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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\/10: Allen Richards (publisher, B-Independent<\/span>.com)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said<\/strong><\/p>\n So, this Report<\/strong> is not the Report<\/strong> we were going to run. That will appear next week. What I concocted to run in its place isn\u2019t a Report<\/strong>, it\u2019s an article. Erg<\/em>. So, that<\/em> will appear as its own thing in the next few weeks. The final Report<\/strong> is a bridge between last week\u2019s Report<\/strong>, in which we talked about the independently produced series PEORIA<\/strong>, and the newly-minted article, which will go over a few other serial stories being made at the same time PEORIA<\/strong> was launched that didn\u2019t quite clear the runway. So, here are a few television factoids I had set aside that we might as well have some fun with.<\/p>\n The Canadian series FIRST WAVE<\/strong>, broadcast in the United States<\/strong> by the former Sci-Fi Channel<\/strong> in the late 1990s and 2000s, depicted a trip to Normal<\/strong> by its heroes, who are trying to stop an alien invasion allegedly forecast in the prophecies of Nostradamus<\/strong>. In \u201cNormal, Illinois<\/strong>,\u201d the 13th episode of the show\u2019s second season, fugitive Cade Foster (Sebastian Spence<\/strong>) and scientist \u201cCrazy\u201d Eddie (Rob LaBelle<\/strong>) visit the B-N upon learning of the mysterious deaths of several teenage boys as they became aroused with their girlfriends. It\u2019s due to a sinister experiment, all right, and it was filmed in Vancouver<\/strong> in 1999 with nondescript settings that suggest \u201cMidwest\u201d and the occasional sign tricked out to include \u201cNormal.\u201d You can take your chances on YouTube<\/strong><\/a><\/span> to watch FIRST WAVE<\/strong> since it seems to not be streaming on any legitimate platform, although Plex TV<\/strong> apparently licenses it and provides a handy episode guide<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Sharing a similar premise of unassuming-looking heroes who travel around America in a retro vehicle to battle fantastical evil, yet on a grander scale and to a much greater pop-culture end, is SUPERNATURAL<\/strong>. In season eight<\/a><\/span>, as the mythology of Sam (Jared Padaleck<\/strong>i) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles<\/strong>) had been greatly expanded, they meet their time-traveling grandfather Henry (Gil McKinney<\/strong>) who himself is a demon hunter as part of a secret society. During a flashback in episode 12 from 2013, \u201cAs Time Goes By<\/strong>,\u201d we see Henry join his brethren, the Men of Letters, for a meeting in 1958 Normal that turns disastrous; amusing is the atmospheric back-alley London<\/strong> feel of the setting even though, of course, this episode was produced in Vancouver like most of the long-running CW<\/strong> hit. Still, Henry\u2019s story is affecting.<\/p>\n For one more that\u2019s not really like the others, we have the short-lived Netflix<\/strong> show THE PRINCE OF PEORIA<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, which I learned about when I first started reading up on PEORIA<\/strong>. It seems that creators Devin Bunje<\/strong> and Nick Stanton<\/strong> picked Peoria<\/strong> out of a Midwestern hat as the home of robotics-loving teen Teddy (Theodore Barnes<\/strong>) and his mother Regina (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams<\/strong>), who runs a bowling alley. They become a host family to an exchange student, Emil (Gavin Lewis<\/strong>), and Teddy soon finds out that he is a prince from the (fictional) British Isles<\/strong> country of Buronia. The duo become unlikely friends in the two seasons premiered in 2018 and 2019 and, while establishing shots were filmed in the River City<\/a><\/span> for this production, the set-bound shenanigans were staged at the Sunset Gower Studios<\/strong> of Hollywood<\/strong>. Netflix shared to YouTube the first episode<\/a><\/span>, squarely in the vein of Nickelodeon<\/strong> or Disney<\/strong> sitcoms for tweens.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History<\/strong><\/p>\n 15 Years Ago<\/strong> \u2026 June 2008:<\/em> The first meeting of Champaign Movie Makers<\/strong> is hosted in the home of Janice Rutherford<\/strong><\/a><\/span> of Urbana<\/strong> and organized by her guest Johnny Robinson<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, an independent film creator and college instructor from Rochester, New York<\/strong>. Intending to live in Champaign-Urbana full time by next year, Robinson sees the need for a welcoming and constructive space where community members could get to know each other better and grow their skills on shared projects, basing CMM on his previous activities in Rochester and Syracuse<\/strong>. He already has plans underway for his first locally-made film, a dramatic piece called CELESTE ABOVE<\/strong>, and it will employ the talents of club members. Since then, CMM has amassed hundreds of followers on Facebook<\/span><\/strong><\/a> and retains dozens of regular attendees at its monthly gatherings, which have moved among a variety of larger locations such as Shatterglass Studios, SoDo Theatre<\/strong>, the WILL-TV<\/strong> television studio, and the Champaign Public Library<\/strong>, with its greatest notoriety coming as a facilitator of the annual Pens to Lens Screenwriting Competition + Gala<\/span><\/strong><\/a>. As reported on 9\/9\/08<\/span><\/a>, 10\/14\/08<\/span><\/a> at<\/em> CUBlog<\/span><\/strong>. [R]<\/strong><\/p>\n \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> @ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL<\/strong>
\nTRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS, ABOUT MY FATHER, THE BOOGEYMAN, FAST X, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, THE LITTLE MERMAID, THE MACHINE, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (animation), THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation) (6\/9 on), MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU (animation) (6\/10, 6\/14, 12 p.m.), Studio Ghibli Fest: KIKI\u2019S DELIVERY SERVICE (6\/11, 4 p.m., English dub; 6\/11, 6\/12, 6\/14, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English subs), THE BLACKENING, ELEMENTAL, THE FLASH (6\/15 on)<\/p>\n
\nTRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS, ABOUT MY FATHER, THE BOOGEYMAN, FAST X, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, THE LITTLE MERMAID, THE MACHINE, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (animation), THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation), YOU HURT MY FEELINGS* (6\/9 on), UFC 289: Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana, more (mixed martial arts) (6\/10, 9 p.m., simulcast), TWILIGHT (6\/11, 3 & 7 p.m.; 6\/14, 7 p.m.), HAIRSPRAY 35th anniversary (6\/11, 4 & 7 p.m.; 6\/14, 7 p.m.), Studio Ghibli Fest: KIKI\u2019S DELIVERY SERVICE (6\/11, 4 & 7 p.m., English dub; 6\/12, 6\/14, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English subs), THE LEGO MOVIE 2, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3 (6\/13-6\/15, 10 a.m.), ELEMENTAL, THE FLASH (6\/15 on) *single shows daily<\/p>\n
\nIllini Union Board presents \u201cSummer Films on the Quad\u201d feat. ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT\u2019S ME, MARGARET. (6\/15, 9 p.m., free)<\/p>\n