James L. Brooks' first feature since 2010's How Do You Know isn't the worst picture of 2025. It's quite possibly the strangest, though, and suggests that not only has Brooks not made a film in 15 years, but perhaps hasn't seen a film in 15 years.

With the December 21 event designed to inspire holiday cheer and nostalgia through the crooning of classics including "O Tannenbaum" and "Stille Nacht," guests of Davenport's German American Heritage Center are invited to join the fun of the German Holiday Sing-Along, a celebration of beloved compositions presented in the final "Kaffee und Kuchen" program of 2025.

Closing 2025, and opening 2026, with an arresting and enthralling collection of surreal paintings and sculpture, Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center will house the Boone & Zahn exhibition through January 30, treating gallery attendees to a series of remarkable works by the Chicago area's Berthold Boone and Moline's David Zahn.

Lauded for such top-10 Billboard smashes as The Ugly Organ and Happy Hollow, and hailed by Medium for their "innovative sound that blends angular melodies with often searingly emotional lyrics," the Nebraska-based indie rockers of Cursive headline a special December 21 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, their live performances inspiring Spectrum Culture to rave, "At a Cursive show, there is no weak material."

Returning to Moline with four performances of three spectacular presentations, the live, multi-sensory musical experience known as the Candlelight Concerts series enjoys its latest Quad Cities engagements at the city's First Congregational Church, the December 19 and 20 events boasting Christmas Special featuring "The Nutcracker" and More on Friday at 6:30 p.m., Tribute to Adele on Friday at 8:30 p.m., and Christmas Classics on Saturday and 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.

Although the film is anchored by a ferocious Jessie Buckley and a frequently moving Paul Mescal, it might be impossible, after seeing director/co-writer Chloé Zhao's Hamnet, to reflect on the movie without the face of its titular portrayer coming instantly to mind, and potentially making you well up all over again.

In the days after the horrific burning of a woman on a CTA train, allegedly by a clearly deranged habitual criminal suspect last month, some in the news media immediately focused on their go-to issue: The Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity-Today, or SAFE-T Act. “Illinois leaders blast SAFE-T Act after repeat offender charged with lighting woman on fire on CTA Blue Line,” reported WGN, as just one example. Former Cook County and federal prosecutor Bob Milan told the station: “The SAFE-T Act forces state attorneys to file petitions instead of just giving judges the discretion [to detain arrested suspects].”

M: It was an unmitigated pleasure to watch Sydney Richardson portray this part. She exuded the perfect mix of Midwestern charm and knowing experience to make it really come to life.

Kitty: Oh, absolutely. This show’s brisk run time of just over an hour could easily feel much longer if the script slipped into a singsong lull. But Richardson handles the verse like a pro.

A two-evening celebration of the Swedish tradition based on the legend of Saint Lucia, Queen of Light, the 2025 Lucia Nights Festival in Bishop Hill will, on December 12 and 13, deliver a seasonal treat featuring live music, a barn dance, a chili supper, a tree-lighting ceremony, carriage rides, and much more.