River Cities Reader Podcast: Recent Episodes
River Cities Reader Podcast
Live to tape interviews with Reader team members as guests on other broadcast, radio and podcast shows. Alive & Free Since 1993. The Quad Cities’ Independent Newspaper. Know More. Do More.
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk film, which this week entails Spider-Man: Brand New Day. But not to worry: The previews promise us films other than Spider-Man: Brand New Day!
Speaking of:
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day (dir Destin Daniel Cretton, starr Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Florence Pugh, Tramell Tillman, Marisa Tomei, and Mark Ruffalo).
The previews:
- One Night Only (dir Will Gluck, starr Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton, Okieriete Onaodowan, Este Haim, Ziwe, King Princess, Ben Marshall, Nicholas Braun, Quintessa Swindell, Michelle Hurd, Charlie Gillespie, Kam Patterson, Pete Davidson, Bobby Canavale, and Jay Ellis).
- I Want Your Sex (dir Gregg Araki, starr Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Johnny Knoxville, Margaret Cho, Roxane Mesquida, Charli XCX, and Daveed Diggs).
- Maddie’s Secret (dir John Early, starr Early, Kate Berlant, Eric Rahill, Kristen Johnston, Claudia O’Doherty, Conner O’Malley, Vanessa Bayer, and Chris Bauer).
- Ice Cream Man (dir Eli Roth, starr Ari Millen, Charlie Zeltzer, Shiloh O’Reilly, Kiori Mirza Waldman, Sarah Abbott, and Benjamin Byron Davis).
- Super Troopers 3 (dir Jay Chandrasekhar, starr Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske).
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk film and advise Spider-Haters against going out this weekend.
What’s in theatre:
- Hadestown: The Musical (dir Brett Sullivan, starr Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, Eva Noblezada, Patrick Page, Bella Brown, Madeline Charlemagne, and Allie Daniel).
- Motor City (dir Potsy Ponciroli, starr Alan Ritchson, Ben Foster, Pablo Schreiber, Lionel Boyce, and Shailene Woodley).
- Her Private Hell (dir Nicolas Winding Refn, starr Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu, Kristine Froseth, Shioli Kutsuna, Aoi Yamada, Dougray Scott, Diego Calva, and Hidetoshi Nishijima).
What’s coming:
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day (dir Destin Daniel Cretton, starr Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Florence Pugh, Tramell Tillman, Marisa Tomei, and Mark Ruffalo).
“Motor City,” “Hadestown: The Musical,” and “Her Private Hell”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk film and there’s only one film, really, to discuss. The rest is preview.
That film:
- The Odyssey (dir Christopher Nolan, starr Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, John Bernthal, Zendaya, Eliot Page, Mia Goth, John Leguizamo, Bennie Safdie, and Charlize Theron).
The others:
- Hadestown: The Musical (dir Brett Sullivan, starr Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, Eva Noblezada, Patrick Page, Bella Brown, Madeline Charlemagne, and Allie Daniel).
- Motor City (dir Potsy Ponciroli, starr Alan Ritchson, Ben Foster, Pablo Schreiber, Lionel Boyce, and Shailene Woodley).
- Her Private Hell (dir Nicolas Winding Refn, starr Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu, Kristine Froseth, Shioli Kutsuna, Aoi Yamada, Dougray Scott, Diego Calva, and Hidetoshi Nishijima).
And the trailers:
- I Play Rocky (dir Peter Farrelly, starr Anthony Ippolito, AnnaSophia Robb, Toby Kebbell, P J Byrne, Stephan James, Jay Duplass, Robert Morgan, Tracy Letts, and Matt Dillon).
- Avengers: Doomsday (dir Anthony and Joe Russo, starr Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Pedro Pascal, Paul Rudd, Anthony Mackie, Florence Pugh, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Wyatt Russell, Channing Tatum, Simu Liu, Ian McKellen, Tom Hiddleston, James Marsden, Patrick Stewart, Joseph Quinn, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Letitia Wright, Lewis Pullman, Kelsey Grammer, Kathryn Newton, Danny Ramirez, Winston Duke, Alan Cumming, Hannah John-Kamen, Rebecca Romijn, Mabel Cadena, and Tenoch Huerta Mejía).
- Other Mommy (dir Rob Savage, starr Jessica Chastain, Jay Duplass, Arabella Olivia Clark, Dichen Lachman, Arian Moayed, and Karen Allen).
“The Odyssey”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk cinema, particularly that of Christopher Nolan.
Everything in theater under discussion:
- The Invite (dir Olivia Wilde, starr Seth Rogen, Wilde, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton).
- Evil Dead Burn (dir Sébastien Vaniček, starr Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Erroll Shand, and Maude Davey).
- Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass (dir David Wain, starr Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Sabrina Impacciatore, Ben Wang, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Joe Lo Truglio, Mather Zickel, Ken Marino, Tobie Windham, Fred Melamed, Michael Cassidy, Michael Ian Black, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Richard Kind, Thomas Lennon, Toby Huss, Kevin Allison, Beth Dover, Zac Oyama, Wain, Jennifer Aniston, Henry Winkler, Elizabeth Banks, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Paul Rudd, Penn Jillette, Elizabeth Perkins, and Robert Herjavec).
- Moana (dir Thomas Kail, starr Catherine Laga’aia, Dwayne Johnson, Rena Owen, John Tui, Frankie Adams, and the voice of Jemaine Clement).
Everything forthcoming:
- The Odyssey (dir Christopher Nolan, starr Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, John Bernthal, Zendaya, Eliot Page, Mia Goth, John Leguizamo, Bennie Safdie, and Charlize Theron).
“The Invite,” “Evil Dead Burn,” “Gail Daughtry & the Celebrity Sex Pass,” and “Moana”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk movies and disagree vehemently over Minions & Monsters — well, not vehemently, but they hold their own opinions, and if they were compelled to defend them with pistols at dawn, they’ll feel somewhat aggrieved that one of them had to take a bullet.
Under Discussion and in Theatres:
- Young Washington (dir Jon Erwin, starr William Franklyn-Miller, Mary-Louise Parker, Kelsey Grammer, Andy Serkis, and Ben Kingsley).
- The animated comedy Minions & Monsters (dir Pierre Coffin, voice Coffin, Trey Parker, Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeff Bridges, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, and Phil LaMarr).
Forthcoming:
- Moana (dir Thomas Kail, starr Catherine Laga’aia, Dwayne Johnson, Rena Owen, John Tui, Frankie Adams, and the voice of Jemaine Clement).
- Evil Dead Burn (dir Sébastien Vaniček, starr Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Erroll Shand, and Maude Davey).
- The Invite (dir Olivia Wilde, starr Seth Rogen, Wilde, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton).
- Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass (dir David Wain, starr Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Sabrina Impacciatore, Ben Wang, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Joe Lo Truglio, Mather Zickel, Ken Marino, Tobie Windham, Fred Melamed, Michael Cassidy, Michael Ian Black, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Richard Kind, Thomas Lennon, Toby Huss, Kevin Allison, Beth Dover, Zac Oyama, Wain, Jennifer Aniston, Henry Winkler, Elizabeth Banks, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Paul Rudd, Penn Jillette, Elizabeth Perkins, and Robert Herjavec).
“Minions & Monsters” and “Young Washington”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk movies and observing 4 July in the only manner patriots can truly appreciate: Watching Jaws on the Last Picture House rooftop.
The here and now:
- Supergirl (dir Craig Gillespie, starr Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, and Jason Momoa).
- Jackass: Best & Last (dir Jeff Tremaine, starr Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Preston Lacy, Dave England, Danger Ehren, Poopies, Zach Holmes, Jasper Dolphin, and Rachel Wolfson).
The here and later:
- Young Washington (dir Jon Erwin, starr William Franklyn-Miller, Mary-Louise Parker, Kelsey Grammer, Andy Serkis, and Ben Kingsley).
- An extended-footage version of Backrooms (dir Kane Parsons, starr Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell).
- The animated comedy Minions & Monsters (dir Pierre Coffin, voice Coffin, Trey Parker, Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeff Bridges, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, and Phil LaMarr).
“Supergirl” and “Jackass: Best & Last”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk movies and the rise of the children of top-tier talent — in this instance, Scott Eastwood and Colin Hanks.
What’s in:
- The animated adventure Toy Story 5 (dir Andrew Stanton, voice Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Conan O’Brien, Scarlett Spears, Greta Lee, Shelby Rabara, Mykal-Michelle Harris, and Craig Robinson).
- The Death of Robin Hood (dir Michael Sarnoski, starr Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer, Bill Skarsgård, Murray Bartlett, and Noah Jupe).
- Leviticus (dir Adrian Chiarella, starr Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Jeremy Blewitt, Ewen Leslie, Davida McKenzie, Nicholas Hope, Zamira Newman, and Mia Wasikowska).
What’s coming:
- Supergirl (dir Craig Gillespie, starr Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, and Jason Momoa).
- Jackass: Best & Last (dir Jeff Tremaine, starr Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Preston Lacy, Dave England, Danger Ehren, Poopies, Zach Holmes, Jasper Dolphin, and Rachel Wolfson).
- Lucky Strike (dir Rod Lurie, starr Scott Eastwood, Colin Hanks, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Taylor John Smith).
“Toy Story 5,” “The Death of Robin Hood,” and “Leviticus”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk movies at their new digs. Place probably still has that new-flat smell to it.
Now, movies:
- Tuner (dir Daniel Roher, starr Leo Woodall, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh, Jean Reno, and Dustin Hoffman).
- Disclosure Day (dir Steven Spielberg, starr Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, and Courtney Grace).
- Stop! That! Train! (dir Adam Shankman, starr Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Latrice Royale, Marcia Marcia Marcia [aka Marty Lauter], Monét X Change, Symone, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicole Richie, Raven-Symoné, Michelle Visage, Chris Parnell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Charo, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Natasha Leggero, Drew Droege, and Joel McHale).
And now, previews:
- The animated adventure Toy Story 5 (dir Andrew Stanton, voice Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Conan O’Brien, Scarlett Spears, Greta Lee, Shelby Rabara, Mykal-Michelle Harris, and Craig Robinson).
- Girls Like Girls (dir Hayley Kiyoko, starr Maya da Costa, Myra Molloy, Levon Hawke, and Zach Braff).
- The Death of Robin Hood (dir Michael Sarnoski, starr Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer, Bill Skarsgård, Murray Bartlett, and Noah Jupe).
- Leviticus (dir Adrian Chiarella, starr Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Jeremy Blewitt, Ewen Leslie, Davida McKenzie, Nicholas Hope, Zamira Newman, and Mia Wasikowska).
“Disclosure Day,” “Tuner,” and “Stop! That! Train!”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz love film, in case you didn’t know; and they appreciate the appreciations of their late predecessors, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert.
Here, now, the reviewed:
- Masters of the Universe (dir Travis Knight, starr Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Jared Leto, Alison Brie, James Purefoy, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Charlotte Riley, Kristen Wiig, Morena Baccarin, and Idris Elba).
- Power Ballad (dir John Carney, starr Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Havana Rose Liu, and Jack Reynor).
- Scary Movie (dir Michael Tiddes, starr Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris, and Regina Hall).
And here, now, the forthcoming:
- Disclosure Day (dir Steven Spielberg, starr Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, and Colman Domingo).
- Stop! That! Train! (dir Adam Shankman, starr Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Latrice Royale, Marcia Marcia Marcia [aka Marty Lauter], Monét X Change, Symone, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicole Richie, Raven-Symoné, Michelle Visage, Chris Parnell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Charo, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Natasha Leggero, Drew Droege, and Joel McHale).
- The Furious (dir Kenji Tanigaki, starr Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Yang Enyou, Jeeja Yanin, Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga, and Yayan Ruhian).
“Masters of the Universe,” “Power Ballad,” “Scary Movie,” and “Fallen Angels”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz won’t let anything stop them from reviewing film — not even technological blunders. They are enjoying their new digs in Bucktown, so you know.
In theaters:
- Backrooms (dir Kane Parsons, starr Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell).
