Calendar: April 14-20, 2023
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.
~~~~~
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
It’s been a week. Wonderful weather has been distracting, MFHQ Deux is not going to clean or restore itself, and I’ve had bittersweet Momkoke memories on the mind. All that and more means I don’t have much propulsion to preview all that is shaking down in central Illinois, so name checks and links it is.
Boneyard Arts Festival brings the arts across Champaign County from April 14 to 16; the website covers artists and venues separately while this dense listing is the directory to help you pick and choose what to sample. Sadly, there very little media involved save for, say, a slew of Mark Roberts sock-puppet videos in the Bad Mule Rag vein at Surface 51 in Champaign or a Jennifer Gibas “glowing mural” projection at the UI Spurlock Museum in Urbana.
Next, the Normal Theater is hosting Illinois State University’s “ReggieCon” April 14-15, which is a series of speakers and screenings that will dive into pop culture through an academic lens and alternative voices; I picked out the familiar film choices and listed them below. And then, Roger Ebert’s Film Festival rears its formidable head at the Virginia Theatre of Champaign from April 19 to 22 with an empathetic schedule and bonus Ebert Symposium events on April 18 and 19 at the UI Illini Union.
Multimedia performer Deke Weaver will appear with musician Jason Finkelman and theater director Latrelle Bright at the Meadowbrook Barn in Urbana on April 19, 7:30 p.m., for an evening of arts discovery. Less than a day later, former C-U resident, University of Illinois professor, and Damian Duffy Hates Everything contributor John Jennings returns for a lecture at the UI Krannert Art Museum on April 20, 5:30 p.m., called “Go Back and Get It” about how West African ideology has informed his subsequent career as a creator, curator, and champion of Black arts expression and pop culture, such as contemporary Afrofuturism and the usurping of comics industry tropes.
Everything here except for “Ebertfest” shows and certain Boneyard-adjacent events is free to the public. I’m sure I’ve missed a few relevant things, but we’ll have to run with this. Go explore. Be enriched. Wish it was easy to join you.
LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ Screenland Armour Theatre, Kansas City, MO
Panic Fest 2023 presents BLACK MOLD* world premiere (4/15, 3:45 p.m., sold out)
@ virtual, Kansas City, MO
Panic Fest 2023 presents FINAL SUMMER* (4/16-4/23) Tickets
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
MAFIA MAMMA, THE POPE’S EXORCIST, RENFIELD, SUZUME (animé; in Japanese w/English sub or English dub), SWEETWATER, AIR, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation) (4/14 on), THE COVENANT, EVIL DEAD RISE, HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE (4/20 on)
@ Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Spring 2023 Weekend Films” feat. KNOCK AT THE CABIN (4/14-4/15, 7 p.m., free w/i-card)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
MAFIA MAMMA, NEFARIOUS, THE POPE’S EXORCIST, RENFIELD, SUZUME (animé; in Japanese w/English sub or English dub), SWEETWATER, AIR, CREED III, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, SCREAM VI, THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation) (4/14 on), The Metropolitan Opera: Der Rosenkavalier (4/15, 11 a.m., simulcast; 4/19, 12 & 6:30 p.m., recorded), SELENA (4/16, 3 & 7 p.m.), THE BIG LEBOWSKI (4/16, 4 & 7 p.m., 4/20, 7 p.m.), MIRANDO AL CIELO (4/18, 7 p.m., in Spanish w/English subs), THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING 20th anniversary (4/19, 7 p.m.), THE COVENANT, EVIL DEAD RISE (4/20 on)
@ Redbox, Champaign-Urbana, IL
INFINITY POOL, more! (4/11 on) Online rentals
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
College of Media at Illinois and Chaz Ebert present the 23rd Roger Ebert’s Film Festival* (4/19-4/22) Schedule
Events featuring locally produced movies are marked with an asterisk (*). Additional “Now Playing” and “Coming Soon” listings appear after the jump!
~~~~~
NOW PLAYING | The Cities Beyond
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
MAFIA MAMMA, SWEETWATER, THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation) (4/14-4/16)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
No movies this week!
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation) (Screen 1), SCREAM VI (Screen 2) (4/14-4/16)
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
Private parties and “Family Movie Packs” this week.
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
Illinois State University presents “ReggieCon” 2023 feat. SERENITY (4/14, 7 p.m.), THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (4/14, 10:30 p.m.), THE TIME MACHINE (1960) (4/15, 11 a.m.), GALAXY QUEST (4/15, 3:30 p.m.), and MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1993) (4/15, 7:30 p.m.) w/presenters (all events free to the public), PAINT (4/16), REPAIRING THE WORLD: STORIES FROM THE TREE OF LIFE (documentary) w/discussion (4/17, 7 p.m.), HOW TO LET GO OF THE WORLD AND LOVE ALL THE THINGS CLIMATE CAN’T CHANGE (documentary) (4/18, 7 p.m.), UHF (4/20)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation) (4/14-4/16)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
SCREAM VI (4/14-4/16)
NOW OPEN! @ The Route 66 Drive-in Theater, Springfield, IL
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation), SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS (Screen 1), COCAINE BEAR, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 (Screen 2) (4/14-4/15)
NOW PLAYING | Midwest
@ University of Wisconsin, etc., Madison, WI
25th annual Wisconsin Film Festival (through 4/20)
For detailed and curated listings of Chicago-area film presentations and related events, please visit the fine folks at Cine-File and subscribe to their definitive “Cine-List” weekly blast.
COMING SOON | Area-wide Events
4/27-4/30
Foxtail Film Festival (student films)*
@ Normal Theater, Normal, IL
UPDATE! 4/28
UIUC Film Festival (student films)*
@ Spurlock Museum, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m., free
NEW! 5/6
MACS Student Showcase (UIUC student media classwork)*
@ Spurlock Museum, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m., free
5/6
DESPERATE SOULS* world premiere
@ The Princess Theater, LeRoy, IL, 4 p.m.
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.
4/26: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN; 5/31: THE TWO POPES; 6/14: MULHOLLAND DRIVE; 7/12: BARAKA
Illini Radio Group presents “Rewind 92.5 Movie Series”/“Mix 94.5 Throwback Thursdays”*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
4/27: GHOSTBUSTERS (1984); 5/18: BEETLEJUICE; 6/29: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK; 7/27: TOP GUN
Illini Union Board presents “Spring 2023 Weekend Films”
@ Pine Lounge, 1st floor, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m. Fri. & Sat, free w/i-card
4/21-4/22: ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA; 4/28-4/29: COCAINE BEAR
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
4/29: FANTASIA; 5/20: TOPPER; 6/17: ENTER THE DRAGON; 7/15: I LOVE LUCY: THE MOVIE
~~~~~
Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
~~~~~
“Calendar du C-U”
© 2023 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential