Calendar: Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2020
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!
11/3: Wes Melton (actor, CHRISTMAS CRASHERS, No Man’s Land Productions, Los Angeles, CA)
MFHQ MEMO | From Chambana Mendota with Love Transparency
Since I saw the news break right before I visited the C-U this week, I stopped at Dallas & Company during happy hour on Thursday to see what I could see. A line of customers waited patiently to make their Halloween and keepsake purchases, while founder Andy Dallas amused them with card tricks as he has done plenty of times throughout his years selling costumes, party supplies, novelties, and tools of a magician’s trade. The ultimate sleight of hand in his repertoire – running a successful local business and keeping it in the family for nearly five decades – will be retired at the end of 2020, however. If you would like to soak up one last round of rainbow-colored theatricality and rubbery gruesomeness that covers nearly every square inch of the shop, plan to visit 101 E. University Avenue in midtown Champaign between 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. either today, Friday, October 30, or Saturday, October 31. Afterwards, you won’t be able to look through the goods again until Dallas holds a liquidation sale in December, as revealed by a News-Gazette article from earlier this week, and remote shopping is null and void since their website and Facebook page have been taken down. It is another dispiriting loss of a physical entertainment space in our community, forced in part by the coronavirus pandemic as with so many other closures, and we have no way to predict what will survive the corresponding economic downturn.
Accentuating the obvious, I followed a hunch while compiling this week’s Calendar and confirmed the Lincoln Family Theater & Community Center of nearby Lincoln had ceased operations at some point between the spring outbreak of COVID-19 infections and the present day. In fact, the facility has been foreclosed upon and put up for sale as of last week for $1.2 million, explained as a bargain of sorts by an editorial published in the Lincoln Courier newspaper. (This is not the first round of major money issues for the complex, built around a 1960s movie house and renamed the Lincoln Grand 8 at first before a last gasp effort presented under “family activity” and religious pretenses.) In line with other recent closures in the area, I want to believe someone with resources and drive will come along to revive the property and put it to smart use, but for now it’s difficult to process the cascade of vanishing acts.
LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ online Zoom
C-U Cinefile virtual meeting (10/30, 11/6, 4 p.m.) Join mailing list
@ online YouTube
For Art’s Sake streaming event, “Halloween Double Feature! (THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE and A CHINESE GHOST STORY)” (10/30, 7 p.m. on) View
@ online Zoom
Illini Film & Video virtual meeting (11/2, 8 p.m.) Join mailing list
@ online YouTube & Facebook
UI College of Media presents Ebert Symposium Series, “Representation in Media,” moderated by Angharad Valdivia, featuring Christine Simmons, Keri Carpenter, Samantha Chatman, and Troy Pryor (11/5, 5 p.m.) Information
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, COME PLAY, POLTERGEIST (1982), V FOR VENDETTA, 2 HEARTS, THE EMPTY MAN, HONEST THIEF, TENET, THE WAR WITH GRANDPA (10/30 on), MONSTERS INC. (10/30-11/1, 11/3), HOCUS POCUS (10/30-11/1), THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (10/31-11/1), THE ADDAMS FAMILY (2019) (10/31, 11/2, 11/4), LET HIM GO (11/5 on)
@ Family Video, Champaign-Urbana, IL
FATIMA, FRIENDSGIVING, THE PALE DOOR, CRITICAL THINKING, NO ESCAPE, ALONE, ATTACK OF THE UNKNOWN, OUJIA MUMMY, more! (10/27 on)
@ Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Throwback Films at the Union” feat. JURASSIC PARK, Illini Union Ballroom, 2nd floor (10/30, 7 p.m.; free w/i-card)
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
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, COME PLAY, THE EMPTY MAN, HONEST THIEF, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THE WAR WITH GRANDPA (10/30-11/1)
@ AMC Peru Mall 8, Peru, IL
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, COME PLAY, THE EMPTY MAN, HONEST THIEF, MONSTERS INC., THE NEW MUTANTS, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THE WAR WITH GRANDPA (10/30-11/1)
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN ON THE ROCKS, THE WAR WITH GRANDPA (10/30-11/1), HALLOWEEN (1978) (10/30-10/31), THE CHANGELING hosted by Troy Taylor (10/31, 8:30 p.m.)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
“Poe and Company – Tales of the Macabre” stage performance (10/30-10/31, 7 p.m.)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
“Wicked Weekend 2”: MONSTERS INC., HOCUS POCUS (Screen 1), THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, SLEEPY HOLLOW (Screen 2) (10/30-10/31)
@ The Lincoln Family Theater & Community Center, Lincoln, IL
Closed.
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
Closed for the week.
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (10/30-10/31), HOCUS POCUS (10/31), THE KID (11/1), THE GREAT DICTATOR (11/1), CITY LIGHTS (11/5). “Living Room Film Festival” virtual screenings: WHITE RIOT (through 11/12) Purchase
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
Closed for the week.
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
Closed for the week.
@ Route 34 Drive-in, Earlville, IL
HOCUS POCUS, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (10/30-11/1)
@ Route 66 Twin Drive-in, Springfield, IL
Closed for the season!
@ Roxy Cinemas, Ottawa, IL
COME PLAY, HALLOWEEN (1978), 2 HEARTS, AFTER WE COLLIDED, THE EMPTY MAN, HOCUS POCUS, HONEST THIEF, MONSTERS INC., THE WAR WITH GRANDPA (10/30 on)
@ Streator Eagle 6, Streator, IL
COME PLAY, SPELL, AFTER WE COLLIDED, THE EMPTY MAN, HONEST THIEF, THE WAR WITH GRANDPA (10/30 on), HALLOWEEN (1978), FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) (10/30-10/31), THE ADDAMS FAMILY (2019) (11/1-11/5)
NOW PLAYING | Midwest
For detailed and curated listings of Chicago-area film presentations and related events, as well as cancellations and postponements due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, please visit the fine folks at Cine-File and subscribe to their definitive “Cine-List” weekly blast.
COMING SOON | Area-wide Events
11/5
Ebert Symposium Series 2020
@ College of Media, UIUC, Urbana, IL (virtual event)
11/6-11/7
19th annual Route 66 Film Festival
@ State House Inn, Springfield, IL
11/12-11/14
Small Press Fest!
@ University Library, UIUC, Urbana, IL (virtual event)
9/8-9/11, 2021
22nd Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
Illini Union Board presents “Throwback Films at the Union”
@ Illini Union Ballroom, 2nd floor, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m. Fri., free w/i-card
10/30: JURASSIC PARK; 11/6: MALCOLM X; 11/13: CLUELESS; 11/20: THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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“Calendar du C-U”
© 2020 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential