Calendar: December 19-25, 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.
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MILESTONES | Happy Birthday to You!
12/21: Max Libman (founder/host, CU International Film Festival, Urbana, IL)
12/21: Linda McElroy (volunteer, Route 66 International Film Festival, Springfield, IL)
12/24: Owen Anderson (actor/stunt coordinator, WEREWOLF CEMETERY, Brainsmart Productions, Portland, OR)
12/25: Shea Kelly (writer/director, A MAN OF CHARACTER, A Thousand Yard Stare Productions, Decatur, IL)
12/27: Bill Turner (actor/set guru, WEREWOLF CEMETERY, Brainsmart Productions, Portland, OR)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
This week’s Report brings you a set of three wise updates about when and how you can see indies created by local makers. First, Kimberly Conner from Predestined Arts & Entertainment finished up a five-city tour of nightly premieres for her latest feature, LIPSTICK, after which she announced it was available to stream; filmed in Los Angeles, apparently a long-standing goal for the filmmaker, the crime thriller starring Camille Winbush (THE BERNIE MAC SHOW) can be viewed on Amazon Prime with presumably more options to come. Conner is also hosting a seminar called “How to Make a Movie in Fifty Bite Size Steps” that will be offered on Saturday, January 3, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and you can register for the two-hour Zoom session by visiting this PayPal link. THE L.A.F. KIDS, an orphanage children-versus-mobsters caper that was filmed across central Illinois by the folks at Northend Empire LLC, is now available through Prime as well as on YouTube; director Nate L. Morris’ “lost-and-found kids” adventure was seemingly lost for a full year after its public debut at the Fischer Theatre in Danville, but it’s now clear the L.A.F. were merely AWOL until a they found a new home. To close, seemingly moments after Fathom Events and Simeon Faith dropped a forty-second teaser for their gangland drama MOSES THE BLACK, filmed in Chicago and the Rantoul-Champaign region, they came right back with a pulsing three-minute trailer for the release, which will hit theaters nationwide for a minimum one-week run beginning on Friday, January 30. The story juxtaposes an attempt to go straight by Malik, played by Omar Epps, with the life of St. Moses the Black, an Egyptian monk living in the fourth century A.D. who had given up a life of thievery along the River Nile.
IMAGERY DU C-U | Picturing Our Scene on the Screen
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Continuing on our run of “shorts reports,” we turn to check in with our friends at Acrostar Productions. They are deep in post-production for PERFECT SOUL, the commune vs. supernatural yarn they filmed over 2025, and also deep in pre-production on THE LEGEND OF TINKER HELL, which will star Beth Metcalf in the title role as the thorn in an average family’s side, but that has not stopped the company from exercising those creative muscles on set. In the space of the last six weeks, they have premiered on their YouTube channel not one, not two, but three new projects that all hinge on dark twists of fate.
Starting with the most prominent, “Leap of Faith” is a giant-sized episode of their series SPLINTERED LOVE and also serves as its finale; Metcalf’s Cupidity, a buxom sprite with a curt Elvira tongue, narrates as always and foreshadows a love going wrong between a couple, played by Joanna Ferbrache and Steve Morris, who meet at a local dive bar and a young man in a liquor store, played by Leonard Peterson III, who later figures into the scheme. Apart from closing that Acro-chapter, the team has also turned a pair of founder Steve Hermann’s stories into stand-alone pieces. The first, THE LAST STOP, sees a runaway named Kasey (Julia Nurenberg) browse an antique store and share a conversation with the warmhearted owner, Mr. Hansen (Michael Steen), who promises comfort but not of a kind she yearns for. And in ROOM 176, a self-assured trick named Lala (Jaylee Hein) and a perennial john (Hermann) get into a discussion about following different paths in their lives that throws them both for a devastating loop. That’s all we’re at liberty to disclose so as to avoid spoilers. Go check them out at the respective links.
Hermann directed THE LAST STOP and Ann Myrna directed ROOM 176 and the concluding SPLINTERED LOVE, which features an appearance by Chicago-based actress and producer Katharin “Ladie K” Mraz (YOU’RE OUT!). As per the Acrostar acumen, all of the above were filmed in central Illinois, SPLINTERED LOVE and ROOM 176 in Gibson City and THE LAST STOP in Farmer City. And as usual, we’ll do our best to keep up with everything on their plate including the features and the imminent return of their early web series, BLOOD SISTERS, for which they just filmed a teaser.
