Calendar: January 2-8, 2026
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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FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
‘Tis the season! Therefore, ‘tis the low-ebb portion of our school year activity here at C-U Blogfidential, although this round is different as we finally begin a gradual metamorphosis into a different phase of how we chronicle the C-Universe. For the moment, we’re cutting back on our Report protocol through March at the least, offering one-and-done entries when something really stokes our curiosity, while the Images department will go into hibernation after today unless we have such a sight to show you because it is simply that astounding. What all are we up to at MFHQ Deux? Only one sure way to know – read about it.
What we’d like to point out for your enticement today is an upcoming series that will be held a little bit outside of our usual geography. Ye Ed has been noticing ads in his Facebook news feed for a hefty retrospective that will begin next Friday, January 9, in the screening auditorium at the Peoria Riverfront Museum in downtown Peoria. Alfred Hitchcock’s famous “single-shot” experiment in tension, ROPE, will kick off the spring program, “Art of Film” hosted by the Film Society of the Giant Screen Theater, at 6:30 p.m. that evening to be followed by – collective gasp at the sheer magnitude of what we’re about to list – MULHOLLAND DRIVE (Jan. 10), WOMAN IN THE DUNES (Jan. 11), JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES (Jan. 11), THE SERVANT (Jan. 16 & 18), TO DIE FOR (Jan. 23 & 25), THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT (Jan. 30 & Feb. 1), PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (Feb. 6 & 8), IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (Feb 13 & 15), SUZHOU RIVER (Feb. 20 & 21), TROPICAL MALADY (Feb. 27 & Mar. 1), BEAU TRAVAIL (Mar. 6 & 8), and TASTE OF CHERRY (Mar. 13 & 15). This is big city-level fare, folks. Why is no venue in Champaign-Urbana able to sustain a strength in schedule like this? Certainly, the museum has filled in other dates with famous fare to attract their community-at-large and help pay the bills – PADDINGTON IN PERU, the original Indiana Jones trilogy, the improbable smash hit LILO & STITCH remake – but it sure makes us feel a little sheepish. Baa-aa-aa-aah humbug.
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Some of these titles have played the C-U in the past, of course, whether in first run, revival, or both. We’re just marveling at the absolute strength in numbers of well-regarded films made by world-class filmmakers. Not that we have no unique options closer to home. The Chambana Film Society, which operates on a different wavelength with content unique from what the Peoria Film Society is programming and our own community is the better for it, resumes in 2026 on Sunday, January 11, with the documentary AIN’T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND about a Civil Rights Movement sit-in with a unique spin on fostering better relations. The next and final downstate “Ebertfest” will do what “Ebertfest” does, present thought-provoking and life-affirming films from the past and present. Contemporary “art house” cinema receives a boost in Springfield when the 34th annual Molly Schlich International/Independent Film Series opens on Sunday, January 18, with a French comedy, JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE. Hopefully, the Virginia Theatre in Champaign and Fischer Theatre in Danville both continue to increase their showing of repertory classics; we see the Virginia will play CITIZEN KANE on January 17 and WHAT’S UP, DOC? on February 7 as the latest entries in the News-Gazette Film Series. The Normal Theater in Normal also goes retro this weekend with the evergreen, emerald-green WIZARD OF OZ. Take ‘em in when we get ‘em, folks.
The real answer in the present tense, we suppose, is one needs to be willing to hit the road sometimes to find one’s cinema nirvana if that involves an auditorium, a giant screen, and a willing audience. It all adds up to a positive in the long run and, if you’ve been reading CUBlog for any of the last twenty years, then you know the fare is out there somewhere. If not, today is always a good day to start figuring out how to make it happen by the efforts of yourselves and those in your clubhouse. We should know. Cheers.
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
THE DUTCHMAN, THE PLAGUE*, WE BURY THE DEAD, ANACONDA, AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH, DAVID (faith animation), FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2*, THE HOUSEMAID, MARTY SUPREME, SONG SUNG BLUE, THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS (animation), WICKED: FOR GOOD, ZOOTOPIA 2 (animation) (1/2 on), AMC “Scream Unseen” (mystery movie) (1/5, 7 p.m.), GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION, I WAS A STRANGER, PRIMATE (1/8 on) *single screenings daily
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
WE BURY THE DEAD, ANACONDA, AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH, DAVID (faith animation), FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2, HAMNET, THE HOUSEMAID, MARTY SUPREME, SONG SUNG BLUE, THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS (animation), WICKED: FOR GOOD, ZOOTOPIA 2 (animation) (1/2 on), KIDS BOP LIVE: THE CONCERT MOVIE (1/2-1/5), INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1/3, 7 p.m.; 1/ 4, 3 & 7 p.m.; 1/7, 7 p.m.), DHURANDHAR (in Hindi with English sub; 1/ 4-1/7), LABYRINTH 40th anniversary (1/8, 7 p.m.), GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION, JANA NAYAGAN (in Tamil with English sub), THE RAJASAAB (in Telugu with English sub), PRIMATE (1/8 on)
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
LAST LISTING! @ Golden Ticket Cinemas Ale House, Bloomington, IL
ANACONDA, AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH, DAVID (faith animation), THE HOUSEMAID, MARTY SUPREME, SONG SUNG BLUE, ZOOTOPIA 2 (animation) (1/ 2 on), KIDS BOP LIVE: THE CONCERT MOVIE (1/2-1/5), GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION, I WAS A STRANGER, LABYRINTH 40th anniversary (re-release), PRIMATE (1/8 on)
Click this link to keep up with the showtimes for the venue above.
@ The Lorraine Theatre, Hoopeston, IL
AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH (1/ 2-1/ 4)
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
THE WIZARD OF OZ (1 /2-1/ 4)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
DAVID (animation) (1 /2-1/ 4)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS (animation) (1 /2-1/ 4)
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, Screen Magazine, and the Chicago Reader.
COMING SOON | Area-wide Events
1/16-1/18
Champaign Movie Makers* “48-Hour Film Competition”
@ Lincoln Square, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m.
4/3-4/10
28th annual Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison, WI
4/9-4/12
36th Onion City Experimental Film Festival, Chicago, IL
4/17-4/19
26th Roger Ebert’s Film Festival*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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“Calendar du C-U”
© 2026 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential
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