C-U Blogfidential

“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:
The Word Play’s the Thing

We’ll continue our survey of the Champaign-Urbana cinema landscape in next week’s Biz since your humble editor has been concentrating on keeping his head above water and rehearsing to play “Detective Cole” in this weekend’s UIUC Armory Free Theatre production of the 1998 drama Stop Kiss by Diana Son. UI senior in Theater Julia Skeggs, co-investigator of our eternal mystery on the most recent cover of C-U Confidential digest, stars as Callie, a New York City helicopter traffic reporter who falls for St. Louis transplant Sara (Fellow UI senior Wendy Muir), a grade school teacher in Brooklyn. One night while walking through a park, their lives are shattered after being attacked in an apparent hate crime. Directed by Tania Arazi Coambs, Stop Kiss will be performed tonight, Friday, October 14, at 8 p.m. as well as tomorrow, Saturday, October 15, at 1 and 8 p.m. Admittance is free but seating is limited and first come, first served. Please join us!

And, yes, we still post about movies and related media. Observe…

LINKS OF THE WEEK

We reported a couple of weeks ago that Mitsubishi Motors North America recently filmed material in nearby Normal for promotional videos; here is one completed piece along with a companion article posted by the Pantagraph of Bloomington, as well as the 30-second spot airing on national television through November. Decatur and the 2011 Farm Progress Show will provide a little agricultural flavor to an episode of the Discovery Channel series, AMERICAN CHOPPER, according to this Herald & Review article. Finally, our friends Paul Holze and Stephanie Stean of Groundwork Global Media in Arizona have posted the first segment of their project, THE STORY OF HAPPINESS, on YouTube.

PLAYING THIS WEEK

FARM* U.S. DVD Release: Tuesday, 10/11, Nationwide via Green Apple Entertainment, Boca Raton, FL

@ The Art Theater, Champaign, IL: LIFE IN A DAY* (10/14-10/17, five shows), SENNA (10/14-10/16, 10/18, five shows), THE THING (1982; 10/14-10/15, 10 p.m.), Class Concert and Giselle (10/15-10/16, 12 p.m., ballet), BUCK (10/15-10/16, 10/19, four shows), GROW! (10/20, 6:30 p.m.), SLAUGHTER MASSACRE w/THE TRANSIENT* and ONCE UPON A TIME IN 1972* (10/20, 10 p.m., w/filmmakers)

@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL: THE BIG YEAR, DOLPHIN TALE, REAL STEEL (10/14 on), NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968; 10/14, 10:30 p.m., free), DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004; 10/15, 10:30 p.m., free)

@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL: ISU Alumni Fest: THE BUCKET LIST (10/13, 7 p.m., feat. actor Sean Hayes), BEST IN SHOW (10/14, 7 p.m., feat. actress Jane Lynch), IRON MAN (10/15, 7 p.m., feat. spfx artist Brian Connor), OF MICE AND MEN (10/16, 7 p.m., feat. actor John Malkovich)

@ Route 66 Twin Drive-In, Springfield, IL: “Spooky Nights” movies: MONSTERS VS. ALIENS, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, ALIEN, THE THING (1982) (10/14-10/15)

@ Princess Theatre, LeRoy, IL: MONEYBALL (10/14-10/16)

@ That’s Rentertainment, Champaign, IL: THE TREE OF LIFE, HORRIBLE BOSSES, TERRI, MR. NICE, THE TRIP, ZOOKEEPER, JUDY MOODY, THE FOUR FEATHERS (Criterion), more! (10/11 on)

@ AMC River East 21, Chicago, IL: Chicago International Film Festival (through 10/20)

@ AMC Castleton Square, etc., Indianapolis, IN: Heartland Film Festival (10/13-10/22)

@ The Lorraine Theatre, Hoopeston, IL: Reopens October 21!

@ Centerbrook Drive-In, Martinsville, IN: Closed for the weekend! Reopens October 21!

