<\/p>\n
Our movie and media Calendar appears every Friday\/Saturday on <\/em>C-U Blogfidential<\/span><\/strong> and caters to the downstate region anchored by Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA.<\/em><\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n MILESTONES | Happy Birthday to You!<\/strong><\/p>\n 3\/9: Meredith Dumyahn (producer\/director, WSEC-TV (PBS), Springfield-Jacksonville, IL) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said<\/strong><\/p>\n Ready for a dip into the ol\u2019 d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu, friends? Not long ago, I watched Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson<\/strong>\u2019s monster mash RAMPAGE<\/strong> on television and finally realized earlier this week how it felt familiar, but not because it adapts the classic Bally\/Midway<\/strong> arcade game I played when I was young. Considering the clich\u00e9-yet-oddball plot, wherein animals become genetically mutated and enlarged by accident due to science gone awry and are attracted to Chicago<\/strong> via radio frequency in order to deal with them, it\u2019s really a loose and high-gloss remake of the low-budget schlock film BEGINNING OF THE END<\/strong>, first released in 1957 and eventually welcomed with open arms by the UI Insect Fear Film Festival<\/strong> crowd<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Not two days later, I happened upon an item in The Hollywood Reporter<\/span><\/strong> about a spec script called \u201cTeddy and the Guardians of the Night<\/strong>\u201d being developed for Netflix<\/strong><\/a><\/span> with Johnson attached as a co-producer. The project is based on a singular piece of DeviantArt<\/strong> illustration by Greece<\/strong> native Alex Panagopoulos<\/strong>; one might honestly mistake it as production art for the 2018 Pens to Lens<\/strong> short film GOOD NIGHT LITTLE KNIGHT<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, which is about a gallant teddy bear who protects his human child from a wary dragon while she sleeps. Granted, the Panagopoulos image dates from at least 2013, when it was first optioned as a story source by New Line Cinema<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, and who\u2019s to say whether the imaginative second-grade author of the screenplay turned into LITTLE KNIGHT<\/strong> had ever seen it before? Weird, I know<\/em>.<\/p>\n And not a day after that<\/em>, C-U Confidential<\/span><\/strong> cover model and real-world librarian Eric Sizemore<\/strong> referenced on Facebook the trials of psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich<\/strong>, whose inventions and papers were destroyed<\/a><\/span> by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration<\/strong> in the late Fifties due to the Austrian emigrant\u2019s claims on sexuality and alleged research methods. This included the so-called Cloudbuster, a machine designed to affect the atmosphere by drawing on what Reich defined as \u201corgone energy\u201d or \u201ccosmic energy.\u201d Also pointed out by Sizemore is a 1985 music video for the song \u201cCloudbusting<\/strong>\u201d<\/a><\/span> that stars Donald Sutherland<\/strong> as Reich and Kate Bush<\/strong> as his son Peter<\/strong>. They test the contraption while dark clouds swirl and government forces gather. Of course, it brings to my mind the neat stop-motion animation by Johnny Robinson<\/strong>, DR. ZOND CONTROLS THE WEATHER<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, which he created with students in New York<\/strong> before moving to Urbana in 2009.<\/p>\n I think, instead of crying \u201cthief\u201d at the ready parallels in these examples, let\u2019s remember that good or novel ideas can be expressed in any number of ways successfully. I\u2019ve never considered C-U Blogfidential<\/span><\/strong> a completely original endeavor in the grand scheme of film culture and could spend many minutes pointing out the valued models for every little Confidential thing. Yet as far as my eyes can see, even from this long a distance at the house on the edge of an American small town, there still <\/em>has not been a contemporary and consistent attempt to relate the cinema directly to Champaign-Urbana<\/strong> and vice versa other than what we\u2019ve been formulating right here since 2006 and overall since 1999. None of us know if there will be another to compliment CUBlog<\/span><\/strong> in the near future or supplant it eventually. Maybe our friends and neighbors will find it unnecessary. In the end, that\u2019s not up to yours truly.<\/p>\n In the beginning, however, it all feels vital and fresh just like it did 22 years ago this week\u2026<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History<\/strong><\/p>\n 22 Years Ago<\/strong> \u2026 Wednesday, March 3, 1999:<\/em> Novice self-publisher Jason Pankoke<\/strong> releases his first title, MICRO-FILM: The Warning Shot<\/span><\/strong>, at local merchants in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois<\/strong>. The letter-size, 12-page booklet is inspired by twin interests in the latter Nineties: the resurgence of \u2018zine culture in the United States<\/strong> and the growing prominence of independent cinema on a worldwide scale. Apart from essays waxing about his experiences with Hollywood<\/strong> media and niche cinematic arts that led him down the path to attempt MF|TWS<\/span><\/strong>, the one-off issue features interviews with personalities that Pankoke has met along the way such as Suzanne Twining<\/strong> of Philadelphia<\/strong> and Brien Burroughs<\/strong> of San Francisco<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, underground filmmakers whose works appeared as part of the local Freaky Film Festival<\/strong>, and Dennis Druktenis<\/strong>, a Chicagoland mail-order merchant of \u201cmonster kid\u201d collectibles who edits the quarterly Scary Monsters<\/span><\/strong> magazine<\/a><\/span>. Pankoke makes no bones with the faux<\/em>-aggressive subtitle that loftier goals reside up his sleeve, and he would deliver on the promise several months later in October with a follow-up, the first full-blown issue of MICRO-FILM<\/span><\/strong>, revealed at the third annual Freaky Films showcase.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers<\/strong><\/p>\n @ online Zoom<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area<\/strong><\/p>\n @ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL<\/strong> @ Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL<\/strong> @ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, I<\/strong>L @ Redbox, Champaign-Urbana, IL<\/strong> Events featuring locally produced movies are marked with an asterisk (*). Additional \u201cNow Playing\u201d and \u201cComing Soon\u201d listings appear after the jump!<\/em><\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | The Cities Beyond<\/strong><\/p>\n @ AMC Classic Village Mall 6, Danville, IL<\/strong> @ AMC Peru Mall 8, Peru, IL<\/strong> @ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL<\/strong> @ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL<\/strong> @ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL<\/strong> @ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL<\/strong> @ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL<\/strong> @ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL<\/strong> @ Roxy Cinemas, Ottawa, IL<\/strong> @ Streator Eagle 6, Streator, IL<\/strong>
\n3\/9: Jason Lindsey (commercial photographer, Jason Lindsey Photography, Champaign-Urbana, IL)
\n3\/10: Danielle Cloutier (administrative assistant, creative production, Netflix, Los Angeles, CA)<\/p>\n
\nIllini Film & Video virtual meeting (3\/8, 8 p.m.) Join mailing list<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
\nBOOGIE, CHAOS WALKING, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, THE CROODS: A NEW AGE, TOM & JERRY, WONDER WOMAN 1984 (3\/5 on), THE LITTLE THINGS (3\/5-3\/8, 3\/10), FATALE (3\/5-3\/7, 3\/9, 3\/11)<\/p>\n
\nIllini Union Board presents \u201cSpring 2021 Film Series\u201d feat. LITTLE WOMEN (2019), The Courtyard Caf\u00e9, 1st floor (3\/5, 7 p.m.; free w\/i-card)<\/p>\n
\nBOOGIE, CHAOS WALKING, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD\u2019S A LITTLE BLURRY, THE CROODS: A NEW AGE, THE LITTLE THINGS, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (IMAX), THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, THE MARKSMAN, MONSTER HUNTER, NEWS OF THE WORLD, TOM & JERRY, WONDER WOMAN 1984 (3\/5 on), UFC 259: Israel Adesanya vs. Jan Blachowicz, more (3\/6, 9 p.m., simulcast)<\/p>\n
\nALL MY LIFE, CRISIS, FATALE, HALF BROTHERS, MONSTER HUNTER, SAVAGE STATE, more! (3\/2 on) Online rentals<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
\nCHAOS WALKING, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, THE CROODS: A NEW AGE, THE LITTLE THINGS, TOM & JERRY (3\/5-3\/7)<\/p>\n
\nCHAOS WALKING, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, THE CROODS: A NEW AGE, THE MARKSMAN, NEWS OF THE WORLD, TOM & JERRY (3\/5-3\/7)<\/p>\n
\nBLITHE SPIRIT, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, TOM & JERRY (3\/5-3\/7)<\/p>\n
\nClosed for the week.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nClosed for the week.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMLK\/FBI (3\/5-3\/7), THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (3\/5, 10:30 p.m.), MY SALINGER YEAR (3\/11), \u201cLiving Room Film Festival\u201d virtual screenings: OUR RIGHT TO GAZE: BLACK FILM IDENTITES, SOPHIE JONES (3\/5-4\/1), 4th annual Sweded Film Festival (through 3\/18), MINARI (3\/5-3\/7, 7 p.m.-11 p.m.) Purchase<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\nClosed for the week.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nClosed for the week.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nCHAOS WALKING, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, LAND, MONSTER HUNTER, TOM & JERRY, WILLY\u2019S WONDERLAND, WRONG TURN (3\/5 on), THE CROODS: A NEW AGE (3\/6-3\/7)<\/p>\n
\nCHAOS WALKING, LAND, THE LORAX, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, TOM & JERRY (3\/5 on)<\/p>\n