Calendar: December 16-22, 2022
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!
12/16: Lauren Laws (producer/host, “Nyx Namor” channel @ YouTube, Champaign, IL)
12/21: Linda McElroy (volunteer, The Route 66 Film Festival, Springfield, IL)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
Three quick hits on theater-related news will have to do for this week’s Report. After the brief media chatter over the unusually light number of showtimes that began Thanksgiving week at the AMC Classic 13 in north Champaign, the citizens of Danville were blindsided last Sunday, December 11, when the word came down that their own branch, the AMC Classic Village Mall 6, would be shut down as of Monday, December 12. The Commercial-News writes about the barely telegraphed closure and the instant dearth of screen entertainment in Danville due to this circumstance; only the restored Fischer Theatre shows movies in town and they are sporadic and almost all catalog titles. At home and later than usual, the College of Media at the University of Illinois and the Virginia Theatre announced that festival passes for the next Roger Ebert’s Film Festival would be for sale beginning on the 12th; dates for the twenty-third go-round are April 19-22 of next year and a new post by the Champaign County History Museum encapsulates the life and achievements of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic. And, ‘tis the season for holiday favorites and they are plentiful this week on area screens! CUBlog encourages our dearest revelers to make movie merry with their friends and neighbors at a venue near them, because we all need to catch up on cheerful together time. Review the Calendar below and remember that a “Blue Christmas” is not necessarily washed away with AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER. Glug.
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, DEVOTION*, THE MENU, SPOILER ALERT, STRANGE WORLD, VIOLENT NIGHT (12/16 on), PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH (12/21 on), BABYLON, I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (12/22 on) *single shows daily
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, THE FABELMANS, BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, DEVOTION, THE MENU, STRANGE WORLD, TICKET TO PARADISE, VIOLENT NIGHT (12/16 on), SPOILER ALERT* (12/16-12/19), Turner Classic Movies presents IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE 75th anniversary (12/18, 12/21, 3:30 & 7 p.m.), NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (12/18, 3 & 7 p.m.; 12/21, 7 p.m.), PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH (12/21 on), BABYLON, I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (12/22 on) *single shows daily
@ Redbox, Champaign-Urbana, IL
LYLE LYLE CROCODILE, THE MINUTE YOU WAKE UP DEAD, SMILE, TICKET TO PARADISE, THE WOMAN KING, more! (12/13 on) Online rentals
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
The News-Gazette Film Series presents MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) (12/17, 1 & 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
Closed.
@ AMC Peru Mall 8, Peru, IL
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, DEVOTION*, STRANGE WORLD, VIOLENT NIGHT (12/16 on) *single shows daily
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER (12/15-12/18)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (12/16, 7 p.m.; 12/17, 2 & 7 p.m.), THE POLAR EXPRESS (12/18, 2 p.m.), THE GRINCH (12/18, 7 p.m., free or donation)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
Closed for the season.
@ The Legacy Theatre, Springfield, IL
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (12/16, 7 p.m.), IT HAPPENED ON 5TH AVENUE (12/17, 7 p.m.)
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
Private parties and “Family Movie Packs” this week.
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, DON’T OPEN TILL CHRISTMAS (12/16), THE SANTA CLAUSE (12/17, 12/20), THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, WHITE CHRISTMAS, GREMLINS (12/17), CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT, SCROOGED (12/18), A CHRISTMAS STORY (12/18, 12/21), HOME ALONE, ELF (12/19), THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (12/20), MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) (12/21), THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (12/22)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
THE POLAR EXPRESS (12/16, 7 p.m., free; 12/18, 2 p.m., free)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
THE MENU (12/16-12/18)
@ Streator Eagle 6, Streator, IL
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, THE MENU, STRANGE WORLD, VIOLENT NIGHT (12/16 on), A CHRISTMAS STORY (12/17, 10 a.m.)
@ VIP Lincoln Grand 6, Lincoln, IL
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, DEVOTION, SPIRITED, STRANGE WORLD (12/16 on), THE POLAR EXPRESS (12/16-12/20, 10 a.m.)
@ VIP Roxy Cinemas, Ottawa, IL
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, SPIRITED, VIOLENT NIGHT (12/16 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
NEW! 3/30-4/2, 2023
33rd Onion City Experimental Film Festival, Chicago, IL
4/13-4/20, 2023
25th annual Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison, WI
4/19-4/22, 2023
23nd 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 and sponsored by Illinois Public Media
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
1/25/23: THE FRENCH DISPATCH; 2/8/23: MY OCTOPUS TEACHER; 3/8/23: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE; 4/26/23: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN; 5/31/23: THE TWO POPES; 6/14/23: MULHOLLAND DRIVE; 7/12/23: BARAKA
Illini Radio Group presents “Rewind 92.5 Movie Series”/“Mix 94.5 Throwback Thursdays”*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
1/19/23: SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE*; 2/2/23: TITANIC*; 3/16/23: DIRTY DANCING; 4/27/23: GHOSTBUSTERS (1984); 5/18/23: BEETLEJUICE; 6/29/23: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK; 7/27/23: TOP GUN
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
1/21/23: STAGE DOOR; 2/11/23: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS; 3/18/23: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA; 4/29/23: FANTASIA; 5/20/23: TOPPER; 6/17/23: ENTER THE DRAGON; 7/15/23: I LOVE LUCY: THE MOVIE
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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