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:
We Saved You the On-Set List

Hate to admit it, gang, but we almost cheap-jacked this edition of the Biz since we started compiling it so late yesterday. However, in the course of helping out Susanna Kline of Smile Politely with her article about the CU Film Society, we slapped down some bare-bones information about recent local feature films in a way that forced us to recall one of the major original goals of C-U Blogfidential. That would be to “write the book” about local filmmaking as any movie writer worth their salt might comprehensively chronicle a career, a genre, a movement, a studio history, or – get this – the making of a significant film production. All we’ll suggest for the time being is to check out the following shorthand we provided Ms. Kline as a “status at a glance” and then imagine if we compiled all the relevant details about everything that makes up a sub-cultural scene … a la the movies of Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond. Could be quite a little undertaking, yes, no? Observe:

1. THE HAUNTED HOUSE [working title] / Currently Shooting in Danville / Director: Mike Boedicker
2. SCARY NORMAL / To Shoot Summer 2012 in C-U / Director: Jennifer Bechtel
3. MY DOG THE SPACE TRAVELER / Shot Summer 2011 in Monticello, etc. / In Post-Production / Director: Robin Christian
4. AMBER ROSE / Shot Summer 2010 in C-U / Playing Festival Circuit / Director: Mike Trippiedi
5. ACT YOUR AGE / Shot Summer 2005 in C-U & Monticello / Upcoming Release to DVD Winter 2012 (Vanguard Cinema) / Director: Robin Christian
6. LEADING LADIES / Shot Summer 2009 in C-U & Monticello / Released to DVD Sept. 2011 (Wolfe Video) / Directors: Erika & Daniel Beahm
7. PRESS START 2 CONTINUE / Shot Summer-Fall 2009 in C-U / Released to DVD Mar. 2011 (self) / Director: Ed Glaser
8. DISCONNECT / Shot Summer 2004 in C-U & Monticello / Released to DVD Feb. 2011 (Osiris Entertainment) / Director: Robin Christian
9. SHEEBA a.k.a. CRAB ORCHARD / Shot Summer 2003 in C-U, Monticello & Chicago / Released to DVD Jan. 2011 (Questar Home Video) / Director: Michael J. Jacobs, Producer: Robin Christian
10. THE LORD IS NOT ON TRIAL HERE TODAY / Documentary / Shot 2007-2010 in C-U, etc. / Premiered in C-U Oct. 2010, on PBS Mar.-Apr. 2011 / Director: Jay Rosenstein
11. REVOLTING / Shot Summer-Fall 2009 in Danville & C-U / Released to DVD Aug. 2010 (self) / Director: Mike Boedicker
12. PRESS START / Shot 2005-2007 in C-U & Monticello / Released to DVD Sept. 2007 (self) / Director: Ed Glaser
13. WELCOME TO TOLONO / Shot Summer 2005 in Tolono / Unreleased / Director: Mark Roberts
14. AURA, IL / Shot Summer 2005 in C-U, etc. / Unreleased / Director: Yu Hasegawa-Johnson

Of course, this is hardly complete for the time period it covers, excluding numerous short films and several key projects produced nearby but outside Champaign County, and it doesn’t even touch pre-2005 material. Those are different matters for another day.

ITEMS OF THE WEEK

One CU Film Society function that we’d like to bring up in advance is an hour-long roundtable discussion co-sponsored with the eDream Institute and featuring computer animation auteur Chris Landreth (THE SPINE, BINGO) on Sunday, October 30, 2 p.m., in Room 1040 of the University of Illinois’ National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), 1205 W. Clark St., Urbana. A press announcement states that during the free event, Landreth “will share his filmmaking experiences including organizing contributors and funding independent films and digitally animated short stories. [Landreth’s] artistic style is unique and compelling. It represents a hallmark in psychological personal narrative, an approach he calls ‘psychorealism.’ He has received an Academy Award and recently won a Guggenheim Fellowship, and can share inside stories about these events and their processes.” Make haste to watch the superlative Oscar-winner RYAN right here if you have never seen it before; in 14 heart-wrenching minutes, Landreth draws parallels between himself, his deceased mother, and the late Canadian animator Ryan Larkin, a budding virtuoso during the Sixties whose career derailed thanks to heavy alcohol and drug abuse. Landreth earned his Masters in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from UIUC in 1986 and also studied animation at NCSA.

