08 Dec 2019

Divorce, American Style: “Marriage Story” and “Playmobil: The Movie”

By Mike Schulz

I loved Netflix's Marriage Story, and a day after seeing it, eagerly returned to writer/director Noah Baumbach's dramatic comedy for a second go-around. My verdict? It's a great movie. Just not an extraordinary one. And maybe, when all is said and done, not even a great one – merely, or rather “merely,” greatly entertaining.

08 Dec 2019

Barely Living through Chemistry: “Dark Waters,” “Honey Boy,” and “Waves”

By Mike Schulz

At one point in Todd Haynes' Dark Waters, the heroic attorney played by Mark Ruffalo finds himself in a traffic jam, and as he surveys the gridlock through his windshield, he notices a single red balloon floating above the stopped cars. And we all know what that portends, right? A-a-a-a-aa!!! It's Pennywise! Hide the children!

01 Dec 2019

Blades of Glory: “Knives Out” and “Queen & Slim”

By Mike Schulz

Knives Out, the star-studded comic whodunit by writer/director Rian Johnson, debuted the day before Thanksgiving, and for just over two hours, the film is what every Thanksgiving spread strives to be: loaded with familiar elements (some presented in delectable new ways), utterly delicious, and enormously satisfying.

01 Dec 2019

House Painting: “The Irishman” and “The Report”

By Mike Schulz

Considering that I was able to watch Martin Scorsese's new gangster epic from the comfort of my couch – and after a full plate of Thanksgiving leftovers, no less – the personal astonishment of Netflix's The Irishman wasn't that I made it through all three-and-a-half hours in one sitting. It was that, with only a couple hours' break, I then proceeded to watch all three-and-a-half hours again.

24 Nov 2019

Ice Ice Baby: “Frozen II,” “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” and “21 Bridges”

By Mike Schulz

Thanks to the Roman numeral helpfully attached to its title, audiences should have a fair idea of what to expect from Disney's latest animated musical: It's Frozen, but ya know … twice! Twice the peril! Twice the naïveté from sentient snowman Olaf! Twice the number of screamy power ballads for Idina Menzel to perform at the Oscars! But for all of its considerable pleasures, Frozen II is also more often Frozen Too – as in too formulaic, too unnecessary, and, for its target kiddie crowd and at least one grown-up, perhaps too confusing.

17 Nov 2019

Le Mans and Les Machines: “Ford v Ferrari,” “The Good Liar,” and “Charlie's Angels”

By Mike Schulz

Director James Mangold's new professional-racing drama Ford v Ferrari, however, feels like Ron Howard's 2013 Rush done right: similarly enthralling on the racetrack, but with the added benefits of a more involving narrative, first-rate star turns by Matt Damon and Christian Bale, and – something Rush really lacked – a bunch of topnotch supporting portrayals.

12 Nov 2019

“Paris to Pittsburgh,” November 21

By Reader Staff

Taking place during Truth in Action's “24 Hours of Reality” program – a daylong global conversation on the climate crisis and how we might solve it – the 2018 documentary Paris to Pittsburgh will enjoy a screening and subsequent panel discussion at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on November 21, an event held as a companion program to the venue's current art exhibition Mia Feuer: Totems of Anthropocene.

10 Nov 2019

Eight Is Enough: “Jojo Rabbit,” “Parasite,” “Pain & Glory,” “Doctor Sleep,” “Back from the Brink: Saved from Extinction,” “Midway,” “Last Christmas,” and “Playing with Fire”

By Mike Schulz

In my apparently endless need to publicly prove I have no life, I caught eight films at four different venues between Thursday and Saturday. Some titles are worth more words than I've given them; a couple are undoubtedly worth less. Regardless, the following are listed in order of preference. If you're among those readers who enjoy my pans more than my praise, by all means work your way backward.

04 Nov 2019

Hasta la Vista, Baby: “Terminator: Dark Fate,” “Harriet,” “Motherless Brooklyn,” and “The Lighthouse”

By Mike Schulz

You can nearly always pinpoint the precise moment in which a formerly serious – or at least mildly rational – film franchise turns inexorably into camp.

31 Oct 2019

“A Bridge Too Far from Hero Street” and “Riding the Rails to Hero Street,” November 10

By Reader Staff

Two new works celebrating American courage, character, and perseverance will debut at the Putnam Museum & Science Center, fittingly enough, on Veteran's Day weekend, with the Davenport venue hosting the premieres of Fourth Wall Films' A Bridge Too Far from Hero Street and Riding the Rails to Hero Street – the latest documentaries in the Hero Street series by area filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle.

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