Saw X
Blue Grass Drive-in, Blue Grass IA
Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Davenport IA
FilmScene, Iowa City IA
Marcus Sycamore Cinema, Iowa City IA
Putnam Museum & Science Center, Davenport IA
Voy 61 Drive In Theatre, Maquoketa 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.)
***
1521: The Quest for Love & Freedom (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: Monday, October 2, 7 p.m.) - 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.
Barbie (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Greta Gerwig is using capitalism, and with it big-budget Hollywood financing, to make necessary statements, and that she's able to do this while delivering ginormous laughs and making you cry constitutes something of a miracle. IMDb listing.
The Blind (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Blue Beetle (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - Even in an umpteenth superhero adventure, marginalized demographics deserve stronger representation than this. IMDb listing.
Bottoms (R; FilmScene on the Ped Mall) - This "subversively" violent teen slapstick is a film of random pleasures that never becomes an overall pleasure. IMDb listing.
Canelo vs. Charlo (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: Saturday, September 30, 7 p.m.) - FathomEvents.com.
The Creator (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Dino Dana: The Movie (PG; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Dumb Money (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - A thoroughly delightful little-guys-v.-The-System crowd-pleaser that's like a high-tech Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – or The Big Short without condescension or Margot Robbie in a bathtub. IMDb listing.
The Equalizer 3 (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - In less-confident hands, this action sequel would be rubbish, and it mostly it, but Denzel Washington brings so much to the table that it would be nearly impossible not to have fun at this thing. IMDb listing.
The Exorcist: 50th Anniversary (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: Sunday, October 1, 4 & 7 p.m., and Wednesday, October 4, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Expend4bles (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - This stupid, boring, hateful action sequel didn't need a script supervisor. It needed an exorcist. 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.
Flora & Son (R; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
Fremont (not rated; FilmScene on the Ped Mall) - IMDb listing.
Gran Turismo (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - While I won't go so far as to call Neill Blomkamp's video-game "adaptation" good, it's still a pretty-good time, and certainly a better one than those obnoxious here's-the-entire-movie-in-two-minutes trailers suggested. IMDb listing.
Ghostbusters (PG; Voy 61 Drive-in Theatre) - IMDb listing.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (PG-13; Voy 61 Drive-in Theatre) - Ifyou don't share a super-fan's bone-deep adoration for this franchise, Jason Reitman's love letter to all things ectoplasmic (and, by proxy, to his dad) might just leave you confused, and more than a little depressed. IMDb listing.
Haunted Castle (PG; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
A Haunting in Venice (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Given all the series changes for the better, what results is not only Kenneth Branagh's best Agatha Christie yet, but perhaps his thus-far-finest directorial achievement wholly unconnected to William Shakespeare. IMDb listing.
The Hitch-hiker (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Saturday, September 30, 10 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
The Hunger (R; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Wednesday, October 4, 10 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Into America's Wild (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Into the Weeds (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: Tuesday, October 3, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
It Lives Inside (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, FilmScene at the Chauncey, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - While this PG-13 horror flick isn't particularly scary, it's certainly engaging, and would be of at least moderate interest even if it provided zero frights – and the tally it ultimately amasses is considerably higher than zero. 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.
The Kill Room (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - IMDb listing.
Little Shop of Horrors (PG-13; FilmScene in the Park: Saturday, September 30, 7 p.m.) - Everyone's favorite tale of boy, girl, and mean green mother from outer space is a musical I could watch every day with little complaint. IMDb listing.
Mother Teresa & Me (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Nia Vardolos' second sequel is legitimately stupefying in its habit of setting up possible narrative crises only to resolve them in their subsequent scenes, or ignore their implications altogether. IMDb listing.
The Nun II (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Just because a demonic apparition can do anything doesn't mean that it should be able to do everything, and if you give director Michael Chaves' horror sequel even a millisecond of thought, the entire structure comes crumbling down. 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.
Oppenheimer (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - In Christopher Nolan's arresting and sobering film, he gives us the sights and sounds that we, as fans of Big Events on-screen and -off, were hugely looking forward to, then asks whether we should ever have been looking forward to them in the first place. IMDb listing.
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX) - IMDb listing.
Peddha Kapu 1 (not rated; Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Piaffe (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
S.T.B. Horror Trilogy (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Tuesday, October 3, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Saw X (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Scrapper (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
Shift: The RAGBRAI Documentary (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Skanda: The Attacker (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Stop Making Sense (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
Superpower Dogs (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - Writer/director Daniel Ferguson 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.
Surprised by Oxford (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Sunday, October 1, 2 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Volcanoes: The Fires of Creation (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - I might've left this edu-doc just as satisfied if it were a silent film, or at least one wholly free of words, given that the 3D sights on display left me less fascinated than thunderstruck. IMDb listing.
Wild Africa (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Yentl (PG; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Tuesday, October 1, 6:30 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
