Calendar: July 4-10, 2025
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.
~~~~~
MILESTONES | Happy Birthday to You!
7/7: Keenan Dailey (director/producer, BRIM, Visage Entertainment, Champaign-Urbana, IL/Atlanta, GA)
7/9: Jessie Seitz (special effects make-up, SURVIVOR GIRLS, Half Fool Motion Pictures, Birmingham, AL)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
Many moons ago, I was having a drink in downtown Normal at The Coffeehouse & Deli with a graduate of Illinois State University named Peter James Zielinski. He had formed a troupe called Dependent Films with his friend Christopher Denham, who attended the University of Illinois at the same time he was at ISU, to make their own digital video projects apart from class. When I asked him about the name, given the separate-from-Hollywood mystique that had been built up around the concept of “independent film” through the Nineties, Zielinski told me, and I’m paraphrasing his point a quarter of a century later, that almost no film is independently created because it takes a team to make it happen. The logic stands to reason, even if we consider a handful of friends with a camera and a pocket change budget getting together on a random weekend; they all have a part to play in the common effort to tell their story. When working on a larger scale with more at stake, production groups from the amateur to the A-list rely on their own devices as well as assistance from outside their ranks, and that often includes financial help.
The only Dependent Film that I remember seeing is the one I included in the first independent film show I organized in Champaign-Urbana, hosted at the spot formerly known as The Highdive (now The Venue CU) and featured during the springtime event formerly known as The Octopus Gallery Walk (now the Boneyard Arts Festival), a spoof of the SURVIVOR reality television show called S.U.R.V.I.V.O.R. I’m hard pressed to recall what the acronym stood for, but I think a dance-off on the beach figured into the silliness and its “contestants” were all, tra la, dependent on one other in the outcome. Despite the current status of MFHQ Deux as an outlier in our film culture du C-U, I still take to heart the truism posed by Zielinski, who went on to become a photographer and retouch artist for Getty Images and Paramount Television, and on behalf of Denham, who became a playwright in New York City as well as an actor in features like OPPENHEIMER and BEING THE RICARDOS. Every profession that we’ve mentioned just now is dependent on collaboration and skill between peers to make the creativity click and artistry soar.
~~~~~
~~~~~
On this Independence Day, we’ll suggest to our dearest philanthropists a handful of options where their money might go to good use in the service of local creators and groups who depend on peripheral support. This can include a pledge, with or without perks, towards the post-production campaign of Horror Dadz Productions’ THE FAIRFIELD COUNTY FOUR, directed by Josh Bruckner of Watseka. or Acrostar Productions’ PERFECT SOUL, directed by the Chicagoan S. J. Hermann and staged incognito in the Princeton area with more filming to go. (Apparently, their “late innings” crowdfunding push is not yet live; watch this space for an announcement.) This can also be a donation towards the initial production budget of Swede Films’ BIG MUDDY, for which an Indiegogo campaign will be launched shortly. This can even involve a gift to one or more nonprofit entities that bring quality culture and unique experience to our communities such as the Virginia Theatre, an outlet of the Champaign Park District, and the Pens to Lens screenwriting competition, a program of the 40 North 88 West arts council in Champaign County. Look closely and listen carefully to what is happening around us for opportunities to chip in, friends and neighbors, and remember the value you add does not necessarily have to add up to a dollar amount.
IMAGERY DU C-U | Picturing Our Scene on the Screen
In recent weeks, we’ve shared updates about Acrostar Productions’ current run of fantasy/horror pictures – PERFECT SOUL, RETURN OF THE CORN ZOMBIES, NIGHT OF THE DEAD SORORITY BABES – including in the last three Images of the Week entries, so, what else can we share about the Chicagoland micro-studio? Filming has been taking place for new episodes of their web series, SPLINTERED LOVE, in which the company’s actress and make-up effects artist Beth Metcalf stars as “Cupidity,” a spinner of dark relationship stories with TALES FROM THE CRYPT-style endings of moral comeuppance. The second season finale, “Leap of Faith,” is about to go into production and will feature Leonard Peterson III, Joanne Ferbrache, and Steve Morris in a story of lost loves and prices paid; the previous outings of SPLINTERED LOVE, many with familiar Acro-stars in their casts, can be viewed up on YouTube.
~~~~~
~~~~~
Acrostar producers S. J. Hermann and Ann Myrna, when the former is not writing fiction and screenplays and the latter auditioning for and acting in indie productions from other creative teams, are busy cutting together footage for PERFECT SOUL and fulfilling their distribution commitments with BayView Entertainment. SORORITY BABES is now streaming online and available in print thanks to this arrangement, which we discussed in last week’s Calendar, and CORN ZOMBIES 2 is expected to follow in the coming months. Previously introduced to online platforms by BayView were ATTACK OF THE CORN ZOMBIES, the Sixties-set origin story of the groovy and starchy undead, and THEY CAME BACK FROM SOMEWHERE, a charming retro sci-fi sequel to the studio’s first full-length venture, IT CAME FROM SOMEWHERE. This movie has inspired today’s key visual, given the holiday at hand and its permanent association with the UFO invasion epic INDEPENDENCE DAY, a smash hit back in 1996.
~~~~~
~~~~~
When watching CAME BACK for the first time earlier this year, Ye Ed couldn’t help but notice a funny anomaly in an early scene where thrift shop owner Miss Withers (Michele Hefner) encounters the lovelorn alien warrior Luma (Jake Yanko), returned to Earth and seeking his human soul mate Patty (Magdalena Conway). Behind Withers on the wall, one can clearly see the structure closest in nature to a UFO in all of downstate Illinois – the State Farm Center on the University of Illinois campus – and the movie never takes advantage of it for a clever aside or joke! “Aaaaaauuuugh,” blurted Charlie Brown. In time, he realized it would have been a distraction in the storytelling and possibly called undue attention to an anachronism; SOMEWHERE 1 and 2 ostensibly take place in the 1950s while the sports and concert arena, originally called Assembly Hall, did not open until the spring of 1963. We decided to muzzle our inner Art Bell and refrain from manufacturing a conspiracy out of it, since we’re simply happy to see it … hovering there.
LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ Champaign Public Library, Champaign, IL
Champaign Movie Makers* presents “Crash Course: Lenses” (7/7, 7 p.m., Robeson Pavilion Room C)
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, MALICE (in Mandarin with English sub), 28 YEARS LATER, BALLERINA, ELIO (animation), F1 THE MOVIE, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, LILO & STITCH, ME3AN 2.0, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING (7/4 on), AMC “Screen Unseen” (mystery movie) (7/7, 7 p.m.), ABRAHAM’S BOYS: A DRACULA STORY, SKILLHOUSE, SUPERMAN (7/10 on)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, 28 YEARS LATER, ELIO (animation), F1 THE MOVIE, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, LILO & STITCH, MATERIALISTS, ME3AN 2.0, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING, THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, SINNERS (7/4 on), THIS IS SPINAL TAP 41st anniversary (7/5, 4 p.m.; 7/6, 4 & 7 p.m.; 7/7, 7 p.m.), DIRTY DANCING (7/6, 3 & 7 p.m.; 7/9, 7 p.m.), SUPERMAN sneak preview (7/8, 7 p.m., IMAX), SKILLHOUSE, SUPERMAN (7/10 on)
@ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Summer Films on the Quad” feat. THE WOMAN IN THE YARD (7/10, 9 p.m., free)
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
The News-Gazette Film Series and D-BAT Champaign present THE SANDLOT special event (7/5, 12 p.m. Park Avenue outdoor activities, 2 p.m. screening)
Events featuring locally produced movies are marked with an asterisk (*). Additional “Now Playing” and “Coming Soon” listings appear after the jump!
~~~~~
NOW PLAYING | The Cities Beyond
@ Clintonia Eagle Theater, Clinton, IL
JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, ELIO (animation), F1 THE MOVIE, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, ME3AN 2.0 (7/4 on), SING (animation) (7/8-7/9, 10 a.m., free)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
Closed July 4; JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (Screen 1), ELIO (animation), LILO & STITCH (Screen 2) (7/5-7/6), JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH (Screen 1), ELIO (animation) (Screen 2) (7/7-7/9), JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH (Screen 1), SUPERMAN (Screen 2) (7/10 on)
@ The Lorraine Theatre, Hoopeston, IL
JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH (7/4-7/6, 7/10)
@ Marcus Bloomington Cinema + IMAX, Bloomington, IL
JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, 28 YEARS LATER, BALLERINA*, ELIO (animation), F1 THE MOVIE, ME3AN 2.0, FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES*, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, LILO & STITCH, MATERIALISTS*, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING (7/4 on), Indian cinema: THAMMUDU (Telugu w/Eng sub; 7/4-7/9), THIS IS SPINAL TAP 41st anniversary (7/5, 3 p.m.; 7/6, 6 p.m.; 7/7, 7 p.m.),THE GARFIELD MOVIE* (animation) (7/6-7/10), SKILLHOUSE, SUPERMAN (7/10 on) *single screenings daily
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
Closed July 4; MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, NATIONAL TREASURE (7/5-7/6), MATILDA (7/7, 7/9), “The Summer of Bond” series feat. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (7/10)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH (7/4-7/6)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
Closed July 4; HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (7/5-7/6)
@ The Route 66 Drive-in Theater, Springfield, IL
JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, ME3AN 2.0 (Screen 1), HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, LILO & STITCH (Screen 2) (7/4-7/6, 7/9-7/10)
@ VIP Lincoln Grand 6, Lincoln, IL
JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, 28 YEARS LATER, ELIO (animation), F1 THE MOVIE, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, LILO & STITCH, ME3AN 2.0 (7/4 on), KUNG FU PANDA 4 (animation) (7/8-7/10, 10 a.m.), SUPERMAN (7/10 on)
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. And for northern Illinois industry news, be sure to read Reel Chicago and Screen Magazine.
COMING SOON | Area-wide Events
8/16
Pens to Lens Gala 2025*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 3 p.m.
NEW! 9/17-9/21
32nd Chicago Underground Film Festival
@ ACX Harper Theater – Hyde Park, Chicago, IL
9/20-9/22
Champaign Film Society presents
the first CineSonic* music film festival
@ TBA, Champaign-Urbana, IL
UPDATE! 11/8-11/9
Dark History & Horror Con 2025
feat. Screaming Mad Film Festival
@ The Orpheum Theatre, Champaign, IL
4/23-4/26, 2026
Roger Ebert’s Film Festival*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
Champaign Park District presents “Moo-vie Nights at Prairie Farm”
@ Prairie Farm/Centennial Park, Champaign, IL, 8 p.m., free
7/11: BABE; 7/25: HOME ON THE RANGE; 8/8: CHARLOTTE’S WEB (2006)
Illini Union Board presents “Summer Films on the Quad”
@ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 9 p.m. Thursdays, free
7/17: THE LEGEND OF OCHI; 7/24: DROP; 7/31: THUNDERBOLTS*; 8/7: LILO & STITCH; 8/14: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING
~~~~~
Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
~~~~~
“Calendar du C-U”
© 2025 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential
[T −111]