Calendar: November 24-30, 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.
~~~~~
MILESTONES | Happy Birthday to You!
11/28: Robert Patrick Stern (cinematographer, BROOKLYN 45, Shudder/AMC Networks, New York, NY)
11/28: Ryan Mitchelle (editor, A ROYAL CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY, Hybrid LLC, Woodland Hills, CA)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
If you happen to be looking for something to occupy your attention over the next few days that is not a sports broadcast, holiday parade, too-soon Christmas movie marathon, or political debate at the dinner table, may we remind you of our exclusive guide to local and “Ebertfest” film goodies available to stream for free on Tubi. Earlier this year, we expanded the list greatly from the one we first compiled in 2020, and this week we’ve added a handful more relevant titles that have become available to view since then. Click above to review our findings and, if you’d like to zero in on the fresh flicks, scroll the post and look for:
BACK TO THE DRIVE-IN, April Wright’s well-reviewed sequel to GOING ATTRACTIONS about the challenges facing drive-in theaters and their owners, including the Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in of Gibson City, as they continue on from the COVID-19 pandemic into an uncertain exhibition future;
BAKING UP LOVE, the small-town romantic comedy filmed in Morton, Illinois, by indie director Candice T. Cain for her New York-based company, Gemelli Films;
A new edit of A BEATLE IN BENTON, ILLINOIS, the documentary by Bob Bartel of Springfield about the holiday George Harrison spent with his sister Louise in downstate Illinois right before Beatlemania conquered the world, timed to the 60th anniversary of his visit;
~~~~~
~~~~~
BEGINNING OF THE END, the Bert I. Gordon drive-in staple involving oversized locusts migrating from central Illinois to Chicago and laying waste to crops and B-movie actors on the way, albeit the jokey MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE 3000 episode of it (tra-la-la!) that premiered 30 years ago this week on Thanksgiving – Thursday, November 25, 1993 – according to Wikipedia;
WHERE ARE YOU, JAY BENNETT?, the documentary about the eponymous local musician and former member of the band Wilco who passed away too soon due to medical issues; and
YOU’RE OUT!, the dads-on-a-road-trip-because-sons-and-baseball comedy filmed partly in east central Illinois by Chicago director Katharin “Ladie K” Mraz and producer/writer Sandy De Lisle two years ago.
You’ll notice that we didn’t link the individual films here to their Tubi landing pages as we might normally be prone to do. Take the hint, dearest viewers, and go investigate using our post as a guide. These movies bring our directory up to almost 100 features and television episodes that may be worth your while. We’ll also use this as a teachable moment in regards to taking advantage of streaming content while it’s actually streaming; we predicted months ago that SHOT would be removed from commercial avenues after its five-year distribution window with Vinegar Syndrome expired this fall and, well, we’re right. Note this placeholder card up now in lieu of the actual film with a screened-out Chuck Russell, future director of THE MASK and THE BLOB, now frozen in time. If you haven’t picked it up on physical media, this weekend’s Black Friday sale by VS might just be your last shot to get it. So, go get it.
We did add one other title under the MICRO-FILM category on our Tubi itinerary, the direct-to-video sequel WITCHCRAFT XIII: BLOOD OF THE CHOSEN produced by Chicago suburban natives Michael and Jeffrey Wolinski. The brothers, who made a couple of other no-budget features and launched a short-lived independent film festival prior to this effort, moved on from the movie business not long afterwards. At least they left us with a solid article on the making of WC13 that you can still read here.
CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History
50 Years Ago … Friday, November 16, 1973: Television and movie actor Ross Hagen makes a personal appearance at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Champaign at 7 p.m. to promote the regional opening of his newest picture, BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE. Based loosely on the life of 1920s coal miner and bootlegger Charlie Birger, whose gang battled rival groups as well as politicians and the Ku Klux Klan in southern Illinois before he was arrested, tried, and hanged, the period comedy was partly filmed in Champaign County three years ago this month but held up for some time from general release. Problematic investors and the resulting nonpayment of wages for many actors and technical crew members by local outfit Studio 9 Productions, which partnered with Hagen’s Triforum Inc. company to make CHARLIE, attracted a lawsuit that was detailed in the May 12, 1971, edition of the Daily Illini as well as the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., last year. With the air cleared, the feature has been in distribution since June through International Cinema Corporation and is now playing at 17 area cinemas, according to a report on p.19 of today’s Urbana Courier. Hagen advises writer Jim Hopwood in an interview that the state of Illinois “is a beautiful place to shoot movies and you people around here should look into encouraging more of it.” Much of Hagen’s core team on CHARLIE – himself, director Ivan Nagy, producer Martin D. Wright of Studio 9, actors Kelly Thordsen, Hoke Howell, and Eric Lidberg, and cinematographer Michael Neyman – have another gang-on-a-crime-spree caper in the wings called PUSHING UP DAISIES, this one coming from the Cannon Group. [R]
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
NAPOLEON, SALTBURN, WISH (animation), FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S, THE HOLDOVERS, THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES, JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM (faith film), KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, THE MARVELS, NEXT GOAL WINS, PRISCILLA, THANKSGIVING, TROLLS BAND TOGETHER (animation) (11/24 on), TAYLOR SWIFT: THE ERAS TOUR (concert film) (11/24-11/26), AMC “Screen Unseen” (mystery movie) (11/27, 7 p.m.), GODZILLA MINUS ONE fan event (in Japanese with English sub) (11/29, 5 & 8 p.m.), RENAISSANCE (Beyoncé concert film), THE SHIFT (faith film), SILENT NIGHT (11/30 on)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
NAPOLEON, SALTBURN, WISH (animation), FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S, THE HOLDOVERS, THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, THE MARVELS, NEXT GOAL WINS, PRISCILLA, THANKSGIVING, TROLLS BAND TOGETHER (animation) (11/24 on), TAYLOR SWIFT: THE ERAS TOUR (concert film) (11/24-11/26), Flashback Cinema: WHITE CHRISTMAS (11/26, 3 & 7 p.m.; 11/29, 7 p.m.), The Metropolitan Opera: X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (11/29, 1 & 6:30 p.m., recorded), RENAISSANCE (Beyoncé concert film) (11/30 on),
@ Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Fall 2023 Weekend Films” feat. BLUE BEETLE, Pine Lounge, 1st floor (11/17-11/18, 7 p.m.; free w/i-card)
@ Redbox (streaming), Champaign-Urbana, IL
ALIEN APOCALYPSE, ARCTIC ARMAGEDDON, AMERIKATSI, BEST CLOWNS, COWBOY CHRISTMAS, INVISIBLE BEAUTY, more! (11/21 on) Online rentals
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
The News-Gazette Film Series presents NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (11/25, 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!
~~~~~
NOW PLAYING | The Cities Beyond
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
WISH (animation), THE HOLDOVERS, TROLLS BAND TOGETHER (animation) (11/23-11/26)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (11/23, 3 p.m.), ELF (11/25, 2 & 7 p.m.)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
“Hot Chocolate & Holiday Movies” feat. ELF (Screen 1), NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (Screen 2) (11/24-11/25)
@ The Lincoln Square Theatre, Decatur, IL
FIELDS OF GOLD* exclusive run (documentary) (11/24, 3 p.m.)
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
Private parties and events
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES (11/21-11/22), THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (12/24, 12/30), IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (12/24), THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, HOME ALONE, and NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (12/25), THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947), and DIE HARD (12/26), CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (12/27), GREMLINS (12/28), BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER (12/29)
BACK OPEN! @ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
WISH (animation) (11/22-11/26)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM (faith film) (11/24-11/26)
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
UPDATE! 12/5
Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival*
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL, 7 p.m.
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.
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; 12/15: THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG excerpt w/discussion
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
12/1-12/2: THE EQUALIZER 3
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
12/2: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
~~~~~
Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
~~~~~
“Calendar du C-U”
© 2023 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential