The Illinois Route 66 Film Festival is set for this weekend at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield. Here's the schedule that's in the Springfield Journal-Register. The films run the gamut and aren't always about the Mother Road. But here are the ones that are, both during the Audience Choice Documentaries segment at … Continue reading Route 66 Film festival is this weekend
Category: Movies
Illinois Route 66 museum will get a mural
The Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac will have a new mural painted later this month, reports the Pontiac Daily Leader. The artist doing the painting will be Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire, who is the unofficial inspiration to Fillmore, the VW minibus in the hit summer movie "Cars." Waldmire's artwork … Continue reading Illinois Route 66 museum will get a mural
Chucky getting his kicks?
My search engine caught something I didn't expect. Chucky, the doll who's caused murder and mayhem in a bunch of horror movies, apparently has some sort of Route 66 connection in one of his films. In this news release touting the release of "Chucky: The Killer DVD Collection," it provides this summary to one of … Continue reading Chucky getting his kicks?
Eisler Bros. store gets the Hollywood treatment
Scott Nelson and his Eisler Bros. Store on old Route 66 in Riverton, Kan., has seen some interesting visitors in the past few years. The people of Pixar Animation Studios made several visits at the store while researching Route 66 for their "Cars" movie. More tidbits about Pixar and the movie can be read in … Continue reading Eisler Bros. store gets the Hollywood treatment
New die-cast cars from “Cars”
ToyWiz.com is taking orders for the new batch of die-cast toy cars from the Disney-Pixar film "Cars," including these new ones: A Radiator Springs version of Lightning McQueen. A young Mater (in teal color). A young Doc Hudson (in the Hudson Hornet logo). A yellow Ramone. The Ferrari. A two-pack of "Toy Story's" Buzz and … Continue reading New die-cast cars from “Cars”
“Cars” helps spur new interest in VW minibuses
Call it the Fillmore effect. In the weeks after the Pixar-Disney movie "Cars" was released, we saw a lot more eBay sellers mention the hippie character in the film when they were trying to unload their Volkswagen minibuses from the 1960s. "Cars" didn't have an effect on just minibuses, either. We also saw the value … Continue reading “Cars” helps spur new interest in VW minibuses
“Cars” passes $400 million mark
The Disney-Pixar film "Cars," part of which takes place on old Route 66, has passed the $400 million mark for total box-office receipts, reports Box Office Mojo. "Cars" has grossed $240 million domestically, which is No. 2 for all of the year 2006, and at least $160 million internationally. I say "at least" because there … Continue reading “Cars” passes $400 million mark
Amazon.com taking “Cars” DVD pre-orders
My friend Mike Ward pointed this out this morning: Amazon.com is taking pre-orders for the widescreen version of Pixar/Disney's movie "Cars," which featured Route 66 prominently in the film. The DVD is set to arrive Nov. 7. The price is $20.99, which is about nine bucks off the retail price. There's been a lot of … Continue reading Amazon.com taking “Cars” DVD pre-orders
Film review: “Route 66: An American (bad)Dream”
The filmmakers should rename it, "Route 66: A (bad)Movie." An "open-source" film-making company, Veb Film Leipzig, made a "Route 66: An American (bad)Dream" and posted it on Google Video in the past week or so. The premise: three young German men drive an old rented Cadillac across the country and document their experiences on film. … Continue reading Film review: “Route 66: An American (bad)Dream”
A roadie in the making
For his son's 10th birthday, Michael Bates of the Batesline blog in Tulsa took him down Route 66 for an overnight trip to Oklahoma City. They checked out older alignments, saw the Round Barn, cruised Davenport's brick streets, had a terrific time at Frontier City, talked about Radiator Springs in the movie "Cars," and at … Continue reading A roadie in the making