C-U Biz-en-scène: 02.08.2012
“C-U Biz-en-scène” usually appears every Sunday/Monday 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:
Fetching Hahn Solo
Since the 2012 calendar has now leaped over to February, we’ve begun the annual ritual wherein our noggins spin ‘round for three months straight as we juggle concurrent responsibilities in the name of cinematic enrichment du C-U, leading right up to the New Art Film Festival and Roger Ebert’s Film Festival in April! Inseparable from the bruising work load, of course, is the next audacious issue of C-U Confidential digest as well as our sideline production chores on the spring and summer issues of Champaign’s own Bachelor Pad Magazine, traditionally bracketing the expanded spring madness. We’re preoccupied by BPM number 19 at the moment – and with huggable cover lass Ludella Hahn at the fore, can you blame us? – requiring CUBlog wordage to be curtailed until we’re in the clear as judged by retro-philanthropist editor, Java. Hard details about NAFF film submissions, CUZine advertising rates, Time Traveling Cinema films, and all other hot topics not covered below will appear here shortly. If there is anything important you really need to know pronto, please contact cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com and we’ll help you as best we can or point you in the right direction. Hasta la bye bye!
“COMING SOON” TO CUBLOG
Keep an eye out this week for a hearty salute to a fellow local indie publisher on Thursday and our exclusive events Calendar on Friday!
ITEMS OF THE WEEK
University of Illinois student Charles Terry contacted CUBlog to let us know about a science-fiction short film project in the works called CROSSING OVER. It involves a physics student who seemingly creates a bridge to a parallel world. Terry needs to cast seven or eight actors as well as assemble a skeleton crew. He will host an information session at 6 p.m. this Saturday, February 11, in the Illini Union courtyard; you can confirm your interest in attending or receiving information by contacting Terry at cterry [at] Illinois [dot] edu or (217) 766-7111 … CUBlog friend Alaric Rocha is in pre-production on a new film short, DEADLY EMBRACE, that is scheduled for filming mid-July in Chicagoland. Cast and crew needs are listed on his Blue Bassoon Web site while a fundraiser/milonga will take place Saturday at Dance Connection, 3117 N. Clybourne Ave., Chicago, with live music by Tango Espejo … Infesting UIUC’s Foellinger Auditorium on Saturday, February 25, will be the 29th annual Insect Fear Film Festival sponsored by the Entomology Graduate Student Association. Kid-friendly petting zoos, informational displays, face painting, and an art contest will swarm the atrium beginning at 6 p.m. while entomology chair May Berenbaum will present opening remarks at 7 p.m. inside the theater, to be followed by short subjects and two R-rated low-budget shockers, GLASS TRAP (2005) depicting radioactive ants in a skyscraper and THE BONE SNATCHER (2003) involving a mythological creature in the Namib Desert of Africa. Admission to all is free … Down south at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, the 34th annual Big Muddy Film Festival will launch on Tuesday, February 21, with a screening of Spike Lee’s DO THE RIGHT THING (1989) and then formally begin the following evening with the Peru-set drama POSTALES, directed by SIU-C alumnus Josh Hyde, and ON DOWN THE LINE, a character piece set in farm country outside of Austin, Texas … Still south but a lot closer to the C-U is Goodrich’s Savoy 16 multiplex, which may be in line for extensive renovations including the addition of an auditorium and “community room” as reported by the News-Gazette on January 25. If construction begins sooner rather than later, the lucky UI students who score big in Goodrich and Illini Media’s 20th annual Academy Awards Contest might have fresh digs in which to enjoy fresh flicks … The Milwaukee Underground Film Festival is accepting submissions through Friday, March 30, for its May 4-6 event on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus …
LINKS OF THE WEEK
Odds, ends, and a passing characterize the lot for this here Biz. First, we note the death of erotic drama specialist Zalman King (WILD ORCHID, THE RED SHOE DIARIES) on February 3 at age 70; former Jane Addams Book Store owner Flora Faraci revealed to your pre-MICRO-FILM editor that King was a distant relative, so we offer our condolences all through the family tree. A reboot of SHORT CIRCUIT, the 1986 robot comedy with Steve Guttenberg and Ally Sheedy, has been languishing for years in Hollywood’s remake heap, although The Hollywood Reporter noted on Thursday the signing of screenwriter Matt Lieberman; we instead zeroed in on two other names dropped by the article: Ryan E. Heppe, a co-producer who hails from nearby Homer and attended UIUC, and Tim Hill, the attached director who has logged credits on family fare like HOP, MUPPETS FROM SPACE, and ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS in the past. Another downstate college alumnus, actor/comedian Sean Hayes of WILL & GRACE and the upcoming THREE STOOGES movie, briefly visited his alma mater Illinois State University according to Bill Flick of The Pantagraph; Hayes also participated in a question-and-answer session at ISU’s Center for the Visual Arts, attended by more than 200 undergraduates, and handed out promotional swag for the NBC series GRIMM, for which he is an executive producer. To end, ISU student newspaper The Daily Vidette has run plenty of relevant material lately including this article by Ariana Taylor on the current 3-D craze, this article by Lee Strubinger on a two-part documentary made by ISU School of Communications associate professor John McHale about using media to achieve change in a flawed American criminal justice system, and this movie review Weblog by Fil Vester that has recently taken on THE DESCENDANTS, MELANCHOLIA, THE INNKEEPERS, and CONAN O’BRIEN CAN’T STOP.
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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!
323 awesome (but way too few) peeps dig our Facebook page, while 24 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.80 © 2012 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential.