Obsession
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.)
***
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (PG-13; The Last Picture House Rooftop: Thursday, May 21, 8:30 p.m.) - When this beloved slapstick is really rolling, it's great fun; when it fumbles, it's still easy enough to shrug off, like a lame Saturday Night Live sketch. IMDb listing.
Animal Farm (PG; VIP Cinemas) - Because we're given no sense of what, precisely, is being attacked and largely satirized, Andy Serkis' take on George Orwell's cautionary tale just comes off as deeply confused. IMDb listing.
An Autumn Summer (not rated; VIP Cinemas) - IMDb listing.
Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard & Soft - The Tour Live (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - The superstar would no doubt have delivered a performance for the ages under any circumstances, but the 3D effects are also thrillingly playful. IMDb listing.
Blue Heron (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
The Cat Returns (G; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
Crazy Rich Asians (PG-13; Aledo Opera House: Friday, May 15, through Sunday, May 17) - Iaddition to being a charming entertainment, this rom-com is unbridled pornography. Granted, it's luxury porn, and sometimes food porn, but a deliberate turn-on nonetheless. IMDb listing.
Deep Water (R; VIP Cinemas) - You don't necessarily care about anyone's fate, but the situations in Renny Harlin's survival thriller are so catastrophically grim, and so atypically well-staged, that with one spectacularly hateful exception, you don't want to see anyone perish, either. IMDb listing.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, The Last Picture House, Blue Grass Drive-in, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - This sequel would have been plenty entertaining, or at least entertaining enough, had it merely been a light, funny exercise in getting the band back together. It's happily even more than that. IMDb listing.
Diamantino (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Saturday, May 16, 4 p.m., and Thursday, May 21, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Drishyan 3 (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX: Wednesday, May 20, 9:30 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Elephants: Giants of the Desert (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - 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.
Frankenstein's Bloody Terror 3D (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Wednesday, May 20, 10 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Hokum (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, FilmScene at the Chauncey) - The polar opposite of hokum, Damian McCarthy's latest is a strong, chilling work boasting startling imagery and a first-rate Adam Scott performance. IMDb listing.
I Swear (R; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - This prototypical but well-acted pio-pic about a man living with Tourette Syndrome is refreshingly clear-headed about the dichotomy of feelings it evinces. IMDb listing.
In the Grey (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Into America's Wild (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
Is God Is (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, FilmScene on the Ped Mall, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Keep Quiet & Forgive (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Tuesday, May 19, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
A League of Their Own (PG; Aledo Opera House: Thursday, May 21, 6 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Life Hack (not rated; Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Mad Bills to Pay (not rated; FilmScene on the Ped Mall) - IMDb listing.
Michael (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Blue Grass Drive-in, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Jaafar Jackson and the concert scenes are, for the most part, genuinely thrilling, but when this Jackson bio-book moves off the stage, it's oftentimes painfully terrible. IMDb listing.
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe (not rated; VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - IMDb listing.
Mortal Kombat II (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, The Last Picture House, Blue Grass Drive-in, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - This gory videogame adaptation is a contact high that vanishes with your first breath of fresh air, such as the one that hits as you walk from the auditorium to your car. IMDb listing.
Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - This edu-doc tries to do too much in too little time, but it's never less than interesting, and those mega-screen vistas of Egypt are truly stunning. IMDb listing.
Natchez (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey) - IMDb listing.
Obsession (R; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, The Last Picture House, FilmScene at the Chauncey, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - 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.
Paddington 2 (PG; The Last Picture House Rooftop: Friday, May 15, and Saturday, May 16, 8:30 p.m.) - Darned near everything about this sprightly, inventive, bighearted follow-up is magical. IMDb listing.
Project Hail Mary (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Blue Grass Drive-in, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Phil Lord's and Christopher Miller's sci-fi outing is a lot of fun, but given its scenario, is the focus on humor, which at times lapses into pure shtick, more hindrance than help? IMDb listing.
Rebel with a Clause (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Wednesday, May 20, 7 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
The Sheep Detectives (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Blue Grass Drive-in, FilmScene at the Chauncey, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - It's kind of like Babe meets Paddington meets The Wild Robot meets Agatha Christie … which means, unexpectedly yet delightfully, it's also kind of perfect. IMDb listing.
Shrek: 25th Anniversary (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - This massive, Oscar-winning animated smash is depressing, for some of us, because it's both smart-alecky and emotionally manipulative, an icky combination if there ever was one. IMDb listing.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Blue Grass Drive-in, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Barring one repeated gag involving a slow-moving robot that appears air-lifted in from the Zootopia DMV, you'd be hard-pressed to find a single legitimate joke – and that's with Jack Black reprising his role IMDb listing.
Superpower Dogs (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - 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.
T. Rex (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
That They May Be One (not rated; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Marcus Sycamore Cinema: Tuesday, May 19, and Wednesday, May 20) - IMDb listing.
Top Gun: 40th Anniversary (PG; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Voy 61 Drive In Theatre, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - To this day, this square, silly blockbuster features guilty pleasures galore, plus a few legitimate pleasures. IMDb listing.
Top Gun: Maverick (PG-13; Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, VIP Cinemas, Voy 61 Drive In Theatre, Marcus Sycamore Cinema) - Had the film and Tom Cruise actually embraced the star's human fallibility, this corny, retrograde, occasionally quite-entertaining outing might've really been something. IMDb listing.
Twin Peaks: The Return - Parts 17 & 18 (not rated; FilmScene at the Chauncey: Monday, May 18, 9 p.m.) - IMDb listing.
Wild Rescue (not rated; Putnam Museum & Science Center) - IMDb listing.
