Calendar: May 3-9, 2019
Our movie and media Calendar appears every Friday/Saturday on C-U Blogfidential and caters to the downstate region anchored by Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA.
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MILESTONES | Happy Birthday to You!
5/4: Andrew J. Rausch (author, My Best Friend’s Birthday: The Making of a Quentin Tarantino Film)
5/5: Chris Lukeman (co-owner, C-U Adventures in Time & Space)
CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History
25 Years Ago … Sunday, May 8, 1994: Feature drama WITH HONORS, partly filmed on University of Illinois campus, ends 2nd weekend of wide release through Warner Bros. as top-grossing movie in North America with $3.7 million. Fellow college-set comedy, PCU, takes 11th slot on box-office chart with just under $1 million gross, also in 2nd week wide through 20th Century Fox; co-producer is UIUC alum and American Film Institute faculty Barry Sabath. Box Office Mojo [R]
100 Years Ago … Monday, April 28, 1919: A lighthearted moving picture called LOVE’S YOUNG DREAM premieres at the New Orpheum Theatre in downtown Champaign, IL, the result of a unique collaboration that has kept the Twin Cities buzzing. According to several reports published by the Daily Illini in the past month, promoter Joseph Maddern and Orpheum manager R.V. Mallory set the intrigue in motion when they announced a casting call for a film comedy – “You may become a famous star!” the advertising boasted – to be made primarily at the Orpheum itself with local talent. Maddern, a former Broadway actor and producer for the Keystone and Pathé film companies, took up residence aside the Orpheum’s regular program of vaudeville acts to present “Making Movies,” during which audiences had the opportunity to watch the creation of LOVE’S YOUNG DREAM. Tom Ward, the director of the project, led his crew to use the Orpheum’s traditional stage as if it were a movie stage in Hollywood, completing one or two scenes per “performance” for a full week beginning on Monday, April 14. Panoramic views of the auditorium filled with curiosity seekers were taken at each show and figure in the final reel, just like the images these impresarios captured two weeks ago at the University of Illinois with students busying themselves on the quadrangle and in Lincoln Hall. The completed version of LOVE’S YOUNG DREAM will play the Orpheum through Saturday, May 3, sharing the bill with comedians, singers, dramatists, xylophonists, a jazz quintet, and Wanda, “the seal with a human brain.” Ward and Maddern would keep their demonstration on the road for at least several years, appearing as late as December 1923 in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. The former is forgotten today except for this line of hucksterism and brief appearances on the silent silver screen; the latter is noted as a contract director on the Mack Sennett/Keystone comedy short, TWENTY MINUTES OF LOVE, regarded by some scholars as the first film where upcoming star Charlie Chaplin exerted his creative influence over the final product.
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ The Art Theater, Champaign, IL
HIGH LIFE, AMAZING GRACE (5/3 on), John Singleton tribute: BOYZ N THE HOOD (5/5, 2 p.m.), Late Night: CHRISTINE (5/3-5/4, 9:30 p.m.)
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
THE INTRUDER, LONG SHOT, UGLYDOLLS, AVENGERS: ENDGAME, BREAKTHROUGH, CAPTAIN MARVEL, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA, LITTLE, PENGUINS, SHAZAM!, US (5/3 on), Chonda Pierce: “Unashamed” (5/7, 5/9, 7 p.m.), THE HUSTLE (5/8 on), POKÉMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU, POMS (5/9 on)
@ Family Video, Champaign-Urbana, IL
MISS BALA, SERENITY, ARCTIC, LEVEL 16, THE HOLE IN THE GROUND, more! (4/30 on)
@ Goodrich Savoy 16, Savoy, IL
THE INTRUDER, LONG SHOT, UGLYDOLLS, AVENGERS: ENDGAME, BREAKTHROUGH, CAPTAIN MARVEL, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA, LITTLE, MISSING LINK, SHAZAM! (5/3 on), Canelo Alvarez vs. Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs boxing match (5/4, 8 p.m.), MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (5/5, 5/8), CODE GEASS: LELOUCH OF THE RE;SURRECTION (5/5, 10:55 a.m., subtitled; 5/7-5/8, 9:15 p.m., dubbed), Chonda Pierce: “Unashamed” (5/7, 5/9, 7 p.m.),
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
Reel Deals: SPIRITED AWAY (5/7, 5/9, 7 p.m.), SEDER-MASOCHISM* screening and discussion with filmmaker Nina Paley (5/8, 7 p.m., free)
Events featuring locally produced movies are marked with an asterisk (*). Additional “Now Playing” and “Coming Soon” listings appear after the jump!
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NOW PLAYING | The Cities Beyond
@ AMC Classic Village Mall 6, Danville, IL
LONG SHOT, UGLYDOLLS, AVENGERS: ENDGAME, BREAKTHROUGH, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA (5/3 on)
@ AMC Peru Mall 8, Peru, IL
LONG SHOT, UGLYDOLLS, AVENGERS: ENDGAME, BREAKTHROUGH, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA (5/3 on)
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
BREAKTHROUGH, AVENGERS: ENDGAME (5/3 on)
@ Bloomington Public Library, Bloomington, IL
VINTAGE TOMORROWS steampunk documentary screening (5/8, 6:30 p.m., free)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
AVENGERS: ENDGAME, CAPTAIN MARVEL (Screen 1), SHAZAM!, AQUAMAN (Screen 2) (5/3-5/5)
@ The Lincoln Family Theater & Community Center, Lincoln, IL
LONG SHOT, UGLYDOLLS, AVENGERS: ENDGAME, BREAKTHROUGH, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA (5/3 on)
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
ALADDIN (1992; 5/3), WRESTLE (5/4-5/5)
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
THE WEDDING GUEST (5/3-5/5), FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1950; 5/5), AMAZING GRACE (5/9)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
MISSING LINK (53-5/5, 5/8)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
SHAZAM! (5/3-5/5)
@ Route 34 Drive-in, Earlville, IL
AVENGERS: ENDGAME, CAPTAIN MARVEL (5/3-5/5)
@ Route 66 Twin Drive-in, Springfield, IL
AVENGERS: ENDGAME, ESCAPE ROOM (Screen 1), BREAKTHROUGH, ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL (Screen 2) (5/3-5/4)
@ Roxy Cinemas, Ottawa, IL
BREAKTHROUGH, LONG SHOT, UGLYDOLLS, AVENGERS: ENDGAME, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA, DUMBO (5/3 on)
NOW PLAYING | Midwest
@ Landmark’s Century Centre Cinemas, Chicago, IL
Midwest Independent Film Festival presents POOH: THE DERRICK ROSE STORY, discussion with filmmaker T. Shawn Taylor and incoming Illinois Film Office director Peter Hawley (5/7, 6 p.m.)
@ The Toby at Newfields, etc., Indianapolis, IN
16th Indy Film Festival (through 5/12)
COMING SOON | Area-wide Events
5/21
Champaign Movie Makers* meeting
@ Champaign Public Library, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m., free
6/5-6/9
26th Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL
6/29
Laugh and Slash Film Festival
@ Garden Hotel, Urbana, IL
8/1-8/4
11th Gen Con Film Festival @ Gen Con, Indianapolis, IN
8/10
7th annual Pens to Lens Screenwriting Competition + Gala*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
9/19-29
37th Reeling LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, Chicago, IL
10/26
Dark History & Horror Con’s Screaming Mad Film Festival
@ The City Center, Champaign, IL, 1:30 p.m.
11/1-11/2
18th annual Route 66 Film Festival
@ Capital City Bar & Grill, Springfield, IL
11/1-11/2
3rd Dead in Decatur Film Festival
@ Decatur Area Arts Council, Decatur, IL
TBD
Issue release: C-U Confidential #10
+ Paper Opteryx, Champaign, IL
TBD
10th New Art Film Festival*, Champaign, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
5/25: THE THIN MAN; 6/22: ON THE WATERFRONT; 7/13: STAGE DOOR
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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“Calendar du C-U”
© 2019 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential