05 Oct 2010

"Wrestling" Match: Director Scott Irelan Blends Modern Themes with Modern Tech in "Wrestling with Angels & Demons," October 15 through 24 at Augustana College

By Mike Schulz

Macy Marie Hernandez, Vicki Owoo-Battlet, and director Scott Irelan rehearse Wrestling with Angels & DemonsAugustana College opens its 2010-11 theatre season with the student/faculty collaboration Wrestling with Angels & Demons, and true to its title, the play will find its performers doing a fair share of wrestling. Yet rather than physical (or metaphysical) beings, the production's student actors will actually be grappling with questions: What is democracy? What is the American Dream? And a question that many of us have contemplated this year: Is Rod Blagojevich really blacker than Barack Obama?

04 Oct 2010

Friendship Bytes: "The Social Network" and "Across the Sea of Time 3D"

By Mike Schulz

Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake in The Social NetworkTHE SOCIAL NETWORK

You may have heard that a lot of critics, in their reviews of the film, have been comparing the Facebook saga The Social Network to Citizen Kane. So before this turns into one of those inaccurate, Al-Gore-says-he-invented-the-Internet sort of myths, let me clarify: They're saying that in terms of its storyline, themes, and protagonist, director David Fincher's and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's movie is more than a bit reminiscent of Orson Welles' 1941 untouchable. No one, to my knowledge, is saying that The Social Network is as good as Citizen Kane.

Having said that, The Social Network is as good as Citizen Kane.

04 Oct 2010

There Will Be (Lots of) Blood: "Let Me In," "Case 39," and "Chain Letter"

By Mike Schulz

Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Grace Moretz in Let Me InLET ME IN

With apologies to those firmly on either Team Edward or Team Jacob, I was, until recently, convinced that the best vampire movie of the past 10 years was director Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In, the widely acclaimed, beautiful, and very scary Swedish thriller from 2008. But after seeing director Matt Reeves' new remake, Let Me In, I'm thinking that - Heresey Alert! - this one just might trump it.

28 Sep 2010

What's Happenin': Tuesday, September 28 through Tuesday, October 12, 2010

By Mike Schulz

Microbes: Invisible Invaders, Amazing AlliesExhibit

Microbes: Invisible Invaders, Amazing Allies

Putnam Museum & IMAX Theatre

Saturday, October 2, through Sunday, January 30

 

According to the Putnam Museum & IMAX Theatre's Web site, the venue's new exhibit offers an exploration of that "which sustains all life on earth while holding the deadly potential to wipe out millions." Much like my What's Happenin' jokes.

26 Sep 2010

Blah, Blah, Blah ... and Surprisingly Fun - Notes on a Quadruple Feature: "You Again," "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole," "The Virginity Hit," and "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"

By Mike Schulz

Billy Unger, Betty White, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Odette Yustman, and Kristin Bell in You AgainFriday, September 24, 11:30-ish: I attend a morning screening of You Again, and pretty much know what I'm in for as soon as the Touchstone Pictures logo appears: a brightly lit, jauntily scored, aggressively manic entertainment with plenty of "heart" and no laughs whatsoever. (I half-expect a Tim Allen cameo, but instead get a Dwayne Johnson cameo, which probably should've been more expected.)

19 Sep 2010

Cawps and Rawbbuhs: "The Town"

By Mike Schulz

Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner in The TownTHE TOWN

Director/co-writer/star Ben Affleck's crime drama The Town is an enjoyable, frustrating, fascinating contradiction: a movie with a storyline that's nearly impossible to buy, yet one performed and directed with such assurance and strength that it's nearly impossible not to buy. You can roll your eyes at the film's many clichés and contrivances, but you can't say they're presented with anything less than full commitment; for a two-hour-plus movie that doesn't provide even one truly novel character, situation, insight, or plot twist, The Town is remarkably fresh.

19 Sep 2010

Hughes Ruse: "Easy A," "Devil," and "Alpha & Omega"

By Mike Schulz

Emma Stone in Easy AEASY A

With the release of The Town, Ben Affleck's directorial career, in my opinion, now boasts a two-for-two success ratio. So does Will Gluck's, who follows last year's hilarious (and sadly under-praised) male-cheerleader parody Fired Up! with the current, also hilarious '80s-teen-flick parody Easy A. It's no doubt too soon - and maybe even too ridiculous - to ask this, but is it possible that Gluck is our long-awaited heir apparent to Christopher Guest?

14 Sep 2010

What's Happenin': Tuesday, September 14 through Wednesday, September 29

By Mike Schulz

The Emmitt-Nershi BandMusic

The Emmitt-Nershi Band

Rock Island Brewing Company

Wednesday, September 22, 8 p.m.

 

It was in the fall of 2007 that musicians Drew Emmitt and Bill Nershi originally teamed up to form the much-admired touring outfit The Emmitt-Nershi Band. Considering that the gentlemen are, respectively, also members of the popular jam bands Leftover Salmon and The String Cheese Incident, trust me, the group's name could've easily been a far less appetizing hybrid.

12 Sep 2010

The Blunder Years: "Flipped," "16 to Life," and "Resident Evil: Afterlife"

By Mike Schulz

Madeline Carroll and Callan McAuliffe in FlippedFLIPPED

Rob Reiner's 1986 Stand by Me told us that we'll never have better, more meaningful friends than the ones we had when we were 12. His new film, Flipped, tells us that we'll never have better, more meaningful romances than the ones we had when we were 12. It's touching, if a little sad, that it's all apparently been downhill for the director since hitting his teen years, but does Reiner's nostalgic yearning somehow excuse his latest for being so bland, saccharine, and childish? Set just a few years after Reiner's summer-of-'59 hit, Flipped is like Stand by Me without profanity, dirty jokes, unforced camaraderie, and Kiefer Sutherland. In other words, it's just a stone's throw away from utterly excruciating.

10 Sep 2010

'Net Gain: The Internet Players Debut with Nathan Porteshawver's "The Tragedy of Sarah Klein," Opening September 16

By Mike Schulz

Don Faust, Dawson Tucker, Regan Tucker, Alexa Florence, Andrew Cole, Bill Peiffer, and Ruby Nancy in The Tragedy of Sarah KleinIt's doubtful anyone needs to be told that launching a new theatre company - particularly in an area already rife with theatre companies - can be a risky venture, which is likely why Quad Cities-based organizations have tended to debut with relatively low-risk offerings. In 2008, the Harrison Hilltop Theatre chose to stage, as its first production, David Auburn's intimate, four-character drama Proof; a week later, the Curtainbox Theatre Company arrived on the scene with Three Viewings, a trio of Jeffrey Hatcher monologues.

And what is Davenport native Nathan Porteshawver, the founder of the Internet Players, presenting for his new theatre company's debut offering? An original drama that Porteshawver himself wrote.

In verse.

With a cast of 17 actors.

And nine musicians.

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