Calendar: March 1-7, 2024
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!
3/2: Anne Lukeman (“chief adventurist,” C-U Adventures in Time & Space escape room, Urbana, IL)
3/2: Kelly White (executive director, 40 North 88 West: Champaign County Arts Council, Champaign, IL)
3/5: James Treichler (producer/audio engineer, Wave Upon Wave, Champaign, IL)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
Wow, so, film culture announcements and revelations have erupted over the last week or so and we’re not prepared to dive into it all for this Report. We’ll just stick with the plan, then, which is to highlight student-centered doings. You’ll see listings and links immediately below for the second CU International Film Festival, an inspirational short film showcase from local high school senior Max Libman and company, at the UI Spurlock Museum this Saturday, March 2, starting at 7 p.m. with tickets available on-site starting at 6 p.m., as well as the animé celebration at the UI Illini Union, UI-CON, organized and hosted by University of Illinois students connected with a long-running RSO, the Japanese Animation Club, lasting all day Saturday and Sunday, March 3, and free to attend for the campus community and general public. We also finally spotted a submission deadline of Friday, April 12, for the enrolled UI populace to enter their work for possible inclusion in the next UIUC Student Film Festival, which is slated to take place two weeks later on Friday, April 26, at Knight Auditorium in Spurlock where the CUIFF is holding court tomorrow. There is also the Foxtail Film Festival, arranged by faculty and adjuncts over at Illinois State University for the second year running, which has a late deadline of next Friday, March 8, for accepting submissions from high school and college students in several categories as listed on FilmFreeway; Foxtail events are scheduled to run from Thursday, April 25, through Sunday, April 28, with the screenings at the Normal Theater in downtown Normal. We’ll all need a spring break after this. Whew!
CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History
25 Years Ago … Wednesday, March 3, 1999: Operating out of a studio-office situated near downtown Champaign, Illinois, Opteryx Press puts its spin on independent film discourse to paper for the first time with the release of MICRO-FILM: The Warning Shot. The letter-size, 12-page ‘zine is a copy shop creation with a teal cover that serves as a low-budget teaser for the upcoming MICRO-FILM, “The Magazine of Personal Cinema in Action.” Novice self-publisher Jason Pankoke draws the content from his recent interactions with participants in the American “film festival circuit” as well as science-fiction and horror fandom; interview subjects include Scary Monsters Magazine publisher Dennis Druktenis from the Chicago suburb of Highwood, Oregon-based stop-motion animator Suzanne Twining, and filmmaker and photographer Brien Burroughs of San Francisco. Short subjects created by the latter two were introduced to a Champaign-Urbana audience during the first Freaky Film Festival in 1997. “Many of the films in MICRO-FILM will be raw and unpolished,” writes Pankoke in a “Save the Mirth” editorial. “Some will be experimental and abstract. Most will be far from perfect, at least according to the standards of mainstream critics and cinema historians. However, all belong to the century-old history of motion picture making, and this history deserves to be fleshed out by recording what is going on in the grassroots, the backyards, and the underground. In this case, size doesn’t matter. Your films do.” A second “stepping stone” issue to be called MICRO-FILM 101 is promoted in The Warning Shot but never comes to fruition. As reported on 3/7/09 at CUBlog. [R]
LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ Golden Corral, Springfield, IL
Central Illinois Film Commission* meeting (3/7, 6 p.m. dinner, 7 p.m. meeting)
@ Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
UI Japanese Animation Club presents UI-CON* animation and comics convention (3/2-3/3) Information
@ Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, UIUC, Urbana, IL
CU International Film Festival* (3/2, 6 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. films, free w/ticket) Information
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
THE CHOSEN: S4, Ep. 7-8 (faith programming), DUNE: PART TWO, OPERATION VALENTINE (in Telugu with English sub), ARGYLLE, ARTICLE 20 (in Mandarin with English sub), BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE, DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA – TO THE HASHIRA TRAINING (animé) (in Japanese with English sub or English dub), DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS, MADAME WEB, ORDINARY ANGELS, PEGASUS 2 (in Mandarin with English sub) (3/1 on), Oscar 2024 hopefuls: BARBIE* (3/1, 3/7), THE HOLDOVERS* (3/1, 3/4), OPPENHEIMER* (3/1, 3/5), AMERICAN FICTION* (3/2, 3/5), POOR THINGS* (3/2, 3/7), KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON* (3/2, 3/4), ANATOMY OF A FALL* (3/3, 3/6), THE ZONE OF INTEREST* (3/3, 3/6), and PAST LIVES* (3/3), AMC “Screen Unseen” (mystery movie) (3/4, 7 p.m.), CABRINI, IMAGINARY, KUNG FU PANDA 4 (animation) (3/7 on) *single screenings daily
