12 Sep 2011

The Cough Heard 'round the World: "Contagion" and "Warrior"

By Mike Schulz

Jude Law in ContagionCONTAGION

I'm presuming, and hoping, that a bunch of you spent your weekend's cineplex allowances on Contagion, director Steven Soderbergh's bleak, elegant, deeply disturbing thriller about the planet's decimation by a new strain of flu-like virus. I'm also praying that none of you saw it while on a date, because I can barely imagine how awkward the drive home must've been. One cough or casual touch from your movie-going companion and you'd be frantically ransacking the car for hand sanitizer and a surgeon's mask.

07 Sep 2011

Release into the Play: A Chat with Actor Eddie Staver III

By Mike Schulz

 Eddie Staver III[Author's note: The following interview with Eddie Staver III was written for TheCurtainbox.com, the Web site for our area's Curtainbox Theatre Company. I'm proud to say that I'm an ensemble member with the theatrical organization, and along with Staver, am a cast member in the company's September 15 - 25 production of Time Stands Still.]

 

A company member since 2009, Eddie Staver III made his Curtainbox Theatre Company debut as the haunted title character in 2008's Danny & the Deep Blue Sea, and went on to appear as the amoral salesman Moss in 2009's Glengarry Glen Ross, the troubled son Eddie in 2010's Fool for Love, and, later that year, clinical oncology fellow Jason Posner in Wit. And when I mention to people that Staver is returning to the Curtainbox to play James in Time Stands Still - his first role for the company in over a year - the response I get is almost always the same: "Where has he been?"

04 Sep 2011

You Say You Want a Retribution: "The Debt," "Apollo 18," and "Shark Night 3D"

By Mike Schulz

Sam Worthington and Jessica Chastain in The DebtTHE DEBT

After her moving, memorable performances in The Tree of Life, The Help, and the current John Madden thriller The Debt, I'm beginning to think that Jessica Chastain can do almost anything. As evidenced by the actress' latest (though not last) 2011 release, however, one thing she cannot do is pass for a younger version of Helen Mirren, or at least Mirren as she appears here; beyond their ill-matching features, Chastain's empathetic soulfulness and emotional accessibility bear little relation to the detached calm and haunted inscrutability of her more seasoned counterpart.

Having said that, if one of your few complaints about a movie lies in the casting of Jessica Chastain and/or Helen Mirren, obviously you have very little to bitch about.

30 Aug 2011

What's Happenin': Fall 2011

By Mike Schulz

Gene WeenMusic

Gene Ween

Rock Island Brewing Company

Thursday, September 8, 8:30 p.m.

 

You know how there are particular bands and performers you listen to when you're happy, and others that you listen to when you're sad, and others that you listen to when you're stuck in road-construction traffic and people are honking their horns and refusing to merge correctly and you need to hear something soothing before you rip the freakin' steering wheel off with your bare hands?!? (Not that, you know, any of us in the Quad Cities has ever experienced that feeling.)

29 Aug 2011

Our Lady of Perpetual Hilarity: "'Til Death Do Us Part: Late Nite Catechism 3," at the Timber Lake Playhouse through September 4

By Mike Schulz

'Til Death Do Us Part: Late Nite Catechism 3The Timber Lake Playhouse's 'Til Death Do Us Part: Late Nite Catechism 3 opened this past Thursday, and it seems a little rude to describe just how staggeringly hysterical the performance was, because unless you were one of the evening's many other cackling patrons, there's literally no way you'll be seeing the same production I did. In theatre, of course, no two shows are ever exactly alike. Yet this one-woman comedy may be a special case in that regard, because not only is 'Til Death Do Us Part dependent on audience interaction, but several audience members are so directly involved in the proceedings - and so spectacularly, riotously well-involved - that they could make legitimate claims for co-star billing, and maybe even deserved paychecks. (As it stands, they're instead treated to lovely parting gifts.)

29 Aug 2011

Play-by-Play Account: Fall Theatre in the Quad Cities and Surrounding Areas

By Mike Schulz

The Adler Theatre's touring production of The New Mel Brooks Musical Young FrankensteinThere's a common misconception that, once the musical- and comedy-filled summer season is over, our area's theatrical output becomes a lot more demanding. But that's absolutely not true. For example, this autumn brings with it the Western charmer Make Me a Cowboy. And the showtune pastiche Give My Regards! And the fairy-tale spoof Honk! And ... .

Hmm. "Make Me"? "Give My"? "Honk"? That all sounds pretty demanding.

28 Aug 2011

Hide and Speak: "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," "Our Idiot Brother," and "Sharks 3D"

By Mike Schulz

Katie Holmes and Bailee Madison in Don't Be Afraid of the DarkDON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK

When a horror movie is really working, you tend to feel a tightening in the gut - a means of preventing you from audibly reacting to the intensity. When a horror movie is really not working, at least at the cineplex, you also tend to feel this clenching of the stomach muscles, but not because you're trying to avoid screaming. It's because you're trying to avoid laughing.

20 Aug 2011

Chum Change: "One Day" and "Fright Night"

By Mike Schulz

Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway in One DayONE DAY

When Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess) first meet in director Lone Scherfig's One Day, it's the morning after their 1988 university graduation, and a few minutes before the happily drunken pair tumbles into Emma's bed. They don't wind up consummating their flirtation, but the young Brits - and best-friends-to-be - seem perfectly content to smile and snuggle while the sun rises, and Emma makes the observation that the new day, July 15, is the English near-holiday of St. Swithin's Day. Or, as Scherfig's comedy/drama/romance might cause me to think of it from now on, St. "Well, Isn't That an Astounding Coincidence?" Day.

16 Aug 2011

What's Happenin': Tuesday, August 16, through Wednesday, August 31

By Mike Schulz

Lyrics BornMusic

Lyrics Born

The Redstone Room

Friday, August 26, 9p.m.

 

On August 26, Davenport's Redstone Room presents a special evening with record producer, songwriter, and hip-hop and rap artist Lyrics Born. I'm sure the man's parents are thrilled about his success, because if you christen your child "Lyrics" and he doesn't go into the music industry, it's really just a waste of the name.

15 Aug 2011

Now We're Cookin'!: "The Spitfire Grill," at the Timber Lake Playhouse and the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre Through August 21

By Mike Schulz

Katie Wesler, Marcia Sattelberg, and Erica Vlahinos in the Timber Lake Playhouse's The Spitfire GrillOn Thursday, I attended the Timber Lake Playhouse musical The Spitfire Grill, and caught another presentation of the piece - this time at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre - the very next night. I'm actually somewhat disappointed that no additional area venues staged the show over the weekend, because even after two outstanding Spitfire Grills in a row, I would've happily made time for more.

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