Calendar: August 2-8, 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!
8/2: Jeff Kacmarynski (writer/director, ESSENCE, Refractive Error Media, Champaign, IL)
8/3: Laura Richter (production manager, FIELDS OF GOLD, Spencer Films, Springfield, IL)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
The Report is on hiatus until August or September. Thank you for your readership, CUvians and Agents!
IMAGERY DU C-U | Picturing Our Scene on the Screen
So, Ye Ed got lost in the rabbit hole that is the UIUC Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections in the last week and spent too much time uncovering little “oohs” and “aahs” from a local movie climate that preceded his time living in Champaign. One of his self-inflicted challenges was to figure out where and when the Pontiac-filmed GRANDVIEW U.S.A. played after it opened nationwide 40 years ago on August 3, 1984, and as far as he could find, it was never shown first run in the C-U. Granted, using the Daily Illini as his guide, the caveat is the traditional gaps in printing schedule during the summer months for a student-assembled newspaper, which took place during the first and last weeks of that August. Still, GRANDVIEW could or should have been lingering in places like Market Place Cinemas once the student body returned for school and, of course, the other wide releases, THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT and THE JOY OF SEX, did open in town on that date. The mind then boggles as to the shift in screening amenities here; more venues operated in 1984 than today, but today we have more total screens between the multiplexes and the Virginia Theatre than in 1984. Frustratingly, why does it feel like we have less and less choice, then? Today’s Image is a product shot of the GRANDVIEW Blu-ray released earlier in the spring by Via Vision Entertainment of Australia and, in part, the film is about one young man’s choices as to whether leaving his small town or making due with what is there is his best bet. Hm. Hrm.
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CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History
40 Years Ago … Friday, August 3, 1984: The colorful comedy-drama GRANDVIEW, U.S.A., set in a fantasy composite of an American small town but filmed last year in the real-life small town of Pontiac, IL, opens on more than 1,000 screens in North America through Warner Bros. It and the two other wide-release pictures new to theaters, JOY OF SEX and THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT, would be clumped together in the eighth, ninth, and tenth spots on the box office charts come Monday, August 6, proving to be no match as alternatives to the season’s heavyweights like GHOSTBUSTERS, GREMLINS, and PURPLE RAIN. Not really fitting into the mold of the decade’s teen comedies and failing to capitalize on the success of FOOTLOOSE in the spring or director Randal Kleiser’s previous smash hit, GREASE, GRANDVIEW, U.S.A. collapsed into obscurity with less than $5 million in earnings. Box Office Mojo [R]
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
THE FIRING SQUAD* (faith film), HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, KNEECAP, A PLACE CALLED SILENCE (in Mandarin with English sub), SUCCESSOR (in Mandarin with English sub), TRAP, DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, DESPICABLE ME 4 (animation), THE FABULOUS FOUR*, INSIDE OUT 2 (animation), LONGLEGS, TWISTERS (8/2 on), BORN PINK (Blackpink concert film) (8/3-8/4, 12 p.m., in Korean & English with English sub), Studio Ghibli Fest: PONYO (animé) (8/3, 3 p.m., 8/5, 8/7, 3 & 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub; 8/4, 8/6, 3 & 7 p.m., English dub), BORDERLANDS, CUCKOO, IT ENDS WITH US (8/8 on) *single screenings daily
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, TRAP, DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, DESPICABLE ME 4 (animation), THE FABULOUS FOUR, INSIDE OUT 2 (animation), LONGLEGS, A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE, TWISTERS (8/8 on), Studio Ghibli Fest: PONYO (animé) (8/3, 3 p.m., 8/5, 8/7, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub; 8/4, 8/6, 7 p.m., English dub), HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 (8/4, 3 & 7 p.m.; 8/7, 7 p.m.), The Metropolitan Opera “summer encore”: Turnadot (8/7, 1 & 6:30 p.m., recorded), ‘RiffTrax Live!’ feat. POINT BREAK (1991) (8/7, 7 p.m., simulcast), BORDERLANDS, IT ENDS WITH US (8/8 on)
@ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Summer Films on the Quad” feat. IF (8/8, 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!
