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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 7\/9: Ben Harroun (co-owner, Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re going southbound today, dearest backseat drivers, for a little Carbondale<\/strong> film culture detour if<\/em> you don\u2019t mind! First stop, we direct your attention to the college town\u2019s Varsity Center for the Arts<\/strong> at 418 S. Illinois Ave.<\/strong> and their \u201cSummer Cinema\u201d series that will be screened the next four Saturdays at 7 p.m.<\/strong><\/a><\/span> beginning tomorrow, July 15<\/strong>, with the seminal documentary HOOP DREAMS<\/strong>, directed by Southern Illinois University<\/strong> alumnus Steve James<\/strong> and co-produced by University of Illinois<\/strong> alumnus Fredrick Marx<\/strong>. The series continues with SEVEN SAMURAI<\/strong> on July 22, MULHOLLAND DRIVE<\/strong> on July 29<\/strong>, and PARIS IS BURNING<\/strong> on August 5<\/strong> at the Varsity. An article from the Southern Illinoisan<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span> and video from the SIUC Alumni Association<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, both published in early 2023, detail what has been refurbished and yet to be upgraded at the venue, formerly a grand 1,100-seat theater opened in 1940 and currently 15 years into its life as a multi-purpose complex for performance, live music, and art exhibitions as well as movies.<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n Next stop up ahead is a fright that can be sighted from the comfort of your own home if<\/em> you know where to look. Workshop Films Collective<\/strong> member Charlie Queen<\/strong> is a Carbondale-based filmmaker whose comedic short, MORT<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, has played several genre festivals and makes its livestream debut tonight at 7 p.m. CST<\/strong> on BLOODY BITES<\/strong>, a compilation show airing on the Screambox TV<\/strong> channel<\/a><\/span> that is available through Roku<\/strong> and Pluto TV<\/strong>. For the moment, you\u2019ll have to catch MORT<\/strong> on the fly in this sixth season, second episode of BLOODY BITES<\/strong>, but it will eventually become available to view at places like Tubi<\/strong><\/a><\/span> and Amazon Prime<\/strong><\/a><\/span>. Appearing with PATRICIA STERLING<\/strong>, directed by Sunny Mabrey<\/strong>, and NEIGHBORS<\/strong>, directed by Isaac Ruth<\/strong>, Queen\u2019s MORT<\/strong> is the worst nightmare of a local mortician (Andy Farmer<\/strong>) and his deadpan assistant (Josh Bernstein<\/strong>) when their body, Mort (Les Lannom<\/strong>), decides to get up for a walk as his family arrives to pay their respects. If you\u2019re not streaming savvy and feel the wait will simply kill you, the festival cut of this undead romp is on Vimeo<\/strong><\/a><\/span> for your, a-hem<\/em>, consumption. Queen and Andy Farmer<\/strong>\u2019s Basic\/Expert Films<\/strong><\/a><\/span> have already filmed a follow-up short in California<\/strong>, TROUBLESHOOTING<\/strong>, and are in preproduction on their next, THE AUDITION<\/strong>, which will soon be filmed in southern Illinois<\/strong> a la<\/em> MORT<\/strong>.<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n And finally, we make an unexpected pit stop thanks to pure investigative perseverance. The day before I saw the Facebook<\/strong> posts about MORT<\/strong> and Screambox, I received a catalog in the mail from online merchant Oldies.com<\/strong> that I wasn\u2019t expecting, given I haven\u2019t ordered from them in a while. Once I made it to the \u201cgeneral\u201d section in the second half of its pages \u2013 would I not<\/em> skim a listing made up 100% of films and television shows for sale? \u2013 I found a familiar-sounding car chase flick called STINGRAY<\/strong><\/a><\/span>. \u201cHey, isn\u2019t this the one shot in southern Illinois?\u201d Turns out, I remembered it right. Seems that STINGRAY<\/strong>, made primarily in the Edwardsville<\/strong> and St. Louis<\/strong> regions in 1977 and released theatrically the next year by Avco Embassy Pictures<\/strong>, had finally hit digital in late 2021 from Dark Force Entertainment<\/strong> as a Blu-ray release, the film transferred from a 35mm print stored in the garage of director and area native Richard Taylor<\/strong>. As far as I can find, it has not yet cruised into the landscape of licensed streaming on services.<\/p>\n A \u201ccontraband stashed in the hot vintage car\u201d caper that was obviously made to cash in on the car culture craze ignited by SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD<\/strong>, and their ilk, STINGRAY<\/strong> stars Christopher Mitchum, Sherry Jackson, William Watson, Bert Hinchman, Cliff Emmich<\/strong>, and a much younger Lannom (SILKWOOD<\/strong>) in one of his earliest big-screen roles. Dark Force\u2019s version of the film is apparently a harder-edged and longer edit<\/a><\/span> than the PG-rated one distributed by Avco Embassy and is billed as the \u201cGarage Edition\u201d on the occasions it is booked for a screening, like those held at the Wildey Theater<\/strong> of Edwardsville in 2011<\/a><\/span> and again for the film\u2019s 40th anniversary in 2019<\/a><\/span>. The disc packaging is the original one-sheet art on a slip cover and the disc itself contains several extras that openly embrace the \u201clocal flavor\u201d angle. I highly doubt