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.

15 May 2022

Kumbayeah!: “Family Camp,” “Firestarter,” and “The Survivor”

By Mike Schulz

Damned if I didn't grin and giggle at Family Camp from the very start, and damned if I didn't get misty-eyed on a couple of occasions – though given the film's leanings, I should probably be saying “darned." I'll try to remember that if, or more hopefully when, we get a sequel.

09 May 2022

Strange Interludes: “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”

By Mike Schulz

Arriving in the midst of a franchise extender almost shockingly bereft of weirdness, one scene in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did manage to completely surprise and tickle me.

02 May 2022

Totaled Recall: "Memory"

By Mike Schulz

Martin Campbell's Liam-Neeson-with-a-gun revenge thriller isn't necessarily a good movie, but compared to four-fifths of its Irish headliner's big-screen blood baths, it's definitely an improvement.

25 Apr 2022

Alas, Poor Amleth: “The Northman,” “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” “The Bad Guys,” and “Unplugging”

By Mike Schulz

The Northman is a period action drama with supernatural leanings that's five times bloodier than Braveheart, nearly as nutty as The Green Knight, and just as divisive as you'd expect from the filmmaker whose two previous features were the talking-goat freakout The Witch and the two-man fever dream The Lighthouse.

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