29 Mar 2021

John Wit: “Nobody,” “Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal,” “My Octopus Teacher,” and “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon”

By Mike Schulz

In a nutshell, Nobody is more brutal than you expect it to be, and, in its dementedly over-the-top way, a lot wittier than it has any right to be.

22 Mar 2021

Spy vs. Spite: “The Courier” and “City of Lies”

By Mike Schulz

Two new cineplex releases this past weekend opened with words that frequently inspire ennui in moviegoers everywhere: “Based on a true story.” Yet while both dramatic thrillers – The Courier and City of Lies – are overly earnest and expository in ways those five-word preambles usually imply, their true (or more precisely true-ish) tales are gripping nonetheless, and the performers carry you through the occasional dead spots. One of those films is mostly tight and polished. The other is mostly sprawling and messy. And I mostly enjoyed them both … but kinda preferred the messy one.

16 Mar 2021

“The Ten Commandments”: 65th-Anniversary Screenings, March 28 and 31

By Reader Staff

Enjoying a local presentation as the third cinematic presentation in Fathom Events' seventh-annual TCM Big Screen Classics series, the legendary biblical epic The Ten Commandments celebrates its 65th anniversary with March 28 and March 31 screenings at Rave Cinemas Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, this 1956 masterwork famed for its scale, cope, and unforgettable sights including Moses' iconic parting of the Red Sea.

15 Mar 2021

The 2021 Academy Award Nominations

By Mike Schulz

It was a light morning for shockers but a great morning for representation when nominations for the 93rd Annual Academy Awards were announced earlier today – and such a great morning that it's easy to applaud the Oscars' historic showing of diversity without being hugely embarrassed by the Best Picture omissions of the widely predicted One Night in Miami … and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

14 Mar 2021

Memory Laps: “The Father” and “Long Weekend”

By Mike Schulz

An adaptation of his Tony Award-winning stage drama, director/co-screenwriter Florian Zeller's The Father casts Anthony Hopkins as an octogenarian suffering from dementia, and there's no point to me even trying to bury the lede: I bawled like a baby at this thing.

09 Mar 2021

Predicting the 2021 Academy Award Nominations

By Mike Schulz

We're finally approaching an end to the longest gap between nomination announcements in the Oscars' 93-year history. So welcome, friends, to my predictions for the 2021 Academy Awards! Is it 2022 yet?

07 Mar 2021

Feud for Thought: “Chaos Walking,” “Coming 2 America,” and “Boogie”

By Mike Schulz

While director Doug Liman's finally un-shelved release shares DNA strands with all those Hunger Gameses and Maze Runners and Divergents – orphaned youths, nihilism, paranoia, common nouns elevated to proper-noun status – thie largely underwhelming Chaos Walking at least provides in abundance something those other works woefully lacked: charm.

01 Mar 2021

The War on Dregs: “Crisis,” “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” and “Tom & Jerry”

By Mike Schulz

An undercover DEA agent attempts to bust an international smuggling operation. A bereaved mother hunts those responsible for her teenage son's overdose. A tenured professor contemplates blowing the whistle on unethical Big Pharma practices. Haven't we all sat through previous versions of these shopworn tales before? Maybe even with Crisis leads Armie Hammer, Evangeline Lilly, and Gary Oldman starring in them?

23 Feb 2021

“Boyz N the Hood”: 30th-Anniversary Screenings, February 28 and March 3

By Reader Staff

Serving as the second cinematic presentation in Fathom Events' seventh-annual TCM Big Screen Classics series, the iconic coming-of-age saga Boyz N the Hood celebrates its 30th anniversary with February 28 and March 3 screenings at Rave Cinemas Davenport 53rd 18 + IMAX, the popular drama famed for making then-24-year-old John Singleton both the youngest person ever nominated for the Best Director Oscar and the first African American ever cited in that category.

22 Feb 2021

Fern Affairs: “Nomandland,” “Land,” and “I Care a Lot”

By Mike Schulz

Nomadland is a true anomaly: a low-key slice of life that's shot, and feels, like an epic. And it's a thing of singular, wondrous beauty no matter how you watch it – though maybe not if you watch it on your phone.

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