C-U Blogfidential

Articles in the Chicago Tribune covering the formal departure of Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper from the long-running movie review program AT THE MOVIES, to be replaced this fall by Ben Lyons of E! Entertainment Television and Ben Mankiewicz of Turner Classic Movies.

Article in Champaign daily The News-Gazette about the opening of the brand-new Stardust Drive-In near the intersection of Route 130 and 14th Street in Charleston, IL.

Article in Bloomington (IL) daily The Pantagraph about a multimedia group installation titled “Test Pattern Sound Check” going live at University Galleries, Center for the Visual Arts, on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal.

Article on Champaign Web site SmilePolitely.com that talks about the success and tenacity of That’s Rentertainment and Parasol Records against a highly altered merchant landscape in Champaign-Urbana that does not favor local establishments selling products for “intellgent consumption.”

THE INFORMANT has begun principal photography in Macon County, and the Decatur Herald & Review wants you to track Matt Damon’s every move. Or, not.

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.

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. Also, your editor says what has to be said about location shooting locally.

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. Also, your editor scolds a well-meaning group for taking initiative on something that wasn’t theirs to begin with.

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.

Several articles report on the passing of this former Champaign-Urbana student and photographer, who was involved in the rise of Ron Epple’s Expanded Cinema.

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. Also, your editor ruminates about a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Article in Champaign daily The News-Gazette about Carl Deal, who won the Grand Jury Prize for documentary filmmaking at this year’s Sundance Film Festival for the feature, TROUBLE THE WATER, along with Tia Lessin. Also, your editor bitches about bad reporting by others that indirectly thwarts the C-U Blogfidential mission.

Article in Bloomington (IL) daily The Pantagraph about the producers of the WILL-TV program, PRAIRIE FIRE, filming scenes in Funks Grove, Illinois, for an upcoming episode depicting the early life of Abraham Lincoln.

Articles in Champaign daily The News-Gazette about the discussion of an independent recommendation to establish a fifth local public-access channel that would be jointly operated by Champaign and Urbana. Also, your editor bitches about something he already bitched about earlier this year.

Article in Champaign newspaper The Daily Illini about the debut of JEAN SHORTS, a half-hour comedy directed by University of Illinois students Sam Copeland and Roshan Murthy.