Jurassic World Rebirth
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.)
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28 Years Later (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, FilmScene at the Chauncey, 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.
American Graffiti (PG; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Monday, July 7, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Ballerina (R; Davenport 53rd 18 +IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - The fighting in this John Wick offshoot is mostly excellent, and it desperately needs to be, because the rest of Len Wiseman's action thriller is largely a wash. IMDb listing.
Blue Sun Place (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
Bugs! (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - The 3D effects make the film's creepy-crawly world pop in enjoyable fashion, and the bugs' life-and-death struggle makes for endlessly intriguing viewing. IMDb listing.
Dream Big: Engineering Our World (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Elio (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Blue Grass Frive-in, 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, The Last Picture House, 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.
The Garfield Movie (PG; Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - A surprisingly funny animated slapstick, but in order to actively enjoy it, you have to agree to forget everything you ever knew about Garfield. IMDb listing.
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (PG; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - As with the first film, director Chris Columbus is letting J.K. Rowling's material do all the work for him; his films in this franchise are totally devoid of personality, and therefore, irredeemably boring. IMDb listing.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone (PG; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - This big, handsome production, filled with classy art direction and classier performers, is also a bit of a dud, because all the professionalism in the world can't compensate for what's missing: magic. IMDb listing.
Hot Spring Shark Attack (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Wednesday, July 9, 8 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
How to Train Your Dragon (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Blue Grass Dtive-in, Voy 61 Drive In Theatre, 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 Am Cuba (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Tuesday, July 8, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Jerusalem (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - 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.
Jurassic World Rebirth (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, The Last Picture House, Blue Grass Drive-in, Voy 61 Drive In Theatre, 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; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, 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.
Kung Fu Panda 4 (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas) - This animated comedy is hardly a debacle, but definitely a series low point, and all but indistinguishable from a 90-minute yawn. IMDb listing.
The Last Rodeo (PG; VIP Cinemas) - This pro-faith "inspirational" drama is profoundly unsurprising, generically tiresome, blandly staged, and indifferently acted in several major roles. IMDb listing.
A League of Our Own (PG; The Last Picture House Rooftop: Thursday, July 10, 6:30 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Lilo & Stitch (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Blue Grass Drive-in, 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.
Luther: Never Too Much (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Thursday, July 10, 6:30 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
M3GAN 2.0 (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Blue Grass Drive-in, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - 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.
Materialists (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, FilmScene at the Chauncey, 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.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, 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.
Museum Alive (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - Putnam.org.
The Phoenician Scheme (PG-13; FilmScene on the Ped Mall) - While this is a swift, clever, oftentimes very funny fable that could only be the product of Wes Anderson, I'll admit I liked it better when it wasn't quite so manically busy and was titled The Royal Tenenbaums. IMDb listing.
Return to the Lost World (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - Putnam.org.
Sinners (R; VIP Cinemas) - This might be first great movie that literally gives you everything, considering that most revered titles don't think to add bloody supernatural horror, original blues songs, and an American-history primer into the mix. 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.
Terminal Island (R; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Wednesday, July 9, 10 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Thammudu (not rated; Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
This Is Spinal Tap: 41st-Anniversary Screening (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - A favorite (if not the favorite) of nearly every musician I've ever known, as well as every fan of Christopher Guest, mockumentaries, Christopher Guest mockumentaries, and movies that make you glad to be alive. IMDb listing.
Top Gun (PG; Blue Grass Drive-in) - Even nearly 40 years later, Tony Scott's square, silly mega-hit still features guilty pleasures galore, plus a few legitimate pleasures. IMDb listing.
Top Gun: Maverick (PG-13; The Last Picture House Rooftop: Friday, July 4, through Sunday, July 6, 8:30 p.m.; Blue Grass Drive-in) - Had Joseph Kosinski's following really embraced the fact of Tom Cruise's mortality, and had its star actually embraced his human fallibility, this corny, retrograde, occasionally quite-entertaining outing might've really been something. IMDb listing.
