Calendar: September 10-16, 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!
9/14: Tim Cain (journalist, The Herald & Review, Decatur, IL)
9/14: Kimberly Conner (writer/director, Predestined Arts & Entertainment, Springfield, IL)
9/16: Jason Huls (crew, B-Movie Mania HUNTING FOR THE HAG, Into the Night Motion Pictures, Normal, IL)
9/16: Skye Lufsey (interactive producer, St. Louis Community College, St. Louis, MO)
9/16: Jay Rosenstein (producer, Jay Rosenstein Productions, Champaign-Urbana, IL)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
Death-and-rebirth throes of local theaters is the topic du jour for today’s Report. Quietly added to the online 2021-2022 season schedule of the Virginia Theatre, which will finally open back up to the public on Saturday, September 25, after being closed for a year and a half, is an “Arthouse Experience” series curated by Sanford Hess; most titles, beginning with THE ARTIST on Wednesday, September 29, and EMMA. a week later on Wednesday, October 6, may be familiar because they all have played theatrically in the C-U as part of Roger Ebert’s Film Festival at the Virginia or elsewhere in first run. With this gesture, the Champaign Park District gives us a welcome way to revisit these contemporary classics, enjoy their top-flight amenities including a brand-new sound system, and comfortably leave behind the ghost of the Art Theater at the front entrance.
Another central Illinois venue closed in 2020 is the Lincoln Grand in Lincoln, a situation once thought to be a done deal; now owned by VIP Cinemas, the latest from Hollywood has once again been booked to fill the Lincoln’s screens since early July. Visit their website for times and, if you happen to buy a ticket to the Lincoln, peek around for me and see if you can discern how they apparently downsized from eight to six screens in the transition.
And then, as we’re well aware, some venues will struggle to survive throughout a long lifetime for various reasons and there is no telling when they might have exhaled their last. Driving through the small town of Streator a couple of days ago to head northward for Ottawa in Starved Rock country, I caught a rising peak of vintage signage out the corner of my eye and circled around to park for a few moments by Central Park in their downtown. I got out and walked a block over to pay my respects to the boarded façade of the Majestic Theatre, telling all who cared to check in with her one simple thing placed on her marquee lips: “Hope.” You can read the similar histories of the Majestic on this fundraising plea site, posted by the current Majestic co-owner Katie Troccoli, and the requisite Cinema Treasures profile, recounting the peaks and valleys weathered by a 300-seat house that dates back to 1907. More than one closure lasting approximately a decade marks its timeline and, after a drawn-out appeal to raise financing for the installation of digital projection was finally met in mid-2014, the Majestic shut its doors that August due to a business dispute. Considering the same family has owned the also-still-shuttered Will Rogers Theater in Charleston since late 2011, who knows what we should take from the situation other than “movie exhibition is even harder than expected in the current climate.” I’m sure every setback and slight feels like a gut punch. May they find ways to definitively turn the lights back on at both sites and serve their communities well.
LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ Gregory Hall, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Film & Video* meeting, Room 100 (9/13, 7 p.m.)
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
MALIGNANT, SHOW ME THE FATHER, CANDYMAN, DON’T BREATHE 2, FREE GUY, JUNGLE CRUISE, THE NIGHT HOUSE, PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE, SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (9/10 on)
@ Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Fall 2021 Weekend Films” feat. MORTAL KOMBAT, Pine Lounge, 1st floor (9/10-9/11, 7 p.m.; free w/i-card)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
MALIGNANT, SHOW ME THE FATHER, BLACK WIDOW, CANDYMAN, DON’T BREATHE 2, FREE GUY, JUNGLE CRUISE, PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE, RESPECT, SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, THE SUICIDE SQUAD (9/10 on), FREE BURMA RANGERS (documentary, 9/13, 7 p.m.), LABYRINTH 35th anniversary (9/13, 9/15, 7 p.m.), FOREVER GOLDEN! A CELEBRATION OF THE GOLDEN GIRLS (television special, 9/14, 7 p.m.), THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS extended edition (9/15, 7 p.m.), EATING OUR WAY TO EXTINCTION (documentary, 9/16, 7 p.m.), PROMARE (animé, dubbed, 9/16, 7 p.m.)
