CUBlog resumes posting just in time for the resuscitation of Roger Ebert’s Film Festival! Year 22 launches later tonight at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, Illinois, and we have the schedule.
Posted in Area Festivals, Gone Hollywood, Media Coverage, Public Events, Roger Ebert, Theatres & Venues | 
Comments Off on Virginia ready for Ebertfest return
The specters of Illinois urban legends form the basis of a pair of brand-new indie features, LANTERN’S LANE from Vertical Entertainment and BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION from Dark Sky Films.
Posted in Alums Done Good, Chicago Stories, Gone Hollywood, Home Videos du C-U, Media Coverage, Streaming Cinema | Comments Off on Local lore informs SIGNAL, LANE
This has been a very long year. Whether it’s been better or worse than the year before is debatable. Let’s put the soapboxes aside and remember those who are no longer here for 2022.
Posted in Alums Done Good, Gone Hollywood, Media Coverage, Mendota an' Movies, Personalities du C-U, Sad Places | Comments Off on ‘Thirty’ for Murray, others in 2021
Gemelli Films of Brookhaven, NY, has taken a liking to downstate Illinois. The first result of this team-up, BAKING UP LOVE, arrived in stores nationwide in November through SP Releasing, Inc.
Posted in Article du C-U, Business Matters, Home Videos du C-U, Job Opportunities, Media Coverage, Mendota an' Movies, Public Events | Comments Off on Morton movie LOVE is now served
The creators of UNLISTED OWNER strike again! This time, they stake out real estate in blockchain territory with their original made-for-NFT short film, TRICK NOT TREAT. Purchase the key today!
Posted in Business Matters, Media Coverage, Miscellaneous Merch, Production Updates, Streaming Cinema | Comments Off on New is NFTy for OWNER director
Trick or treat! Five indie horror flicks originating in or adjacent to the meat-and-potatoes midsection of Illinois make the cut in our new marathon report. Come along for the haywire hayride, hardy souls!
Posted in Area Festivals, Article du C-U, Champaign Movie Makers, Media Coverage, Production Updates, Public Events, Streaming Cinema | Comments Off on Wave of terror SLAYS the state
As an aside to a tangent, we vicariously saunter about Mother Murphy’s of Normal, IL, thanks to another student project born at Illinois State University, ANYTHING BUT NORMAL. Take a trip with us!
Posted in Business Matters, Documentary, Education/Classes, Happy Places, Media Coverage, Preservation, Student Film, The Old School, Videos du C-U | Comments Off on ISU video crew high on ‘Mother’
In the first part of our limited series on independently-produced dramatic television in central Illinois, we peek at the progress being made by PEORIA creator Michael Mcgruder and his personnel.
Posted in Broadcast Dates, Crowdsourcing du C-U, Job Opportunities, Media Coverage, Production Updates, Videos du C-U | Comments Off on L’episode un C-U: PEORIA plays TV
Ye Ed is rooting for the film culture of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, to rebound from the turbulence of recent years. Not everything will survive, such as the theaters he recently photographed.
Posted in Business Matters, Images du C-U, Media Coverage, Ones That Got Away?, Preservation, Sad Places, The Old School, Theatres & Venues | Comments Off on August and everything NAFFter
What is reasonable give-and-take when a city is attempting to improve its central hub? The student project MAKING A MURAL illustrates the issue with an artistic conundrum in Normal, Illinois.
Posted in Bittersweet Places, Business Matters, Documentary, Education/Classes, Media Coverage, Preservation, Student Film, Videos du C-U | Comments Off on Student art doc wins BEA award
Singing words of wisdom, the numerous folks behind a new audio/video rendition of “Let it Be” want their Champaign-Urbana neighbors to feel better about our future and invest in the care of others.
Posted in Crowdsourcing du C-U, For the Children, Happy Places, How You Can Help, Media Coverage, Music Video, Videos du C-U | Comments Off on Talents come together in support
Nationwide consensus is that small businesses and organizations will get raked over the coals before the pandemic is over. We look at how a first-run, mixed-use, and former movie theater are doing.
Posted in Business Matters, Education/Classes, How You Can Help, Media Coverage, Ones That Got Away?, Preservation, Public Events, Sad Places, The Old School, Theatres & Venues | Comments Off on Virus fells Orpheum, shorts Avon
University of Illinois students a generation apart do their on-camera best to convince viewers that campus spirits drift among us. Their existence somewhat haunts your humble editor to this day.
Posted in Alums Done Good, Article du C-U, JP Confidential, Media Coverage, Student Film, The Old School, Videos du C-U | Comments Off on UI ghosts linger on and off screen
The unused Lincoln Square Theatre in downtown Decatur, Illinois, is showing signs of disrepair on its exterior. Residents and officials may be at a tipping point in deciding the fate of the venue.
Posted in Images du C-U, Media Coverage, Ones That Got Away?, Preservation, Sad Places, Theatres & Venues, Videos du C-U | Comments Off on Odds sinking for Lincoln survival
The scenes from a film culture that we have been watching mostly from afar fill us with mild disenchantment instead of wonder. And then we were ordered to self-shelter and keep personal spaces to ourselves. Joy.
Posted in Area Festivals, Article du C-U, Business Matters, Education/Classes, JP Confidential, Local Meetings, Media Coverage, Ones That Got Away?, Public Events, Roger Ebert, Sad Places, Theatres & Venues | Comments Off on C-U cinema hits a slippery slope