- Pressure (dir Anthony Maras, starr Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser, Kerry Condon, Chris Messina, and Damian Lewis).
- The Breadwinner (dir Eric Appel, starr Appel, Mandy Moore, Colin Jost, Zach Cherry, Martin Herlihy, Kumail Nanjiani, and Will Forte).
Coming soon to one near you:
- Masters of the Universe (dir Travis Knight, starr Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Jared Leto, Alison Brie, James Purefoy, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Charlotte Riley, Kristen Wiig, Morena Baccarin, and Idris Elba).
- Scary Movie (dir Michael Tiddes, starr Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris, and Regina Hall).
- Power Ballad (dir John Carney, starr Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Havana Rose Liu, and Jack Reynor).
“Backrooms,” “Pressure,” and “The Breadwinner”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz prepare for next week’s holiday by going over the stuff out there, both in theaters and streaming. Anyone who watched Angus Wall’s Netflix doc on Eddie Murphy, Being Eddie, expecting earth-splitting, scandalous revelations that will make you rethink your whole conception of what it means to be Eddie Muprhy, clearly doesn’t know that celebrities like Eddie Murphy don’t sign deals with Netflix expecting their soiled undies to be paraded before the world. That’s something we all learn to come to grips with, eventually — no?
What’s up:
- The Running Man (dir Edgar Wright, starr Glen Powell, William H Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson, Colman Domingo, and Josh Brolin).
- Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (dir Ruben Fleischer, starr Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman, Lizzy Caplan, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, and Rosamund Pike).
- Keeper (dir Osgood Perkins, starr Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland).
- Richard Linklater’s Netflix series Nouvelle Vague (starr Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch, Aubry Dullin, Bruno Dreyfürst, Benjamin Clery, Matthieu Penchinat, Pauline Belle, Blaise Pettebone, Benoît Bouthors, Paolo Luka Noé, Adrien Rouyard, Jade Phan-Gia, Jodie Ruth-Forest, Antoine Besson, Franck Cicurel, Roxane Rivière, Jean-Jacques Le Vessier, Côme Thieulin, Laurent Mothe, Jonas Marmy, and Niko Ravel).
- Angus Wall’s Netflix documentary on Eddie Murphy, Being Eddie.
- Geeta Gandbhir about the killing of Ajike Owens, The Perfect Neighbor (streaming, incidentally, on Netflix).
What will be up:
- Wicked: For Good (dir Jon M Chu, starr Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, and Colman Domingo).
- Rental Family (dir Hikari, starr Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto).
- Sisu: Road to Revenge (dir Jalmari Helander, starr Aatami Korpi, Stephen Lang, and Richard Brake).
“The Running Man,” “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” “Keeper,” “Nouvelle Vague,” “Being Eddie,” and “The Perfect Neighbor”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz discuss film and ponder its mysteries — all for the cinematographically illiterate folk in the world. Job’s a good ‘un.
The reviewed:
- Predator: Badlands (dir Dan Trachtenberg, starr Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Reuben De Jong, Mike Homik, Rohinal Narayan, Cameron Brown, Alison Wright, and the voices of Matt and Ross Duffer).
- Frankenstein on Netflix (dir Guillermo del Toro, starr Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, David Bradley, Lars Mikkelsen, Christian Convery, Charles Dance, and Christoph Waltz).
- Nuremberg (dir James Vanderbilt, starr Rami Malek, Russell Crowe, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, Wrenn Schmidt, Lydia Peckham, Richard E Grant, and Michael Shannon).
- Die My Love (dir Lynne Ramsay, starr Robert Pattinson, LaKeith Stanfield, Nick Nolte, and Sissy Spacek).
- Christy (dir David Michôd, starr Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Weaver, Katy O’Brian, Ethan Embry, and Chad L Coleman).
- It Was Just an Accident (dir Jafar Panahi, starr Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, Delnaz Najafi, Afssaneh Najmabadi, and Georges Hashemzadeh).
The forthcoming:
- The Running Man (dir Edgar Wright, starr Glen Powell, William H Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson, Colman Domingo, and Josh Brolin).
- Keeper (dir Osgood Perkins, starr Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland).
- Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (dir Ruben Fleischer, starr Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman, Lizzy Caplan, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, and Rosamund Pike).
“Predator: Badlands,” “Frankenstein,” “Nuremberg,” “Die My Love,” “Christy,” and “It Was Just an Accident”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz have a lot more films to catch than they’ve seen thus far. Frankenstein is already on Netflix, so you know.
What’s in theaters:
- Bugonia (dir Yorgos Lanthimos, starr Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone).
- If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (dir Mary Bronstein, starr Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Christian Slater, and ASAP Rocky).
- Hedda (dir Nia DaCosta, starr Tessa Thompson, Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman, Nicholas Pinnock, and Nina Hoss).
- Ballad of a Small Player (dir Edward Berger, starr Colin Farrell, Fala Chen, Deanie Ip, Alex Jennings, and Tilda Swinton).
- The animated musical urban fantasy KPop Demon Hunters (dirs Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, voice Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Yunjin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, and Lee Byung-hun).
Forthcoming:
- Predator: Badlands (dir Dan Trachtenberg, starr Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Reuben De Jong, Mike Homik, Rohinal Narayan, Cameron Brown, Alison Wright, and the voices of Matt and Ross Duffer).
- Christy (dir David Michôd, starr Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Weaver, Katy O’Brian, Ethan Embry, and Chad L Coleman).
- Die My Love (dir Lynne Ramsay, starr Robert Pattinson, LaKeith Stanfield, Nick Nolte, and Sissy Spacek).
- Nuremberg (dir James Vanderbilt, starr Rami Malek, Russell Crowe, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, Wrenn Schmidt, Lydia Peckham, Richard E Grant, and Michael Shannon).
- Sarah’s Oil (dir Cyrus Nowrasteh, starr Zachary Levi, Naya Desir-Johnson, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Garret Dillahunt).
- It Was Just an Accident (dir Jafar Panahi, starr Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, Delnaz Najafi, Afssaneh Najmabadi, and Georges Hashemzadeh).
- Frankenstein on Netflix (dir Guillermo del Toro, starr Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, David Bradley, Lars Mikkelsen, Christian Convery, Charles Dance, and Christoph Waltz).
- Train Dreams (dir Clint Bentley, starr Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, Clifton Collins Jr, Kerry Condon, and William H Macy).
- Karen Kingsbury’s The Christmas Ring (dir KK, starr Jana Kramer, Greyston Holt, Kelsey Grammer, and Jessie James Decker).
“Bugonia,” “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” “Hedda,” “Ballad of a Small Player,” and “KPop Demon Hunters”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz watched Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, and, boy howdy, they have some thoughts about Jeremy Allen White’s portrayal of The Boss of All Bosses).
The films being observed:
- A House of Dynamite (dir Kathryn Bigelow, starr Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, and Tracy Letts).
- Regretting You (dir Josh Boone, starr Allison Williams, Mckenna Grace, Dave Franco, Mason Thames, Sam Morelos, Scott Eastwood, Willa Fitzgerald, and Clancy Brown.)
- Shelby Oaks (dir Chris Stuckmann, starr Camille Sullivan, Brendan Sexton III, Keith David, Sarah Durn, Robin Bartlett, and Michael Beach).
- Blue Moon (dir Richard Linklater, starr Ethan Hawke, Andrew Scott, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, and Jonah Lees).
- Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (dir Scott Cooper, starr Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham, and Odessa Young).
The films waiting to be observed (ie previews):
- Bugonia (dir Yorgos Lanthimos, starr Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone).
- The animated monster comedy Stitch Head (dir Steve Hudson, voice Asa Butterfield, Joel Fry, Tia Bannon, Rob Brydon, Seth Usdenov, Alison Steadman, Fern Brady, and Jamali Maddix).
- Anniversary (dir Jan Komasa, starr Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler, Madeline Brewer, Zoey Deutch, Phoebe Dynevor, Mckenna Grace, Daryl McCormack, and Dylan O’Brien).
“Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,” “A House of Dynamite,” “Regretting You,” “Shelby Oaks,” and “Blue Moon”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk film and wonder aloud what kind of installments of Star Wars we might have gotten had David Fincher or Steven Soderbergh directed them. Oh, you may mock — but the gatekeepers of the Star Wars franchise pondered that very same question. Schedules were set, dinners eaten, drinks drunk, and concepts hashed out before the producers opted for other aesthetes.
Out (and Proud):
- Black Phone 2 (dir Scott Derrickson, starr Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, and Demián Bichir).
- Good Fortune (dir Aziz Ansari, starr AA, Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer, and Sandra Oh).
- Truth and Treason (dir Matt Whitaker, starr Ewan Horrocks, Ferdinand McKay, Daf Thomas, Nye Occomore, and Rupert Evans).
- Daniela Miller’s five-part Amazon docuseries Mr Scorcese.
Previews:
- Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (dir Scott Cooper, starr Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham, and Odessa Young).
- Regretting You (dir Josh Boone, starr Allison Williams, Mckenna Grace, Dave Franco, Mason Thames, Sam Morelos, Scott Eastwood, Willa Fitzgerald, and Clancy Brown.)
- Shelby Oaks (dir Chris Stuckmann, starr Camille Sullivan, Brendan Sexton III, Keith David, Sarah Durn, Robin Bartlett, and Michael Beach).
- Blue Moon (dir Richard Linklater, starr Ethan Hawke, Andrew Scott, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, and Jonah Lees).
A House of Dynamite (dir Kathryn Bigelow, starr Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, and Tracy Letts).
“Black Phone 2,” “Good Fortune,” and “After the Hunt”
Back after their successful world tour last week, Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk film.
The here:
- The Smashing Machine (dir Benny Safdie, starr Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, and Oleksandr Usyk).
- Anemone (dir Ronan Day-Lewis, starr Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean, Samantha Morton, Samuel Bottomley, and Safia Oakley-Green).
- Good Boy (dir Ben Leonberg, starr Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, and Larry Fessenden).
- Tron Ares (dir Joachim Rønning, starr Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges).
- Roofman (dir Derek Cianfrance, starr Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Melonie Diaz, Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias, Jimmy O Yang, and Peter Dinklage).
- Kiss of the Spider Woman (dir Bill Condon, starr Diego Luna, Tonatiuh, and Jennifer Lopez).
- Colin Hanks’s documentary John Candy: I Like Me, available currently on Amazon.
The forthcoming:
- Black Phone 2 (dir Scott Derrickson, starr Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, and Demián Bichir).
- Good Fortune (dir Aziz Ansari, starr AA, Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer, and Sandra Oh).
- Truth and Treason (dir Matt Whitaker, starr Ewan Horrocks, Ferdinand McKay, Daf Thomas, Nye Occomore, and Rupert Evans).
“The Smashing Machine,” “Anemone,” “Good Boy”
“Tron: Ares,” “Roofman,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” and “John Candy: I Like Me”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk film. They will be taking holiday next week, so no new talk until 16 October.
What’s in the theaters:
- One Battle After Another (dir Paul Thomas Anderson, starr Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti).
- The Strangers — Chapter 2 (dir Renny Harlin, starr Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, and Ema Horvath).
- Dead of Winter (dir Brian Kirk, starr Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca, Laurel Marsden, and Brían F O’Byrne).
- Eleanor the Great (dir Scarlett Johansson, starr June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Jessica Hecht, and Chiwetel Ejiofor).
What’s on its way:
- The Smashing Machine (dir Benny Safdie, starr Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, and Oleksandr Usyk).
- Good Boy (dir Ben Leonberg, starr Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, and Larry Fessenden).
- Anemone (dir Ronan Day-Lewis, starr Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean, Samantha Morton, Samuel Bottomley, and Safia Oakley-Green).
“One Battle After Another,” “The Strangers: Chapter 2,” “Dead of Winter,” and “Eleanor the Great”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz discuss film in their own inimitable idiomatic fashion.
The here:
- A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (dir Kogonada, starr Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, Kevin Kline, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge).
- Him (dir Justin Tipping, starr Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, and Tim Heidecker).