@ Redbox, Champaign-Urbana, IL
THE GATEWAY, THE GIRL WHO GOT AWAY, GREAT WHITE, more! (9/7 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
MALIGNANT, CANDYMAN, FREE GUY, JUNGLE CRUISE, PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE, SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (9/10 on)
@ AMC Peru Mall 8, Peru, IL
MALIGNANT, CANDYMAN, FREE GUY, JUNGLE CRUISE, PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE, SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (9/10 on)
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
MALIGNANT, FREE GUY, PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE (9/10-9/12)
@ The Devon G. Buffett Amphitheater, Decatur, IL
Decatur Park District and Scott State Bank present “Movies in the Park” feat. SOUL (9/10, sunset)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
ZERO DARK THIRTY (9/11, 7 p.m.)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
“Flashback Weekend” feat. THE GOONIES, SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (Screen 1), UNCLE BUCK, FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF (Screen 2) (9/10-9/11)
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
Private rentals for the week.
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
DON’T GO GENTLE: A FILM ABOUT IDLES (9/12), ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL (9/16)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
Closed for the week.
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (9/10-9/12)
@ Route 34 Drive-in, Earlville, IL
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, JUNGLE CRUISE (9/10-9/12)
@ Route 66 Twin Drive-in, Springfield, IL
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, FREE GUY (Screen 1), MALIGNANT, OLD (Screen 2) (9/10-9/12)
@ Roxy Cinemas, Ottawa, IL
MALIGNANT, CANDYMAN, DON’T BREATHE 2, FREE GUY, JUNGLE CRUISE, PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE, SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (9/10 on)
@ Streator Eagle 6, Streator, IL
MALIGNANT, CANDYMAN, FREE GUY, JUNGLE CRUISE, PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE, SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (9/10 on), WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING (9/10-9/11, 10:30 p.m.)
BACK OPEN! @ VIP Lincoln Grand 6, Lincoln, IL
MALIGNANT, CANDYMAN, DON’T BREATHE 2, FREE GUY, JUNGLE CRUISE, PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE, SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (9/10 on),
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
9/23-10/7
Reeling: The 39th Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival
@ Music Box Theater/Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema + virtual, Chicago, 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
11/5-11/15
20th Route 66 Film Festival
@ Springfield, IL (virtual event)
11/5-11/7
28th Chicago Underground Film Festival
@ The Logan Theatre, Chicago, IL
4/20-4/23, 2022
22nd Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
“The Arthouse Experience Film Series” curated by Sanford Hess
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
9/29: THE ARTIST; 10/6: EMMA.; 11/3: MOONLIGHT; 12/6: COLD WAR; 1/19/22: WILD TALES; 2/23/22: ADAPTATION; 3/23/22: THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS; 4/6/22: BIG NIGHT; 5/25/22: EIGHTH GRADE; 6/1/22: THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Illini Union Board presents “Fall 2021 Weekend Films”
@ Pine Lounge, 1st floor, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m. Fri. & Sat, free w/i-card
9/10-9/11: MORTAL KOMBAT; 9/17-9/18: THE HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD; 9/24-9/25: IN THE HEIGHTS; 10/1-10/2: A QUIET PLACE PART II; 10/8-10/9: THE FOREVER PURGE; 10/15-10/16: MONSTER HUNTER; 10/22-10/23: ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS; 10/29-10/30: THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT; 11/5-11/6: SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY; 11/12-11/13: BLACK WIDOW; 11/19-11/20: THE SUICIDE SQUAD; 12/3-12/4: JUNGLE CRUISE
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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