24 Nov 2019

Ice Ice Baby: “Frozen II,” “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” and “21 Bridges”

By Mike Schulz

Thanks to the Roman numeral helpfully attached to its title, audiences should have a fair idea of what to expect from Disney's latest animated musical: It's Frozen, but ya know … twice! Twice the peril! Twice the naïveté from sentient snowman Olaf! Twice the number of screamy power ballads for Idina Menzel to perform at the Oscars! But for all of its considerable pleasures, Frozen II is also more often Frozen Too – as in too formulaic, too unnecessary, and, for its target kiddie crowd and at least one grown-up, perhaps too confusing.

17 Nov 2019

Le Mans and Les Machines: “Ford v Ferrari,” “The Good Liar,” and “Charlie's Angels”

By Mike Schulz

Director James Mangold's new professional-racing drama Ford v Ferrari, however, feels like Ron Howard's 2013 Rush done right: similarly enthralling on the racetrack, but with the added benefits of a more involving narrative, first-rate star turns by Matt Damon and Christian Bale, and – something Rush really lacked – a bunch of topnotch supporting portrayals.

12 Nov 2019

“Paris to Pittsburgh,” November 21

By Reader Staff

Taking place during Truth in Action's “24 Hours of Reality” program – a daylong global conversation on the climate crisis and how we might solve it – the 2018 documentary Paris to Pittsburgh will enjoy a screening and subsequent panel discussion at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on November 21, an event held as a companion program to the venue's current art exhibition Mia Feuer: Totems of Anthropocene.

10 Nov 2019

Eight Is Enough: “Jojo Rabbit,” “Parasite,” “Pain & Glory,” “Doctor Sleep,” “Back from the Brink: Saved from Extinction,” “Midway,” “Last Christmas,” and “Playing with Fire”

By Mike Schulz

In my apparently endless need to publicly prove I have no life, I caught eight films at four different venues between Thursday and Saturday. Some titles are worth more words than I've given them; a couple are undoubtedly worth less. Regardless, the following are listed in order of preference. If you're among those readers who enjoy my pans more than my praise, by all means work your way backward.

04 Nov 2019

Hasta la Vista, Baby: “Terminator: Dark Fate,” “Harriet,” “Motherless Brooklyn,” and “The Lighthouse”

By Mike Schulz

You can nearly always pinpoint the precise moment in which a formerly serious – or at least mildly rational – film franchise turns inexorably into camp.

31 Oct 2019

“A Bridge Too Far from Hero Street” and “Riding the Rails to Hero Street,” November 10

By Reader Staff

Two new works celebrating American courage, character, and perseverance will debut at the Putnam Museum & Science Center, fittingly enough, on Veteran's Day weekend, with the Davenport venue hosting the premieres of Fourth Wall Films' A Bridge Too Far from Hero Street and Riding the Rails to Hero Street – the latest documentaries in the Hero Street series by area filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle.

28 Oct 2019

'Mite Makes Right: “Dolemite Is My Name,” “The Current War: Director's Cut,” “Countdown,” “Black & Blue,” and “Western Stars”

By Mike Schulz

Even if the movie itself was only half as good as it is, the bio-comedy Dolemite Is My Name would be worth a watch – several watches, actually – just for the pleasure of seeing Eddie Murphy happier on-screen than he's seemed in ages.

20 Oct 2019

Fury Godmother: “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” “Zombieland: Double Tap,” and “The Laundromat”

By Mike Schulz

At my recent screening of The Addams Family, the film was preceded by a trailer for Disney's fairytale sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and after the preview ended, a little girl in the row ahead of me turned to her mother (I presume) and asked, “Why is Maleficent a bad guy now?”

13 Oct 2019

Attack of the Clone: “Gemini Man,” “Jexi,” and “The Addams Family”

By Mike Schulz

If you're a fan of globe-trotting action thrillers, and a fan of Will Smith, what could be more fun than Gemini Man, director Ang Lee's stunt-heavy entertainment that gives you two Smiths for the price of one? Just about anything, it turns out, because Lee's latest is a crushing bore: heavy-spirited when it needs to be light – which is pretty much all the time – and so serious about its objectively ridiculous plot that we're given little choice but to laugh at it. Speaking on behalf of my fellow Gemini males, we deserve better representation than this.

06 Oct 2019

Dark Phoenix: “Joker” and “Judy”

By Mike Schulz

So. Now that the movie has finally opened after what has felt like years of pre-release hype and inevitable backlash to that hype, a couple of questions about writer/director Todd Phillips' super-villain origin story Joker can at last be answered, at least from a personal perspective.

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