Elio
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; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, The Last Picture House, Blue Grass Drive-in, FilmScene at the Chauncey, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Back from the Brink: Saved from Extinction (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - This edu-doc would be recommended solely for the chance, for 40 minutes, to actually feel momentarily great about the state of the human race. 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.
Barbie (PG-13; Blue Grass Drive-in) - That Greta Gerwig is able to make solid thematic points while delivering ginormous laughs and making you cry – and delivering full-scale musical numbers besides – constitutes something of a miracle. IMDb listing.
Bride Hard (R; VIP Cinemas) - IMDb listing.
Bring Her Back (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, FilmScene at the Chauncey, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Days after seeing A24's lates horror film, I can't get more than a dozen scenes and images out of my mind. In a rarity for this theatre-of-cruelty sub-genre, I also don't necessarily want to. IMDb listing.
Brokeback Mountain: 20th Anniversary (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Sunday, June 22, 4 p.m., and Wednesday, June 25, 7:30 p.m.) - Ang Lee's sublimely honest and painfully emotional romance makes love come alive in a way you might have forgotten movies were capable of. IMDb listing.
Clue (PG; FilmScene in the Park: Saturday, June 28, 9:15 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Critical Role Live: Melbourne, Australia (not rated: Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: Wednesday, June 25, 7 p.m.) - FathomEntertainment.com.
Despicable Me 4 (PG; VIP Cinemas: Wednesday, June 25, and Thursday, June 26, 10 a.m.) - This third animated sequel is fun, but at 94 compact minutes, it's also kind of exhausting fun, because Just when you're settling into a winning comedic groove, the rug is pulled out from under you, and a whole new groove appears to have taken its place. IMDb listing.
Elio (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Blue Grass Drive-in, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
FI: The Movie: Early-Access Screening (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Wednesday, June 25, 7 & 7:15 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Final Destination: Bloodlines (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas) - Not only did I have a ball, but I was reminded why the FDs constitute my all-time-favorite fright-flick franchise that doesn't feature H.R. Giger xenomorphs. 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.
Friendship (R; FilmScene at the Chauncey, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - With Tim Robinson turning high concept into cringey art, Andrew DeYoung's comedy is uproarious, unsettling, and oddly moving. IMDb listing.
How to Train Your Dragon (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Voy 61 Drive In Theatre, Blue Grass Drive-in, 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.
Karate Kid: Legends (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Blue Grass Drive-in, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - 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.
Kuberaa (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - 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.
Legally Blonde (PG-13; Blue Grass Drive-in) - Reese Witherspoon is such a clever, wonderfully controlled actress that she's worth watching in just about anything, even in this middling, paint-by-numbers 2002 comedy. IMDb listing.
The Life of Chuck (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - In this very atypical, slightly precious Stephen King adaptation, the highs aware awfully high and the lows are more disappointing than deal-breaking. 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.
Materialists (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, The Last Picture House, Blue Grass Drive-in, FilmScene on the Ped Mall, 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 Maya Deren Project (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - ICFilmScene.org.
A Minecraft Movie (PG; VIP Cinemas) - Little more than an unpretentious goofball slapstick for kids, or those who, for 100 minutes, agree to be wholly in touch with their inner kid - but Jack Black is astounding. 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.
Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - This edu-doc tries to do too much in too little a time, but it's never less than interesting, and those mega-screen vistas of Egypt are truly stunning. IMDb listing.
North by Current (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Tuesday, June 24, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Oceans (G; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - The movie's 85 minutes occasionally crawl by as deliberately as its sea-floor denizens, yet it's hard to be too disappointed by a film that provides so many extraordinary sights. IMDb listing.
The Phoenician Scheme (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, FilmScene at the Chauncey) - 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.
Prescribed Films 25th Anniversary (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Wednesday, June 25, 10 p.m.) - ICFilmScene.org.
Reservoir Dogs (R; The Last Picture House Rooftop: Saturday, June 28, 8:30 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Return to the Lost World (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - Putnam.org.
The Secret World of Arietty: 15th Anniversary (G; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Shrek 2 (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Monday, June 23, and Wednesday, June 25, 9:30 a.m.) - This should easily satisfy the fan base that adored the original, but for the unconverted, this animated sequel - its moments of inspiration aside - will be just as irksome. IMDb listing.
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.
Sitaare Zameen Par (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - IMDb listing.
A Sloth Story (PG; Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (PG; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - The dialogue is often hilarious, the voiceover work is quite amusing, and it's all so refreshingly bizarre. 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.
Thunderbolts* (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas) - The good time I had came only in fits and spurts, and despite sitting through the entirety of its running length including the inevitable post-credits teaser, I'm no more stoked for the next Marvel than I was for this one. IMDb listing.
Tommy Boy (PG-13; The Last Picture House Rooftop: Thursday, June 26, 8:30 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Twisters (PG-13; Voy 61 Drive In Theatre) - In director Lee Isaac Chung's disaster thriller, they dominate the screen, they annihilate everything in their path, and they leave you awestruck by Hollywood magic. I am, of course, referring to the dimpled grins of Glen Powell. The twisters aren't bad, either. IMDb listing.
The Unholy Trinity (R; VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
