair together brand-new and slightly used news items that haven’t appeared here yet to demonstrate the concept. (Fans of the cinema will surely note our extrapolation of the iconic film leader found at the beginning of movie film prints to help projectionists make sure the soundtrack is synched and image in focus.) Please let us know in the Comments field or by writing cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com whether the CULead unspools to your approval!
5 :: SHATTERGLASS STUDIOS EARNS AWARD,
HOSTS OPEN HOUSE TODAY
At the end of last month, the Champaign News-Gazette profiled media producers Brett Hays and Luke Boyce, whose firm Shatterglass Studios received Small Business of the Year 2012 honors from the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce. You can help congratulate Shatterglass on their achievement by attending an Open House later today, Thursday, November 15, 3-7 p.m., at their new headquarters located at 309 S. Neil St., Champaign, which will feature a ribbon-cutting ceremony, drinks, and h’orderves. Shatterglass applies a cinematic aesthetic to commercials, industrials, and documentaries while Boyce and Hays have been instrumental in launching the Champaign-Urbana Film Society and other film culture initiatives.
4 :: SINE FINE FILMS TO SUP ON
“SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY” THIS WEEKEND
Locals well aware of this prairie land’s mysterious magnetic powers, hell bent on drawing citizenry back to Champaign-Urbana whenever possible, should not be surprised to learn a former C-U Blogfidential regular has alighted for a short spell. En route to San Francisco is Eleanore Stasheff, she of the wild cable-access fantasy shows such as THE GIFT BEARER and PANDORA’S BOX, and it seems she can’t escape the clutches du C-U without embarking on a Sine Fine Films jaunt! This time, she will film selections from Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology, the famed “epitaphs of the dead written as poetry” volume you might have read in school. Want to play a literary specter or help Stasheff behind-the-scenes this weekend, November 16-18? Write sinefinefilms [at] yahoo [dot] com to inquire and/or RSVP!
3 :: FILM CRITIC KOPLINSKI REVIVES
“CINEMA-SCOPING” COLUMN AT NEWS-GAZETTE
Long-time area journalist Chuck Koplinski, whose movie writings currently appear in the Illinois Times in Springfield and the News-Gazette here in Champaign, has launched anew his column “Cinema-Scoping” on-line with the latter. You might have seen the moniker appear above his byline in the past, most recently during a short stint with on-line magazine Smile Politely. Koplinski can be quite prolific so we should expect a steady stream of material to appear here; since posting an introduction on October 22, he has written about new home video releases, teaser trailers for IRON MAN 3 and CARRIE, the one-night-only Savoy 16 play date for classic chillers FRANKENSTEIN and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, and the recently concluded Embarrass Valley Film Festival in Charleston which highlighted the career of actor Gene Hackman. We’ll presume “C-S” complements his longer print pieces.
2 :: ROGER EBERT MEMOIR “LIFE ITSELF”
OPTIONED FOR ADAPTATION BY JAMES & ZAILLIAN
Yes, this particular announcement is old news, but it leads one to wonder how acclaimed Chicago filmmaker Steve James (HOOP DREAMS, THE INTERRUPTERS, STEVIE) and Hollywood class acts Martin Scorsese (HUGO, GOODFELLAS, TAXI DRIVER) and Steven Zaillian (THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, MONEYBALL, SCHINDLER’S LIST) plan to explore the life of film critic Roger Ebert in a feature documentary. One would pray a non-academic and non-static approach will be arrived upon before James ventures forth to amass footage for the project, which will officially adapt Ebert’s 2011 memoir, Life Itself, for (presumably) the big screen. Just be on your best behavior when encountering camera crews on the C-U streets, dearest neighbors, for you never know where their footage might end up! Here you can read Ebert’s comments to IndieWIRE’s Matt Singer about it from September.
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That’s it for this week, gang. The Leader has spoken!
If you have relevant news, opportunities, dates, or promotions that you would like included in CULead, please forward the who, what, where, when, and how much to cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com.
Compiled by Jason Pankoke
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“The C-U Film Leader” no.81 © 2012 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential.