Calendar: December 8-14, 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!
12/8: CJay Wallace (cohost, Robots Don’t Age! podcast, Champaign, IL)
12/8: Britten Traughber (photographer, Britten Traughber Photography, Tucson, AZ)
12/10: Sidney Taiko (editor/publisher, Storm Cellar, San Diego, CA)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
With a monotone Ben Stein utterance of “Report” under our collective breath, CUBlog presents the first of two entries on film and media doings at our academic institutions, just in time for fall semester to conclude and college kids to cram their damnedest while studying. Item one, the College of Media at UIUC posted about a “film poem” made by faculty members Victor Font and Cristobal Bianchi, FACTORIES AT SEA, being selected for several film festivals internationally and showcased during a function of the Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies in October. Item two, Illinois State University professor John McHale and Normal resident Xavier Jackson, a registered nurse, talked with Lauren Warnecke of WGLT radio last month about the award received by their joint screenplay, “Nurses Versus the Virus,” which draws from Jackson’s experiences during the pandemic as a medical professional and African-American man. Item three, theater instructor and film producer Tom Quinn has seriously upgraded the status of Illinois Wesleyan University as a viable option for students who wish to learn or refine their visual storytelling skills; the liberal arts institution in Bloomington reported that several underclassmen projects have once again won awards through the online Top Shorts Film Festival. Among the shorts cited earlier in the fall are SUSPICIONS, written by Stephen Nickisch and winner of five categories, and HAND ME DOWN, written by Ethan Smith and co-directed by IWU graduate Justin Piotrowski, which nabbed a “Best Horror” nod and separately bowed at the Days of the Dead Chicago horror convention a couple of weeks ago.
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
THE BOY AND THE HERON (animé) (in Japanese with English sub or English dub), DIE HARD (re-release), ANIMAL (in Hindi with English sub), THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES, GODZILLA MINUS ONE (in Japanese with English sub), THE MARVELS, NAPOLEON, OPPENHEIMER, THE SHIFT (faith film), SILENT NIGHT, TROLLS BAND TOGETHER (animation), WISH (animation) (12/8 on), RENAISSANCE (Beyoncé concert film) (12/8-12/10, 12/14), THANKSGIVING (12/8-12/9), AMC “Screen Unseen” (mystery movie) (12/11, 7 p.m.), AX Cinema Nights: TOKYO GODFATHERS 20th anniversary (animé) (12/11, 12/13, 7:30 p.m., in Japanese with English sub; 12/12, 7:30 p.m., English dub), “Christmas with THE CHOSEN: Holy Night” (12/12-12/14, 2 & 7:30 p.m.), TAYLOR SWIFT: THE ERAS TOUR (concert film) (12/13, 4:30 p.m.), WONKA (12/14 on)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
ANIMAL (in Hindi with English sub), THE BOY AND THE HERON (animé) (in Japanese with English sub or English dub), THE CELLO, EILEEN, THE OATH, DREAM SCENARIO*, GODZILLA MINUS ONE (in Japanese with English sub), THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES, THE MARVELS, NAPOLEON, SALTBURN, THE SHIFT (faith film), SILENT NIGHT, THANKSGIVING, TROLLS BAND TOGETHER (animation), WISH (animation) (12/8 on), RENAISSANCE (Beyoncé concert film) (12/8-12/10), Waitress* (filmed stage performance) (12/8-12/11), OPPENHEIMER* (12/8-12/12), The Metropolitan Opera: Florencia en el Amazonas (12/9, 11:55 a.m., simulcast; 12/13, 1 & 6:30 p.m., recorded), A CHRISTMAS STORY 40th anniversary (12/10, 4 & 7 p.m.; 12/13, 7 p.m.), Flashback Cinema: NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (12/10, 3 & 7 p.m.; 12/13, 7 p.m.), “Christmas with THE CHOSEN: Holy Night” (12/12-12/14, 2 & 7:30 p.m.), WONKA (12/14 on)
@ Redbox (streaming), Champaign-Urbana, IL
THE DOG LOVER’S GUIDE TO DATING, LORD OF MISRULE, UNIT 262, WAIKIKI, more! (12/5 on) Online rentals
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
“Holiday in Whoville 2023” feat. HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (1966) (12/10, 1-4 p.m., hourly)
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
DIE HARD (re-release), NEXT GOAL WINS, TROLLS BAND TOGETHER (animation) (12/8-12/10)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
Danville Public Library, etc., present “A Novel Idea…” feat. HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (1966) (12/13, 7 p.m.)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
Closed for the season.
@ The Little Lorraine, Hoopeston, IL
Private parties and events
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
WHITE CHRISTMAS, BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) (12/8), THE SANTA CLAUSE (12/9, 12/13), IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (12/9, 12/14), GREMLINS (12/9), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938), HOME ALONE (12/10), ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE (12/11), TOKYO GODFATHERS (animé) (12/12)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
Closed for the weekend.
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
THE MARVELS (12/8-12/10)
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
12/18
Champaign Movie Makers* mixer
@ Esquire Lounge, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
3/2/24
CU International Film Festival*
@ Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, UIUC, Urbana, IL
NEW! 4/4-4/11/24
26th annual Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison, WI
NEW! 4/4-4/14/24
34th Onion City Experimental Film Festival, Chicago, 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.
12/15: THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG excerpt w/discussion
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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