Calendar: August 4-10, 2023
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!
8/6: Jason Cerezo (co-owner, ThirdSide, Champaign, IL)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
The feast-or-famine publishing routine will continue on CUBlog as Ye Ed concurrently does the hard time to strengthen his work-for-pay load and lead Ma JaPan’s estate to its foregone conclusion, which in large part involves his effort to purchase Momkoke Manor from said estate. Wish him luck and please refrain from dishing him crap if our coverage is a bit spare in between Calendars for a while. Additionally, he’s taking a weekend trip because he hasn’t seen any family members since the end of January. “Hasta la bye bye until next week,” he told us to tell you. Decisions, decisions. We haven’t filed a three-and-out Report in the purest and briefest sense for quite a few fortnights, so maybe it’s the perfect week to play that hand and allow Mr. JaPan to get out of Mendota in his Dodge Dart while the gettin’ is good.
To that end, we caught wind from the University of Illinois Press that Cynthia Baron has signed on as the new editor for the long-running Journal of Film and Video; out now is her first issue, vol. 75 no. 2, and in an introductory interview the author and Bowling Green State University professor speaks about the scholarly long-form writing that she is expecting to curate. And then, we checked on a whim the current activity of Gemelli Films, the New York-based indie behind the PureFlix exclusive BAKING UP LOVE that was shot in downstate Morton, and found this candle branded after the movie in an Etsy shop promoting the company’s releases. Why a candle? Why … not? Given last week’s Report, it’s novel among local film novelties. Finally, the projectors have apparently been dimmed for good at the Landmark Cinemas multiplex in Peoria and former customers are letting fly with their opinions as to why, some of them not complimentary; built as an attraction at the Landmark Recreation Center, which also houses a bowling alley, athletic training center, and more, the theater first opened in December 1979 with KRAMER VS. KRAMER, THE ROSE, and ROLLER BOOGIE as pictured on Cinema Treasures. By contrast, the Route 34 Drive-in of Earlville, which had been dark since the end of the 2022 season due to the passing of its owner, Ron Magnoni, Jr., reopened for business last weekend with BARBIE and THE FLASH; new stewards Paul and Shelley Bottomley are profiled by the LaSalle News-Tribune here. Good luck to them!
LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ Music Box Theatre, Chicago, IL, 7 p.m.
HUNTING FOR THE HAG* screening w/filmmakers (8/9, 7 p.m.)
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
MEG 2: THE TRENCH, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (animation), BARBIE, HAUNTED MANSION, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE, OPPENHEIMER, SOUND OF FREEDOM, TALK TO ME (8/4 on), Studio Ghibli Fest: PRINCESS MONONOKE (animé) (8/5, 3 p.m., 8/8, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub; 8/6, 3 & 7 p.m., 8/7, 7 p.m., 8/9, 7 p.m., English dub), SHREK 2 (8/9, 12 p.m.), JAILER (in Tamil with English sub) (8/9 on), JULES, THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER (8/10 on)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
MEG 2: THE TRENCH, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (animation), THEATER CAMP, BARBIE, ELEMENTAL (animation), HAUNTED MANSION, INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE, OPPENHEIMER, SOUND OF FREEDOM, TALK TO ME (8/4 on), Studio Ghibli Fest: PRINCESS MONONOKE (animé) (8/5, 3 p.m., 8/8, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub; 8/6, 4 & 7 p.m., 8/7, 7 p.m., 8/9, 7 p.m., English dub), INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY (8/6-8/10), THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (8/6, 3 & 7 p.m.; 8/9, 7 p.m.), SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (animation) (8/7-8/10, 12:15 p.m.), The Metropolitan Opera: The Barber of Seville (8/9, 1 & 6:30 p.m., recorded in 2006), Drum Corps International 2023: Big, Loud & Live (music performance) (8/10, 5:30 p.m., simulcast)
@ Champaign Fire Station 5, 1810 N. Mattis Ave., Champaign, IL
Champaign Park District presents “Thursday Night Flix” feat. PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE (8/10, 8:30 p.m.)
@ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Summer Films on the Quad” feat. THE LITTLE MERMAID (8/10, 9 p.m., free)
@ Redbox, Champaign-Urbana, IL
RIVER WILD, more! (8/1 on) Online rentals
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
Illini Radio Group presents “Rewind 92.5 Movie Series” feat. FINAL SUMMER* w/filmmakers (8/10, 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
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (animation), BARBIE, HAUNTED MANSION (8/4-8/6)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
No movies this week!
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (animation), BARBIE (Screen 1), HAUNTED MANSION (Screen 2) (8/4-8/5), TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (animation) (Screen 1), BARBIE (Screen 2) (8/6)
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
Private parties and “Family Movie Packs”
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
AFIRE (8/4-8/6), HAVE YOU GOT IT YET? THE STORY OF SYD BARRETT AND PINK FLOYD (music documentary) (8/5-8/6), MARY POPPINS (8/7, 8/9), DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (8/10)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (animation) (8/4-8/6), SOUND OF FREEDOM (8/9)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
ELEMENTAL (animation) (8/4-8/6)
@ The Route 66 Drive-in Theater, Springfield, IL
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (animation), SOUND OF FREEDOM (Screen 1), BARBIE, OPPENHEIMER (Screen 2) (8/4-8/6, 8/9-8/10)
NOW PLAYING | Midwest
For detailed and curated listings of Chicago-area film presentations and related events, please visit the fine folks at Cine-File and subscribe to their definitive “Cine-List” weekly blast.
COMING SOON | Area-wide Events
8/19
DESPERATE SOULS* downstate premiere
@ The Princess Theater, LeRoy, IL, time TBD
8/19
FIELDS OF GOLD* world premiere
@ Fine Arts Theatre, Beverly Hills, CA, 7 p.m. PST
8/26
Theatrical costume and prop sale
@ Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
9/9
Dark History and Horror Convention
@ The Orpheum Theater, Champaign, IL, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
9/12
Streaming release: FINAL SUMMER*
+ Cardinal XD, Burbank, CA
9/13-9/17
30th Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL
9/16
FIELDS OF GOLD* Midwest premiere
@ Lincoln Square Theatre, Decatur, IL, 7 p.m.
9/21-10/8
41st Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, Chicago, IL
9/23
Route 66 Film Festival presents “Get Your Flicks on Route 66” showcase
@ Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, IL, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., free
9/26
DVD release: GEORGE HARRISON: A BEATLE IN BENTON, ILLINOIS* 60th anniversary edition
+ MVD Visual, Pottstown, PA
10/5-10/15
32nd Heartland International Film Festival, Indianapolis, IN
10/2
SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE Live in Concert
@ State Farm Center, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m.
10/11-10/22
59th Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago, IL
10/28
Small Press Fest 2023
@ Lincoln Square Mall, Urbana, IL, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
11/3-11/3
22nd Route 66 Film Festival, Springfield, IL (virtual)
11/9-11/19
32nd Whitaker St Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis, MO
12/2
Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival*
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
“The Arthouse Experience Film Series” curated by Sanford Hess and sponsored by Illinois Public Media
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
8/11: THE DUKE
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
8/12: ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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