13 Apr 2026

Mock-Doc Shock Talk: “Faces of Death,” “You, Me & Tuscany,” and “Mr. Nobody Against Putin”

By Mike Schulz

It's the absolute right time for director/co-writer Daniel Goldhaber's new Faces of Death, a tight, scary, unexpectedly crafty meta-commentary built on the notion that we can no longer instinctively believe anything we're shown on-screen. On any screen.

06 Apr 2026

For Better or Worst: “The Drama,” “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” and “Pizza Movie”

By Mike Schulz

Prior to writer/director Kristoffer Borgli's transfixing, deeply uncomfortable A24 romance The Drama, I think you'd have to go back to 1992's The Crying Game to find a film that made you – by which I mean me – quite so antsy to learn its heavily promoted Big Secret.

28 Mar 2026

Beats and Beetz: "They Will Kill You" and "Forbidden Fruits"

By Mike Schulz

Is anyone else exhausted, and continually upset, by this year's plethora of movies in which women get the crap viciously kicked out of them?

23 Mar 2026

Rock and Man, Burnin' Out Their Fuses Up There Alone: “Project Hail Mary,” “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” and “The Pout-Pout Fish”

By Mike Schulz

Having not read the Andy Weir novel on which their film is based, it's hard to tell if Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were the right directors for the science-fiction adventure Project Hail Mary, or – for the book's many admirers, and maybe a few of us newbies – the absolute wrong ones.

18 Mar 2026

A Different Laramie Project: “Reminders of Him” and “Undertone”

By Mike Schulz

If, after three of the author's films over 20 months, my up-and-down reactions continue on this trajectory, I'm already looking forward to the Colleen Hoover adaptation after the next one.

17 Mar 2026

“Jojo Rabbit,” April 2

By Reader Staff

With the Oscar-winning comedy hailed by USA Today as a "brilliant Nazi-mocking satire," writer/director Taiki Waititi's Jojo Rabbit enjoys a free screening at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on April 2, this season's Free Film at the Figge series presenting a selection of distinguished, award-winning films that represent the very best in provocative, suspenseful filmmaking set in the context of authoritarian fascism.

16 Mar 2026

PTA PSA: Notes on the 2026 Academy Awards Telecast

By Mike Schulz

All awards-season long, One Battle After Another v. Sinners felt like the friendliest of rivalries, an unusual happenstance no doubt augmented by both films coming from the same studio. Why pitch the titles against each other when Warner Bros. was gonna win either way?

12 Mar 2026

“Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking” and “Within Our Gates,” March 22

By Reader Staff

An Illinois-born pioneer, independent filmmaker, and former Iowa resident’s story will be revealed when the Truth First Film Alliance hosts the feature-length documentary Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking, this March 22 showing at Davenport venue The Last Picture House boasting a post-film discussion with guest historian Jordan Bell, and followed by a screening of Micheaux's 1920 silent movie Within Our Gates.

11 Mar 2026

Sin, Lose, or Draw: Predicting the 2026 Academy Award Winners

By Mike Schulz

How am I feeling about my Academy Awards predictions this year? Actually pretty good … except in, you know, most of the major categories.

09 Mar 2026

Wake Up, I Think Maggie's Got Something to Say to You: “The Bride!”, “Hoppers,” and the 2026 Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Animation

By Mike Schulz

If possible, Maggie Gyllenhaal's intensely watchable, intensely problematic revisionist salute is an even nuttier achievement than Young Frankenstein, if not always nutty in appreciable ways.

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