STINGRAY<\/strong> will become a belated cult classic after all these years, but at least it receives the hometown bear hugs that have sorely eluded our somewhat comparable SHOT<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n As a postscript, we\u2019d be curious to learn about what happened to SIU-Carbondale\u2019s venerable Big Muddy Film Festival<\/strong><\/a><\/span>. Did it even take place in 2023? I\u2019m guessing not; there is no recent online coverage of it whatsoever and all Big Muddy socials are out of date<\/a><\/span> in their posting. The students who program and organize it, per tradition, seemed to be taking chances during the pandemic to keep it alive, such as with the scaled-down \u201cLittle Muddy<\/strong>\u201d event<\/a><\/span>, but it now feels like a large void in the already patchy realm of downstate Illinois film showcases. What is most<\/em> confounding is the equal lack of discourse, per Google<\/strong> searches, as to what apparently sank Big Muddy this year or even a public statement that makes an effort to reaffirm its continuation or simply confirm its fate. Anyone who wants to speak on the record or confidentially about it can contact us at cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers<\/strong><\/p>\n @ Farmer City Raceway, Farmer City, IL<\/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> @ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL<\/strong> @ Redbox, Champaign-Urbana, IL<\/strong> @ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, 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 @ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL<\/strong> @ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL<\/strong> @ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, 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> @ The Route 66 Drive-in Theater, Springfield, IL<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | Midwest<\/strong><\/p>\n For detailed and curated listings of Chicago-area film presentations and related events, please visit the fine folks at <\/em>Cine-File<\/strong> and subscribe to their definitive \u201cCine-List\u201d weekly blast<\/span><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n7\/15: Jill Van Voorst (owner, LIX, Savoy, IL)
\n7\/17: Derek Huey (cinematographer, 10\/31 PART 3, Scream Team Releasing, Claysville, PA)
\n7\/19: Don May, Jr. (president, Synapse Films, Inc., Novi, MI)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\nFarmer City and DeWit County Fair 2023 presents IT CAME FROM SOMEWHERE* (7\/19, 7 p.m. gates, 9 p.m. show w\/filmmakers)<\/p>\n
\nLOST IN THE STARS (in Mandarin with English sub), MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE, PSYCHO-PASS: PROVIDENCE (anim\u00e9) (in Japanese with English sub or English dub), ELEMENTAL (animation), INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR, JOY RIDE, NO HARD FEELINGS, RUBY GILLMAN \u2013 TEENAGE KRAKEN* (animation), SOUND OF FREEDOM, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (animation), TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS (7\/14 on), MUMMIES (animation) (7\/15, 7\/19, 12 p.m.), TERRIFIER (7\/19-7\/20, 8 p.m.), BARBIE, OPPENHEIMER (7\/20 on) *single shows daily<\/p>\n
\nMISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE, ASTEROID CITY, ELEMENTAL (animation), INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR, JOY RIDE, THE LITTLE MERMAID, NO HARD FEELINGS, PAST LIVES, RUBY GILLMAN \u2013 TEENAGE KRAKEN* (animation), SOUND OF FREEDOM, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (animation), TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS (7\/14 on), SHREK 2 (7\/16, 3 & 7 p.m.; 7\/19, 7 p.m.), NATIONAL LAMPOON\u2019S VACATION 40th anniversary (7\/16, 4 & 7 p.m.; 7\/19, 7 p.m.), DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA live cast performance (anim\u00e9) (in Japanese with English sub) (7\/18, 7 p.m., recorded), BARBIE, OPPENHEIMER (7\/20 on) *single shows daily<\/p>\n
\nIllini Union Board presents \u201cSummer Films on the Quad\u201d feat. THE SUPER MARIO BROTHERS MOVIE (7\/20, 9 p.m., free)<\/p>\n
\nBOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, SISU, more! (7\/11 on) Online rentals<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
\nThe News-Gazette<\/span> Film Series presents I LOVE LUCY: THE MOVIE (7\/15, 1 & 7 p.m.), Illini Radio Group presents \u201cRewind 92.5 Movie Series\u201d feat. FOOTLOOSE (1984) (7\/20, 7 p.m.)<\/p>\n
\nTHE MIRACLE CLUB, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE, INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY (7\/13-7\/14)<\/p>\n
\nNo movies this week!<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE (Screen 1), ELEMENTAL (animation), TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS (Screen 2) (7\/14-7\/15), SOUND OF FREEDOM (Screen 1), MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE (Screen 2) (7\/16-7\/19), BARBIE (Screen 1), MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE (Screen 2) (7\/20)<\/p>\n
\nPrivate parties only!<\/p>\n
\nBIOSPHERE (7\/14-7\/16), LAST ACTION HERO (7\/20)<\/p>\n
\nINDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY (7\/14-7\/16)<\/p>\n
\nTRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS (7\/14-7\/16)<\/p>\n
\nMISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE, TOP GUN: MAVERICK (Screen 1), SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (animation), INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR (7\/14-7\/16, 7\/19-7\/20)<\/p>\n