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
ALL OF US STRANGERS, THE CHOSEN: S4, Ep. 7-8 (faith programming), DUNE: PART TWO, AMERICAN FICTION, ANYONE BUT YOU, ARGYLLE, BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE, DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA – TO THE HASHIRA TRAINING (animé) (in Japanese with English sub or English dub), DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS, MADAME WEB, MIGRATION (animation), ORDINARY ANGELS, POOR THINGS, WONKA (3/1 on), THE LAND BEFORE TIME (animation) (3/3, 3, 5 & 7 p.m.; 3/6, 5 & 7 p.m.), CABRINI, IMAGINARY, KUNG FU PANDA 4 (animation) (3/7 on)
@ Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Spring 2024 Weekend Films” feat. TROLLS BAND TOGETHER, Pine Lounge, 1st floor (3/1-3/2, 7 p.m.; free w/i-card)
@ Redbox (streaming), Champaign-Urbana, IL
COLD MEAT, SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 SAMURAI, more! (2/27 on) Online rentals
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
Illini Radio Group presents “Rewind 92.5 Movie Series” feat. KUNG FU PANDA 4 pre-release screening (3/5, 7 p.m., free)
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
@ AMC Classic 12, Springfield, IL
Springfield Art Association presents Molly Schlich Independent | International Film Series feat. REVOIR PARIS (3/3, 1 & 4 p.m.; 3/5, 7 p.m.)
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
DUNE: PART TWO, DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS, WONKA (2/29-3/3)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
No movies this week!
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS (3/1-3/3), The Oscar Nominated Shorts 2024: Animated (3/2, 3/5), Live Action (3/2, 3/4), and Documentary (3/3, 3/6)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
MADAME WEB (3/1-3/3)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
THE BEEKEEPER (3/1-3/3)
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
NEW! 3/18
IN WHOSE HONOR?* documentary screening
@ Spurlock Museum for World Cultures, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 4 p.m.
4/4-4/11
26th annual Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison, WI
4/4-4/14
34th Onion City Experimental Film Festival, Chicago, IL
4/5
“Friday Forum” feat. Prof. Jay Rosenstein about IN WHOSE HONOR?
@ University YMCA, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 12 p.m.
4/17-4/20
24th Roger Ebert’s Film Festival* (25th anniversary edition)
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
NEW! 4/26
UIUC Student Film Festival*
@ Spurlock Museum for World Cultures, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m.
NEW! 11/1-11/2
23rd Route 66 Film Festival*
@ Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, 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.
3/21: E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL; 4/25: PITCH PERFECT*; 5/23: FAME (1980); 6/27: HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE*; 7/11: GREASE “sing-a-long” edition
Illinois Public Media presents “The Arthouse Experience Film Series”
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
3/8: PAST LIVES; 4/26: AMÉLIE; 5/24: FREE SOLO; 7/5: STOP MAKING SENSE
Illini Union Board presents “Spring 2024 Weekend Films”
@ Pine Lounge, 1st floor, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m. Fri. & Sat, free w/i-card
3/8-3/9: AMERICAN FICTION; 3/15-3/16: AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM; 3/22-3/23: ANYONE BUT YOU; 3/29-3/30: THE COLOR PURPLE; 4/5-4/6: FERRARI; 4/12-4/13: THE BOYS IN THE BOAT; 4/19-4/20: WONKA; 4/26-4/27: THE BOOK OF CLARENCE; 5/3-5/4: THE IRON CLAW
NEW! Lake County Film Festival presents “Chambana” screening series
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL, 4 p.m.
3/31: QWERTY (free); 4/28: TRAPPED BALLOON; 5/26: BIKE VESSEL
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
3/9: THE SOUND OF MUSIC “sing-a-long” edition; 4/13: THE THIRD MAN
Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies events
@ Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m. (unless noted otherwise)
3/21: OVARIAN PSYCOS documentary screening; 3/22: “Women Make Movies” discussion of OVARIAN PSYCOS @ UI Women’s Resources Center, Champaign, 3 p.m.; 4/4: PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE screening curated by Ebert Fellows; 4/16-4/17: Roger Ebert Symposium, “Representations and Their Critics”
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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“Calendar du C-U”
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