C-U Biz-en-scène: 12.23.2011
“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:
Snug as Bugs in Your Xmas Stockings
Needing timely advice from your friendly neighborhood C-U Blogfidential on what to purchase last-minute for that special cinema-loving someone? If so, you’ve dropped by the right forum, friend! Why not pick up a gift certificate from either That’s Rentertainment in Campustown or The Movie Fan over in Normal to satiate their video renting desires! If silver discs of favorite flicks simply belong in their personal collection, peruse the on-site selection at Exile on Main Street in downtown Champaign! Those craving a more social experience will appreciate certificates, smart cards, or advance tickets from area bijous such as the Art Theater in Champaign, Avon Theater in Decatur, Virginia Theatre also in Champaign, or Normal Theater in Normal! Simultaneously go out on a limb for your adventurous friends and support local artists by purchasing swag from our filmmakers; Dark Maze Studios and Kill Vampire Lincoln Productions, for instance, have plenty of wares to share! Maybe invest in their collective future by helping fund the Next Big Project such as Jennifer Bechtel’s SCARY NORMAL, scheduled for production next summer! Finally, if philanthropy would be the best reason to mark the season, consider bestowing upon your beau a membership to the C-U Film Society or one or more shares in the Art Theater Co-Op! If you have the wherewithal to read us regularly, you’ve already seen numerous additional ways to gift family and friends by aiding your local film culture. Whatever you do, be savvy in your choices and let these merchants and creators in on a little secret – tell ‘em CUBlog sent you!
ITEMS OF THE WEEK
Mike Boedicker of Danville’s Roselawn Productions tells CUBlog that their newest indie feature, HAUNTINGS, is approximately 75% shot. They’ll return to the set mid-January and plan to wrap by February … In the weekly Art Theater e-mail blast, operator Sanford Hess reveals that 74 citizens have signed up to be owners of the developing Art Theater Co-Op, paying almost $8,000 in equity. According to the Co-Op FAQ, $100,000 in shares must be sold before the non-profit entity can formally take over operations of the movie house … Fellow IMC Film Festival planner David Gracon, who appeared in early issues of MICRO-FILM and currently teaches at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, reminded us their annual Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival is looking for material to screen next spring. Filmmakers have between now and March 2, 2012 to enter work; objectives and rules can be found on this Web page … Users of streaming site Vimeo might be interested in the 2nd annual Vimeo Festival + Awards, which will award $5,000 production grants to top picks in numerous categories with an additional $25,000 grand prize grant up for grabs. Final deadline to submit original Vimeo-hosted work for consideration is February 20, 2012 … Finally, we pass along word the 6th ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival is now accepting films through May 2, 2012, with winning entries to be presented next October at Berlin’s Babylon cinema. The official press announcement, possibly the only communiqué received at MFHQ that is written both in English and German, states the biannual ZEBRA is “an international forum for short films that engage with poems in their content, form, or aesthetics.” Please head to this Web site if the concept intrigues you!
LINKS OF THE WEEK
“Please, sir, can we have some more?” Well, of course, dearest readers! Heading into this weekend’s particular holiday, it seems fitting the Herald & Review would detail the plans of Decatur/Mt. Zion entertainment firm Heroic Age Studios to launch their own film production slate with the Christian live action/animated adventure THE POWER OF BLOOD; we’ll cross our fingers Eric Hector and company finally get on the board, since several Heroic Age “first features” have been announced for more than a decade including the non-faith based JOHNNY VIOLENCE, which we wrote about way back in MICRO-FILM 3. Elsewhere, your humble editor often forgets that his mentor and former instructor, Illinois Wesleyan University English professor James Plath of Bloomington, is a fellow movie writer; take a gander at Plath’s first column for Movie Metropolis, a rebranded façade for the Internet’s original DVD review site, DVD Town. Those of you who live or die on Roger Ebert’s every movie-related word can surf to his Journal and debate the famed critic’s compilation of 2011’s best narrative features, with a separate documentary list to be offered shortly. Ending on a cornucopia of secular song, our friend and long-time music impresario Kristen Johns reminded CUBlog she has been building a catalog of live performance videos on her YouTube channel, Champaign Underground, taped both here in our Twin Cities and her adopted home of Portland, Oregon, where she now resides after many years spent in the C-U. Watch, listen, and enjoy!
PLAYING THIS WEEK
ACT YOUR AGE* U.S. DVD Release: Tuesday, 12/20, Nationwide via Vanguard Cinema, Los Angeles, CA
@ The Art Theater, Champaign, IL: MY WEEK WITH MARYLIN (12/23 on), “Santa’s Cool Holiday Film Festival” w/SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (12/23, 10 p.m.; 12/24, 12 p.m.; 12/29, 10 p.m.)
@ The Virginia Theater, Champaign, IL: WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (12/27, 12/29, 7 p.m.)
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL: SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS, WE BOUGHT A ZOO (12/23 on), THE DESCENDANTS (12/23-12/24), WAR HORSE (12/25 on)
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (12/22-12/25, 7 p.m.)
@ The Lorraine Theatre, Hoopeston, IL: ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED, SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (12/23 on)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL: ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED (12/22-12/25)
@ The Princess Theatre, LeRoy, IL: ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (12/23-12/24)
@ That’s Rentertainment, Champaign, IL: MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, THE TEMPEST, MARGIN CALL, COLUMBIANA, DOLPHIN TALE, SAINT NICK, BURKE & HARE, STRAW DOGS, more! (12/20 on)
@ Harvest Moon Twin Drive-In, Gibson City, IL: Closed for the season!
@ Route 66 Twin Drive-In, Springfield, IL: Closed for the season!
@ Centerbrook Drive-In, Martinsville, IN: 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
12/31: Route 66 International Film Festival presents “First Night Springfield Movies”
@ Old State Capitol, Springfield, IL, 8 p.m.
12/31: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2004)
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL, 9:30 p.m.
4/15, 2012: Buttered Corn on the Cob Film Festival
@ 88 Broadway, Urbana, IL
4/18-4/22, 2012: Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison, WI
4/20, 2012: Issue release: C-U Confidential #6
+ Paper Opteryx, Champaign, IL
4/25-4/29, 2012: Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
@ The Virginia Theater, Champaign, IL
Fall 2012: Issue release: C-U Confidential ‘99
+ Paper Opteryx, Champaign, IL
COMMUNITY FILM SERIES
The New Classics: Great Books to Great Films from the Past 50 Years
@ Danville Public Library, Danville, IL, 6:30 p.m.
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 2012
@ The Virginia Theater, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
1/7: CITY LIGHTS; 2/11: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939); 3/17: CABARET; 4/7: EASTER PARADE; 6/2: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS; 7/7: CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG; 8/4: THE THIRD MAN; 9/1: THE MALTESE FALCON
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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!
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“C-U Biz-en-scène” no.74 © 2011 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential.
[Zagnut! This is post #600 on CUBlog! Happy Xmas to all!]