Calendar: May 31-June 6, 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.
~~~~~
MILESTONES | Happy Birthday to You!
6/1: Bill Yauch (producer/cinematographer, AMBER ROSE, Shut Up and Do It Productions, Champaign, IL)
6/1: William Pace (faculty associate of digital media production, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ)
6/2: DeShawn Hill (producer, HD Productions Media, Los Angeles, CA)
6/3: Amanda Baker (videographer/editor, Five Foot Productions, Champaign-Urbana, IL)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
Now is the time in the program where we alert our dearest cultural custodians as to what is on deck in the local cinema. Not unlike a few weeks ago when it seemed the horror stories of our creation were oozing from every crack and pore, a fair amount of movie action has come to light and a Report-ing we will go!
On May 17, University of Illinois alumnus Keenan Dailey, the Peoria native who continues to live in Champaign-Urbana and provide freelance multi-media services as Visage Entertainment, wrapped photography for his first independent feature, BRIM, also known as HEAR NO EVIL and a partner piece to the short subject SEE NO EVIL. Developed in partnership with writer/producer Trude Namara, data researcher Paris Adkins-Jackson, PhD, the Marvin Grey Matter Family research group, and Columbia University in New York, the films use dramatic scenes to personalize how incarceration and systemic racism encoded in the law impacts the health of aging Black and Latin adults. More on SEE NO EVIL and the philosophy behind their storytelling can be learned about at this website; both were filmed in Chicago and central Illinois with regional talent, while their screening availability has yet to be announced.
On May 18, a world premiere soirée and screening were held at the Rooftop Cinema Club atop the Emily Hotel in downtown Chicago for AMERICAN CRIMINALS, a long-gestating period piece filmed all throughout Chicagoland the last two years by writer/director Aaron Warr for Great Uncles and Our Gang Productions, LLC. Based on a sensational true story that unfolded 100 years ago in the well-off Kenwood neighborhood, CRIMINALS dramatizes the unprovoked kidnapping and murder of a prep school student, Bobby Franks (Jace Chastain), by a pair of scholarly and affluent teens, Nathan Leopold (Bing Brazeau) and Richard Loeb (Jake Schory), for the alleged thrill. Once Leopold and Loeb are arrested after a ransom scheme falls apart, celebrated defense attorney Clarence Darrow (Robert Donovan) represents them in court and spares the co-conspirators from execution but not a media-fueled infamy. Peoria native Warr and producer Joshua Zilm previously worked together more than a decade ago on the comedy picture COLLEGE DEBTS and will be seeking out national distribution for the new production.
~~~~~
~~~~~
On May 20, John Isberg of Swede Films confirmed the launch of a new podcast about making horror and cult films, Shudder to Think. Four episodes have already been uploaded to a Spotify account, the first two with Isberg monologuing about the appeal of horror and the realistic needs on a horror set, the second two where Isberg converses with cinematographer and producer Robert Patrick Stern (BLACK MOLD, BROOKLYN 45) and Jacob Allen (TOOLBOX MURDERS 2, Wreak Havoc Horror Film Festival) on their experiences in the milieu. The proverbial Facebook page will alert you about upcoming shows.
On May 22, West Coast filmmaker, arts management specialist, and Champaign native Peter McDowell revealed in an e-mail blast that his award-winning documentary about the abbreviated life and lost love of his late brother, JIMMY IN SAIGON, has been picked up for distribution in North America by Dark Star Pictures and will receive a limited theatrical release before streaming and home video berths. It also will be offered in Spain by the indie-favoring label Filmin. After appearing at more than forty festivals and showcases worldwide, JIMMY can next be seen publicly on Thursday, June 6, 6:30 p.m., at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa – much closer to MFHQ Deux than the C-U, alas – as the first in a weekly and free film series to celebrate Pride Month. You can still donate to outreach funding right here.
Also on May 22, Northend Empire Films, LLC, and Map Productions, the groups behind the indie family comedy IRRESPONSIBULL that premiered last fall at the Virginia Theatre and was filmed in the area, posted feelers to Facebook for casting a follow-up that may be shooting as early as next week, L.A.F KIDS. They say at least one more project will be filmed later in 2024 and another, SCARE BUSTERS, has already gone before the cameras in Peoria. Those wanting to be informed about future opportunities on their sets can contact the director, Nate Morris, at nate [at] northendempire [dot] com, and those who’d like to watch IRRESPONSIBULL, which stars comedians Chris Hightower and Deandre Burns in a high-energy lark about earning trust and redemption, can stream it for $4.99 through the official website.
~~~~~
~~~~~
And then come the horror morsels, watch out! Starting a few days ago, suburban Acrostar Productions has been promoting the next outing, RETURN OF THE CORN ZOMBIES, by announcing their players and raising production funds with equal intensity; they presumably will descend upon the rural central Illinois region where they made ATTACK OF… in the coming months, under the direction of S. J. Herman and Mia Katz. Already wrapped as of March is SMILE MAKER, a low-budget thriller conceived by actor and producer Aric Diamani of AMERICAN CRIMINALS and Mikey Tiffany of the “Time Girl” steampunk universe we’ve talked about previously; filmed in Tiffany’s hometown of Jacksonville, it stars Jeremy London, Nea Dune, and Diamani in the first of what Tiffany promises are many collaborations to come.
No relation to SMILE MAKER is GRINNERS, an even lower-budget fit of mayhem to be directed by Jarod Hussey of Refinery Films in Mt. Carroll, based in northwest Illinois; according to his fundraising campaign, the story will pit a “horror cooking show host” (Magdalena Conway, star of several Acrostar pictures) against animal-masked killers (Natanna Jacobs, Andrew Byard) in a grungy game of cat and mouse (and possum). To close, finished films in this bloody vein can now be submitted for consideration to the Screaming Mad Film Festival, a popular sidebar of the annual Dark History & Horror Convention in the C-U; the early deadline is right around the corner on Saturday, June 15, and FilmFreeway will tell you about the rest. Dark History’s tenth-anniversary show is set for late August at the Orpheum Champaign.
A few more items are lingering on our radar, yes sir and ma’am, but we need to cap Ye Ed’s eyestrain for the moment and call it a Report. New business will be followed in next week’s Calendar by a few bits of old business, and then we’ll be concentrating mainly on personal business for the summer months.
LOCAL FILMS & EVENTS | Support Your Media Storytellers
@ Ace Sign Co. Museum, Springfield, IL
Central Illinois Film Commission* meeting (6/6, 7 p.m.)
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
BABES, THE DEAD DON’T HURT, EZRA, HAIKYU!! THE DUMPSTER BATTLE (animé), IN A VIOLENT NATURE, SUMMER CAMP, THE FALL GUY, FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, THE GARFIELD MOVIE (animation), IF, KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, SIGHT (faith film), THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 (5/31 on), JESUS THIRSTS: THE MIRACLE OF THE EUCHARIST (religious documentary) (6/4-6/6, 4 & 7 p.m.), LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL feat. David Dastmalchian & Kevin Smith talk (6/6, 7:30 p.m.), BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE, THE WATCHERS (6/6 on)
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
THE DEAD DON’T HURT, EZRA, IN A VIOLENT NATURE, SUMMER CAMP, BABES, BACK TO BLACK, CHALLENGERS, CIVIL WAR, THE FALL GUY, FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, THE GARFIELD MOVIE (animation), IF, KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, SIGHT (faith film), THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 (5/31 on), UFC 302: Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Porier, more (mixed martial arts) (6/1, 9 p.m., simulcast), THE MUPPET MOVIE 45th anniversary (6/2, 1 & 7 p.m.; 6/3, 7 p.m.), SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (6/2, 3 & 7 p.m.; 6/5, 7 p.m.), JESUS THIRSTS: THE MIRACLE OF THE EUCHARIST (religious documentary) (6/4, 4 & 7 p.m.; 6/5, 7 p.m.), summer family films: THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2 (animation), HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: SUMMER VACATION (animation) (6/4-6/6, 10 a.m.), BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE, THE WATCHERS (6/6 on)
@ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Summer Films on the Quad” feat. ARTHUR THE KING (6/6, 9 p.m., free)
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
No movies this week!
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
THE DEAD DON’T HURT, FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, SIGHT (faith film) (5/31-6/2)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE (6/1, 7 p.m.), Danville Public Library, etc., presents “A Novel Idea…” feat. JURASSIC PARK (6/6, 7 p.m.)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
THE GARFIELD MOVIE (animation) (Screen 1), TWISTER (Screen 2) (5/31 on)
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
EVIL DOES NOT EXIST (in Japanese with English sub) (5/31-6/2), STARGATE (6/6)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
THE GARFIELD MOVIE (animation) (5/31-6/2)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
IF (5/31-6/2)
@ The Route 66 Drive-in Theater, Springfield, IL
THE GARFIELD MOVIE (animation), IF (Screen 1), FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, TAROT (Screen 2) (5/31-6/2, 6/5-6/6)
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
6/8
Danville Dans baseball “double header” feat. THE BABE*
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL, 2 p.m.
8/31-9/1
10th anniversary Dark History & Horror Con
@ Orpheum Champaign (The Orpheum Theater), Champaign, IL
NEW! 10/16-10/27
60th Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago, IL
11/1-11/2
23rd Route 66 Film Festival*
@ Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, IL
4/23/-4/25/25
25th Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
Chambana Film Festival – Summer 2024 screening series
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL, 4 p.m.
6/30: “Funny Strange & Funny Haha: Comedic Short Films;” 7/28: OUT THERE: A NATIONAL PARKS STORY
Illini Radio Group presents “Rewind 92.5 Movie Series”/“Mix 94.5 Throwback Thursdays”*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
6/27: HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE*; 7/11: GREASE “sing-a-long” edition
Illini Union Board presents “Summer Films on the Quad”
@ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 9 p.m. Thursdays, free
6/13: KUNG FU PANDA 4; 6/20: THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGICAL NEGROES; 6/27: THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE; 7/11: GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE; 7/18: CIVIL WAR; 7/25: THE FALL GUY; 8/1: GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE; 8/8: IF
Illinois Public Media presents “The Arthouse Experience Film Series”
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
6/21: WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?; 7/5: STOP MAKING SENSE;
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
6/15: HARVEY; 7/13: ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN
~~~~~
Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
~~~~~
“Calendar du C-U”
© 2024 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential