C-U Blogfidential

Select movie listings for July 26-August 1, 2024 in Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond! Did you take a peek at the Images of the week?

Select movie listings for July 19-25, 2024 in Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond! Did you take a peek at the Image of the week? And, have you memorized the Confidential Almanac for today?

At one time, four indie television shows were being worked on simultaneously in downstate Illinois. Only PEORIA has persisted with little interruption. What happened to the rest? These are their stories.

Wouldn’t be prudent for us to promote this weekend’s UIUC and ISU student film shows without honoring the 50th anniversary of the UI student-made ‘MaGuffin’ and SHOT as well. Get learned!

Illinois native Shea VanLaningham tried to crack the indie horror market with DEAD BODIES EVERYWHERE some 10 years ago. We thought it had been long buried. We were dead wrong.

Where have all the good times gone? That is one of several major understatements for today. Do your civic duty, C-Uvians, and then consider whether our film culture can rebuild after the drought.

Ye Ed is rooting for the film culture of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, to rebound from the turbulence of recent years. Not everything will survive, such as the theaters he recently photographed.

In a restructuring effort by new ownership, the Goodrich Quality Theaters chain has decided to let go of the Savoy 16 IMAX in Savoy, IL. It could reopen if another tenant-operator fills the void.

Nationwide consensus is that small businesses and organizations will get raked over the coals before the pandemic is over. We look at how a first-run, mixed-use, and former movie theater are doing.

Self-restriction has been lifted as your humble editor rockets out the gate with fresh words on important topics and miscellany as well as dear old Dad. He might mention a few filmy things on top of that.

Once upon a time, next to no one in our society knew how to make movies. Traveling impresarios of a century ago made sure to tease the average citizen with the possibilities in programs like ‘Making Movies.’

The unused Lincoln Square Theatre in downtown Decatur, Illinois, is showing signs of disrepair on its exterior. Residents and officials may be at a tipping point in deciding the fate of the venue.

Once again, the archives at MFHQ trigger your humble editor into remembering times of a different creative energy. Herein we have evidence of his stab at fashioning attire for a lost short film project.

The scenes from a film culture that we have been watching mostly from afar fill us with mild disenchantment instead of wonder. And then we were ordered to self-shelter and keep personal spaces to ourselves. Joy.

We’re not sure what to tell you. Chances are good our reel life will give way to real life. It may mean the end, a new beginning, a suspended animation, a salvage mission. Choosing your own misadventure sucks.