Nine little nuggets for 9/9/09
C-U Blogfidential has decided to briefly hop on the mathematical bandwagon like the cultural hobos we are, freeloading just long enough to get our thoughts across until we find the next jumping-off point. (In other words, flowery language for “Sorry we’re late to the theme party. Did you hear the nine about … Oops, gotta go!”) Therefore, we bequeath unto you nueve myriad nuggets before we nod off into the wee hours of the 10th of September…
• One of our favorite fall movie-going traditions returns next month when the Millikin [University] Shadow Cast gears up to take on the reason for their season – THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975). You know, the one with a different set of jaws. @ The Avon Theater, 426 N. Water St., Decatur, IL. Friday, October 16 & Saturday, October 17, Midnight. $10.
• Eric Hector of Heroic Age Studios in Mt. Zion, IL, is now offering package deals to independent film producers for planning, production, and post-production needs. Equipment available includes the RED camera and a fully-equipped grip truck. Among many jobs currently on the Heroic Age plate are an industrial video shooting this week in Bloomington-Normal and a series of low-budget feature films that will be made in downstate Illinois.
• Mike and Leslie Boedicker of Roselawn Productions in Danville, IL, will soon be showing friends and confidants (including CUBlog personnel) a complete rough cut of their comedic feature, REVOLTING. The story involves a disgruntled playwright whose creations taunt him while attempting to capture lighting in a bottle twice. We trust the film itself will get a second shot in the immediate future with the general public; stay tuned right here for updates!
• The IPRH Film Series resumes for the 2009-10 academic year with a screening and discussion of THE TRUMAN SHOW (1998), directed by Peter Weir and starring Jim Carrey and Ed Harris, and how it relates to the “complex issue of representation.” The series will continue with A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957, Oct. 15), THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940, Oct. 29), and BRAZIL (1985, Nov. 12). Sponsored by the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities. @ KAM Auditorium (Room 62), Krannert Art Museum, UIUC, 500 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL. Thursday, September 17, 5:30 p.m. Free.
• So, the literal word on the street – I confirmed the news in downtown Champaign earlier this evening – is that Matt HarsH and Sam Ambler will continue their local music video streak by producing a visual for the Elsinore song “Chemicals,” which can be streamed from the band’s MySpace page and will be included on their upcoming LP, Yes Yes Yes. Recent Harsh/Ambler collaborations include “Let Me Inside When I Knock On Your Door” with Morgan Orion and the Constellations (see item: 6/3/09) and “The Beat Was Burnt” with Megan Johns and the Greytones, which CUBlog will cover next week.
• Johnny Robinson of Urbana, IL, will be marketing his services as sound recordist for film and video productions under the name Good Sound. He will also be teaching a six-hour workshop on the same through Champaign Movie Makers on the afternoon of Sunday, September 20. Contact Robinson about either opportunity by writing johnny [at] johnnyrobinson [dot] com.
• Capping a month-long block of Beyond Normal Films picks, which started with the animated tour-de-force SITA SINGS THE BLUES by Urbana native Nina Paley, will be the return of the Manhattan Short Film Festival. The event allows attendees to experience international cinema and then vote on their favorite selections along with audiences from more than 100 additional theaters all over the world. @ The Normal Theater, 209 North St., Normal, IL. Saturday, September 26, 7 p.m. $$$.
• New MICRO-FILM friend Joe Taylor of Fairmount, IL, held a private screening for his first full-length movie production, CONNOR’S WOODS, last weekend on the grounds of his business, Sleepy Creek Vineyards. The story concerns a war veteran who learns that he may be the hunted on another man’s property. Taylor intends to arrange a public premiere this fall and has promised to pass along details to CUBlog when they’re available!
• Finally, in the wake of Focus Features’ computer-animated adventure 9, directed by Shane Acker and released in theaters today, we’d like to reintroduce an oldie but goodie that has always been one of our favorite local films here at the Secret MICRO-FILM Headquarters. Despite its low-tech, Super 8 veneer, we’re eternally amazed at how this little exercise in identity crisis was (mostly) produced by one man on his basement table in Urbana. And, unlike the highly textured rag doll warriors of 9 and all the whiz-bang computers that generated them, one could easily make one’s self a Ping Pong head guy and send him on his merry way into further battles with anguish and ennui. Hmm, better ask Johnnie May about that first before you do so. For the time being, just check out the original ISOLATION from 1998 and you can thank us later.
~ Jason Pankoke