Calendar: December 3-9, 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!
12/3: Greg Woods (publisher, The Eclectic Screening Room, Toronto, Canada)
12/3: Bryan Wendorf (programmer/artistic director, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL)
12/6: Andy Due (producer/performer, Rubber Chicken Films/RL3 Productions, Charleston, IL)
12/8: C. Jay Wallace (producer/writer, Red Lens Productions, Champaign, IL)
12/8: Britten Traughber (photographer, Britten Traughber Photography, Tucson, AZ)
PASSINGS | You Will Be Missed
10/17: Lesli Putman, 42 (volunteer, Freaky Film Festival, Champaign-Urbana, IL)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
We’ll keep the Report short and tightly focused this week with a theatrical flair. First, the Onarga Theater in Onarga has returned to our schedule with a run of GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE; it is the last house from our pre-pandemic Calendar listings to have its fate decided. And then, we note the dramatic return of the beleaguered Lincoln Square Theater in downtown Decatur tomorrow night, Saturday, December 4, with a music concert headlined by Highway 615; it’s clear the current operators have big plans for reviving the Lincoln as a live entertainment venue, talked about in this Herald & Review article, and movies may no longer be involved a la the Castle in Bloomington. Seasonal favorites will return to the Legacy Theatre in Springfield after a two-year hiatus, starting with THE POLAR EXPRESS “pajama party” for kids all this weekend; IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE and WHITE CHRISTMAS are also scheduled to play on December 17-18 at the Legacy, which resumed their trademark stage performances back in July. To conclude, Champaign’s computer guru and animation fanatic Thomas Nicol has resumed his annual Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival as an in-person event; the international selection of dark yuletide yarns will creep out the Phoenix Savoy 16 in Savoy at 7 p.m. this Sunday, December 5, the traditional eve of “Krampusnacht” in Europe and Scandinavia before St. Nicholas Day arrives on December 6. Go here if you want to reserve tickets, however, since the Savoy isn’t listing the show on its website. Maybe management is too freeked out? Hrm. At least we know they’re open to local bookings again.
CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History
105 Years Ago … Friday, October 27, 1916: Proclaimed to be one of the grandest playhouses in Illinois and designed by local architectural firm Aschauer & Waggoner as a completely fireproof structure, the Lincoln Square Theatre opens for business in downtown Decatur and hosts a standing-room-only crowd that enjoys a touring production of the Broadway comedy, Hit-the-Trail-Holiday, as recounted in Lincoln Square Theatre by Jasper P. DeVidal. Although constructed to include a roomy backstage area, orchestra pit, and pitch-perfect acoustics for live performances, the Lincoln Square would be retrofit in the coming months to accommodate motion pictures. Managers eventually added a projection booth in June 1917 and played their first films, THE CALL OF HER PEOPLE and THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER, the next month, following with the installation of a pipe organ in January 1919. [R] [Rev. 12-3-21]
105 Years Ago … Tuesday, November 28, 1916: Mayor Dan Dineen excitedly welcomes a capacity crowd to opening night at the Avon Theatre on Water Street in downtown Decatur, as retold in Flickering Images: The History and Haunting of the Avon Theatre by Troy Taylor. Unlike the month-old Lincoln Square Theatre located just three blocks away, the Avon is designed by owner/manager Joseph Allman and architect R.O. Rosen to be a motion picture house, first and foremost, with floor space allotted for a small orchestra to accompany certain films and a pipe organ scheduled for installation by year’s end. The debut attraction is THE FALL OF A NATION, a far-fetched war fantasia that is directed and written by the controversial minister, lecturer, and segregationist Thomas F. Dixon, Jr., whose novel The Clansman was adapted recently by D.W. Griffith as THE BIRTH OF A NATION. [R]
LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
Third annual Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival* (12/5, 7 p.m.)
@ Gregory Hall, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Film & Video* meeting, Room 100 (12/6, 7 p.m.)
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
AKHANDA, BENEDETTA, CHRISTMAS WITH ‘THE CHOSEN’: THE MESSENGERS, CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, DUNE, ENCANTO, ETERNALS, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, HOUSE OF GUCCI, KING RICHARD, RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY (12/3 on), SWORD ART ONLINE: THE MOVIE (animé; 12/3, 7:30 p.m.; 12/4, 3 p.m.; 12/7-12/9, 7:30 p.m.), HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (12/3, 4:45 p.m.), ELF (12/4, 3:30 p.m., sold out), LOVE, ACTUALLY (12/5, 3:30 p.m., sold out), NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, WEST SIDE STORY (12/9 on)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
CHRISTMAS WITH ‘THE CHOSEN’: THE MESSENGERS, C’MON C’MON, TADAP, BELFAST, CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, DUNE, ENCANTO, ETERNALS, THE FRENCH DISPATCH, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, HOUSE OF GUCCI, KING RICHARD, NO TIME TO DIE, RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY, VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE (12/3 on), The Metropolitan Opera: Eurydice (12/4, 11:55 a.m., simulcast; 12/8, 1 & 6:30 p.m., recorded), Studio Ghibli Fest: MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (animé; 12/5, 3 p.m.; 12/6, 12/9, 7 p.m.), NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (12/5, 3 & 7 p.m.; 12/8, 7 p.m.), Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival* 2021 (12/5, 7 p.m.), THE MATRIX (IMAX (2-D), 12/7-12/8, 7 p.m.), WEST SIDE STORY (12/9 on)
@ Redbox, Champaign-Urbana, IL
MALIGNANT, ONE SHOT, RED 11, more! (11/30 on) Online rentals
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
Illini Radio Group presents “Rewind 92.5 Film Series” feat. THE PRINCESS BRIDE (12/5, 7 p.m.), “The Arthouse Experience” w/Sanford Hess feat. COLD WAR (12/6, 7 p.m.)
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
CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, ENCANTO, ETERNALS, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, HOUSE OF GUCCI, KING RICHARD (12/3 on)
@ AMC Peru Mall 8, Peru, IL
CHRISTMAS WITH ‘THE CHOSEN’: THE MESSENGERS, CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, ENCANTO, ETERNALS, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, HOUSE OF GUCCI, KING RICHARD, RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY (12/3 on)
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
BELFAST, ENCANTO, HOUSE OF GUCCI (12/3-12/5)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) (12/3, 7:30 p.m.)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
Closed for the season.
@ The Legacy Theatre, Springfield, IL
THE POLAR EXPRESS “pajama party” (12/3, 5:30 p.m.; 12/4, 1 & 5:30 p.m.; 12/5, 3 p.m.), IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (12/17, 7 p.m.), WHITE CHRISTMAS (12/18, 7 p.m.)
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
Private rentals for the week.
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
GREMLINS (12/3), THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (12/4), NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (12/4, 12/9), HOME ALONE (12/5), IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (12/5, 12/8), “A Further Jazz Holiday” concert feat. Glenn Wilson & Friends (12/7, 7 p.m.)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (12/3-12/5)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
ETERNALS (12/3-12/5)
@ Streator Eagle 6, Streator, IL
BELFAST, CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, ENCANTO, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, HOUSE OF GUCCI, RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY (12/3 on)
@ VIP Lincoln Grand 6, Lincoln, IL
CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, ENCANTO, ETERNALS, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, HOUSE OF GUCCI, KING RICHARD (12/3 on)
@ VIP Roxy Cinemas, Ottawa, IL
CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, ENCANTO, ETERNALS, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, HOUSE OF GUCCI, KING RICHARD (12/3 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
4/7-4/17, 2022
24th annual Wisconsin Film Festival
@ University of Wisconsin, etc., Madison, WI
4/8-4/10, 2022
Dead in Decatur presents “The Art of Fear”
@ Heroic Age Art Center, Mt. Zion, 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.
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: to be rescheduled: THE ARTIST
Illini Radio Group presents “Rewind 92.5 Film Series”/“Mix 94.5 Throwback Thursdays”*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
12/5: THE PRINCESS BRIDE; 1/13/22: CLUELESS*; 1/20/22: SAY ANYTHING; 2/2/22: GROUNDHOG DAY; 3/21/22: ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK; 4/4/22: FACE/OFF; 5/23/22: MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME; 6/30/22: WAYNE’S WORLD; 7/14/22: STARSHIP TROOPERS
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
12/11: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE; 1/22/22: ALL ABOUT EVE; 2/19/22: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT; 4/30/22: DUCK SOUP; 6/25/22: HIGH NOON; 7/29/22: TOP HAT
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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“Calendar du C-U”
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