- The Senior (dir Rod Lurie, starr Michael Chiklis, Mary Stuart Masterson, Brandon Flynn, James Badge Dale, and Rob Corddry).
- The History of Sound (dir Oliver Hermanus, starr Paul Mescal, Chris Cooper, Josh O’Connor, Molly Price, Raphael Sbarge, Hadley Robinson, Emma Canning, Emily Bergl, Briana Middleton, Gary Raymond, Alison Bartlett, and Michael Schantz).
The coming:
- One Battle After Another (dir Paul Thomas Anderson, starr Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti).
- The Strangers — Chapter 2 (dir Renny Harlin, starr Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, and Ema Horvath).
- Eleanor the Great (dir Scarlett Johansson, starr June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Jessica Hecht, and Chiwetel Ejiofor).
- Dead of Winter (dir Brian Kirk, starr Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca, Laurel Marsden, and Brían F O’Byrne).
“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” “Him,” “The Senior,” and “The History of Sound”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz chit the chat over film — in particular, both generations of Spinal Tap.
The reviewed:
- Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (dir Simon Curtis, starr Paul Giamatti, Dominic West, Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale, and Arty Froushan).
- The Long Walk (dir Francis Lawrence, starr Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill).
- Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (dir Rob Reiner, starr Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Fran Drescher, Don Lake, John Michael Higgins, Jason Acuña, Nina Conti, Griffin Matthews, Kerry Godliman, Chris Addison, Brad Williams, Paul Shaffer, Kathreen Khavari, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brooks, Questlove, Trisha Yearwood, Chad Smith, and Lars Ulrich).
The forthcoming:
- A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (dir Kogonada, starr Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, Kevin Kline, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge).
- Him (dir Justin Tipping, starr Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, and Tim Heidecker).
- The Senior (dir Rod Lurie, starr Michael Chiklis, Mary Stuart Masterson, Brandon Flynn, James Badge Dale, and Rob Corddry).
- Afterburn (dir J J Perry, starr Dave Bautista, Samuel L. Jackson, Olga Kurylenko and Kristofer Hivju).
“Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” and “The Long Walk”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz talk film. Schulz talks about The War of the Gargantuas, the 1966 kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, which does sound very enjoyable — perhaps even more than what we’ve seen of late.
What’s on:
- The Conjuring: Last Rites (dir Michael Chaves, starr Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Rebecca Calder, Elliot Cowan, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Beau Gadsdon, Molly Cartwright, Tilly Walker, Peter Wight, and Kate Fahy).
- Highest 2 Lowest (dir Spike Lee, starr Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, John Douglas Thompson, Dean Winters, LaChanze, Princess Nokia, and Ice Spice).
- Twinless (dir James Sweeney, starr Sweeney, Dylan O’Brien, Aisling Franciosi, Lauren Graham, Tasha Smith, Chris Perfetti, François Arnaud, Susan Park, and Cree Cicchino).
What’s on presently:
- Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (dir Simon Curtis, starr Paul Giamatti, Dominic West, Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale, and Arty Froushan).
- The Long Walk (dir Francis Lawrence, starr Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill).
- Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (dir Rob Reiner, starr Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Fran Drescher, Don Lake, John Michael Higgins, Jason Acuña, Nina Conti, Griffin Matthews, Kerry Godliman, Chris Addison, Brad Williams, Paul Shaffer, Kathreen Khavari, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brooks, Questlove, Trisha Yearwood, Chad Smith, and Lars Ulrich).
“The Conjuring: Last Rites,” “Highest 2 Lowest,” and “Twinless”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz have reunited, and it feels so good. So good, it seems, that they can brook any amount of disappointment, so long as it’s baked into a given film’s story, and not the natural product of a crappy directorial execution.
The latest releases:
- The Roses (dir Jay Roach, starr Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Andy Samberg, and Kate McKinnon).
- Caught Stealing (dir Darren Aronofsky, starr Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Live Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Bad Bunny, Griffin Dunne, and Carol Kane).
- The 2023 remake of 1984’s The Toxic Avenger (dir Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Julia Davis, Jonny Coyne, Elijah Wood, and Kevin Bacon).
- Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club (dir Chris Columbus, starr Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Richard E Grant, Tom Ellis, Geoff Bell, Paul Freeman, Sarah Niles, and Ingrid Oliver).
Those that are en route:
- The Conjuring: Last Rites (dir Michael Chaves, starr Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Rebecca Calder, Elliot Cowan, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Beau Gadsdon, Molly Cartwright, Tilly Walker, Peter Wight, and Kate Fahy).
- Highest 2 Lowest (dir Spike Lee, starr Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, John Douglas Thompson, Dean Winters, LaChanze, Princess Nokia, and Ice Spice).
- The tenth-anniversary re-release of the Disney+ cinematic adaptation of the highly-rated biographical musical Hamilton (dir Thomas Kail, starr Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr, Phillipa Soo, Christopher Jackson, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Jonathan Groff).
- Twinless (dir James Sweeney, starr Sweeney, Dylan O’Brien, Aisling Franciosi, Lauren Graham, Tasha Smith, Chris Perfetti, François Arnaud, Susan Park, and Cree Cicchino).
- The Cut (dir Sean Ellis, starr Orlando Bloom, Caitríona Balfe, and John Turturro).
- Lurker (dir Alex Russell, starr Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Zack Fox, Havana Rose Liu, Wale Onayemi, Daniel Zolghadri, and Sunny Suljic).
“The Roses,” “Caught Stealing,” “The Toxic Avenger,” and “The Thursday Murder Club”
Dave Levora and Mike Schulz sit around wondering, “Where’s Darren?” (Chicago, concert) and “Does Jaws still hold up?” (seeing how it’s been re-released on its fiftieth anniversary, it’s still an aesthetic judgment, but c’mon):
Under review:
- Honey, Don’t! (dir Ethan Coen, starr Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Charlie Day, Kristen Connolly, Gabby Beans, and Talia Ryder).
- Eden (dir Ron Howard, starr Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Daniel Brühl, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace, and Richard Roxburgh).
- Relay (dir David Mackenzie, starr Riz Ahmed, Lily James, and Sam Worthington).
- The documentary It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (dir Amy Berg).
Forthcoming:
- Caught Stealing (dir Darren Aronofsky, starr Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Bad Bunny, Griffin Dunne, and Carol Kane).
- The Roses (dir Jay Roach, starr Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Andy Samberg, and Kate McKinnon).
- The 2023 remake of 1984’s The Toxic Avenger (dir Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Julia Davis, Jonny Coyne, Elijah Wood, and Kevin Bacon).
Honey Funny Runny Money: “Honey Don’t!,” “Eden,” “Relay,” and “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley”
Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, and Mike Schulz are looking forward to weeks to come, as the balance of previews to available films is hopelessly lopsided this time around.
The stuff that’s here:
- Nobody 2 (dir Timo Tjahjanto, starr Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, RZA, Colin Salmon, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath, Christopher Lloyd, John Ortiz, Colin Hanks, and Sharon Stone).
- The re-release of Shin Godzilla (dirs Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, starr Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, and Satomi Ishihara).
- Americana (dir Tony Tost, starr Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Halsey, Eric Dane, Zahn McClarnon, and Simon Rex).
The stuff that’s coming:
- Primitive War (dir Luke Sparke, starr Ryan Kwanten, Tricia Helfer, Nick Wechsler, and Jeremy Piven).
- Eden (dir Ron Howard, starr Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Daniel Brühl, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace, and Richard Roxburgh).
- Trust (dir Carlson Young, starr Sophie Turner, Rhys Coiro, Billy Campbell, and Peter Mensah).
- Relay (dir David Mackenzie, starr Riz Ahmed, Lily James, and Sam Worthington).
- Honey, Don’t! (dir Ethan Coen, starr Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Charlie Day, Kristen Connolly, Gabby Beans, and Talia Ryder).
- The animated fantasy adventure comedy Ne Zha II (dir Jiaozi, voice [English] Crystal Lee, Aleks Le, Michelle Yeoh, Vincent Rodriguez III, Rick Zeiff, Damien Haas, and Griffin Puatu).
- The documentary It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (dir Amy Berg).
- The animated urban fantasy sing-along KPop Demon Hunters (dir Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, voice Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Yunjin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, and Lee Byung-hun
- The thirty-fifth anniversary of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (dir Steve Barron, starr Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, and the voices of Brian Tochi, Josh Pais, Corey Feldman, and Robbie Rist).
“Nobody 2,” “Americana,” and “Shin Godzilla”
Dave Levora and Darren Pitra debate the merits of Jamie Lee Curtis while Mike Schulz can only sit nearby and wonder, Who else can I throw into this Verdun of fandom, this Somme of celebrity?
What’s here:
- Weapons (dir Zach Cregger, starr Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan).
- Sketch (dir Seth Worley, starr Tony Hale, D’Arcy Carden, Bianca Belle, Kue Lawrence, Kalon Cox, Jaxen Kenner, Genesis Rose Brown, Randa Newman, Allie McCulloch, Nadia Benavides, Dajanae Cole, Josh Inocalla, Tamiko Robinson Steele, Mitch Miller, Arielle Prepetit, Jesse Santoyo, and Leigha Hancock).
- Freakier Friday (dir Nisha Ganatra, starr Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray, Rosalind Chao, Ryan Malgarini, Christina Vidal Mitchell, Haley Hudson, Stephen Tobolowsky, Lucille Soong, Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, and Manny Jacinto).
What’s coming:
- Nobody 2 (dir Timo Tjahjanto, starr Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, RZA, Colin Salmon, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath, Christopher Lloyd, John Ortiz, Colin Hanks, and Sharon Stone).
- The re-release of Shin Godzilla (dirs Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, starr Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, and Satomi Ishihara).
- Eli Roth Presents: Jimmy and Stiggs (dir Joe Begos, starr Begos and Matt Mercer).
- Americana (dir Tony Tost, starr Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Halsey, Eric Dane, Zahn McClarnon, and Simon Rex).
“Weapons,” “Freakier Friday,” and “Sketch”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra discuss films that you shouldn’t see with your parents. These are the Blue Velvets of the Twen-Tennies:
The reviewed:
- The Naked Gun (dir Akiva Schaffer, starr Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, Danny Huston, Liza Koshy, Cody Rhodes, CCH Pounder, and Busta Rhymes).
- Together (dir Michael Shanks, starr Alison Brie, James Franco, Mia Morrissey, and Damon Herriman).
- The Bad Guys 2 (dir Pierre Perifel, voice Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Zazie Beetz, Richard Ayoade, Lilly Singh, Alex Borstein, Danielle Brooks, Maria Bakalova, and Natasha Lyonne).
The previews:
- Freakier Friday (dir Nisha Ganatra, starr Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray, Rosalind Chao, Ryan Malgarini, Christina Vidal Mitchell, Haley Hudson, Stephen Tobolowsky, Lucille Soong, Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, and Manny Jacinto).
- Weapons (dir Zach Cregger, starr Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan).
- Sketch (dir Seth Worley, starr Tony Hale, D’Arcy Carden, Bianca Belle, Kue Lawrence, Kalon Cox, Jaxen Kenner, Genesis Rose Brown, Randa Newman, Allie McCulloch, Nadia Benavides, Dajanae Cole, Josh Inocalla, Tamiko Robinson Steele, Mitch Miller, Arielle Prepetit, Jesse Santoyo, and Leigha Hancock).
“Together,” “The Bad Guys 2,” and “The Naked Gun”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra discuss the week’s haul of film and get really analytical on the subject of the forthcoming Together:
The reviewed:
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps (dir Matt Shakman, starr Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, and Robert Downey Jr).
- The Home (dir James DeMonaco, starr Pete Davidson, John Glover, Ethan Phillips, Bruce Altman, and Marilee Talkington).
- House on Eden (dir Kris Collins, starr K to the C, Celina Myers, and Jason-Christopher Mayer).
The previews:
- The Naked Gun (dir Akiva Schaffer, starr Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr, alongside Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, Danny Huston, Liza Koshy, Cody Rhodes, CCH Pounder, and Busta Rhymes).
- The Bad Guys 2 (dir Pierre Perifel, voice Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Zazie Beetz, Richard Ayoade, Lilly Singh, Alex Borstein, Danielle Brooks, Maria Bakalova, and Natasha Lyonne).
Together (dir Michael Shanks, Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Mia Morrissey, Karl Richmond, Jack Kenny, Francesca Waters, and Damon Herriman).
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” “The Home,” and “House on Eden”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra talk movies. Occasionally, things get real.
Reviews:
- Here (dir Robert Zemeckis, starr Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, and Kelly Reilly).
- Absolution (dir Hans Peter Moland, starr Liam Neeson, Ron Perlman, Yolanda Ross, and Daniel Deimer).
A p/review hybrid:
- Heretic (dirs Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, starr Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East, and Topher Grace).
Straight-up previews:
- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (dir Dallas Jenkins, starr Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, Molly Belle Wright, and Lauren Graham).
- Anora (dir Sean Baker, starr Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and Aleksei Serebryakov).
- Elevation (dir George Nolfi, starr Anthony Mackie, Morena Baccarin, Maddie Hasson, and Tony Goldwyn).
“Heretic,” “Absolution,” and “Here”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra talk movies. It’s what they do:
- Venom: The Last Dance (dir Kelly Marcel, starr Tom Hardy Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Clark Backo, and Alanna Ubach).
- Conclave (dir Edward Berger, starr Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini).
- Your Monster (dir Caroline Lindy, starr Melissa Barrera, Tommy Dewey, Edmund Donovan, Kayla Foster, and Meghann Fahy).
Previews:
- Here (dir Robert Zemeckis, starr Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, and Kelly Reilly).
- Absolution (dir Hans Peter Moland, starr Liam Neeson, Ron Perlman, Yolanda Ross, and Daniel Deimer).
Also discussed:
- Whether the fact that Schulz has to watch those two previews when they come around is proof that his soul is damned for all eternity.
“Conclave,” “Your Monster,” and “Venom: The Last Dance”
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy is Kai Swanson’s guest at the WVIK Quad Cities’ public radio studios on the campus of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Swanson and McGreevy both attended Augustana College in the 1980’s. Saturday Morning Live! is a conversational tradition carried on by Swanson for the past two years, established by WVIK impresario, Don Wooten decades ago.
Topics covered in the 45 minute exchange include: Sophist and Slowfish newspapers, Uncle Roscoe’s Polo Club, Old Main Tech Lab, Augustana Soccer, Marigold Resources business brokerage and M&A advisory, AdMospheres and the Quad City Airport, Mississippi Valley Blues Fest, Ellis Kell, American Discovery Trail and Great River Bike Trail, Mike Schulz’s cultural coverage and comprehensive calendar of events, What’s Happenin’ as a format for A&E media coverage, local county elected offices focus, importance of County Sheriff and property rights, election integrity and county auditors’ responsibilities, public with business at county supervisor meetings in Rock Island versus Scott County, Joel Webber at the city of Davenport public with business regarding hydrofluorosilic acid (fluoride) in the Davenport water supply, Todd’s tribute to Michael Angelos, the recent 7 year court case ruling against the EPA for falsifying the safety of water fluoridation for children, CO2 versus CO as a climate change agent, RFK Jr’s August 23 speech . . . .and most importantly the two discuss and agree that incurious behavior results in judgmental actions, and regardless of one’s views, we should all remain more curious.
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy talks with WQUD GM Aaron Dail about the contents of, and items related to, the October edition of the River Cities’ Reader, Issue N° 1026. The issue’s tagline, “Ballets and Ballots,” is an apt summation, and you can get more of the former — the aht, the cultchuh, the cine, the théâtre, the musique, the danse — at the Reader Events Calendar. It truly is the best way to know what’s going on in the QCA.
Regarding the latter, McGreevy laments the “bifurcation” of the electoral mindset. The division isn’t so much about “politics” as such, which is, after all, division by definition. It isn’t even that old Roman concept of “bread and circuses” — it doesn’t quite rise to that level. More than anything, the Trump v Harris race is s a three-card Monte game over which the electorate has been driven into a blind rage over the eternal absence of the money card. Meanwhile, there are transnational machinations in motion, about which Americans would be better-served to understand more fully — if only they could be persuaded to forget about the cards and find out what the shills don’t want their marks to know.
And one who chose not to be a mark in that game is, undoubtedly, Julian Assange; and he’s paid the price for his journalistic intransigence. . .
I Am Free Because I Pled Guilty to Journalism
Kevin Gosztola caught Assange’s public remarks to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s (PACE) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights since he emerged from Belmarsh in London. “I am not free today because the system worked,” Assange told the assembled. “I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism. I pled guilty to seeking information from a source. I pled guilty to obtaining information from a source. And I pled guilty to informing the public what that information was. I did not plead guilty to anything else.”
Nothing About Our Political Environment is Organic
Stateside, Kathleen McCarthy writes, we are witnessing spectators who’ve chosen to call the lack of transparency in electoral politics for what it is — more three-card Monte — and are being given what might be called “the Assange-lite treatment” of knee-jerk disdain for those who won’t go in for self-censorship. McCarthy says the present-day environment can be seen as having been put into place back in 2012, with the replacement of the Smith Mundt Act of 1948 with the Smith Mundt Modernization Act; the Executive Order establishing the Global Engagement Center (GEC) to focus on “domestic messaging” (or home-based propaganda); and the authorization of DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson to add all elections to the US cybersecurity infrastructure. Election-year 2024 may be the year when all these various chickens finally come home to roost — and it has little, if anything, to do with the Trump v Harris faux-gladiatorial side-show.
2024 Election Questionnaire for Scott County Sheriff
2024 Election Questionnaire for Scott County Auditor
2024 Election Questionnaire for Scott County Supervisors
Todd McGreevy discusses the questionnaires sent out to local candidates this election year, and the quality of the responses to them. Scott County Sheriff incumbent Tim Lane made some good points; whereas Kerri Tompkins, the incumbent auditor, didn’t respond to any of the queries submitted to her. Hmmm. . .
Federal Court Rules That Water Fluoridation Poses an “Unreasonable Risk” to Children
Stuart Cooper: “After a precedent-setting, seven-year legal battle in federal court, an historic ruling by the United States District Court of the Northern District of California has ordered the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take regulatory action to eliminate the “unreasonable risk” to the health of children posed by the practice of water fluoridation. The ruling requires the EPA to take regulatory action to eliminate the risk, in a decision that could end the use of water-fluoridation chemicals throughout the US.”
Flyin’ Gosling: “The Wild Robot,” “Lee,” “Will & Harper,” “My Old Ass,” and “Megalopolis”
Mike Schulz, the Reader’s longtime Editeur sans mandat, was especially thrilled by the film The Wild Robot (dir Chris Sanders, voiced by Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames) and thinks all girls and boys should see it. Just sayin’.
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra talk movies:
- Smile 2 (dir Parker Finn, starr Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson, and Kyle Gallner).
- We Live in Time (dir John Crowley, starr Andrew Garfield, Florence Plugh, Adam James, Marama Corlett, Aoife Hinds, Nikhil Parmar, and Heather Craney).
- The Netflix film Woman of the Hour (dir Anna Kendrick, starr Kendrick, Daniel Zovatto, Nicolette Robinson, and Tony Hale).
- Rumours (dirs Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson, star Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, Roy Dupuis, Denis Ménochet, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rolando Ravello, Takehiro Hira, Zlatko Burić, and Alicia Vikander).
Previews:
- Venom: The Last Dance (dir Kelly Marcel, starr Tom Hardy Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Clark Backo, and Alanna Ubach).
- Conclave (dir Edward Berger, starr Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini).
- Your Monster (dir Caroline Lindy, starr Melissa Barrera, Tommy Dewey, Edmund Donovan, Kayla Foster, and Meghann Fahy).
“Smile 2,” “We Live in Time,” “Woman of the Hour,” and “Rumours”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra talk movies:
- Piece by Piece (dir Morgan Neville, voiced by Neville, Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg).
- Saturday Night (dir Jason Reitman, starr Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J K Simmons).
- The documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (dirs Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui).
- The Apprentice (dir Ali Abbasi, starr Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Martin Donovan, and Maria Bakalovaz).
- Terrifier 3 (dir Damien Leone, starr David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, and Samantha Scaffidi).
Previews:
- Smile 2 (dir Parker Finn, starr Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson, and Kyle Gallner).
- We Live in Time (dir John Crowley, starr Andrew Garfield, Florence Plugh, Adam James, Marama Corlett, Aoife Hinds, Nikhil Parmar, and Heather Craney).
- Goodrich (dir Hallie Meyers-Shyer, starr Michael Keaton, Mila Kunis, Carmen Ejogo, Michael Urie, Kevin Pollak, Vivien Lyra Blair, Nico Hiraga, Laura Benanti, Andie McDowell, and Poorna Jagannathan).
Also discussed:
- The forthcoming Here (dir Robert Zemeckis, starr Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, and Kelly Reilly). Are we in for another instance of self-indulgence à la Megalopolis and Joker: Folie à Deux?
“Saturday Night,” “The Apprentice,” “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” “Piece by Piece,” and “Terrifier 3”
Mike Schultz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra talk movies:
- Joker: Folie à Deux (dir Todd Phillips, starr Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, and Steve Coogan).
- White Bird (dir Marc Forster, starr Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Bryce Gheisar, Gillian Anderson, and Helen Mirren).
- Salem’s Lot (dir Gary Dauberman, starr Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Alfre Woodard, John Benjamin Hickey, Bill Camp, Jordan Preston Carter, Nicholas Crovetti, Spencer Treat Clark, William Sadler, and Pilou Asbæk).
Previews:
- Piece by Piece (dir Morgan Neville, voiced by Neville, Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg).
- Saturday Night (dir Jason Reitman, starr Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J K Simmons).
- The documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (dir Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui).
- The Apprentice (dir Ali Abbasi, starr Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Martin Donovan, and Maria Bakalovaz).
- Terrifier 3 (dir Damien Leone, starr David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, and Samantha Scaffidi).
Also discussed:
- The Max series The Penguin (starr Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Deirdre O’Connell, Clancy Brown, Carmen Ejogo, Michael Zegen, Berto Colón, Scott Cohen, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Theo Rossi, James Madio, Joshua Bitton, David H Holmes, Daniel J Watts, Jared Abrahamson, Ben Cook, Jayme Lawson, Aleska Palladino, Craig Walker, Tess Soltau, Marié Botha, Michael Kelly, and Mark Strong).
“Joker: Folie à Deux,” “White Bird,” and “’Salem’s Lot”
Mike Schultz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra talk movies:
- Megalopolis (dir Francis Ford Coppola, starr Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D B Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman). “A big, fascinating, terrible thing.”
- The Netflix documentary Will and Harper (dir Josh Greenbaum, starr Will Ferrell and Harper Steele).
- The Wild Robot (dir Chris Sanders, voiced by Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames).
- My Old Ass (dir Megan Park, starr Maisy Stella, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, and Aubrey Plaza).
- Lee (dir Ellen Kuras, starr Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Noémie Merlant, Josh O’Connor, and Alexander Skarsgård).
Previews:
- Joker: Folie à Deux (dir Todd Phillips, starr Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, and Steve Coogan).
- White Bird (dir Marc Forster, starr Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Bryce Gheisar, Gillian Anderson, and Helen Mirren).
- Another documentary, Sam and Colby: The Legends of the Paranormal, about the paranormal researchers Sam Golbach and Colby Brock.
- Monster Summer (dir David Henrie, starr Mason Thames, Lorraine Bracco, and Mel Gibson).
“The Wild Robot,” “Lee,” “Will and Harper,” “My Old Ass,” and “Megalopolis”
When it rains, it pours, and Mike Schulz, after wandering through a virtual desert of cinema these last couple weeks like a sundowning Moses, has defied expectations, stayed alive, and made it to the Promised Land to lay down the law, to kibitz over the commandments, with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra.
Well, four of them, anyway:
- Transformers One (dir Josh Cooley, voiced Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm).