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LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ Channing-Murray Foundation, Urbana, IL
THE TRAVIS WAYNE HURT CHRISTMAS SPECIAL THE 13TH (12/21, doors 7:30 p.m., specials 8 p.m.)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
Chambana Film Society* presents “The Savoy Arthouse” feat. LOCKE w/guest Sanford Hess (12/21, 3 p.m.)
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH, DAVID (faith animation), HAMNET, THE HOUSEMAID, THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS (animation), FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2, SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT*, WICKED: FOR GOOD, ZOOTOPIA 2 (animation) (12/19 on), ELLA MCCAY* (12/19-12/23), AMC “Screen Unseen” (mystery movie) (12/22, 7 p.m.), ANACONDA, MARTY SUPREME, SONG SUNG BLUE (12/24 on) *single screenings daily
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH, DAVID (faith animation), HAMNET, THE HOUSEMAID, THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS (animation), ELLA MCCAY*, ETERNITY*, FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2, JUJUTSU KAISEN: EXECUTION* (animé) (in Japanese with English sub or English dub), SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT*, WICKED: FOR GOOD, ZOOTOPIA 2 (animation) (12/19 on), Indian cinema: BHA BHA BA* (in Malayalam with English sub; 12/19) and DHURANDHAR (in Hindi with English sub; 12/19-12/23), HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS 25th anniversary (re-release) (12/19-12/23, 10:15 a.m.), The Royal Ballet: The Nutcracker (12/21, 3 p.m.; 12/22, 7 p.m.; recorded), IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (12/21, 11:45 a.m., 3, 7 & 10 p.m.; 12/24, 12:15, 3 & 7 p.m.), ANACONDA, MARTY SUPREME, SONG SUNG BLUE (12/24 on) *single screenings daily
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 Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
THE SANTA CLAUSE (12/22, 2 p.m.), THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 (12/22, 5 p.m.), THE GRINCH (animation) (12/23, 2 p.m.), THE HOLIDAY (12/23, 5 p.m.)
@ Golden Ticket Cinemas Ale House, Bloomington, IL
AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH, DAVID (faith animation), THE HOUSEMAID, THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS (animation), ELLA MCCAY*, FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2*, WICKED: FOR GOOD, ZOOTOPIA 2 (animation) (12/19 on), THE POLAR EXPRESS (animation) (12/19-12/21, 10 a.m.), SONG SUNG BLUE (12/24 on) *single screenings daily
@ The Lorraine Theatre, Hoopeston, IL
AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH (12/19-12/21, 12/25 on)
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, CHIRSTMAS BLOODY CHRISTMAS (12/19), THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, A CHRISTMAS STORY, WHITE CHRISTMAS, DIE HARD (12/20), MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, THE SANTA CLAUSE, ELF (12/21), THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, HOME ALONE, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (12/22), ELF, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, WHITE CHRISTMAS (12/23), NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION, WHITE CHRISTMAS, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (12/24)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS (animation) (12/19-12/21)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
DAVID (faith animation) (12/18-12/21)
NOW PLAYING | Midwest
@ Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema, Chicago, IL
Chicago Filmmakers presents “Picture ReStart” short film series feat. final program, “Bringing It All Back Home” (12/20, 6 p.m.)
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, Screen Magazine, and the Chicago Reader.
COMING SOON | Area-wide Events
1/16-1/18, 2026
Champaign Movie Makers* “48-Hour Film Competition”
@ Lincoln Square, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m.
4/3-4/10, 2026
28th annual Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison, WI
4/9-4/12, 2026
36th Onion City Experimental Film Festival, Chicago, IL
NEW! 4/17-4/19, 2026
26th Roger Ebert’s Film Festival*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
Chambana Film Society presents “The Savoy Arthouse”
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL, 3 p.m. unless noted otherwise
12/28: “Short Docs” program
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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“Calendar du C-U”
© 2025 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential
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