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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 5\/4: Andrew J. Rausch (contributor, Screem Magazine<\/span>, Wilkes Barre, PA)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said<\/strong><\/p>\n Starting out, we\u2019ll be adding to our roll call of end-of-semester showcases that promote the filmmaking efforts of our students; would you believe we didn\u2019t find out about two more of them until after<\/em> we filed the previous Report<\/strong><\/a><\/span>? One is already done and in the books; following the large-scale Foxtail Film Festival<\/strong>, the School of Theatre and Dance<\/strong> at Illinois State University<\/strong> presented \u201cThe Big Screen\u201d program at the Normal Theater<\/strong> on Thursday, May 2<\/strong>, a compilation of collaborations between students who are studying performance disciplines and their peers enrolled in the school\u2019s film and digital media classes<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n The other takes place this coming Wednesday, May 8<\/strong>, and Thursday, May 9<\/strong>, also at the Normal and featuring even more work by the young people of Bloomington-Normal<\/strong>; the annual Heartland Hawk Film Festival<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, sponsored by Heartland Community College<\/strong> of Normal, will present pieces by current students and alumni on the Thursday date and the farming documentary GREENER PASTURES<\/strong>, directed by Samuel-Ali Mirpoorian<\/strong> and recently aired by PBS<\/strong> as a selection of INDEPENDENT LENS<\/strong>, on Wednesday. Both evenings begin at 6 p.m.<\/strong> and are free entry for the public. So, does this finally<\/em> normalize the short subject as a legitimate activity for the underclassmen across our local campuses?<\/p>\n And, as higher learning makes the segue from classes to finals and graduation ceremonies, we\u2019d like to share a few prompts about how students of all ages can learn from and learn to make media thanks to the educators who aren\u2019t in the most likely of places. An article published by the Pantagraph<\/span><\/strong> in March<\/a><\/span> tells of the route taken by Bloomington resident Mel Campbell<\/strong> to turn his love for performing and puppetry into a viable career; he recently joined the cast of PBS Kids<\/strong>\u2019 DONKEY HODIE<\/strong> as \u201cCousin Hodie\u201d and works on the set at WTTW<\/strong> in Chicago<\/strong> for Spiffy Pictures<\/strong> and Fred Rogers Productions<\/strong>. Clips from the official site<\/a><\/span> make it clear the show is designed to teach values and lessons to small children in the PBS tradition established by SESAME STREET, MR. ROGERS\u2019 NEIGHBORHOOD<\/strong>, and many others.<\/p>\n A Facebook<\/strong> share in the early spring let us know that AJ Christensen<\/strong>, a contributor to Pens to Lens<\/strong> films with a creative eye, is front and center in his role at the Advanced Visualization Lab<\/strong> of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications<\/strong><\/a><\/span> at the University of Illinois<\/strong>. In recent activity, Christensen co-hosts with Kalina Borkiewicz<\/strong> a four-week video course, \u201c3-D Data Visualization,\u201d<\/a><\/span> that instructs the viewer on how the translation of research into cinematic visuals can help give literal shape to the fruits of extensive research as well as engage the public in better picturing scientific concepts and theories. NCSA has been a leader in generating CGI renderings for documentaries, feature films, and television for some time now.<\/p>\n Promotional posts on the same remind us that area native Mark Roberts<\/strong> has been going to town with The Bad Mule Rag<\/span><\/strong>, an ongoing collection of wry and satiric poems<\/a><\/span> that has so far inspired two print issues, two album recordings \u2013 the second release features contributions from Gina Schock<\/strong> of The Go-Go\u2019s<\/strong> and actress Cathy Moriarty<\/strong> (NEIGHBORS<\/strong>) \u2013 and more than 10 short films he\u2019s co-created with visual artists from across the United States<\/strong>; at least one video Rag is released every month on YouTube<\/strong><\/a><\/span> and they all incorporate a mix of handmade animation styles and puppetry as well as original music. Roberts is clearly taking a mentorship role in guiding along this film series and the overall project is flourishing.<\/p>\n To close, we\u2019d like to appreciate the gift to the world that was our friend Mark Rubel<\/strong>, who passed away in his adopted home of Nashville<\/strong> a few weeks ago. The producers of PRAIRIE FIRE<\/strong>, the resurrected magazine show of downstate Illinois<\/strong> arts and culture that airs on WILL-TV<\/strong> of Urbana<\/strong>, posted a tribute to Rubel<\/a><\/span> in which he touches on his long career as a recordist and educator at places like Pogo Studios<\/strong> in Champaign<\/strong>, Eastern Illinois University<\/strong> in Charleston<\/strong>, and The Blackbird Academy<\/strong><\/a><\/span> audio engineering school in the Music City via archive footage. Rubel\u2019s guidance and gentle wisdom will be missed. Adieu<\/em>.<\/p>\n p.s.<\/em> This Calendar<\/strong> features the 10th anniversary appearance of the Confidential Almanac<\/strong>. We actually had no intention of sounding short about the box office performance of WITH HONORS<\/strong>. That\u2019s just the writing style we adopted to start out with, not knowing how involved some of the eventual Almanacs<\/strong> would become. Unfortunately, we\u2019ve written only a few original Almanac<\/strong> entries in the last few years, so we\u2019re working through our crib notes to see what historical highlights might be worth encapsulating in the near future. We\u2019ll be updating our Almanac<\/strong> compilation, the \u201cPlot Points du C-U<\/strong>\u201d page, very soon.<\/p>\n p.s.2<\/em> This also means it\u2019s the 30th anniversary of the first (and last?) time Champaign-Urbana would be pictured to any extent in a wide-release Hollywood<\/strong> film that was playing in a theater near you.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History<\/strong><\/p>\n 30 Years Ago<\/strong> \u2026 Sunday, May 8, 1994:<\/em> Feature drama WITH HONORS<\/strong>, partly filmed on University of Illinois<\/strong> campus, ends 2nd weekend of wide release through Warner Bros.<\/strong> as top-grossing movie in North America with $3.7 million. Fellow college-set comedy, PCU<\/strong>, takes 11th slot on box-office chart with just under $1 million gross, also in 2nd week wide through 20th Century Fox<\/strong>; co-producer is UIUC alum and American Film Institute<\/strong> faculty Barry Sabath<\/strong>. Box Office Mojo<\/span><\/a> [R]<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers<\/strong><\/p>\n @ Normal Theater, Normal, 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> @ Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL<\/strong>
\nHeartland Community College presents the Heartland Hawk Film Festival* (5\/8-5\/9, 6 p.m.)<\/p>\n
\nDRAGONKEEPER (animation), THE FALL GUY, STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (re-release), TAROT, ABIGAIL, BOY KILLS WORLD, CHALLENGERS, CIVIL WAR, GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, KUNG FU PANDA 4 (animation), THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE, MONKEY MAN*, UNSUNG HERO (faith film) (5\/3 on), MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: SEED FREEDOM (anim\u00e9) (5\/7, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub; 5\/8, 7 p.m., English dub), KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, NOT ANOTHER CHURCH MOVIE (5\/9 on) *single screenings daily<\/p>\n
\nTHE FALL GUY, STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (re-release), TAROT, ABIGAIL, BOY KILLS WORLD, CHALLENGERS, CIVIL WAR, DUNE: PART TWO, GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE, GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, KUNG FU PANDA 4 (animation), THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE, MONKEY MAN, UNSUNG HERO (faith film) (5\/3 on), JEANNE DU BARRY* (5\/3-5\/7), Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia, more (boxing) (5\/4, 7 p.m., simulcast), UFC 301: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Steve Erceg, more (mixed martial arts) (5\/4, 9 p.m., simulcast), STEEL MAGNOLIAS 35th anniversary (5\/5, 3 & 7 p.m.; 5\/8, 7 p.m.), DIAL \u2018M\u2019 FOR MURDER (5\/5, 3 & 7 p.m.; 5\/8, 7 p.m.), MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: SEED FREEDOM (anim\u00e9) (5\/7, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub; 5\/8, 7 p.m., English dub), KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (5\/9 on) *single screenings daily<\/p>\n
\nIllini Union Board presents \u201cSpring 2024 Weekend Films\u201d feat. THE IRON CLAW, Pine Lounge, 1st floor (5\/3-5\/4, 7 p.m.; free w\/i-card)<\/p>\n