Calendar: May 12-18, 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.
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FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
A week or so ago, I followed a Facebook share to a segment aired on the CBS SUNDAY MORNING magazine show in March about film preservation, wherein the great Martin Scorsese talks about the painstaking restoration efforts that have been made for more than 30 years by his organization, the Film Foundation, on significant films in dire need of help. It reminded me that we’re everyday stewards of our culture in all its forms and should be diligent in safeguarding it for the record.
The first upgrade that is seen in the Scorsese piece is from a recently finished 4K transfer of EAST OF EDEN, the Elia Kazan drama that famously introduced the world to James Dean. It reminded me that we need to keep better track of our elders, mentors, and collaborators, particularly in our lines of work and fields of study. I’m still a bit stunned at the loss of Michael Wiese, even though we’d rarely corresponded in recent years, and am now concerned about the wellness of Leith Adams, the UIUC alumnus for whom I designed a book in 2021 on the formative years of Dean’s life spent in Indiana. I haven’t heard from him since the hardcover became available, although I knew he was concentrating on health issues.
YouTube’s algorithm pointed me to a brand-new SUNDAY MORNING segment in which Jane Pauley talks with Michael J. Fox about STILL, the documentary on his life with Parkinson’s disease, which is streaming on AppleTV+ as of today. I don’t know what kinds of treatment, medicines, or therapy Fox receives to help tolerate the effects, but his body was not having it during taping even though the actor kept his cool and humor. It reminded me of how many people in our lives fight ailments that are both visible and not, often at the same time, such as what I personally witnessed a year ago when complications from Parkinson’s and other infections brought my stepfather’s life to a close.
SUNDAY MORNING was a program that my mother liked to watch. She told me so again and again. The mix of topics appealed to her. She always enjoyed Julia Roberts, was very depressed when Queen Elizabeth II died, and appreciated the profiles of artists, whether or not she knew about them, such as this one on the late abstract painter Joan Mitchell. I have no idea if Mom ever saw these segments, which all aired last year, but maybe she can watch a marathon of them up in heaven. It reminds me of her, as do many people, places, and things that I’ve been coming across in the wake of her absence.
The first anniversary of my stepfather’s passing is this Sunday, May 14. It’s also the first Mother’s Day that I’ll not have my mother to spend it with. I may take off next week from CUBlog and the socials to reflect and grieve. My responsibility to them both is still giant, as it turns out, and I have plenty left to do.
CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History
55 Years Ago … May 16-17, 1968: Forty-one film shorts are presented to the public over consecutive evenings during the first Champaign-Urbana Film Contest at the McKinley Foundation on the University of Illinois campus. Although the programs for “Part I” on Thursday, March 15, and “Part II” on Friday, March 17, are dominated by student work, the organizers from the Champaign-Urbana Film Group solicited entries from all residents of Champaign County according to a Daily Illini article run on Thursday, April 4 – meaning, it is most likely the first true local film festival to be held in the Twin Cities. Cash prizes totaling more than $500 are handed out to several young directors by a judging panel of theater, literature, and film professionals from the area including Edwin Jahiel of the UI French Department and John Weir of the university’s Motion Picture Production Center. The “first place” award is given to CENTURY OF DESIGN by Robert Vollmer and Dean Alexander “for its imaginative use of documentary technique” per a DI follow-up report on Tuesday, May 21. One of the students in charge of the contest, Ron Epple, would become well known for his movie promotions in the UI community over the next two decades. [R]
LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
HUNTING FOR THE HAG* downstate premiere w/filmmakers (5/12, 6 p.m. doors, 5 p.m. film)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
Champaign Movie Makers* “Open Projector Night” (5/15, 7 p.m.)
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
BLACKBERRY, BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER, CUSTODY (in Tamil or Telugu w/English sub), HYPNOTIC, AIR*, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES, EVIL DEAD RISE, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, LOVE AGAIN, THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation) (5/12 on), Machine Gun Kelly “Mainstream Sellout Live from Cleveland” (concert film) (5/13, 7 p.m.), ANNI MANCHI SAKUNAMULE (in Telugu w/English sub) (5/18, 7 p.m.), FAST X (5/18 on)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER, FOOL’S PARADISE, HYPNOTIC, AIR, ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET., BIG GEORGE FOREMAN: THE MIRACULOUS STORY, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES, EVIL DEAD RISE, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, LOVE AGAIN, THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation) (5/12 on), ROLL WITH IT (faith film, 5/13, 3 p.m.), GREASE 45th anniversary (5/14, 4 & 7 p.m.; 5/17, 7 p.m.), THE WIZARD OF OZ (5/14, 3 & 7 p.m.; 5/17, 7 p.m.), PATTERNS OF EVIDENCE: JOURNEY TO MOUNT SINAI II (religious documentary) (5/15, 5/17, 7 p.m.), THE WAY (faith film) (5/16, 7 p.m.), FAST X (5/18 on)
@ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Summer Films on the Quad” feat. JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 (5/18, 9 p.m., free)
@ Redbox, Champaign-Urbana, IL
CHILDREN OF THE CORN, KNOCK AT THE CABIN, more! (5/9 on) Online rentals
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
Illini Radio Group presents “Rewind 92.5 Movie Series” feat BEETLEJUICE (5/18, 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
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation) (5/11-5/14)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (5/13, 7 p.m.)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 (Screen 1), THE WIZARD OF OZ, TWISTER (Screen 2) (5/12-5/14)
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
Private parties and “Family Movie Packs” this week.
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
HUNTING FOR THE HAG* downstate premiere (5/12, 6 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. film), DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (5/13-5/14), BLIND WILLOW, SLEEPING WOMAN (animé) (5/18)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
Closed for the week.
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (animation) (5/12-5/13)
@ The Route 66 Drive-in Theater, Springfield, IL
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, ANT MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (Screen 1), THE COVENANT, CREED III (Screen 2) (5/12-5/13)
NOW PLAYING | Midwest
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
8/19
DESPERATE SOULS* downstate premiere
@ The Princess Theater, LeRoy, IL, time TBD
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.
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.
6/29: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK; 7/27: TOP GUN
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
5/20: TOPPER; 6/17: ENTER THE DRAGON; 7/15: I LOVE LUCY: THE MOVIE
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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