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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 12\/27: Matthew Gladney (co-host, Mashley at the Movies<\/span> podcast, Champaign-Urbana, IL) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n PASSINGS | You Will Be Missed<\/strong><\/p>\n 12\/22: Jim Hambrick, 70 (founder\/curator, Super Museum, Metropolis, IL)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said<\/strong><\/p>\n Seems the conference room consensus at MFHQ Deux<\/strong> is we\u2019re allowed to file a short Report<\/strong> because we deserve a break this week. To that end, in remembrance of the holiday road that was traveled annually for many years by Ye Ed<\/strong> to visit his much-missed Ma<\/strong> and Pa JaPan<\/strong>, we present a few items related to Bloomington-Normal<\/strong>, his rest stop of choice in between Champaign-Urbana<\/strong> and Mendota<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The news room at WGLT<\/strong> radio, the NPR<\/strong> affiliate station housed on the Illinois State University<\/strong> campus, reported earlier this month that a new program, MCLEAN COUNTY: THE EARLY YEARS<\/strong>, would premiere<\/a><\/span> on Thursday, December 5<\/strong>, by the producing PBS<\/strong> station, WTVP-TV<\/strong> of Peoria<\/strong>; written and hosted by H. Wayne Wilson<\/strong>, the show covers a centuries-spanning history of the fertile land that would become prime farming country and the largest county by square mile in Illinois<\/strong>, including all the pains of maturation that it entailed. The next air date on WTVP is scheduled for Saturday, January 18<\/strong>, at 11 p.m.<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Entertainment Weekly<\/span><\/strong> elected to zero in on comments made by the actor-writer-director Jesse Eisenberg<\/strong> to GQ<\/span><\/strong> about his performance opposite Jason Segel<\/strong> in THE END OF THE TOUR<\/strong>, which he calls \u201cone of the most creatively inspiring experiences\u201d of his career<\/a><\/span>; the 2015 movie fictionalizes an encounter between Rolling Stone<\/span><\/strong> reporter David Lipsky<\/strong> and the Infinite Jest<\/span><\/strong> novelist David Foster Wallace<\/strong>, who was an instructor in English at ISU when the real-life meeting took place between the two in 1996.<\/p>\n Last week, the writer, film producer, and B-N native Jason Huls<\/strong> revealed that his recent cosmic horror short subject, THAT DAMNED YELLOW RAINCOAT<\/strong>, had been picked up for inclusion in the anthology series BLOODY BITES<\/strong> on Screambox TV<\/strong> and the episode will premiere tonight, Friday, December 27<\/strong>, at 7 p.m. CST<\/strong> and repeat at 10:30 p.m.<\/strong> on the linear stream that is available in various cable packages and on this website<\/a><\/span>. The story is about a suburban couple (Meg Elliott, Christopher Meister<\/strong>) whose marriage is clearly on the outs, but what isn\u2019t clear is why a young woman (Marina Schenk<\/strong>) in a canary slicker is flitting about their home. Huls also talks on his Substack<\/strong> account<\/a><\/span> about two more shorts, THE FAWN<\/strong> and a follow-up to BEYOND THE BASEMENT DOOR<\/strong>, among his creative endeavors of 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n And, adding to our list of upcoming cinema-and-a-celebrity-or-two screenings<\/a><\/span> that we first told you about a few Report<\/strong> filings back, we have learned the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts<\/strong> has something called \u201cInsidious: The Further You Fear<\/strong>\u201d on tap for Friday, February 7<\/strong>.<\/a><\/span> We use the term loosely here in that the \u201cstar\u201d is the INSIDIOUS<\/strong> horror franchise itself and its various characters will play a part in a \u201cparanormal demonstration\u201d that unleashes havoc on the theater and its audience. We think<\/em>. Maybe\u2026?<\/p>\n To close on a seasonally weird-o note, the endlessly awesome \u201cWindy City Ballyhoo<\/strong>\u201d page on Facebook<\/strong> shared an advertisement that ran sixty years ago in Chicago<\/strong> newspapers<\/a><\/span> to herald the opening of K. Gordon Murray<\/strong>\u2019s all-ages matinee of LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AND HER FRIENDS<\/strong>, a fantasy import in disguise, and SANTA\u2019S MAGIC KINGDOM<\/strong>, an extremely odd time capsule filmed by Murray at the Santa\u2019s Village<\/strong> attraction in suburban Dundee<\/strong> that was one-part promotion for those parks and one-part an unofficial sequel to Murray\u2019s Mexico<\/strong>-produced stable like RIDING HOOD, PUSS \u2018N BOOTS<\/strong>, and SANTA CLAUS<\/strong>. It\u2019s still<\/em> mind-boggling to us, even after sorting out the sordid for this previous Report<\/strong><\/a><\/span> and in the Almanac<\/strong> entry below, which recalls when the Florida<\/strong> B-movie ballyhoo king moved his campaign down to the Castle Theatre<\/strong> in Bloomington, where he lived in his adolescent years, later the same month.<\/p>\n Oh, right<\/em>. We were going to keep it short. We actually meant \u201crelatively short compared to recent weeks\u201d and we can\u2019t move on to the Calendar<\/strong> listings until we drop yet another<\/em> local cinema bombshell on you folks. This time, the catch is it gets totally personal for your friendly neighborhood Mr. JaPan<\/strong>. Read on.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n IMAGERY DU C-U | Picturing Our Scene on the Screen<\/strong><\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n I have a confession to make. I\u2019ve kept a \u201cEureka! I\u2019ve found it!\u201d<\/a><\/span> moment up my sleeve until now. It\u2019s surprising, it\u2019s fleeting, it\u2019s seminal, and it has revived a memory in my life.<\/p>\n What happens when you\u2019re browsing the socials and, in the most unlikely of places, you happen upon archival evidence of \u2026 yourself?<\/em><\/p>\n I recently built a Report<\/strong> around headlines<\/a><\/span> that I found while scrolling on my phone. For better or worse, I do it a little bit every day despite having the personal laptop and work iMac sitting here within easy reach at MFHQ Deux<\/strong>. However, on September 7<\/strong>, I came across a video that looked pretty neat because of older interests and then found something long lost to me.<\/p>\n In my pre-teens, I loved the monsters of the movies and it centered on Famous Monsters of Filmland<\/span><\/strong> magazine from Warren Publishing<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, although I was late to the \u201cMonster Kid\u201d party by a generation. The first issue my parents bought for me was #168, dating from 1980 and sporting the CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND<\/strong> aliens on its cover. The number that hooked me was issue 175 from 1981, which featured the summer fantasy hits-to-be like RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, CLASH OF THE TITANS, SUPERMAN II<\/strong>, and \u2026 RODAN<\/strong>? If you know me, you know my lifelong soft spot for kaiju<\/em>.<\/p>\n There was an old-fashioned newsstand in Plano, Illinois<\/strong>, where I lived when I was little. The owners saved a copy of every new FM<\/span> issue for me behind the counter and I would walk there after school to buy it, weather allowing. When it was time for the hotly anticipated 25th anniversary issue to ship in early 1983, it never showed up. I had to read about the cancellation of issue 192 and closing down of Warren in the pages of Starlog<\/span><\/strong> magazine a few months later at a Waldenbooks<\/strong> store. A cultural gut punch to a kid is not<\/em> fun when it happens in public.<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n A decade later and less than two weeks after I crossed the stage in my cap and gown at Illinois Wesleyan University<\/strong> of Bloomington<\/strong> to accept a BFA degree in graphic arts, I boarded an airplane with my father William<\/strong> so we could travel to my graduation present, which was to attend the Famous Monsters World Convention<\/strong> in Arlington, Virginia<\/strong>. May of 1993 was more or less the 35th anniversary of the debut of FM<\/span>, so the promoters were playing it up with the promise that attendees would receive copies of the first new FM<\/span> issue since, well, the issue before the issue that never arrived<\/a><\/span>. Attractions included a giant dealers\u2019 room, panel discussions, and appearances by FM<\/span> editor and figurehead Forrest J Ackerman<\/strong> along with several of the old-guard talents who were fixtures in the pages of the original magazine.<\/p>\n This included the legendary science-fiction author Ray Bradbury<\/strong>. I knew it and went prepared.<\/p>\n So, I was lazy-scrolling on my phone and came across a video posted by the \u201cHorror Ads<\/strong>\u201d page on Facebook<\/strong>. A convoluted headline \u2013 \u201c35 Years of Famous Monsters of Filmland on Wild Chicago\/ET, 1993\u201d<\/a><\/span> \u2013 made it sound like the Chicago<\/strong>-centric magazine program WILD CHICAGO<\/strong> had covered the convention for some reason. \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll watch,\u201d I thought.<\/p>\n The video is actually two segments ripped from someone\u2019s old VHS tapes. In the first, CHICAGO<\/strong> reporter Will Clinger<\/strong> ventures into the north suburbs to visit with lo-fi monster movie maker David \u201cThe Rock\u201d Nelson<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, a former boxer and street preacher who found a new calling with his camcorder on hand. In the second, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT<\/strong> takes in the Famous Monsters<\/span> convention and talks with several of the guests including the Hollywood<\/strong> directors Joe Dante<\/strong> (GREMLINS<\/strong>) and John Landis<\/strong> (THE BLUES BROTHERS<\/strong>), original horror host John Zacherley<\/strong>, scream queen Brinke Stevens<\/strong>, and Ackerman. A smattering of vintage movie props and a few booths bursting with merchandise are also shown.<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n But, wait<\/em>. There at the 5:31 mark, just after a trademark quip with a grin from Landis, is a two-shot of me visiting with Bradbury as he autographs my copy of Something Wicked This Way Comes<\/span><\/strong>. Then it cuts to a few comments from Bradbury and continues. I didn\u2019t remember that a professional cameraman had been crouching next to me when our encounter took place. In fact, I\u2019ve never seen this ET<\/strong> segment before now<\/em>. Dad and I were still on the East Coast when the episode aired more than thirty-one years ago.<\/p>\n As the moment re-materializes in my head, I now remember that my mother Patricia<\/strong> told me \u201cThe Grandmas<\/strong>,\u201d my grandmother and great-grandmother on Mom\u2019s side of the family who lived together in suburban Stickney<\/strong>, had seen me on television. ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT<\/strong> was one of several shows they routinely watched after dinner. They wouldn\u2019t have had the presence to tape that episode, though. I don\u2019t recall if they even had a VCR at that point. A heads-up horror fan must have recorded it for posterity and I will project a big and loud \u201cthank you\u201d to the universe on behalf of them.<\/p>\n Of course, I still have the paperback. I read it again a few years ago. It is meaningful in large part due to its themes about the passage of time and fears over aging and losing family and regaining memories and having the possible wonders of our world sucked away by dark forces in a moment\u2019s breath. And also, the emotional through-line of a relationship between an older father and a fresh-faced son with a lifetime still ahead for at least one of them.<\/p>\n As it turns out, that book and all the swirling recollections about it aren\u2019t going anywhere. I may not \u201clive forever\u201d like Bradbury’s sideshow muse, Mr. Electrico<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, but I can sure try for as long as I breathe and type.<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History<\/strong><\/p>\n 60 Years Ago<\/strong> \u2026 Saturday, December 19, 1964:<\/em> The Castle Theater<\/strong> in downtown Bloomington, Illinois<\/strong>, delights the children of the community with a special premiere of LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AND HER FRIENDS<\/strong> attended by one of the stars, Stinky the Skunk, and its distributor, K. Gordon Murray<\/strong>. An English-language version of CAPERUCITA Y SUS TRES AMIGOS<\/strong>, the second of three similar movies from Mexico<\/strong> about Red\u2019s adventures in faraway lands with various fantasy companions<\/a><\/span>, this \u201ckiddie matinee\u201d is typical of the product imported and released by Murray\u2019s eponymous K. Gordon Murray Productions, Inc.<\/strong>, of Miami, Florida<\/strong>. Between the colorful marketing materials, easily catching the eyes of young theater goers, and the cheery ballyhoo at locations like the Castle, creating excitement for low-budget fairy tales wild with imagination, it is clear that Bloomington native Murray has successfully applied the entrepreneurial lessons he learned<\/span><\/a> while growing up adjacent to a world of carnivals, fairs, and circuses. For today\u2019s event, Robert Powers<\/strong> wears the replica skunk outfit in a more benign twist on the shambling horror costumes and gnarly props foisted on unsuspecting audiences by the likes of William Castle<\/strong>. Rafael Aldrete<\/strong>, known as \u201cEl Enano Santan\u00f3n<\/strong><\/a><\/span>,\u201d played the diminutive Stinky in the film series as well as Puss n\u2019 Boots in a standalone Murray offering, all directed and produced by Roberto Rodr\u00edguez<\/strong> between 1960 and 1962 at the famous Churubusco-Azteca Studios<\/strong> in Mexico City<\/strong>. [R]<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers<\/strong><\/p>\n @ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, 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> @ 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!<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | The Cities Beyond<\/strong><\/p>\n @ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL<\/strong> @ Clintonia Eagle Theater, Clinton, IL<\/strong> @ Crescent Cinemas, Pontiac, IL<\/strong> @ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL<\/strong>
\n12\/30: Paul Benson (gaffer, F\u2019D: TALES FROM THE END TIMES, Horror-Fix Films, Springfield, IL)
\n12\/30: Jason Pankoke (editor\/publisher, C-U Blogfidential<\/span> + The MICRO-FILM Review<\/span>, Mendota, IL)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\nChambana Film Festival* screening series feat. \u201cShort Docs\u201d incl. THE QUILTERS, CYCLING WITHOUT AGE, FACING THE FALLS (12\/29, 4 p.m.)<\/p>\n
\nBABYGIRL, BABY JOHN (in Hindi with English sub), A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, THE FIRE INSIDE, GLADIATOR II, HER STORY (in Mandarin with English sub), HOMESTEAD (faith film), KRAVEN THE HUNTER, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM* (animation), MOANA 2 (animation), MUFASA: THE LION KING, NOSFERATU, RED ONE*, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3, WICKED (12\/27 on) *single screenings daily<\/p>\n
\nBABYGIRL, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, THE FIRE INSIDE, GLADIATOR II, HOMESTEAD (faith film), KRAVEN THE HUNTER, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM* (animation), MOANA 2 (animation), MUFASA: THE LION KING, NOSFERATU, RED ONE, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3, WICKED (12\/27 on) *single screenings daily<\/p>\n
\nNo movies until Roger Ebert\u2019s Film Festival in April 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nHOMESTEAD, MUFASA: THE LION KING, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 (12\/26-12\/29)<\/p>\n
\nBABYGIRL, HOMESTEAD, MUFASA: THE LION KING, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3, WICKED (12\/27 on),<\/p>\n
\nClosed for the week.<\/p>\n