Calendar: October 13-19, 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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MILESTONES | Happy Birthday to You!
10/13: Alaric S. Rocha (director, THE TONE OF EMMA ZANN’S VIOLA, Blue Bassoon Pictures, Los Angeles, CA)
10/18: Mike Everleth (publisher, Underground Film Journal, Los Angeles, CA)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
It was bad luck to think I could knock out a Calendar in time as well as get ready to visit Champaign-Urbana this week. Guess which one won out. Cheers.
CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History
30 Years Ago … Saturday, October 16, 1993: A former Champaign resident who carved out a unique twin career of university teaching and film promotion, Ron Epple, is found deceased at age 51 in his Chicago home. The obituary by Melissa Merli that would appear in the October 20 edition of the News-Gazette tells of a much-respected man whose efforts in propagating the arts had enriched Champaign-Urbana for more than two decades. During his collegiate studies up north at Elmhurst College and Roosevelt University in the 1960s, Epple wrote for underground student magazines such as Aardvark that gleefully bucked the status quo and attracted the ire of academic superiors. He continued to be productive with his side projects after moving downstate and enrolling at the University of Illinois to pursue a doctorate in English, becoming ubiquitous with cinema in the community. Ventures during schooling included Aardvark Films, a booking entity, Champaign-Urbana Film Group, a filmmaking club, and The Depot, a performance space in downtown Urbana that hosted original stage productions and local film premieres. Epple graduated and remained in Champaign, operating a pair of companies out of his West John Street residence that doubled as an office and private screening room: Expanded Cinema Group, an agency launched with the photographer Scott Mutter that presented non-mainstream and foreign films on campus, and Picture Start, a short film distributor specializing in animation and women-directed pieces that booked non-theatrical showings of prints across the United States. He also served as an adjunct professor at UI to teach English and film, wrote for myriad journals and newsletters, and participated in film festivals outside the area such as the first Big Muddy Film Festival at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1979. Even though UI audiences dwindled for his fare in the late 1970s and 1980s due to lacking interest in the esoteric and the rise of home video, Epple played a role in reviving Champaign’s Art Theater when it opened anew in early 1987 as the New Art Theatre and continued Picture Start into the early 1990s. Above all, he was a mentor and inspiration to many dozens of UI students and C-U citizens, some of whom went on to work in the industry like Warrior Films’ Frederick Marx. Per the News-Gazette, Epple sold his stake in Picture Start to his business partner, Jeff Hellyer, after returning to Chicago and was operating a similar distributor called Short Form Releasing at the time of his death. The Picture Start inventory was acquired by Chicago Filmmakers in 1991 and eventually formed the core of their Film Distribution Project, a collection of key and rare short subjects on 16mm and 35mm. [R]
LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ Dreamscape Cinema, 403 S. Water St., Champaign, IL
Annual costume and prop sale (10/13 (2-6 p.m.) and 10/14 (8 a.m.-12 p.m.))
@ Esquire Lounge, Champaign, IL
Champaign Movie Makers* mixer (10/16, 7 p.m.)
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
TAYLOR SWIFT: THE ERAS TOUR (concert film) (10/13-10/15), THE CREATOR, DUMB MONEY, THE EQUALIZER 3, THE EX-FILES 4: MARRIAGE PLAN (in Mandarin with English sub), THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER, A HAUNTING IN VENICE, THE NUN II, PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE (animation), SAW X, SOUND OF FREEDOM, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (animation) (10/13 on), LEO: BLOODY SWEET (in Tamil/Hindu with English sub) (10/18 on), KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, UNDER THE LIGHT (in Mandarin with English sub) (10/19 on)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
TAYLOR SWIFT: THE ERAS TOUR (concert film) (10/13-10/15), WHEN EVIL LURKS (in Spanish with English sub), BARBIE, THE BLIND (faith film), THE CREATOR, THE EQUALIZER 3, THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER, A HAUNTING IN VENICE, HOCUS POCUS 30th anniversary (re-release), THE NUN II, PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE (animation), SAW X, STOP MAKING SENSE (concert film; re-release) (10/13 on), THE HUNGER GAMES (10/15, 3 & 7 p.m.; 10/18, 7 p.m.), THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (10/15, 10/18, 3 & 7 p.m.), DRAGON BALL Z: BATTLE OF GODS 10th anniversary extended edition (animé) (10/17-10/18, 7 p.m.), BHAGAVANTH KESARI (in Telugu with English sub) (10/18 on), ONYX THE FORTUITOUS AND THE TALISMAN OF SOULS (10/19, 7 & 10 p.m.), KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (10/19 on)
@ Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Fall 2023 Weekend Films” feat. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM, Pine Lounge, 1st floor (10/13-10/14, 7 p.m.; free w/i-card)
@ Redbox (streaming), Champaign-Urbana, IL
THE BELL KEEPER, IT LIVES INSIDE, THE LOST WEEKEND: A LOVE STORY, PRAISE THIS, THE RETIREMENT PLAN, more! (10/10 on) Online rentals
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
The News-Gazette Film Series presents NORTH BY NORTHWEST (10/14, 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
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
SHE CAME TO ME, THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER, PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE (animation) (10/13-10/15)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
FINAL SUMMER* “final local screening” w/filmmakers (10/13, 7 p.m.), ENCANTO (animation) (10/14, 2 & 7 p.m.)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
TAYLOR SWIFT: THE ERAS TOUR (concert film) (Screen 1 & 2) (10/12-10/14)
@ The Lincoln Square Theatre, Decatur, IL
FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) (10/13, 7 p.m.), FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER (10/13, 9 p.m.)
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
“Pizza & a Movie” feat. FREDDY VS. JASON (10/13, 6:30 p.m.)
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980), FREDDY VS. JASON (10/13), HOCUS POCUS (10/14, 10/19), HALLOWEEN (1978), SLOTHERHOUSE (10/14), YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, ALIEN (10/15), CRONOS (10/16), THE MUMMY (1959) (10/18)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
Closed for business until November.
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
STRAYS (10/13-10/15)
@ The Route 66 Drive-in Theater, Springfield, IL
TAYLOR SWIFT: THE ERAS TOUR (concert film) (Screen 1, 10/13-10/15, 10/19), THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER, SAW X (Screen 2, 10/13-10/14)
NOW PLAYING | Midwest
@ Music Box Theatre, AMC NewCity 14, etc., Chicago, IL
59th Chicago International Film Festival (through 10/22)
@ Landmark’s Glendale 12, etc., Indianapolis, IN
32nd Heartland International Film Festival (through 10/15)
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
10/26
The Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies presents
Iranian Cinema film screening
@ Spurlock Museum for World Cultures, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m., free
10/27
The Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies presents
Iranian Cinema lecture by Kaveh Askari
@ Spurlock Museum for World Cultures, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 3 p.m., free
10/27-10/28
THE WOODMEN* local film premiere
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL, 7 p.m.
10/28
Small Press Fest 2023
@ Lincoln Square Mall, Urbana, IL, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
11/3-11/3
22nd Route 66 Film Festival, Springfield, IL (virtual)
11/9-11/19
32nd Whitaker St Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis, MO
11/10
AFTERLIFE* documentary world premiere
@ The Avon Theatre, Decatur, IL, 7 p.m.
12/2
Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival*
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
3/2/24
CU International Film Festival*
@ Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, UIUC, Urbana, IL
4/17-4/20/24
24th Roger Ebert’s Film Festival*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
Illini Radio Group presents “Rewind 92.5 Movie Series”/“Mix 94.5 Throwback Thursdays”*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
11/16: PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES*, 12/21: DIE HARD
Illinois Public Media presents “The Arthouse Experience Film Series”
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
12/1: SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
Illini Union Board presents “Fall 2023 Weekend Films”
@ Pine Lounge, 1st floor, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m. Fri. & Sat, free w/i-card
10/20-10/21: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE; 10/27-10/28: INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR; 11/3-11/4: GRAN TURISMO; 11/10-11/11: STRAYS: 11/17-11/18: BLUE BEETLE; 12/1-12/2: THE EQUALIZER 3
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
11/25: NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION; 12/2: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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“Calendar du C-U”
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