C-U Biz-en-scène: 02.18.2011
“C-U Biz-en-scène” appears every Thursday/Friday on C-U Blogfidential to give our readers a succinct snapshot of the cinema activity in and near Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA. Please support the artists and their work, attend screenings and events, and otherwise become active in our esoteric little world!
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MFHQ & YOU:
This is Not Just a Weekly Movie Column, It’s Our Lives
On many academics’ minds this past week is the passing at age 61 of venerated University of Chicago film scholar, author, and researcher Miriam Hansen, whom we weren’t familiar with despite her apparently groundbreaking critical theories taking into account social and political reverberations when discussing the worldwide influence of cinema, particularly that of Hollywood’s silent and golden ages on early 20th century audiences. All the living organisms at the Secret MICRO-FILM Headquarters are low enough on the intellectual totem pole that we’ll refrain from attempting to extrapolate the basic tenets of her work on short notice; the interested may learn more about her life here and here while exploring her contributions via links aggregated on the site Film Studies for Free. Reading briefly through some of these references and remembrances simply reminds us to reinforce in your minds, dearest readers, that the discourse here on C-U Blogfidential and in all current and eventual spin-offs is intended to provide more than casual reading on any given day. At least your humble editor would like to think a bigger picture has been preserved between all the movies of Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond. Look for our annual state of the C-Union address, “In My Backyard,” to elaborate on such things in the very near future!
EVENTS
Always failing to telegraph its approach on the MICRO-radar until it’s too late for us to do anything but hope the next time will be our first time attending, the Big Muddy Film Festival will return this weekend for its 33rd annual showcase of independent and international cinema tucked deep in the Illinois tip. All shows and satellite events will take place on or near the campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Guests include Nigerian director Femi Odugbemi and jurors/filmmakers Kerry Laitala, Shanti Thakur, and Josh Jones; marquee screenings include a midnight revival of John Waters’ PINK FLAMINGOS, the silent MY BEST GIRL with Mary Pickford, the radical cult item THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR, and a new documentary on SPOOK called INFILTRATING HOLLYWOOD which creators Christine Acham and Clifford Ward will attend. You can find complete information on Big Muddy 33 right here.
Closer to home, organizers Sasan Shabrou and Ludo van der Hout have updated the Web site of the previously mentioned Buttered Corn on the Cob Film Festival, revealing it will take place at the new-look 88 Broadway entertainment venue at Lincoln Square Village in downtown Urbana on Sunday, April 3 – a mere five days before the next New Art Film Festival. Will our fair twin cities support two events within the same week that “honor the independent drive Film Makers of the Midwest have to create films without the support of the Hollywood machine [and] also be a chance for film makers of the Midwest to come together and network together,” per the Buttered Corn mission statement? We sure hope so, given all the behind-the-scenes effort required to pull off events like these! Good luck, guys, we’ll be rooting for you and probably stop by for a toast on the big day. Everyone else should return to their site next Friday, Feburary 25, when they plan to post their complete line-up!
SUBMISSIONS
Two weeks ago, we alerted you to a Call for Entries soliciting material for the Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival which will take place next month at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. We’ve discovered the official CIFFF Web site is now live, so please visit for submission information and updates. The deadline is fast approaching on March 1, by the way!
MERCH
Should it be any surprise that the Dreamscape Cinema production involving time-shifting as a plot device is the one currently messing with our heads at MFHQ? Thanks to an update sent us by company president Robin Christian this week all but asking us to troll the Internet and see for ourselves, we’ve confirmed that SHEEBA follow-up DISCONNECT has also joined the ranks of the commercially available! Chatsworth, CA-based Osiris Entertainment released the fantasy-tinged murder mystery to DVD this past Tuesday, February 15, with a Blu-ray offering once again nowhere in sight; minor extras include a photo gallery and trailer according to this product page. We also found that nearly all of your favorite mass-market retailers – Amazon, Wal-mart, Best Buy, etc*. – offer SHEEBA for purchase while DISCONNECT appears in some catalogs; both can be rented from Netflix. This means all the people privately stewing for years about their absence in the United States now have nothing stopping them from supporting our local movie-makers. As a premature reward for your diligence in exercising said support, we’ll reveal a couple of visuals for you Saturday related to DISCONNECT which stars Steffany Huckabee, Michael Muhney, Holmes Osborne, Eddie Jones, and cute-as-a-button Amanda Troop.
*Confidential comrades who know better can spend their dollars wiser. Order your personal DVDs through Exile on Main Street or ask That’s Rentertainment to stock copies for rental. Thank you.
