Either 2023 was a particularly outstanding year for movies or my standards are getting lower – though I suppose both could be true.

I didn't “attend” the first film in my three-day sextuple feature so much as “plop my ass on the couch and watch” it. And for the first hour-or-so of director/writer/producer/star Bradley Cooper's Maestro, which started streaming on Netflix this past Wednesday, I couldn't imagine wanting to be anywhere else.

Its setting may be wintry New England in the early '60s, and its story may conclude on Christmas Day, but don't even think about mistaking director William Oldroyd's Eileen for feel-good seasonal fare: It's a cup of eggnog deliciously laced with strychnine.

The deservedly lauded homegrown talents Scott Beck and Bryan Woods are clearly In Demand, which makes it all the more impressive and special that they would dedicate time, money, and resources to giving the Quad Cities what we've sorely lacked: a beautiful, conveniently located establishment devoted to the collective moviegoing experience that will provide, as Beck and Woods insist, something for everyone, and on a weekly basis.