In addition, Landreth will deliver a Distinguished Lecture called “Unvalleying the Uncanny” on Monday, October 31, 4 p.m., in Room 2405 of the Thomas M. Seibel Center for Computer Science at 201 N. Goodwin Ave. in Urbana. The lecture is sponsored by eDream and the Computer Science department.

LINKS OF THE WEEK

Do you recall reading our comments a few Biz installments ago about the Slavoj Žižek documentary, THE PERVERT’S GUIDE TO CINEMA, which sported a few moments of C-U shot footage? (If not, make us feel good by fibbing and then atone for your sins by clicking here.) IndieWIRE reported yesterday that director Sophie Fiennes’ follow-up THE PERVERT’S GUIDE TO IDEOLOGY, again featuring Žižek, has gone into production with an estimated completion date of fall 2012. We say, “Yay!”

PLAYING THIS WEEK

THE WINDOW INTO TIME*: Sunday, 10/23, 4 p.m., Dark Carnival Film Festival, Bloomington, IN

@ The Art Theater, Champaign, IL: THE WAY (10/21 on), FRIGHT NIGHT (2011; 10/21, 10/22, 10/26, 10 p.m.), PSYCHO (1960; 10/22, 10/23, 11:15 a.m. w/CU Film Society discussion), RA.ONE (10/27, 7:30 p.m., Bollywood)

@ SoDo Theatre, Champaign, IL: B-Movie Marathon feat. PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (10/25, 10 p.m.), BROWNCOATS: REDEMPTION (SERENITY fan film; 10/27, 10 p.m., free)

@ Krannert Art Museum, UIUC, Champaign, IL: IPRH Film Series presents NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (10/27, 5:30 p.m., free)

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

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

@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3, THE BIG YEAR, REAL STEEL (10/21 on), DOLPHIN TALE (10/21-10/23), THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (10/21, 10/22, Midnight, w/Millikin U. Shadow Cast)

@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL: MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (10/20-10/23)

@ Route 66 Twin Drive-In, Springfield, IL: “Spooky Nights” movies: CASPER, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, FREDDY VS. JASON, HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES (10/21-10/22)

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

@ Princess Theatre, LeRoy, IL: REAL STEEL (10/21-10/23)

@ The Lorraine Theatre, Hoopeston, IL: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 (10/21 on)

@ That’s Rentertainment, Champaign, IL: GREEN LANTERN, BAD TEACHER, PAGE ONE, RED STATE, A BETTER LIFE, MONTE CARLO, THE LAST CIRCUS, THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, more! (10/18 on)

@ Centerbrook Drive-In, Martinsville, IN: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3, FRIGHT NIGHT (10/21-10/22)

@ Cinema Borealis & Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago, IL: CHICAGO 8: Small Gauge Film Festival (10/21-10/23)

@ Buskirk-Chumley Theater, Bloomington, IN: Dark Carnival Film Festival* (10/21-10/23)

@ AMC Castleton Square, etc., Indianapolis, IN: Heartland Film Festival (through10/22)

@ 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

10/30: 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.

NEW! 11/1: THE LAST RITES OF JOE MAY @ Midwest Independent Film Festival, Chicago, IL

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
10/28: 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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“C-U Biz-en-scène” no.65 © 2011 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 at 9:00 am and is filed under Alums Done Good, C-U Biz-en-scène, Column du C-U, CU Film Society, Media Coverage, Public Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.