MEDIA LINKS
Once again, we nearly bombed in our effort to direct your attentions elsewhere in a constructive manner this week. (That’s okay, though. We always welcome you to spend some quality time right here!) We will therefore dig deep into our mental filing cabinet and justify listing the following items. First, we caught this positive review on IndieWIRE.com for the low-budget indie LOVELESS, written and directed by MICRO-FILM friend and University of Illinois graduate Ramin Serry who attended “Ebertfest” ’01 as a guest with his producer and wife, fellow UI alumna Shauna Lyon, in support of their first feature MARYAM. A brief obituary in the Los Angeles Times characterizes the exploitation films of David F. Friedman who passed away on Monday at age 87; his colorfully seamy showbiz career included BLOOD FEAST, the purported “original splatter movie” directed by H.G. Lewis, which hit box office pay dirt in 1963 after playing a test run at a Peoria, IL, drive-in. To close on an intriguing note, The Pantagraph reports the Castle Theatre in downtown Bloomington, IL, hosted an event during which an audience of area techies and IBM representatives watched the recent JEOPARDY! episodes featuring supercomputer “Watson” in competition with prior flesh-and-blood champions of the game show. This means only one thing to us other than the end of humankind as we know it – the former single-screen movie house converted to a music club is still equipped to project movies. Hmmmmmmmmm. Elementary deductions, we say!
PLAYING THIS WEEK
DISCONNECT* U.S. DVD Release: Tuesday, 2/15, Nationwide via Osiris Entertainment, Chatsworth, CA
@ The Art Theater, Champaign, IL: Oscar Nominated Short Films 2011: Live Action (2/18-2/21, 2/23), Oscar Nominated Short Films 2011: Animated (2/18-2/21, 2/24), GONE WITH THE POPE (2/18, 2/19, 2/24, 10 p.m.), Giselle (2/19, 2/20, 12 p.m., ballet), GASLAND (2/21, 5 p.m., 2/22, 2:30 p.m.), WASTE LAND (2/21, 7:30 p.m., 2/22, 12 p.m.), “Poetry Out Loud” regional competition (2/22, 6 p.m.)
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL: UNKNOWN, I AM NUMBER FOUR, 127 HOURS (2/18 on), BLACK SWAN (2/18-2/20)
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL: Oscar Nominated Short Films 2011: Live Action (2/17-2/18, 7 p.m.), Oscar Nominated Short Films 2011: Animated (2/19-2/20, 7 p.m.)
@ The Lorraine Theatre, Hoopeston, IL: JUST GO WITH IT, JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER (2/18 on)
@ Gemini Cinemas, Villa Grove, IL: THE TOURIST, COUNTRY STRONG (2/18 on)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL: JUST GO WITH IT (2/18-2/20, 2/23, 7 p.m.)
@ That’s Rentertainment, Champaign, IL: UNSTOPPABLE, WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN,” YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER, SUMMER WARS, THE LAST LOVECRAFT, more! (2/15 on)
@ Guyon Auditorium, Morris Library, SIU, Carbondale, IL & more: Big Muddy Film Festival 33 (2/18-2/27)
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Locally produced movies and events featuring locally produced movies are marked with an asterisk (*). Go see ‘em!
COMING SOON
NEW! 2/26: Insect Fear Film Festival
Feat. MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL and SWARMED w/filmmaker
@ Foellinger Auditorium, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m.
2/27: PROBABILITY OF POSSIBILTIES* dance film (Premiere)
@ Krannert Art Museum, UIUC, Champaign, IL, 3 p.m.
UPDATE! 2/27: Central Illinois Film Commission “Red Carpet Party”
@ Capital City Bar & Grill, Springfield, IL, 7 p.m.
3/10: THE LINGUISTS w/filmmakers
@ Doudna Fine Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, 7 p.m.
3/11: DVD release: PRESS START 2 CONTINUE*
+ Dark Maze Studios, Champaign, IL
3/22-3/27: Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor, MI
3/30-4/1: Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison, WI
NEW! 4/3: Buttered Corn on the Cob Film Festival
@ 88 Broadway, Urbana, IL
4/8: The New Art Film Festival at Boneyard Arts Festival
@ The Art Theater, Champaign, IL
NEW! 4/14: STONEWALL UPRISING screening/discussion/taping
@ Champaign Public Library, Champaign, IL, 6:30 p.m.
4/27-5/1: Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
6/23-6/26: Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival, Chicago, IL
9/16-9/18: Route 66 International Film Festival
@ Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, IL
COMMUNITY FILM SERIES
“Real Vs. Reel” Movie Series
@ Danville Public Library, Danville, IL, 6:30 p.m.
3/14: A PLACE IN THE SUN; 4/11: THE FUGITIVE
Springfield Art Association 20th Annual Film Festival
@ AMC Parkway 8, Springfield, IL, 1 & 4 p.m. (Sun.), 7 p.m. (Tues.)
2/27, 3/1: UNDERTOW; 3/13, 3/15: MOTHER AND CHILD; 3/27, 3/29: MADE IN DAGENHAM; 4/10, 4/12: MY DOG TULIP
The News-Gazette Film Series 2011
@ The Virginia Theater, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
3/12: THE MATRIX; 4/23: TOY STORY; 5/14: REAR WINDOW; 6/4: MOULIN ROUGE!; 7/23: BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S; 8/6: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE; 9/10: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT; 10/8: THE EXORCIST; 11/5: THE GODFATHER; 12/3: THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
UPDATE! WILL-TV/Independent Lens “Community Cinema” series
@ Champaign Public Library, Champaign, IL, 6:30 p.m.
2/24: ME FACING LIFE; 3/17: PUSHING THE ELEPHANT; 4/26: BHUTTO: 5/10: WELCOME TO SHELBYVILLE; TBA: TWO SPIRITS
UNIVERSITY FILM SERIES
NEW! AsiaLENS: AEMS Documentary/Film Series
@ Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m.
3/1: DISHONORED; 4/5: THE SWEETEST EMBRACE; 5/3: IN THE MATTER OF CHA JUNG HEE
NEW! Global Lens 2011: International Films
@ Latzer Hall, University YMCA, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 5:30 p.m.
2/17: OPERA JAWA, Indonesia; 3/17: BELVEDERE, Bosnia-Herzegovina; 4/21: DOOMAN RIVER, China; 5/19: THE INVISIBLE EYE, Argentina; 6/16: THE LIGHT THIEF, Kyrgyzstan; 7/21: SOUL OF SAND, India; 8/18: STREET DAYS, Georgia; 9/15: THE TENANTS, Brazil; 10/20: A USEFUL LIFE, Uruguay; 11/17: WHITE MEADOWS, Iran
IPRH Film Series Spring 2011
@ Room 62, Krannert Art Museum, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 5:30 p.m.
3/3: AFTER HOURS; 3/31: AVALON
OUTRO
One of our favorite C-U music groups from the Nineties will reconvene tomorrow, Saturday, February 19, 10 p.m., at the Cowboy Monkey, 6 Taylor St. in downtown Champaign. Go revive your healthy groove life with the Funky Butt Drum Club as they funktify the universe for the first time in a decade! We’re listening to their album Get a Load of This, released 13 years ago this March on the defunct local label Hammerhead Records, and can’t help but quiver at the opening church organ swell leading into “Not a Movie,” which for many was the first tactile evidence vocalist Brandon T. Washington could handily own the joint wherever he might roam. Most of the CUBlog readership wouldn’t know that it is a refrain from that lead-off track which inspired the original MICRO-FILM motto, “This is not just movies, it’s our lives,” still defining and fueling our efforts under the MFHQ roof today. We are indebted to you, FBDC.
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That’s it for the “business of our scene” this week!
If you have relevant news, opportunities, dates, or promotions that you would like included in CUBiz, please forward the who, what, where, when, and how much to cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com.
Compiled by Jason Pankoke
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MF FIRE SALE!
We ask that you consider purchasing back issues of MICRO-FILM and C-U Confidential to help erase our outstanding print bill before we return to the printer with files for not only CUZine no.5 but our delayed special issues, C-U Confidential ’99 and MICRO-FILM 2000. You can order by using the “Donate” PayPal button here or sending cash/check/money order/cashier’s check to: Jason Pankoke, Editor, MICRO-FILM, 401 N. Prairie, Suite 3D, Champaign, IL, 61820. Documents should be made payable to “Jason Pankoke” and personal/business checks will have to sit 4-6 weeks to clear. The sale is good for MICRO-FILM issues 1-7 (do not use the old PayPal buttons if you want sale prices) and C-U Confidential issues 1-4 until further notice. For any single order: 1st copy MF, $5 ppd; 2nd copy MF, $4 ppd, 3rd copy MF, $3 ppd; 4th+ copy MF, $2 ppd each; 1st copy CUZine, $4 ppd; 2nd copy CUZine, $3 ppd, 3rd+ copy CUZine, $1 ppd each. If you have trouble figuring out a total price, simply write us at cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com for help. We need to nail this by Friday, April 1, 2011, or nefarious decisions will have to be made in the bowels of the Secret MICRO-FILM Headquarters. Thanks in advance for your support!
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“C-U Biz-en-scène” no.30 © 2011 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential.