Ella McCay
Aledo Opera House, Aledo IL
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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Akhanda 2: Thaandavam (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - IMDb listing.
Arctic: Our Frozen Planet (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Bambi (G; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
Better Go Mad in the Wild (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Sunday, December 14, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Brazil (R; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Saturday, December 13, 9:30 p.m., and Wednesday, December 17, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Buddies (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Tuesday, December 16, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Cactus Pears (not rated; FilmScene on the Ped Mall) - IMDb listing.
The Case for Miracles (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: opens Monday, December 15) - IMDb listing.
Christina Aguilera: Christmas in Paris (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: Sunday, December 14) - IMDb listing.
The Christmas Chronicles (PG; Voy 61 Drive In Theatre) - IMDb listing.
David: Early-Access Screening (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: Sunday, December 14, 2 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Dhurandhar (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - IMDb listing.
Dick Can Dyke 100th Celebration (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: Saturday, December 13, and Sunday, December 14) - IMDb listing.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas: 25th Anniversary (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Ideally, the film should have been a mere 30-ish minutes long - it could have been a wickedly entertaining, though insanely expensive, short film for TV. IMDb listing.
Dust Bunny (R; Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Elephants: Giants of the Desert (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Elf (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Saturday, December 13, 9:30 a.m., and Wednesday, December 17, 6:40 & 9:05 p.m.) - Will Ferrell is so likable here that he overrides everything embarrassing about the material.- IMDb listing.
Ella McCay (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Eternity (PG-13; VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - This afterlife rom-com is a true charmer, even though I did leave my screening less eager to see the movie again than to watch Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life for the zillionth time. IMDb listing.
Fackham Hall (R; VIP Cinemas) - Directed by Jim O'Hanlon and written by five scribes who appear to have contributed about 100 jokes apiece, this is a Naked Gun take on British period melodrama. That's all it is. It's plenty. IMDb listing.
Five Night's at Freddy's 2 (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - You know those 24-hour play festivals at which participants are given a rough idea for a concept and have exactly one day to secure a cast, write the script, and rehearse the thing before it debuts for audiences? That's the experience of this horror-comedy sequel. IMDb listing.
Gremlins (PG; Voy 61 Drive In Theatre, Aledo Opera House) - IMDb listing.
Hamnet (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, FilmScene at the Chauncey) - 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 historical fiction, to reflect on the movie without the face of its titular portrayer coming instantly to mind. IMDb listing.
Holiday Affair (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Monday, December 15, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
It's a Wonderful Life (PG; Aledo Opera House) - IMDb listing.
Jury of Her Peers (not rated; Tuesday, December 16, 6:30 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Jutustu Kaisen: Execution (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Kill Bill: The Whote Bloody Affair (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - IMDb listing.
Klaus (PG; Aledo Opera House) - IMDb listing.
Little Women - 1994 (PG; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Friday, December 12, 7 p.m., and Sunday, December 14, 4 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Merrily We Roll Along (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - I'm intensely grateful that ithis recording of Sondehim's Tony-winning revival exists. That said, couldn't we have gotten a better-directed rendition than this one? IMDb listing.
The Met Opera: Andrea Chenier (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: Saturday, December 13, noon, and Wednesday, December 17, 1 & 6:30 p.m.) - MetOpera.org.
Mowgli (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - IMDb listing.
Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - This edu-doc tries to do too much in too little a time and engages in too much chronological leap-frogging, but it's never less than interesting, and those mega-screen vistas of Egypt are truly stunning; IMDb listing.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (PG-13; Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Not Without Hope (R; VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Now You See Mee: Now You Don't (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - I on't want to critique Fleischer's threequel so much as slap the shit out of it. IMDb listing.
Nuremberg (PG-13; VIP Cinemas) - A stodgy, clichéd, two-and-a-half-hour historical drama lacking even a dollop of filmmaking excitement, and a work that essentially tells two stories yet, maddeningly, picks the wrong one to focus on. IMDb listing.
The Polar Express (G; Putnam Museum & Science Center, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - After a blessed quiet opening 15 minutes, the that follow are a grating blend of the hyperactive and the maudlin, and any sweetness inherent in the Chris Van Allsburg children's book the movie is based on is totally lost. IMDb listing.
Predator: Badlands (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - I had an utterly spectacular time at director Dan Trachtenberg's sci-fi thriller that's also, brace yourselves, a thoroughly winning buddy comedy. IMDb listing.
Put Your Soul on Your Hand & Walk (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
Rebbeca: Becky G (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Saturday, December 13, 2 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Rental Family (PG-13; VIP Cinemas) - The good news about director/co-writer Hikari's and co-screenwriter Stephen Blahunt's movie is that, over the course of 110 minutes, it's nowhere near as sickly as its advance two-minutes-plus suggested. IMDb listing.
Rolling Stones: At the Max (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - IMDb listing.
The Running Man (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - This opinion may seem counterintuitive, or even downright crazy, but I found Edgar Wright's violent, profanity-laden dystopian thriller based on a Stephen King novel … kind of adorable. IMDb listing.
Sarah's Oil (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Sense & Sensibility: 30th Anniversary (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - IMDb listing.
Sentimental Value (R; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - A gorgeously acted, smartly written and directed family-angst tearjerker that never succeeded in choking me up. IMDb listing.
The Shining: 45th Anniversary (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - The director/co-writer shattered our presumptions by significantly deviating from the novel's haunted-hotel particulars and creating hypnotically unsettling imagery that felt far more the product of Stanley Kubrick than Stephen King. IMDb listing.
Silent Night, Deadly Night (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants: Early-Access Screening (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Wednesday, December 17, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Superpower Dogs (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - We're given just enough information on how the heroic pups pull off their feats of derring-do to wholly appreciate them in practice, with the duties of the stunningly well-trained Ricochet – a special-needs dog who aids military veterans and on-the-spectrum youths alike – proving especially moving. IMDb listing.
To All a Goodnight (R; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Wednesday, December 17, 10 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (PG; FilmScene on the Ped Mall) - While Rian Johnson's third Benoit Blanc movire remains fun, it's mildly underwhelming fun – like that three-minute roller-coaster ride you realize wasn't worth the half-hour you waited in line for it. IMDb listing.
White Christmas (not rated; Aledo Opera House) - IMDb listing.
Wicked: For Good (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, The Last Picture House, FilmScene at the Chauncey, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Ariana Grande's delivers a thoroughly stunning performance, and the only way it might've appeared better is if the movie came anywhere close to matching her. IMDb listing.
Wild Rescue (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Zootopia 2 (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, The Last Picture House, Marcus Sycamore Cinema)) - Disney's sequel is almost as great as 2016's original Zootopia, which makes it almost one of the sharpest, wittiest, funniest comedies of its decade. IMDb listing.
