Smurfs
Blue Grass Drive-in, Blue Grass IA
Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Davenport IA
FilmScene, Iowa City IA
The Last Picture House, Davenport IA
Marcus Sycamore Cinema, Iowa City IA
Putnam Museum & Science Center, Davenport IA
VIP Cinemas, Moline IL
Voy 61 Drive In Theatre, Delmar IA
(Hyperlinked titles take you to Reader reviews; IMDb hyperlinks take you to the films’ Internet Movie Database pages or other sites with film information.)
***
28 Years Later (R; VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Here's hoping that Danny Boyle's and Alex Garland's weirdly static, deeply disappointing freakout may merely wind up a partial bummer – the two unsatisfying hours we have to endure before getting to four superior ones. IMDb listing.
AJ Goes to the Dog Park (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Thursday, July 24, 10 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Batman Forever: 30th Anniversary (PG-13; VIP Cinemas: Sunday, July 20, 1 & 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
* batteries not included (PG; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Monday, July 21, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act (not rated; Wednesday, July 23, 7 p.m.) - ICFilmScene.org.
Chariots of Fire (PG; The Last Picture House: Thursday, July 24, 6:45 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Conan the Destroyer (PG; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Wednesday, July 23, 10 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Dream Big: Engineering Our World (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Eddington (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, FilmScene on the Ped Mall, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing,
Elio (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - You don't have to squint to see the more soulful, more devastatingly Pixar-ian film this entertainment might've been, say, 15 to 20 years ago, yet it's still fast and flaky and a consistently good time. IMDb listing.
FI: The Movie (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, FilmScene at the Chauncey, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - As an unequivocal Dad Movie, this big-screen spectacle is pretty solid and successful, even though I can barely muster any enthusiasm for it. IMDb listing.
Familiar Touch (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
Flight of the Butterflies (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - A bit pokey, but the slow, unspeakably beautiful explosion that is the butterflies' mass exodus is enough to make you believe in God - or, at the very least, in the gods of nature docs. IMDb listing.
Guns & Moses (not rated; Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Hari Hara Veera Mallu (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: opens Wednesday, July 23) - IMDb listing.
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire (PG-13; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - A very literal-minded, and therefore deeply unsurprising, adaptation, "magical" in subject matter but not in execution. IMDb listing.
Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince (PG-13; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - This Rowling adventure is rarely boring, but only on occasion does it feel alive with any sense of discovery. IMDb listing.
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (PG-13; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - As someone who hasn't read a word of Rowling, I was especially grateful for Alan Rickman, who appeared to be one of few elements here designed to appeal to both the author's devotees and a film audience in equal measure. IMDb listing.
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban (PG; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - A visually audacious work with moments of true magic, and it improves on Chris Chris Columbus' vision tenfold. IMDb listing.
Hidden Universe (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
House on Eden: Early-Access Screening w/ Live Q&A (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Monday, July 21, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
How to Train Your Dragon (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - As a live-action re-creation, the movie is impressive, in its way, but boasts close to zero in the way of personality, and a true zero in terms of fresh personality. IMDb listing.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Jerusalem (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - This visually spectacular, 45-minute edu-tainment on Israel's "cradle of civilization" is really quite a glorious piece of work. IMDb listing.
Journey to Space (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - Says narrator Patrick Stewart of the genial scientists on-screen, "It's all about getting the job done and having a little fun" - an apt description for this edu-doc itself. IMDb listing.
Junior (not rated; Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
JUJUTSU KAISEN: Hidden Inventory / Premature Death - The Movie (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - IMDb listing.
Jurassic World Rebirth (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, The Last Picture House, Marcus Sycamore Cinema, ) - Gareth Edwards' direction kept me from hating this dino-sequel, but I did kind of hate the fact of its existence – some $180 million spent in service of something this profoundly, infuriatingly mediocre. IMDb listing.
Karate Kid: Legends (PG-13; VIP Cinemas) - Really? This is it? This whole, paltry, indifferently shot thing exists simply to get Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio on-screen together – and even then only barely, and not until almost a full hour has passed? IMDb listing.
La Cienaga (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Saturday, July 19, 4 p.m., and Tuesday, July 22, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Lilo & Stitch (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Given Disney's “live-action” track record of recent years, "perfectly decent" is it's own kind of upgrade, and what the film is missing in magic is more than made up for in off-the-charts cute. IMDb listing.
The Lost World (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - Putnam.org.
M3GAN 2.0 (PG-13; VIP Cinemas) - Beyond last fall's Joker: Folie à Deux, it's hard to think of another recent sequel to a Hollywood hit that gives us so little of what we enjoyed the first time around. IMDb listing.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (G; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
Materialists (R; Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Celine Song's Past Lives followup is romantic silliness treated with absolute sincerity, even painful seriousness, and its effect is frequently breathtaking. IMDb listing.
The Met Summer Encore: La Traviata (not rated: Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: Wednesday, July 23) - MetOpera.org.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (PG-13; VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Tom Cruise's eighth go at Ethan Hunt never stops reiterating that this is Serious Stuff for both the character and his portrayer, and the exhausting sameness of it all keeps grinding the movie to a halt. IMDb listing.
My Neighbor Totoro (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
National Parks Adventure (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - This expectedly gorgeous edu-doc is also unexpectedly, even thrillingly, varied in presentation: sensationally informative, joyfully inspiring, and even laugh-out-loud funny. IMDb listing.
Once (R; FilmScene on the Ped Mall Rooftop: Sunday, July 20, 8:35 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Return to the Lost World (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - Putnam.org.
Roger Waters: This Is Not a Drill - Live from Prague (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Wednesday, July 23, 7:30 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Saiyaara (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - IMDb listing.
Smurfs (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Monday, July 21, and Wednesday, July 23, 9:30 a.m.) - It sure looks like Jim Carrey is having a blast in director Jeff Fowler's followup. At the very least, he's providing one. IMDb listing.
Space: The New Frontier (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (PG; Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - This animated sequel delivers so much excitement, hilarity, narrative pleasure, eye-popping detail, and deep emotion that you feel you just might implode with happiness. IMDb listing.
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (PG; The Last Picture House Rooftop: Friday, July 18, and Saturday, July 19, 8:30 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Superman (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, The Last Picture House, FilmScene at the Chauncey, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - This problematic big swing is more fun than most generically solid comic-book movies, because it's a determinedly weird one, and largely held together by David Corenswet's devastating sincerity and well-employed comic chops. IMDb listing.
Superpower Dogs (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - Daniel Ferguson's edu-doc provides enough globe-trotting action for a James Bond flick, treating us to first-rate training footage and re-created missions in locales ranging from the Canadian Rockies to the Italian coast to a debris-strewn site near New York's Ground Zero. IMDb listing.
T. REX (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Tangerine (R; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Thursday, July 24, 7 p.m.) - The heart of Sean Baker's comedy lies in the lovingly tetchy friendship between our leads, and the spectacularly funny and alive novice actors make it easy to ignore the film's mechanical plotting and frequent aimlessness. IMDb listing.
Trolls Band Together (PG; VIP Cinemas: Wednesday, July 23, and Thursday, July 24, 10 a.m.) - Nothing here may have activated my tear ducts the way the 2016 original's rendition of “True Colors” did, but trading a laughter-and-tears experience for a laughter-and-laughter one is hardly a hardship. IMDb listing.
Wild Rescue (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
