10 Jul 2022

Hammer Time: “Thor: Love & Thunder”

By Mike Schulz

It's entirely possible that no one other than Taika Waititi could have crafted a joke-heavy Marvel Studies adventure involving abducted, imperiled children and a heroine suffering from stage-four cancer. It's equally possible, regarding Thor: Love & Thunder, that the filmmaker maybe shouldn't have.

03 Jul 2022

Banana-a-a-a-as!!!: "Minions: The Rise of Gru" and "Mr. Malcolm's List"

By Mike Schulz

The only things I actively remember from Minions: The Rise of Gru were the hilarious antics of Minions Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto. And I barely remember them at all.

27 Jun 2022

Graceland of Opportunity: “Elvis,” “The Black Phone,” “The Phantom of the Open,” “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” and “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”

By Mike Schulz

There's plenty to conceivably gripe about, but those complaints feel moot in the face of the stellar, supremely emotional entertainment that Elvis' director and star deliver. And for their film's two hours and 39 minutes, Baz Luhrmann and Austin Butler deliver that entertainment again and again and again.

20 Jun 2022

What's Up, Buzz? Tell Me What's a-Happening!: “Lightyear” and “Brian & Charles”

By Mike Schulz

Writer/director Angus MacLane's adventure comedy has a built-in safety feature – a shield against irrationally high hopes – that was a lot more charming than I anticipated, because the way the film has been designed, it doesn't have to be the coolest family entertainment of 2022. It just has to suggest the coolest family entertainment of 1995.

16 Jun 2022

Davenport Junior Theatre's “Imagine That” and 70th-Anniversary Celebration, June 24 through 26

By Mike Schulz

From June 24 through 26, the area institution devoted to theatre “for kids, by kids” will celebrate its remarkable 70th anniversary not only with free performances of the hour-long fairytale comedy Imagine That, but with an entire Saturday's worth of events, as Davenport Junior Theatre hosts a lawn picnic and dinner, outdoor games, guest speakers, and the long-anticipated opening of the venue's Junior Theatre History Museum. Imagine that!

12 Jun 2022

DNA-OK: “Jurassic World Dominion” and “Hustle”

By Mike Schulz

This admittedly overlong, overstuffed outing is the most enjoyable Jurassic flick since Jurassic Park – and for my money, it provided about the same amount of dopey retro fun as the Tom Cruise smash that most reviewers are turning cartwheels over. At least in this one, we know where they bad guys come from.

06 Jun 2022

Organ-ized Crime: “Crimes of the Future,” “Watcher,” and “Fire Island”

By Mike Schulz

Concluding his pre-show announcements with “Enjoy the goopy madness!”, the FilmScene staffer then left us to do just that at Crimes of the Future, and he wasn't kidding – the movie was goopy madness, all right. I just wish I enjoyed it more. More pointedly, I wish its writer/director did.

30 May 2022

Bring Back That Lovin' Feeling: “Top Gun: Maverick” and “The Bob's Burgers Movie”

By Mike Schulz

Our official welcome-back is a rather jolting reminder that time stops for no one – not even Tom Cruise. And had Top Gun: Maverick really embraced that fact, and had its star actually embraced his human fallibility, this corny, retrograde, occasionally quite-entertaining outing might've really been something.

22 May 2022

One Wedding and a Funeral: “Downton Abbey: A New Era” and “Men”

By Mike Schulz

The experience of director Simon Curtis' Downton Abbey: A New Era is nothing if not exceedingly comfortable, even if there's little that's remotely New about it.

17 May 2022

“'Pants' Labyrinth,” May 27 through June 5

By Mike Schulz

Haus of Ruckus fans will be delighted to learn that Green's and Vo's signature nuttiness will remain intact. There will be puns. There will be puppets. This time, however, there will be twice as many of them.

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