@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL: Closed for remodeling! Reopens October 28!

@ Harvest Moon Twin Drive-In, Gibson City, IL: Closed for the season!

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Locally produced movies and events featuring locally produced movies are marked with an asterisk (*). Go see ‘em!

COMING SOON

10/21-10/22: THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL, Midnight

10/21-10/23: CHICAGO 8: Small Gauge Film Festival, Chicago, IL

10/21-10/23: Dark Carnival Film Festival, Bloomington, IN

10/25: Champaign Movie Makers* meeting
@ TBA, 7 p.m.

10/25: B-Movie Marathon feat. PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE
@ SoDo Theatre, Champaign, IL, 10 p.m.

NEW! 10/25, 10/27: THE SMURFS
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 7 p.m.

10/27: BROWNCOATS: REDEMPTION (SERENITY fan film)
@ SoDo Theatre, Champaign, IL, 10 p.m., free

10/27-10/29: Freeky Creek Short Film Festival
@ Sleepy Creek Vineyards, Fairmount, IL

NEW! 10/30: Round table with animator Chris Landreth (RYAN)
@ NCSA, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 2 p.m., free

10/30: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) Screening & Zombie Party
@ SoDo Theatre, Champaign, IL, 10 p.m.

11/3-11/12: Reeling Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival, Chicago, IL

11/4-11/5: Drunken Zombie Film Festival*
@ Peoria Theater, Peoria, IL

11/10-11/12: Embarras Valley Film Festival
@ EIU campus, Charleston, IL

11/10-11/20: St. Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis, MO

11/11-11/13: HorrorHound Weekend (Horror culture), Cincinnati, OH

11/12: “John Waters: This Filthy World,” Indianapolis, IN

11/18-11/20: Illinois International Film Festival, Chicago, IL

1/20, 2012: Issue release: C-U Confidential ‘99
+ Paper Opteryx, Champaign, IL

4/15, 2012: Buttered Corn on the Cob Film Festival
@ 88 Broadway, Urbana, IL

4/18-4/22, 2012: Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison, WI

4/25-4/29, 2012: Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
@ The Virginia Theater, Champaign, IL

COMMUNITY FILM SERIES

Horror Films
@ The “Haunted” Avon Theater, Decatur, IL, 10:30 p.m., free
10/14: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968); 10/15: DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004); 10/28: JEEPERS CREEPERS; 10/29: TRICK ‘R TREAT

The New Classics: Great Books to Great Films from the Past 50 Years
@ Danville Public Library, Danville, IL, 6:30 p.m.
11/14: ORDINARY PEOPLE; 12/12: FAIL SAFE (1964); 1/9/12: NEVER CRY WOLF; 2/13/12: AWAKENINGS; 3/12/12: ADAPTATION; 4/9/12: UP IN THE AIR

The News-Gazette Film Series 2011
@ The Virginia Theater, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
11/5: THE GODFATHER; 12/3: THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

UNIVERSITY FILM SERIES

AsiaLENS: AEMS Documentary/Film Series
@ Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m.
11/8: WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA?; 12/8: WINGS OF DEFEAT

Global Lens 2011: International Films
@ The Art Theater, Champaign, IL
11/17: WHITE MEADOWS, Iran

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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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We welcome your virtual presence in the Confidential scheme!

319 awesome (but way too few) peeps dig our Facebook page, while 23 astounding (yet way way way too few) comrades keep a watchful eye on our YouTube channel, the C-U Confidential Revue! We’d place our bets in a heartbeat that many more would enjoy our social/video outreach if they knew about us! Have you joined us on-line? Will you be ambassadors for our indie film cause and send your recruits in our direction? The more attention we receive, the better we can serve the interests of local artists and the movies of Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond!

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“C-U Biz-en-scène” no.64 © 2011 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Alums Done Good, C-U Biz-en-scène, Column du C-U, Media Coverage, Public Events, YouTube du C-U. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.