Calendar: July 23-29, 2021
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!
7/23: Randy Wheat (owner, Imagemaker Video Productions, Normal, IL)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
I’m only laying down one story of interest instead of multiple because, as they say, it’s been a week. However, the story is a good one. Echoing both our previous Field Report about former local college students who struck it big in entertainment and today’s Almanac repeat, let’s enjoy the saga of T.J. Newman, an alumna of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. After graduation in 2006, she tried her hand at acting in New York theater before giving up and moving back home to Arizona, where she became a flight attendant like other family members. A local book store sparked her interest in writing and through perseverance, as told recently to Christopher Borrelli of the Chicago Tribune and Kayla Holliday of Vanity Fair, she arrived at the airborne thriller Falling, her first novel. Published this month by Simon & Schuster after the movie rights were sold in advance to Universal Studios, Falling made its debut at no. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list and has sold more than 33,000 copies to date. This flight risk was worth it.
CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History
25 Years Ago … Thursday, July 25, 1996: James R. Velde, a former Hollywood executive, passes away at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA, at age 82, according to an obituary published by the Los Angeles Daily News. Velde spent his entire career in the motion picture industry apart from serving in the United States army during World War II, starting at a regional shipping office of Paramount Pictures in the mid-1930s and eventually retiring in 1977 as a senior vice president of United Artists after nearly 30 years with that studio. He is well regarded in the industry for his innovations in film distribution and marketing as well as philanthropy. A native of Bloomington, IL, Velde joined Paramount after graduating from Illinois Wesleyan University, per a 1976 Boxoffice magazine article. [R]
LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ online Zoom
Giertz Gallery at Parkland College presents “Around the Block III” webinar feat. multidisciplinary artists Keenan Dailey (GREENE)* and Crystal Hartman (WHITE CHOCOLATE)* (7/28, 6 p.m.) Register
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
OLD, SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS, BLACK WIDOW, THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS, CRUELLA, ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, F9: THE FAST SAGA, THE FOREVER PURGE, THE HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD, A QUIET PLACE PART II, SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY, ZOLA (7/23 on), THE GREEN KNIGHT, JUNGLE CRUISE, STILLWATER (7/29 on)
@ Busey Bank, Urbana, IL
The Urbana Free Library and Urbana Arts and Culture Program present “Cinema & Sound” event feat. BLACK PANTHER, live performance by Ibrahim Ouedraogo (7/28, 7 p.m., parking lot)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
JOE BELL, OLD, SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS, BLACK WIDOW, THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS, ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, F9: THE FAST SAGA, THE FOREVER PURGE, A QUIET PLACE PART II, ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN, SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (7/23 on), WEATHERING WITH YOU (animé; 7/25, 3 p.m.; 7/27, 7 p.m.), JURASSIC PARK (7/25, 3 & 7 p.m.; 7/28, 7 p.m.), ABOMINABLE, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (7/27-7/29, 10 a.m.), The Metropolitan Opera: Carmen (7/28, 1 & 6:30 p.m., recorded), JUNGLE CRUISE (7/29 on)
@ Redbox, Champaign-Urbana, IL
DIE IN A GUNFIGHT, HELD, INITIATION, OUT OF DEATH, SPIRAL: FROM THE BOOK OF SAW, more! (7/20 on) Online rentals
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
OLD, SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS, BLACK WIDOW, THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS, ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (7/23 on)
@ AMC Peru Mall 8, Peru, IL
Closed for remodeling.
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS, 12 MIGHTY ORPHANS, SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (7/23-7/25)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
No movies this week!
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
BLACK WIDOW (Screen 1), SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (Screen 2) (7/23-7/28), JUNGLE CRUISE (Screen 1), OLD (Screen 2) (7/29 on)
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
Private rentals for the week.
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (7/23-7/25), THE GOONIES (7/24-7/25)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
Closed for the week.
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
A QUIET PLACE PART II (7/23-7/25)
@ Route 34 Drive-in, Earlville, IL
SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY, GODZILLA VS. KONG (7/23-7/25)
@ Route 66 Twin Drive-in, Springfield, IL
SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS, A QUIET PLACE PART II (Screen 1), THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS, BLACK WIDOW (Screen 2) (7/23-7/25, 7/28-7/29)
@ Roxy Cinemas, Ottawa, IL
OLD, SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS, BLACK WIDOW, THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS, ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (7/23 on), JUNGLE CRUISE (7/29 on)
@ Streator Eagle 6, Streator, IL
OLD, SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS, BLACK WIDOW, THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS, ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (7/23 on), THE FOREVER PURGE (7/23-7/24), HAPPY FEET (7/27-7/28, 10 a.m.), JUNGLE CRUISE (7/29 on),
NOW PLAYING | Midwest
@ Pilsen’s ChiTown Movies drive-in, Chicago, IL
Midwest Film Festival presents “Summer Bash & Comedy Screening” feat. DJ Ca$h Era (7/28, 7 p.m.)
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
9/8-9/11
22nd Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
10/22-10/23
Dark History and Horror Convention’s Screaming Mad Film Festival 2.1
@ I Hotel and Conference Center, UIUC, Champaign, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
Illini Union Board Presents “Summer Quad Film Series”
@ Anniversary Plaza, Main Quad, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 9 p.m., free
8/5: GODZILLA VS. KONG
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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