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NOW PLAYING | The Cities Beyond
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, TWISTERS (8/1-8/4)
@ Clintonia Eagle Theater, Clinton, IL
HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, TRAP, DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, DESPICABLE ME 4 (animation), TWISTERS (8/8 on), SHREK 2 (animation) (8/6-8/7, 10 a.m., free)
@ Crescent Cinemas, Pontiac, IL
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, TWISTERS (8/2 on), THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2 (animation) (8/6, 8/8, 1:30 p.m.)
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
HOME (animation) (8/4, 2 p.m., free), Danville Public Library presents THE LITTLE MERMAID (2023) (8/7, 11 a.m.)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
TWISTERS (Screen 1), DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (Screen 2) (8/2 on)
@ Marcus Bloomington Cinema + IMAX, Bloomington, IL
THE FIRING SQUAD (faith film), HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, TRAP, DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, DESPICABLE ME 4 (animation), THE FABULOUS FOUR, INSIDE OUT 2 (animation), LONGLEGS, TWISTERS, (8/2 on), Indian cinema: AURON MEIN KAHAN DUM THA* (8/2-8/3, 8/5-8/6 in Hindi with English sub), BOAT* (8/2-8/3, 8/5-8/6 in Tamil with English sub), SHIVAM BHAJE* (8/2-8/3, 8/5, 8/7, in Tamil with English sub), ULAJH* (8/2-8/3, 8/5-8/6 in Hindi with English sub), and ALANAATI RAMACHANDRUDU* (8/3, 8/5-8/7, in Telugu with English sub), BORN PINK (Blackpink concert film) (8/2, 6 p.m., 8/3-8/4, 12 p.m., in Korean & English with English sub), SHREK (animation) (8/3-8/8, 10 a.m.), Studio Ghibli Fest: PONYO (animé) (8/3, 3 p.m., 8/5, 8/7, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub; 8/4, 8/6, 7 p.m., English dub), AMERICAN PSYCHO (8/4, 8:50 p.m.; 8/6, 7:20 & 10 p.m.), BORDERLANDS, CUCKOO, IT ENDS WITH US (8/8 on) *single screenings daily
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
THE SANDLOT (8/2-8/4), THE NATURAL (8/3-8/4), TOY STORY (animation) (8/5, 8/7), OCTOPUSSY (8/8)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
TWISTERS (8/2-8/4)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA – CHAPTER 1 (8/2-8/4)
@ The Route 66 Drive-in Theater, Springfield, IL
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, LONGLEGS (Screen 1), TWISTERS, THE FALL GUY (Screen 2) (8/2-8/4, 8/7-8/8)
@ VIP Lincoln Grand 6, Lincoln, IL
HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, TRAP, DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, DESPICABLE ME 4 (animation), LONGLEGS*, TWISTERS (8/2 on) *single screenings daily
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
8/17
Pens to Lens* 2024 Gala
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 3-5 p.m.
8/31-9/1
10th anniversary Dark History & Horror Con*
@ Orpheum Champaign (The Orpheum Theater), Champaign, IL
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
UPDATE! Chambana Film Festival* – Summer 2024 screening series
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL, 4 p.m.
8/11 (rescheduled): OUT THERE: A NATIONAL PARKS STORY (documentary); 8/25: THE WINGWALKER; 9/29: A TIME APART
Illini Radio Group presents “Rewind 92.5 Movie Series”/“Mix 94.5 Throwback Thursdays”*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
8/29: BACK TO THE FUTURE; 9/26: OFFICE SPACE*, 10/17: FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980); 11/20: THE BOY AND THE HERON (animé); 12/5: FRIDAY*
Illinois Public Media presents “The Arthouse Experience Film Series”
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.
8/16: THE FAVOURITE; 9/6: HOOP DREAMS* (documentary); 10/18: TO LESLIE; 11/22: RUSHMORE
The News-Gazette Film Series
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
8/24: IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD; 9/21: THE LONG GOODBYE; 10/19: REAR WINDOW; 11/30: THE WIZARD OF OZ; 12/7: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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