On February 6, patrons of the East Moline Public Library are invited to discover how one individual affected extraordinary change for human rights, the library's screening of the hour-long documentary Alice's Ordinary People focused on trailblazer Alice Tregay, and covering five decades of fearless activism and the continuing relevance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s ongoing fight for justice.

The mildly futuristic, vaguely sci-fi thriller Mercy is a rather confused movie, which, of course, isn't the same thing as a confusing one.

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and currently sitting with 92-percent approval on Rotten Tomatoes, writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's 2006 dramatic thriller The Lives of Others enjoys a February 5 screening at Davenport's Figge Art Museum, legendary critic Roger Ebert, in his four-star review, calling the work "a powerful but quiet film constructed of hidden thoughts and secret desires."

A half-hour episode of the lauded documentary series Wild Hope exploring how the return of adorable yet landscape-changing creatures brings chaos, controversy, and unique benefits to England, Beaver Fever serves as the third presentation in the 2026 QC Environmental Film Series hosted by River Action, the doc and bonus short Over & Under: Wildlife Crossing screening at St. Ambrose University's Galvin Fine Arts Center on February 1.

I couldn't wait for last year's 28 Years Later to end. I was disappointed when this one did, as another half-hour or so would've been totally fine by me.

This year, One Battle After Another and Sinners appear poised to not only tie but update the most-Oscar-nods-ever stat … and their tallies might not even end at 15.

Lauded by Screen Zealots as "a cinematic wake-up call" and by Beyond the Cinemadome as "investigative documentary journalism at its finest and most urgent," Out of Plain Sight serves as the second presentation in 2026 QC Environmental Film Series hosted by River Action.

One can only hope that director/co-writer Johannes Roberts' Primate remains the worst 2026 horror flick to feature a previous Oscar winner. It should be said, however, that Troy Kotsur, who earned a deserved Best Supporting Actor trophy for 2021's CODA, is the finest thing that could've happened to a dopey, rather repugnant shocker about a chimp gone ape.

Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2023 Florida Film Festival, as well as the Rising Star Awards at the Naples Film Festival, director/editor/cinematographer Brendan Hall's Out There: A National Parks Story serves as the first presentation in 2026 QC Environmental Film Series hosted by River Action.

As has become a common ritual, the first weekend of the new year brought with it a low-budget horror movie. Unlike releases of the M3GAN/Night Swim variety, however, this most recent release doesn't appear all that interested in being a horror movie – which is largely to its credit.

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