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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 6\/18: Perry C. Morris (vice president, Champaign County History Museum, Champaign, IL)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said<\/strong><\/p>\n Movie news du C-U keeps flying right on by as I struggle to find consistency in keeping up with it at C-U Blogfidential<\/span><\/strong>. I\u2019m somewhat tired of making excuses to myself and apologizing to everyone else within my writing for not staying on top of all the developments in a cultural scene that has become one that I belong to less and less. Conversely, those who don\u2019t regularly visit or interact with CUBlog<\/span><\/strong> should understand that it is not a top tier priority for yours truly as I lead a somewhat different life now in an Illinois<\/strong> zip code far from Champaign County<\/strong>. I\u2019ll continue to look and learn for the time being, certainly out of habit and personal interest, and that will manifest in brief outpourings of new content when it all works out. One of those editorial runs begins this coming week, and today\u2019s Report<\/strong> serves as a lead-in to what I plan on covering before it inevitably settles down. For now, I mainly want to share links for a few viral clips that are posted at a common source that may be of interest to you and me or possibly only to me.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with the trailer<\/a><\/span> from the Eighties-set sci-fi thriller REVEALER<\/strong>, which will begin streaming on Shudder<\/strong><\/a><\/span> this coming Thursday, June 23<\/strong>, and on AMC+<\/strong> a day later<\/a><\/span> on Friday, June 24<\/strong>. Produced by Champaign<\/strong>\u2019s Shatterglass Films<\/strong> in conjunction with established genre label The Line Film Company<\/strong> (THE STYLIST, BLACK MOLD<\/strong>), this neon-drenched adventure stars Caito Aase, Shaina Schrooten<\/strong>, and Bishop Stevens<\/strong> and was filmed two years ago, primarily in an abandoned building just north of the city\u2019s downtown area. It marks the feature directorial debut of Shatterglass co-founder Luke Boyce<\/strong>. Plenty of bonus fun can be found at Shudder\u2019s YouTube<\/strong> channel, including this recent bit<\/a><\/span> from THE LAST DRIVE-IN<\/strong> with host Joe Bob Briggs<\/strong> and Chicago<\/strong>\u2019s legendary Rich Koz<\/strong> in his Svengoolie<\/strong> get-up. Also towards the top of the video upload list is a contemporary preview<\/a><\/span> for Eloy de la Iglesia<\/strong>\u2019s THE CANNIBAL MAN<\/strong>, a controversial Spanish production from 1972 debuted by Shudder on June 1 as a selection in their queer programming for the month. Long ago, a bloody frame blow-up from this film was borrowed<\/a><\/span> by the UK label Xtasy<\/strong> to decorate their VHS packaging for SHOT<\/strong>, the UIUC <\/strong>student-made cop chase film.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History<\/strong><\/p>\n 65 Years Ago<\/strong> \u2026 Thursday, June 20, 1957:<\/em> Per news items in Boxoffice<\/span><\/strong> magazine<\/a><\/span>, the science-fiction double feature of BEGINNING OF THE END<\/strong> and THE UNEARTHLY<\/strong> is scheduled to open today on more than 200 screens in the South and Midwest through Los Angeles <\/strong>distributor Republic Pictures Corporation<\/strong>. Already, the bill appears to be a hit for a brand-new production studio, AB-PT Pictures<\/strong>, based on the response afforded its world premiere<\/a><\/span> at the Roosevelt Theater<\/strong> in Chicago<\/strong> last night with BEGINNING<\/strong> stars Peggie Castle<\/strong> and Peter Graves<\/strong> in attendance. Possibly more appealing to the Roosevelt audience is the film\u2019s scenario, placing the action almost entirely in the Land of Lincoln despite the yarn being shot in California<\/strong> locations and sound stages by producer-director Bert I. Gordon<\/strong>. (Chicago Daily Tribune<\/span><\/strong> reviewer \u201cMae Tinee<\/strong>\u201d falls into this camp<\/a><\/span>.) BEGINNING<\/strong> recounts a rampage from downstate Illinois<\/strong> to the Windy City of ravenous locusts, enlarged greatly after consuming experimental seeds and grains developed by local agriculturalists. Castle\u2019s wire reporter character detours from covering a jet fighter unveiling at the real-life Chanute Air Force Base<\/strong> in Rantoul<\/strong> to net her big bug story, while the roll call of cities and towns referenced in the first two acts also includes Champaign, Decatur, Joliet, Ludlow, Paxton, Peoria, Pontiac, Springfield<\/strong>, and Urbana<\/strong>. Flights of geographic fancy are intermixed with the regional accuracy \u2013 \u201cthe Ludlow forest,\u201d \u201csuburbs of Paxton\u201d \u2013 never mind the omnipresent SoCal hills in many an exterior frame! Nearly a half-century later in February of 2003, \u201cMr. B.I.G.<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 nicknamed so due to the plethora of oversized men, women, and monsters in his output<\/a><\/span> \u2013 would attend the annual Insect Fear Film Festival<\/strong> at the University of Illinois<\/strong>; an honorary slate paired Gordon\u2019s EARTH VS. THE SPIDER<\/strong> (1958) and EMPIRE OF THE ANTS<\/strong> (1977) with BEGINNING<\/strong>. [R]<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers<\/strong><\/p>\n @ Shudder network<\/strong> @ AMC+ network<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area<\/strong><\/p>\n @ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL<\/strong> @ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL<\/strong>
\nREVEALER* streaming premiere (6\/23 on)<\/p>\n
\nREVEALER* streaming premiere (6\/24 on)<\/p>\n
\nLIGHTYEAR, VIRATA PARVAM (in Telugu), THE BAD GUYS, THE BOB\u2019S BURGERS MOVIE, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION, TOP GUN: MAVERICK (6\/17 on), THE BLACK PHONE, ELVIS (6\/23 on)<\/p>\n
\nLIGHTYEAR, THE BOB\u2019S BURGERS MOVIE, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA, JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION, TOP GUN: MAVERICK (6\/17 on), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (6\/19, 6\/22, 3, 7 & 9:45 p.m.), THE THING (1982) (6\/19, 3 & 7 p.m.; 6\/22, 7 p.m.), THE BAD GUYS (6\/20-6\/23, 10:50 a.m.), A DOG\u2019S WAY HOME, TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES (6\/21-6\/23, 10 a.m., free), ALIVE: WHO IS THERE? (religious documentary; 6\/21, 7 p.m.), G.I. JOE: THE MOVIE 35th anniversary (6\/23, 7 p.m.), THE BLACK PHONE, ELVIS (6\/23 on)<\/p>\n