19 Dec 2015

Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 1989: "Sisters" and "Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip"

By Mike Schulz

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in SistersSISTERS

Sisters is about two 40-something siblings (Tina Fey and Amy Poehler) who, on the eve of its selling, decide to throw one last, big, balls-out get-together in the Orlando home of their youth. And the movie feels like some debaucherous parties that you might've thrown: It's awesome at the start, intermittently enjoyable while it's happening, and the people who showed up don't seem to understand when it's time for them to just leave already. As with such parties, you're not all that upset that they decided to stick around - you're happy they came. But less of them, and their being less wasted, would've definitely been more, just as director Jason Moore's two-hour comedy would've likely been a stronger, more satisfying entertainment if it clocked in at 90 minutes, and had given us fewer scenes with Fey and Poehler in hostess mode.

12 Dec 2015

War of the Sexless: "Chi-raq" and "In the Heart of the Sea"

By Mike Schulz

Teyona Parris in Chi-raqCHI-RAQ

Last month, Spike Lee received an honorary Oscar at the 2015 Governors Awards ceremony. It was an earned and long-overdue recognition, especially given that, for many of us, the writer/director's Do the Right Thing should've made him an Academy Award winner more than a quarter-century ago. (Then and now, Driving Miss Daisy notwithstanding, Do the Right Thing remains the true Best Picture of 1989.) But while Lee's statuette may have been late in coming, I can't help but think that the timing of its arrival could hardly be better. His new film Chi-raq, after all, is nowhere to be found in this year's Oscar conversation. Yet its creator deserves trophies and more for this gut-wrenching, hilarious, deeply profound satire that's stronger than at least 95 percent of the year's more-likely awards candidates - and maybe riskier than 100 percent of them.

08 Dec 2015

What's Happenin': Thursday, December 10, through Wednesday, December 23

By Mike Schulz

Michele Stine and Scott Ray Merchant in Chicago Shorties, top, and Gashlycrumb OrphanageTheatre

Gashlycrumb Orphanage and Chicago Shorties


Rockridge High School

Thursday, December 17, 7 p.m.

 

The Center for Living Arts

Friday, December 18, 7 p.m.

 

Nearly every local friend I have is antsy for that eternally promised passenger-rail service to and from Chicago, and among those friends, all the ones who are also active in stage productions say variants of the same thing: "It'd make seeing Chicago theatre so-o-o much easier." Well, we still don't have that train. But the week before Christmas, we'll at least get a momentary respite from our complaining, because Chicago theatre is coming to us.

06 Dec 2015

Slashing through the Snow, or: A One-House Open Slay: "Krampus" and "The Letters"

By Mike Schulz

Toni Collette, Emjay Anthony, Allison Tolman, David Koechner, and Conchata Ferrell in KrampusKRAMPUS

What kind of sick bastard invented the jack-in-the-box? I mean, really: You turn a crank and hear an off-key rendition of "Pop Goes the Weasel," and, the moment you're most lulled into its creaky sing-song, a freaking clown jumps out at you?! As children's toys go, this one's just the worst - and, in its scary/funny way, also kind of the best. The same could be said for the new horror comedy Krampus, which, in one memorable scene, employs a jack-in-the-box for maximum giggles and shrieks. It's a blunt and mostly clumsy piece of work, but also admirably creepy and sometimes very funny, and definitely one of the livelier yuletide-themed films of its type since Gremlins.

03 Dec 2015

Unpack Your Superlatives: Quad City Arts Visiting Artist Sara Gazarek, December 12 at the Central Performing Arts Center

By Mike Schulz

Award-winning jazz vocalist Sara Gazarek has released three studio albums, plus one limited-release live album, since 2005, and just glancing at their song lists gives you a strong idea of the varied styles in which she finds inspiration.

Take, for example, Gazarek's 2012 album Blossom & Bee, which CriticalJazz.com called "one of the most impressive releases of the year." You'll find "Some of These Days," a signature hit for the legendary Sophie Tucker; "Down with Love," a jazz standard popularized by the likes of Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand; "Tea for Two," the genre staple heard in 67 separate episodes of The Lawrence Welk Show; "Ev'rything I've Got" and "Lucky to Be Me," by the respective show-tune teams of Rodgers & Hart and Comden & Green; "Unpack Your Adjectives" from Schoolhouse Rock ... .

29 Nov 2015

Thanksgiving Feast: "Victor Frankenstein," "The Good Dinosaur," "Brooklyn," "Creed," "Trumbo," and "Room"

By Mike Schulz

Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen in BrooklynAmidst time spent with friends and family and copious amounts of food, I caught three double-features over three successive days during Thanksgiving week. And as the end credits rolled on my sixth screening, I realized that the area debuts collectively formed something really unusual for this particular holiday period: a six-course meal with a complete absence of turkeys.

24 Nov 2015

What's Happenin': Wednesday, November 25, through Wednesday, December 9

By Mike Schulz

The Purple Xperience Live on StageMUSIC

Wednesday, November 25 - Dark Side of the Rainbow: Pink Floyd Party. A pairing of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz, followed by local musicians performing some of their favorite Pink Floyd songs. The Redstone Room (129 Main Street, Davenport). 9 p.m. $7. For tickets and information, call (563)326-1333 or visit RiverMusicExperience.org.

Friday, November 27 - The Purple Xperience Live on Stage. Concert with the Minneapolis-based Prince & the Revolution tribute band led by Matt Fink. Col Ballroom (1012 West Fourth Street, Davenport). 9 p.m. $20-25. For tickets and information, call (563)508-2893 or visit LegendaryColBallroom.com.

Saturday, November 28 - Stayin' Alive: A Tribute to the Bee Gees. Touring celebration of the chart-topping pop and disco performers. Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center (2021 State Street, Bettendorf). 7:30 p.m. $25. For information, call (800)843-4753 or visit QCWCC.com.

Saturday, November 28 - The Brat Pack. Concert with the almost-totally-'80s pop musicians. Rock Island Brewing Company (1815 Second Avenue, Rock Island). 9 p.m. For information, call (309)793-1999 or visit RIBCO.com.

22 Nov 2015

All the News That's Unfit for Print: "Spotlight," "Secret in Their Eyes," and "The Night Before"

By Mike Schulz

Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Brian d'Arcy James, Michael Keaton, and John Slattery in SpotlightSPOTLIGHT

Spotlight, director/co-writer Thomas McCarthy's dramatic procedural exploring the events leading to the Boston Globe's 2002 exposé on sexual abuse within the Catholic church, isn't much to look at. Its color palette is generally restricted to sallow browns and grays, and even under the fluorescent illumination of the Globe offices, the air is heavy with an oppressive pall. A man racing down a courthouse hallway is the closest the film comes to an action sequence. One montage is devoted solely to journalists scanning address directories with rulers. And to my eyes, Spotlight - scene by scene, minute by minute - still emerges as the least boring movie of the year.

19 Nov 2015

Have Fun Storming the Capitol!: "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2"

By Mike Schulz

Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 2

Along with a few dozen other, much younger viewers, I caught Wednesday's double-feature of concluding Hunger Games installments, even if my reasons for attending were likely far different from anyone else's. (I really just wanted to lighten my weekend workload and have an excuse to see Philip Seymour Hoffman on the big screen two more times instead of one.) But while I didn't join in my fellow patrons' applause at the close of the awkwardly titled The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, I was happier with this entry than any since 2012's original, and was glad to have preceded it with Part 1, because it turned out I needed the refresher.

15 Nov 2015

Miner Catastrophe: "The 33," "Suffragette," and "Love the Coopers"

By Mike Schulz

Lou Diamond Phillips and Antonio Banderas in The 33THE 33

Even if you can't recall the event's salient details, you likely remember the Chilean mine disaster that led the international news cycle for weeks in 2010, and that has now inspired director Patricia Riggen's The 33. But as this strong, heartfelt film's tension is built almost entirely on those salient details, it's hard to determine, in describing the story, exactly what about this five-year-old true tale should be considered a spoiler. Do you remember, for instance, how long the 33 miners were trapped before anyone even knew they were alive? How many days it took after that for rescue teams to excavate them? How many of the 33 actually perished underground?

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