- Never Let Go (dir Alexandre Aja, starr Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV, Anthony B Jenkins, Matthew Kevin Anderson, Christin Park, and Stephanie Lavigne).
- The Substance (dir Coralie Fargeat, starr Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Robin Greer, Hugo Diego Garcia, and Joseph Balderrama).
- His Three Daughters (dir Azazel Jacobs, starr Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Rudy Galvan, Jose Febus, Jasmine Bracey, Jay O Sanders, and Jovan Adepo).
Previews:
- Megalopolis (dir Francis Ford Coppola, starr Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D B Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman).
- The Wild Robot (dir Chris Sanders, voiced by Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames).
- My Old Ass (dir Megan Park, starr Maisy Stella, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, and Aubrey Plaza).
- Lee (dir Ellen Kuras, starr Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Noémie Merlant, Josh O’Connor, and Alexander Skarsgård).
“The Substance,” “Never Let Go,” “His Three Daughters,” and “Transformers One”
Incumbent Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane (Republican) and challenger Tom Gibbs (Democrat), convened for nearly an hour to answer questions from the People’s Forum membership (questions previously provided) and those in attendance provided on note cards to the moderator (approximately 30 people in attendance) at this open to the public forum. The event was held inside a spacious meeting room at the Eastern Iowa Community College downtown Davenport, Iowa campus.
Incumbent Scott County Auditor Kerri Tompkins (Republican) and challenger Matt Trimble (Democrat), convened for nearly an hour to answer questions from the People’s Forum membership (questions previously provided) and those in attendance provided on note cards to the moderator (approximately 30 people in attendance) at this open to the public forum. The event was held inside a spacious meeting room at the Eastern Iowa Community College downtown Davenport, Iowa campus.
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra get right into it this time around — very light on the “hail-fellow-well-met” pleasantries and straight onto the business at hand.
And business isn’t, well, good:
- Speak No Evil (dir James Watkins, starr James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough, and Scoot McNairy). This is a remake of that beloved Danish classic Speak No Evil, released in those halcyon days of 2022 (dir Christian Tafdrup, starr Morten Burian, Sidsel Siem Koch, Fedja van Huêt, Karina Smulders, Liva Forsberg, Marius Damslev, and Hichem Yacoubi). The trailers give away everything, so auf Wiedersehen, suspense. Davis and McNairy seem to have solid characters at the jump, but as soon as McAvoy moves them into the farmhouse, McNairy behaves like he’s taken a room at the Overlook, Davis develops an edge at odds to the customs of their British hosts, and au revoir, character logic. One feels dispirited from having typed out those words. Avoid!
- The Killer’s Game (dir J J Perry, starr Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror with Pom Klementieff, and Ben Kingsley). Decent premise: A hit-man (Bautista) who believes he’s dying puts a hit out on himself so his girlfriend (Boutella) can collect on the insurance — except that. . . well, the first half is superb, but turns blood simple in the clutch, when the story mutates into a John Wick narrative, where every damn character is either a secret hit-man or is suspected of being so. Schulz had a fun time, in spite of the latter half, so if it came down to you seeing either film, then this one’s a bit of a no-brainer. Except that, judging by the previews he’s seen, a filmgoer will have a lot of choices that don’t involve The Killer’s Game.
And those previews!
- Transformers One (dir Josh Cooley, voiced Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm). Will we learn from this animated origin story why the Autobots and the Decipticons, who’ve been slugging it out light years away from Earth, look like the vehicles that have only been around since the mid-Twentieth Century? Should we even care?
- Never Let Go (dir Alexandre Aja, starr Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV, Anthony B Jenkins, Matthew Kevin Anderson, Christin Park, and Stephanie Lavigne). A survival horror film that promises the spectacle of Berry Unhinged. Make us feel gooooood!
- The Substance (dir Coralie Fargeat, starr Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Robin Greer, Hugo Diego Garcia, and Joseph Balderrama). Body horror that’s been getting critical hosannas, despite not having been directed by David Cronenberg.
- Omni Loop (dir Bernardo Britto, starr Mary-Louise Parker, Ayo Edebiri, Carlos Jacott, Harris Yulin, Hannah Pearl Utt, Chris Witaske, and Steven Maier). What does Premise Beach say about Omni Loop? “A woman decides to time travel in order to go back to be the person she always wanted to be.” Well, it has Mary-Louise Parker, who Schulz is excited about seeing.
- Wolfs (dir Jon Watts, starr George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, and Poorna Jagannathan). Back to Premise Beach we go: “Inspired by real life Hollywood Fixer Paul Barresi, two professional fixers who prefer to work alone find themselves forced to work together after being hired for the same job.” Oh, goodie. Another caper.
- His Three Daughters (dir Azazel Jacobs, starr Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Rudy Galvan, Jose Febus, Jasmine Bracey, Jay O Sanders, and Jovan Adepo). This was released last year and will be streaming on Netflix presently. Pretty stacked-looking!
“Speak No Evil” and “The Killer’s Game”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra spend some time on the back-half talking about the cinematic iterations of Batman (meaning, Burton and Nolan) and the coming Joker: Folie à Deux, which, if Todd Phillips feels he must continue genuflecting to Martin Scorsese in his sequel, he will have to somehow incorporate his love of New York, New York (1977, starr Liza Minelli and Robert De Niro) as well.
Hmmmm. . .
These, here, now, the films:
- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (dir Tim Burton, starr Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe). Schulz says it’s great to watch films like this, because it means movie critics like him get to spend however many words exploring any particular crevice — for example, Michael Keaton’s acting turn — though they are expected to sum up the experience entirely. Half of Burton’s sequel to his 36-year-old breakthrough has an emotional gravity that wasn’t really present the first time around, but the other half — the gonzo comedic spooky-horror half — more than makes up for it.
- The Front Room (dir Max and Sam Eggers, starr Brandy, Kathryn Hunter, Andrew Burnap, and Neal Huff). Hunter’s performance is the best thing about this awful film — but, oh, what a performance! As with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, one wants to see it out of curiosity alone.
As for previews:
- Speak No Evil (dir James Watkins, starr James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough, and Scoot McNairy). This is a remake of that beloved Danish classic Speak No Evil, released in those halcyon days of 2022 (dir Christian Tafdrup, starr Morten Burian, Sidsel Siem Koch, Fedja van Huêt, Karina Smulders, Liva Forsberg, Marius Damslev, and Hichem Yacoubi). Hollywood seems to be running out of ideas, isn’t it?
- The Killer’s Game (dir J J Perry, starr Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror with Pom Klementieff, and Ben Kingsley). The preview isn’t exciting, but the premise — an assassin who believes he’s dying puts out a hit on himself, only to have to, um, rethink his decision — sounds compelling.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “The Front Room”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra turn in a tight ten-minute back-and-forth this week, a consequence of Schulz having seen two films and two previews, total. He usually has more than that, you understand. But that, apparently, is how the season is shaking out: After Beetlejuice Beetlejuice next week, he’ll be catching the new, animated Transformers film. In addition to all these incredibly important dates to keep, Schulz is also directing A Streetcar Named Desire at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre, so he’s got quite a bit going on in his life right now.
The films under review:
- Reagan (dir Sean McNamara, starr Dennis “Gipper” Quaid, Penelope Ann “Mommy” Miller, Nick Searcy, C Thomas Howell, Kevin Dillon, Mena Suvari, Robert Davi, Lesley-Anne Down, and Jon Voight). Levora says it all here: “The egg forgot to duck” and “The cheerleader shot me.” Clocking in at two hours and fifteen minutes, Reagan’s narrative feels like a pinball machine, manic in its pacing and touching practically every moment of consequence in the Gipper’s life save his conception. With all those prosthetics, and some de-aging software, Quaid looks like the breakdancing robot before it caught on fire. That million-dollar smile of his? Inflation caught up with it. The passage of time has turned Quaid from playboy hunk to kill-crazy jackal predator. However, if you happen to adore Reagan, then none of this need matter. You can grit your teeth and smile at Quaid’s approximation of Reaganesque qualities from start to finish. Bon appétit!
- AfrAId (dir Chris Weitz, starr John Cho, Katherine Waterston, Havana Rose Liu, Lukita Maxwell, David Dastmalchian, and Keith Carradine). Schulz thought the film had “a lot of ideas,” although it sounds like most of them came from Dean R Koontz’s Demon Seed (1977, dir Donald Cammell, starr Julie Christie and Fritz Weaver). It starts promisingly, but becomes your standard latter-day horror film, where the filmmakers’ intent seems to be whether or not they can get you to spill your drink in your lap. At eighty-four minutes, though, it doesn’t make serious demands on your time like a certain other film. . .
And so, too, the previews:
- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (dir Tim Burton, starr Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe). Highly anticipated, with a $100 million budget. Expectations high; the drop could be deadly. It looks like Keaton will be on-screen this time longer than the sixteen minutes of the 1989 original. Hopefully, Burton won’t leave his audience regretting why Time has to move relentlessly forward. . .
- The Front Room (dir Max and Sam Eggers, starr Brandy, Kathryn Hunter, Andrew Burnap, and Neal Huff). Another A24 film, so a certain baseline quality is expected here. Again, hopefully, this psychological horror film won’t get all its horror jolts from the directors yelling “PSYCH!” over and over again. . .
“Reagan” and “AfrAId”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, Darren Pitra, movies, discussion of. That’s the set-up. That’s what they do. That’s what’s done. We’ll let you know if they decide to play off it (introduce a guest speaker, say) or outright abandon it (the three opt to perform scenes out of Samuel Beckett’s Play, for instance). It’s likely they won’t mess with the format like a certain someone does the mic settings at the beginning of each klatch.
These are the films Schulz has seen:
- The biographical drama Sing Sing (dir Greg Kwedar, starr Colman Domingo, Sean San José, Paul Raci, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, David “Dap” Giraudy, Patrick “Preme” Griffin, Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, and Sean “Dino” Johnson). Every member of the cast with a nickname is playing younger versions of themselves when they were serving sentences at Sing Sing Penitentiary. And holy cow, is it transcendent. Listen to Schulz go on about it. And listen to Levora and Pitra approach the subject keenly, if warily. (“I’m a bank robber and a murderer, but what I really wanna do is direct.”) Schulz is going so far as to calling Sing Sing as Best Picture at the Oscars, with Maclin Best Supporting. Schulz doesn’t call his shots like this very often, folks.
- Blink Twice (dir Zoë Kravitz, starr Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, Geena Davis, and Alia Shawkat). Big swing and a miss here. Kravitz doesn’t do herself any favors by giving away a crucial plot point at the jump, so as not to trigger any audience members who get triggered by stuff like the plots of scary thriller. She also manages to draw out bad performances from her cast of pros, in the service of black-comic laughs that don’t land. It’s all uphill from here, Zoë. . .
- Strange Darling (dir JT Mollner, starr Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey, and Ed Begley Jr). Schulz decided not to see the Crow remake in favor of this. What a great decision that turned out to be. Mollner depicts the story out of order à la Tarantino and manages to subvert expectations every step of the way. Sounds enticing.
The coming attractions include:
- Slingshot (dir Mikael Håfström, starr Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne, Emily Beecham, Tomer Kapon, David Morrissey, and Mark Ebulué). “An astronaut struggles to keep his grip on reality during a possibly-compromised mission to Titan.” Kinda sounds like the set-up to Passengers, doesn’t it? And didn’t that film make you cry from its awfulness?
- AFRAID (dir Chris Weitz, starr John Cho, Katherine Waterston, Havana Rose Liu, Lukita Maxwell, David Dastmalchian, and Keith Carradine). Levora leaves one clutching one’s sides at the concept of Tony Danza playing the voice of the Artificial Intelligence program that enters the lives of a family, much like Tony Micelli entered the lives of the Bowers. In Levora’s concept, the program calls itself “A-I-Ayy-ohh.” One would assuredly have caught that one! Consider this a missed opportunity, Weitz. Look within yourself, Weitz; there is peace and clarity within. . .
- Reagan (dir Sean McNamara, starr Dennis “Gipper” Quaid, Penelope Ann “Mommy” Miller, Nick Searcy, C Thomas “I’m never going to live down Soul Man, am I?” Howell, Kevin Dillon, Mena Suvari, Robert Davi, Lesley-Anne Down, and Jon Voight). Now, you either loved Ronald Reagan or you thought he was hired to play a president by Central Casting — the proto-George W Bush, with everyone else in his cabinet serving the Dick Cheney role. Look into your hearts on this one, folks.
- You Gotta Believe (dir Ty Roberts, starr Luke Wilson, Greg Kinnear, Sarah Gadon, Michael Cash, Etienne Kellici, Molly Parker, and Patrick Renna). Do we hafta? The three didn’t even look at the plot description for this one: They guessed it was going to be a baseball drama. And guess what? They were right, dammit. “All you have to say is ‘Luke Wilson and Greg Kinnear’ and I’m already sleepy,” says Schulz. Levora helpfully offers “Luke Wilson and Greg Kinnear in a film called We Shoulda Saved Our Money.” Oy! Meyne zeytn!
“Sing Sing,” “Blink Twice,” and “Strange Darling”
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy talks with WQUD GM Aaron Dail about the contents of the August edition of the River Cities’ Reader. With Floatzilla and Alternating Currents both wound down (the interview took place on 16 August), it’s time again to feed your heads the old-fashioned way — by reading stuff. Preferably stuff with heft. Stuff for discerning eyeballs. Stuff that reminds you of your rights and responsibilities as a citizen.
When a Law Might Instead Be a Giant Unfunded Mandate
Rich Miller’s interview with Governor JB Pritzker led to Dail having a bit of a chinwag with Whiteside County Sheriff John Booker. This concerned the state’s Domestic Violence Order of Protection. When such an order is obtained and executed, according to Sheriff Booker, the police secure any weaponry the abusive household member may own. This is a matter of course. There isn’t any perceived need for the provisions of Karina’s Law. Did Miller get Gov Pritzker to hold forth on behalf of a piece of redundant legislation? Sure seems like that’s what occurred. Dail was also taken aback by Gov Pritzker’s seeming unconcern for the safety of cops who may acting on an order of protection where the abuser’s status as, say, a gun-owner isn’t known; and they may be acting so at their own peril. McGreevy points out Pritzker’s longstanding default position on gun safety, with the understanding that Pritzker’s concern for police officers should be taken as read — until he gives his constituents ample reason to believe otherwise, naturally.
America Is Not a Democracy, It Is a Republic
Kathleen McCarthy felt it imperative to remind her fellow citizens that the United States of America is a constitutional republic, not a democracy; and it’s best that citizens come to terms with that distinction as soon as possible.
Reader Events Calendar: Your Key to Quad Cities’ Culture
Keep current with what’s going on in the QC with our calendar.
Mike Schulz discusses the possibility with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra of an Oscar for Previews, the last Tim Burton film he’s fallen in love with (as opposed to merely enjoying), and the shock reveal that, in the original Beetlejuice, Michael Keaton was on-screen a total of sixteen minutes (get out!), before getting down to the meat of the matter — other movies!
They are:
- Alien: Romulus (dir Fede Álvarez, starr Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu), the seventh film out of the Alien franchise. Compared to the preceding sequels, this “inter-quel” (which is mean to slot after the events of the first Alien and before those of Aliens) was very enjoyable. It’s not without flaws, mind you — they’re just not egregious enough to pull you completely out of the narrative. Well, there’s a bit of fakery involving the use of a character from Alien that has since passed away in real life — that’s problematic. . .
- Dìdi (dir Sean Wang, starr Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen, Chang Li Hua, Stephanie Hsu, and Spike Jonze). Plotless coming-of-age story set in 2008 involving a Taiwanese-American thirteen-year-old boy, with some raunchy touches here and there. Worth it.
- My Penguin Friend (dir David Schurmann, starr Jean Reno, Adriana Barraza, Rocío Hernández, Nicolás Francella, Alexia Moyano, and Thalma de Freitas). Based on a true story about a guy who saved a penguin from an oil slick and wound up establishing a weird bond. The story takes place within the heartbreak of the life of the man, played by Reno, which may be a bit much for some young viewers. For those who’ve got a handle on Life’s heavier aspects, this is a can’t-miss outing.
As for previews:
- Blink Twice (dir Zoë Kravitz, starr Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, Geena Davis, and Alia Shawkat). Nothing good has ever come out of the words “private island,” and presumably Kravitz’s film won’t challenge the physics of it. Schulz calls it “already my favorite film of the Nineties” (based on the cast), before Levora adds “only delivered thirty years too late.”
- Strange Darling (dir JT Mollner, starr Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley Jr). A cat-and-mouse serial-killer thriller. That’s never been done.
- The Forge, a biblical drama (dir Alex Kendrick, starr Cameron Arnett, Priscilla Shirer, Aspen Kennedy, Karen Abercrombie, TC Stallings, BJ Arnett, Ken Bevel, Benjamin Watson, Jonathan Evans, Jerry Shirer, and Tommy Woodard). Schulz will consider himself lucky if he’s able to cram in the majority of the films on the list, and doesn’t seem downcast about the possibility of missing this.
- The Crow (dir Rupert Sanders, starr Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs, Danny Huston, Josette Simon, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila, Isabella Wei, and Jordan Bolger). A franchise that’s been sequeled to death and embalmed in TV gets a reboot.
- The biographical drama Sing Sing (dir Greg Kwedar, starr Colman Domingo, Sean San José, Paul Raci, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, David “Dap” Giraudy, Patrick “Preme” Griffin, Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, and Sean “Dino” Johnson). Every member of the cast with a nickname is playing younger versions of themselves when they were serving sentences at Sing Sing Penitentiary. The reviews have been off the chain, and Schulz plans to catch it at the Last Picture House.
“Alien” Romulus,” “Didi,” and “My Penguin Friend”
Mike Schulz met up with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra at Awake Coffee to discuss all matters movie. There was no broadcast the previous week, so the trio had a bit of ground to cover.
To whit:
- Harold and the Purple Crayon (dir Carlos Saldanha, starr Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, Jemaine Clement, Tanya Reynolds, and Zooey Deschanel). Based on the 1955 children’s book of the same title by Crockett Johnson. Not for acidulous adults like Schulz, but his preadolescent pal had a ball.
- Trap (dir M Night Shyamalan, starr Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, and Alison Pill). A killer premise wedded to a shlocky execution, but entertaining nonetheless. His mom liked it.
- It Ends with Us (dir Justin Baldoni, starr Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Brandon Sklenar, Jenny Slate, and Hasan Minhaj). Based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover, the film concerns Lily Bloom (Lively), who’s had a history of bad relationships, though you figure out why before long. And drama.
- Cuckoo (dir Tilman Singer, starr Hunter Schafer, Jan Bluthardt, Marton Csokas, Jessica Henwick, and Dan Stevens). Thus continues Schulz’s latter-day encounters with low-budget independent horror films (this one budgeted at $7 million). Off the 103-minute run-time, the first ninety minutes are engagingly creepy, but the movie eventually becomes bogged down in a convoluted human/plant hybrid body-horror concept. David Cronenberg would have made better work of the material, had he been engaged to the project. Schafer is very effective in her role, though.
- The Instigators (dir Doug Liman, starr Casey Affleck, Matt Damon, Hong Chau, Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, Toby Jones, Jack Harlow, and Ron Perlman. A potato-faced crew out of Boston (or, rather, “Bass-ton”) undertakes an armored-car robbery, which goes about as well as any shady enterprise undertaken in the twenty-first century can be expected to go. The film is streaming on Apple, and if you’re up for a film out of which the Coen Bros might have made a complete dinner (back when they were still working together), rather than Liman’s series of hors d’œuvres, you should know, it is there, waiting, for you.
- Borderlands (dir Eli Roth, starr Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Edgar Ramirez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, and Jamie Lee Curtis). Based on the Gearbox Software video-game series. An unmitigated disaster all around: Budgeted between $110 and $120 million, Borderlands has made back less than a sixth of that; and Blanchett has done interviews recently where she likened it as “an act of COVID madness,” where she leaped at any excuse to get out of the house — and by “any excuse,” we really mean any excuse. Filmed in 2021, Borderlands sat in the can until 9 August of this year; and, for all the quality Roth brought to this enterprise, it could have stayed there another twenty, thirty, forty years or so. Any civilization that might hail this as a cultural high-water mark should be waving a plain white flag on a piece of stick.
As for the previews:
- Alien: Romulus (dir Fede Álvarez, starr Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu) is the seventh film out of the Alien franchise. The enduring appeal of the Ridley Scott original, and the sheer presence of those xenomorphs, are what keeps Schulz returning to this well, even after the previous couple sequels that Scott helmed, which, if we’re being honest here, neither he nor anyone else can probably remember what they entailed. But those xenomorphs, man!
- Dìdi (dir Sean Wang, starr Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen, Chang Li Hua, Stephanie Hsu, and Spike Jonze). A Taiwanese-American coming-of-age film. Hmmm. . .
- Skincare (dir Austin Peters, starr Elizabeth Banks, Lewis Pullman, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Luis Gerardo Méndez, and Nathan Fillon). A crime thriller concerning dermatology starring Elizabeth Banks. Would that she had directed this one as well, by the looks of it. . .
- My Penguin Friend (dir David Schurmann, starr Jean Reno, Adriana Barraza, Rocío Hernández, Nicolás Francella, Alexia Moyano, and Thalma de Freitas). Sounds cute. It’s got Reno in a lead role, though, so. . .
“It Ends with Us,” “Cuckoo,” “The Instigators,” “Borderlands,” “Trap,” and “Harold and the Purple Crayon”
Mike Schulz discusses cinematic matters with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. Levora believes Twisters could have used more twisters than it gave its audience. That was last week. This week’s fare pales in comparison:
- Deadpool and Wolverine (dir Shawn Levy, starr Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Aaron Stanford, and Matthew Macfadyen). The film did better than expectations — $590.6 million on a $200 million budget — so there was a thirst here that needs to be quenched. Once again, the concept of the multiverse means there’s no such thing as stakes, and any halfway-alert viewer will realize soon enough that suspense is impossible. If you’re not a fan of comic-book heroes, then you’re going to feel each of your individual brain cells die in real time.
- The Fabulous Four (dir Jocelyn Moorhouse, starr Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler, Megan Mullally, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Bruce Greenwood, Timothy V Murphy, and Michael Bolton). More fun and hijinks to be had watching septuagenarians get high and believe they can defy gravity. Schulz was bored.
- On YouTube, you can find Shine On: The Forgotten Shining Location, written and directed by Paul King and narrated by Michael Sheen, takes place on the set of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film, which apparently has stood undisturbed for 45 years, and blends present-day reminiscence with the exact scenes in the exact rooms in which the scenes were shot. Released last Friday, October 27, on what would have been Kubrick’s ninety-sixth birthday. Definitely worth finding.
As for the previews:
- The live-action/animated fantasy comedy Harold and the Purple Crayon (dir Carlos Saldanha, starr Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, Jemaine Clement, Tanya Reynolds, and Zooey Deschanel). Based on the 1955 children’s book of the same title by Crockett Johnson. Do you remember this story from your pram-days?
- The Firing Squad (dir Timothy A Chey, starr Kevin Sorbo, Cuba Gooding Jr, James Barrington, and Madeline Anderson). A faith-based film about a forthcoming execution in an Indonesian prison.
- Trap (dir M Night Shyamalan, starr Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, and Alison Pill). Sounds like Taylor Swift Visits the Set of The Shining.
“Deadpool & Wolverine,” “The Fabulous Four,” and “Shine On: The Forgotten Shining Location”
Mike Schulz discusses all things movie with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The haul promises to be pretty light in the forthcoming weeks, as today’s catch shows. Levora marvels over Inside Out 2 having become the best-selling animated film of all time, with $1.465 billion (and counting) on a $200 million budget. We’re still halfway through the year, though, so who knows if IO2 will close out 2024 as the top dog.
The films he’s seen:
- Twisters (dir Lee Isaac Chung, starr Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, and Sasha Lane). The film takes us back to 1996 for its thrills, with the sobering reality that tornadoes are increasingly becoming more and more common in our world. “Not a great movie, but had a great time,” Schulz says.
- The Irish paranormal horror film Oddity (dir Damian McCarthy, starr Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Steve Wall, Jonathan French, and Joe Rooney). Oddity won the Audience Award in the Midnighter section of this year’s South by Southwest Film Fest, and commands a 95% favorability index on Rotten Tomatoes. In his determination to understand the phenomenon, Schulz has written about independent horror films that are really good. Is it because such films have to work harder to grab their audiences where they live, and therefore take more chances in trusting them to be intelligent and alert?
As for previews:
- Deadpool and Wolverine (dir Shawn Levy, starr Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Aaron Stanford, and Matthew Macfadyen). As tired as Schulz is with the super-hero genre, he’s game to see whether this one will toss the rulebook out of the proceedings. Will it?
- The Fabulous Four (dir Jocelyn Moorhouse, starr Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler, Megan Mullally, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Bruce Greenwood, Timothy V Murphy, and Michael Bolton). Another aging female buddy film, a lá Book Club, a lá 80 for Brady, albeit with a compelling cast. It’s Bette Midler Goes to Key West.
“Twisters” and “Oddity”
Mike Schulz reunites with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra, having spent the Fourth holiday and a personal vacation away from the studio. Schulz has seen him some movies, and by gum, he’s going to talk about them.
To whit:
- Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (dir Mark Molloy, starr Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot). Released on Netflix, one should not approach this film with expectations beyond watching Murphy reprise the character that helped him attain superstardom back in 1984. The first and second sequels made the mistake of putting as much emphasis on the action sequences as they did Murphy. Ignore the superfluous cannonades and focus on the Murphy-shtick.
- Kinds of Kindness (dir Yorgos Lanthimos, starr Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer). Less than a year after the release of Poor Things, Lanthimos is still going four-to-the-floor with his ambitions, having made Kinds of Kindness into three distinct but loosely-connected absurdist black comedies, with the same actors portraying three different actors, each as humanly bad as the one that comes before him/her. Schulz had a grand old time, but it’s definitely not a film for everybody.
- MaXXXine (dir Ti West, starr Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon). Schulz believes that, with MaXXXine, West has achieved the trick of making a horror trilogy in which each part is as essential, and as superb, as the other. Offhand, one cannot think of another director who’s managed that triple-play.
- The animated comedy Despicable Me 4 (dir Chris Renaud, featuring the voice-work of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin, Joey King, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan, Sofía Vergara, Stephen Colbert, Renaud, Madison Polan, Dana Gaier, Chloe Fineman, and Will Ferrell). Go for the minions. Your kids will undoubtedly love it.
- Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 (dir Kevin Costner, starr KC Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt, and Jamie Campbell Bower). Released 28 June, Horizon is the first in a four-part Western saga, which runs at 181 minutes of which you can feel every single second crawling across your screen. Costner has never been the cautious sort when it comes to filmmaking (see: Dances with Wolves, The Postman, Waterworld), but it sounds like he may have seriously miscalculated here, as Chapter 1 is an introduction to the characters, where much of the action is devoted to introducing everyone. So far, Chapter 1 has made $31 million, which seems to have undersold expectations. Will it make a compelling case for itself? Will there be an audience queuing to see the other chapters? We shall see, won’t we?
- Longlegs (dir Osgood Perkins, starr Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee, and Dakota Daulby). This movie got a lot of buzz earlier in the month, and it all turns on Perkins’ decision to let audiences know exactly who Cage’s character is from the jump. This is a film where Cage goes over the top — and the battlefield on which he will live or die is Passchendaele. You know how certain films advertise their experience as “expect the unexpected”? You go into this one and Cage will still catch you unawares. That effective.
- Fly Me to the Moon (dir Greg Berlanti, starr Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Jim Rash, Anna Garcia, Donald Elise Watkins, Noah Robbins, Colin Woodell, Christian Zuber, Nick Dillenburg, Ray Romano, and Woody Harrelson). Schulz was disappointed with the direction, insofar as each actor seemed to have a different idea of what kind of film they are in; tonally, it’s all over the place.
As for previews:
- Twisters (dir Lee Isaac Chung, starr Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, and Sasha Lane). A stand-alone sequel to the 1996 Twister, this one is expected to make serious bank, on the somewhat dubious notion that fans who got hooked on to the first film nearly thirty years ago will come back for more. We’ll see, won’t we?
- The Irish paranormal horror film Oddity (dir Damian McCarthy, starr Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Steve Wall, Jonathan French, and Joe Rooney). Oddity won the Audience Award in the Midnighter section of this year’s South by Southwest Film Fest, and so far commands a 98% favorability index on Rotten Tomatoes, so. . . sleeper hit?
“Kinds of Kindness,” “MaXXXine,” “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” “Despicable Me 4”
“Longlegs” and “Fly Me to the Moon”
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy talks with WQUD GM Aaron Dail about skateboarding down by the HESCO barriers (good times), the absence of Buried Stories (temporary), and whether TM will make good on an alleged promise and get a tattoo of Julian Assange on his back (will get back to you on that one).
Julian Assange Pleads Guilty to Journalism
Kevin Gosztola crystallizes the Reader‘s enthusiasm for Assange’s successful plea-bargain deal with the US Department of Justice on 24 June 2024, which allowed him to plead guilty to a charge of “conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information” — in lieu of the courts having to extradite and try him in court for practicing journalism — and have his sentence reduced to time already served. JA, essentially a First Amendment rock star at this point, is now back in Canberra, reveling in all things Australian, and presumably endeavoring to keep as much distance between himself and the US federales. Here’s something to consider, though: Were Assange to screw up his courage, plant his feet down, reach out to new whistleblowers, and engage in another massive data-dump of sensitive cables, what, exactly, would happen? It’s all hypothetical, of course, because JA isn’t keen to sacrifice another fourteen years of his life, enduring unlawful surveillance of his communications and movements and inhumane long-term detention — and that’s when it was eventually established that the US justice system had no legal justification for any of these practices. Say, however, that someone else chooses to take up his mantle. Would s/he be willing to endure what Assange did? Would the Department of Justice be willing to jump through the same hoops as before in an effort to get this whistleblower to cry “Uncle!”? Or would it be inclined to save a little time and find some other, “extra-legal” way of striking at this individual?
Who Serves Whom on This Independence Day?Before moving on to suggest that readers reacquaint themselves with The Declaration of Independence, Kathleen McCarthy provides readers with a quiz to identify which forms of government are represented, and by identifying them, knowing (as McCarthy writes) “the trick of most politics: to frame everything through competing political lenses so people don’t notice there is not a hair’s width worth of difference in any of the governing models’ socioeconomic outcomes.”
Consume Mainstream Propaganda at Your Own RiskTales From the Uni-Potty — Part 1 — The Morning ConstitutionTales From the Uni-Potty — Part 2: Federal CheckpointsMcCarthy and cartoonist Ed Newman have established the mother of all political metaphors in the “Uni-Potty.” This clever pun purports to celebrate those odd instances of bipartisan legislation, but likens the actual effects of that system as being on the wrong end of a plumbing system. There are many variations of the Uni-Potty’s legislative actions — not to mention the mainstream propaganda organs that perpetuate the myth of a two-party system — but the result remains the same: You wish you had brought an umbrella.
If You Can Kill Your Baby, Why Can’t You Kill Your Germs?David Hartsuch MD MS’s article about the two cases that got argued, and deliberated over, before the Iowa Supreme Court earlier this month — the Fetal Heartbeat Law and Dr Hartsuch’s own suits against the Iowa Boards of Medicine and Pharmacy — raises a point that no one on either side of the former case want to acknowledge: If you’re pro-choice on the subject of a woman’s right to determine her biological prerogatives, are you also pro-choice as to whether or not she wants the vaccine jab? Pro-lifers don’t like the question, either, though the implications for them are slightly different: If you’re pro-life, does that extend to the patient’s own life vis-à-vis the jab? It’s a nice, new technique to break out at parties whenever that old “pro-lilfe/pro-choice” chestnut gets thrown in. Use it, and watch how tied in knots each side gets.
Reader Events Calendar: Your Key to Quad Cities’ CultureJust because the organs of government — local, state, and federal — are interfering with our lives doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be living them to the fullest. Check out what the QCA has to offer, and be well.
In this podcast, Jason Bermas and Todd McGreevy discuss the Summit Pipeline agenda, which was passed on 25 June by the three members of the Iowa Utility Board. In order for Summit Carbon Solutions to build its carbon-capture-and-storage plant — its two-thousand-mile, multi-state plant, in which liquified CO₂ is carried via pipeline from an ethanol plant in Iowa to sites elsewhere, and (you are asked to believe) both satisfies existing energy concerns and reduces dangerous levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere — it needs to persuade the states involved to exercise eminent domain and secure the necessary land from private citizens who, inconveniently enough, happen to own it. So far, as Clark Kauffman of Iowa Capital Dispatch has reported, Iowa has signed off on the permits necessary for eminent domain to be enacted there. Meanwhile, the Dakotas have proved a tougher nut to crack. Whether Dakotan intransigence can be ascribed to a healthy skepticism of the whole capture-and-storage process and a leeriness of the safety concerns that the project raises (and, as Rochelle Arnold has noted, businesses like Summit tend to elide), or merely an insufficient amount of commercial pressure brought to bear on Dakotan attentions— or six of one, et al — what we are watching play out is another instance of “climate crisis” wolf-bait being tossed out to justify any number of extra-judicial actions taken by the state. This time, what’s actually at stake is the right of property-owners to maintain their fair-market asking-price on their land, and not have it driven down artificially by the mere possibility of eminent-domain interference.
On the 22 June 2024 broadcast, Jason Bermas talks with Todd McGreevy about the trials and tribulations of David Hartsuch MD MS, specifically his lawsuit against the Iowa Boards of Medicine and Pharmacy. Dr Hartsuch’s ordeal began in November 2021, when he was included in at least 17 Iowa doctors being investigated by the Iowa Board of Medicine for purportedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and off-label prescription usage to treat said disease. With this June 17, 2024 filing in the Iowa Supreme Court, Hartsuch’s original action and the facts around this case that were previously required to be confidential due to hypocritical policies at the aforesaid board and the Iowa Board of Pharmacy are now in the public domain. In Hartsuch’s case when his patient complained to the Board of Pharmacy about being discriminated against by not filing an ivermectin prescription, and disclosing, after being asked by the pharmacist, that it was to treat COVID-19, that complaint was dropped by Pharmacy Board and an investigation of the prescribing doctor, Hartsuch, was instigated by the Board of Medicine instead. Hartsuch’s case asserts to the courts that the Boards practiced invidious discrimination based on dodgy conclusions against his patient and that these abuses by the boards are about an even bigger picture related to First Amendment protected speech rights for all Iowans. Hartsuch’s original filing to the Iowa Supreme Court was filed as confidential to which the court issued an order that read in part: “Within 10 days of the filing of this order appellant shall file an amended reply brief which removes any confidential information so that the reply brief is accessible to the public. The supreme court clerk shall maintain the security level of the May 28th reply brief at security level 2.” When Hartsuch amended his reply brief to include affidavits from fellow-physicians like Lee Merritt MD, and from witnesses whose own refusal of prescription had their unfortunate real-world consequences.
Dr Hartsuh’s defiance of the legal gag-orders served him, and others in the same professional boat, have been shown to have eerie prescience, particularly in what we’ve since learned about COVID-19 and the medical establishment’s tragicomic approach to treating it en masse. In a 4 August 2021 letter to the Quad-City Times, Dr Hartsuch concluded, “Americans should not go quietly to the grave, paying scientists to send us there.” That seems more and more like sound medical advice as the days go by. Expect to hear more on this topic. . .
Watch the Jason Bermas Show episode at the video linked below.
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-2cyc3-164bd76
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about his gratitude that Inside Out 2 is still going great guns at the box office. The film’s animated depiction of a panic attack has drawn plaudits from people who suffer from panic attacks, who say it speaks fairly accurately to their experience (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/23/movies/inside-out-anxiety-adults.html).
The movies he’s seen were:
- The Bikeriders, a circa-Sixties crime drama, directed by Jeff Nichols and starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, and Norman Reedus. Goodfellas on two wheels, with three impossibly-hot lead actors. “A breezy two hours,” Schulz said.
- Thelma, directed by Josh Margolin and starring June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, and Malcolm McDowell. No unicorns in this one. Worth catching this week
- The Exorcism, directed by Joshua John Miller and starring Russell Crowe, Ryan Simpkins, Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg, Adrian Pasdar, and David Hyde Pierce. Less than a year ago, Crowe was the lead cleric in The Pope’s Exorcist; here, RC portrays an actor portraying a cleric. At present, 29% of critics polled ℅ Rotten Tomatoes recognize this film as having any reason whatsoever for existing. Schulz found it enjoyable until the halfway point, where things become silly — which has become par the course for Exorcist-related sequels.
- Tell Them That You Love Me is a really well-made Netflix true-crime documentary that Levora thought unbearable. The series concerns the case against Anna Stubblefield, a Rutgers University professor convicted in 2015 of sexually abusing Derrick Johnson, a nonverbal man. Your call, folks.
The previews:
- A Quiet Place: Day One, directed by Michael Sarnoski (who conceived of the first film with John Krasinski) and starring Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, and Djimon Hounsou. Sarnoski will be in town this weekend for a Q&A at the Last Picture House.
- Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, directed by Kevin Costner and starring KC, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Thomas Haden Church. A Costner Western that will the first of a three-parter, assuming enough folks think the first worth watching.
“The Bikeriders,” “The Exorcism,” and “Thelma”
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about the films he’s watched, the first official day of summer, and today being the 49th anniversary of the release of Jaws — the latter which, incidentally, coincided with a family health scare. Happily, Schulz’s mother wasn’t bitten by a shark. Also, The Goonies is playing this weekend at The Last Picture House, 39 years after the film’s release. If you wish to relive a bit of your childhood, then you might consider some other film for that. Anyhow. Onward.
The movies:
- Inside Out 2, a coming-of-age animation from Pixar, directed by Kelsey Mann and featuring the voice-work of Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, and Kensington Tallman. A nice change from the relative humorlessness of recent Pixar releases. The film has made $438.9 million on a $200 million budget. Who could have seen that coming?
- Treasure, directed by Julia von Heinz and starring Lena Dunham, Stephen Fry, and Zbigniew Zamachowski. Can you handle the idea of Dunham playing a Meghan McCain-type journalist huffing and puffing against the backdrop of Auschwitz for two hours? There’s two hours of that, you should know.
- Tuesday, a 2023 fantasy-drama directed by Daina O Pusić (in her feature directorial début) and starring a miscast Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lola Petticrew, Leah Harvey, and Arinzé Kene. Death is inescapable — but not so scary compared to the idea of two hours of Lena Dunham swanning around without interruption.
- The Blue Angels, a documentary by Paul Crowder about the Navy’s Blue Angels pilots. Ninety minutes of a recruiting commercial for the Navy.
- Brats, the Andrew McCarthy documentary about the Brat Pack actors of the Eighties (excluding Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael-Hall, and Robert Downey Jr), and featuring conversations with Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Timothy Hutton, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Lea Thompson, and Jon Cryer. “Terrible in a fascinating way,” Schulz says. McCarthy clearly harbors a decades-long animus toward David Blum for his New York 1985 magazine article, which he says killed everyone’s career at the very moment their profile was raised. Everyone else who isn’t McCarthy, whether they’ve flourished or not, have moved on with their lives. It’s the kind of cringe that you cannot not watch. Streaming on Hulu.
Concerning previews:
- The Bikeriders, a circa-Sixties crime drama, directed by Jeff Nichols and starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, and Norman Reedus. We’re talking about Wild Ones-style bikers here, and not bicyclists. Imagine if they were bicyclists, but they still behaved like Marlon Brando. Now, that would be film to see!
- Thelma the Unicorn, directed by Josh Margolin and starring June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, and Malcolm McDowell. This film has a 99% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes right now.
- The Exorcism — not The Exorcist, mind, even though Russell Crowe is in this one as well. Directed by Joshua John Miller and starring Crowe, Ryan Simpkins, Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg, Adrian Pasdar, and David Hyde Pierce. This sounds like a rare instance of a latter-day film being unintentionally meta.
“Inside Out 2,” “Treasure,” “Tuesday,” “The Blue Angels,” and “Brats”
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about the films he’s reviewed this week. Before they get rolling, Levora informs Schulz that an unidentified, unsolicited caller had texted him to convey to MS that Bad Boys: Ride or Die was his jam. Thanks, Identity Redacted!
- Hit Man, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, and Retta, the film was released last year and is currently streaming on Netflix. “A crowd-pleaser like no other,” Schulz says, lamenting the fact that he didn’t see this film in the theaters — which would put him on the same footing as many Americans, come to think of it. “So massively entertaining,” he says, having seen it four times within the space of a week.
- Bad Boys: Ride or Die, directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, aka Adil and Bilall, and starring Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Núñez, Jacob Scipio, and DJ Khaled. Schulz enjoyed this one compared to the preceding two, as Smith and Lawrence appear unable to get enough of each other. Can you believe it’s nearly been thirty years since the last film? As for whether or not the nation should forgive Smith, Schulz is willing to split the difference, saying he isn’t sure what to think of WS as a human being; but as a movie star, his chops are unassailable.
- The Watchers, directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan and starring Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré, and Oliver Finnegan. For better and for worse, Ishana is every bit the filmmaker as her dad, M Knight. Approach accordingly.
As for previews:
- Inside Out 2, a coming-of-age animation from Pixar, directed by Kelsey Mann and featuring the voice-work of Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, and Kensington Tallman. Levora wants to know: Who asked for this? Salient question, DL. Schulz says this sequel has more of a right to exist than a lot of relatively recent Pixar films.
- Tuesday, a 2023 fantasy-drama directed by Daina O Pusić (in her feature directorial début) and starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus “in a profoundly moving performance,” Lola Petticrew, Leah Harvey, and Arinzé Kene. Confronting Death is its theme. Flip a coin?
- Treasure, a Franco-German tragicomedy directed by Julia von Heinz and starring Lena Dunham, Stephen Fry, and Zbigniew Zamachowski. If the French and the Germans can put up with Dunham, then who are you to resist it?
- Brats, the Andrew McCarthy documentary about the Brat Pack actors of the Eighties (excluding Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson); and
- The Blue Angels, a documentary by Paul Crowder about the Navy’s Blue Angels pilots. Several minutes are given over to the three stalwarts discussing their experiences among the Blue Angels’ crowds.
“Hit Man,” “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” and “The Watchers”
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about the latest round of films he’s reviewed. They get right into it, folks. These are professionals at work. They know their jobs. Don’t taunt or gawk at them. They’ve got moves, and they know people.
The films are:
- In a Violent Nature, a Canadia slasher directed by Chris Nash and starring Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Charlotte Creaghan, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Sam Roulston, Alexander Oliver, Lauren-Marie Taylor, and Timothy Paul McCarthy. Shulz didn’t hate this movie, but he can understand why others would, like Levora’s friend. It’s all from the killer’s perspective, so those who are familiar with a common trope of such films can expect Nature to proceed very, very slowly. Those who can stand it might yet falter over the unexpectedly brutal murders, which took Schulz by surprise in the inventiveness of the kills. Those who can handle both may have found their summer’s jam here.
- Summer Camp, directed by Castille Landon and starring Jessica Lange, Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Beverly D’Angelo, Nicole Richie, Josh Peck, Betsy Sodaro, Dennis Haysbert, and Eugene Levy. Schulz saw this, and happened to catch the exchange between two elderly ladies who watched it as well, and expressed how stupid they found the entire enterprise. Amen, Schulz said to himself.
- The Great Lillian Hall, an HBO film directed by Michael Cristofer and starring Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Lily Rabe, Jesse Williams, and Pierce Brosnan. Given the sudden-seeming proliferation of adult-onset dementia, Lange’s performance is the one great element in an otherwise unimpressive production.
- Ezra, a “kidnapping comedy,” directed by Tony Goldwyn and starring Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne, Vera Farmiga, Whoopi Goldberg, Rainn Wilson, Tony Goldwyn, William Fitzgerald, and Robert De Niro. Cannavale plays the temperamental father to an autistic son. Those who are raising special-needs children of their own will appreciate how intelligently Goldwyn treats the story, which means none of the characters depart reality momentarily so they can score a laugh off spectators.
The previews include:
- Bad Boys: Ride or Die, directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, aka Adil and Bilall, and starring Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Núñez, Jacob Scipio, and DJ Khaled. Has America forgiven Will Smith by now? Presumably, the box office will let us know.
- The Watchers, directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan and starring Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré, and Oliver Finnegan. Is Ishana a chip off the old M Knight block? Will she prove as hopelessly addicted to the twist ending as her dad? Guess we’ll find out soon, won’t we?
- Levora brings The Sand, which was released on DVD in 2015, but has been re-released recently for the theaters. Directed by Isaac Gabaeff and starring Brooke Butler, Meagan Holder and Mitchel Musso, there must be some reason why people might want to see this one. . .
“Ezra,” “In a Violent Nature,” “The Great Lillian Hall,” and “Summer Camp”
On the broadcast for the June 1, 2024 TNT Video (podbean.com), Jason Bermas starts off looking to our political future with a Commander-in-Chief who appears to be a dead man walking (not figuratively, mind: Going by how he looks and sounds, he’s pretty decrepit), with Adam Clark wondering if the agreed-upon number of debates between Biden and Donald Trump (two at this point, with Trump pushing for more) will be the occasion of the first virtual deepfake political event (if you don’t buy the concept of the Trump January 6 “call to insurrection/treason” to be the first such). Bermas then travels back in time with Todd McGreevy to October 15, 2009, to revisit the confirmed first media-pandemic rodeo, the H1N1 flu virus, as reported by then-Managing Editor Jeff Ignatius. If reading Ignatius’s piece gives you a sense of déjà vu, you’re not the only one: Bermas thought he had the scoop back then, only to learn the Reader had beaten him by a month earlier. Jumping back to the present day, Kathleen McCarthy discusses the World Health Organization’s Pandemic Preparedness and Response Treaty and why Biden should reject it. The back end of Bermas’s broadcast is an interview with Zach Vorhies, the Google Whistleblower who downloaded 950 pages of classified documents describing Google’s censorship regime and then delivered them to the Department of Justice — and has had to endure reprisals from Google. Then COVID-19 hit, and Vorhies saw the government putting its back into censoring contrary views w/r/t the coronavirus’s deadliness and the efficacy of vaccines.
Mike Schulz discusses with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra what a low box-office draw this Memorial Day was — you have to go back to 1995, the summer of Caspar, for a lackluster opening that couldn’t be blamed on a pandemic. Schulz wasn’t expecting Furiosa to break records, being a Hard-“R”-rated film. Still, it must have been tough for him to watch a film crash and burn, financially, in quite the manner that Furiosa, a film devoted to crashing and burning, did.
- Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, directed by George Miller and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Alyla Browne, Chris Hemsworth, and Tom Burke. Compared to Fury Road, Furiosa looks green-screened. Schulz did like the film, over-all, but there were a number of details that pulled a viewer out of the viewing experience where Fury Road kept one plugged in from the jump.
- The Garfield Movie, an animated adventure-comedy film based on the comic strip created by Jim Davis, directed by Mark Dindal and featuring the voice-work of Chris Pratt, Samuel L Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Harvey Guillén, Brett Goldstein, Bowen Yang, and Snoop Dogg. Schulz didn’t hate it at all. That was shocking to hear, because he was expecting not to like it at all. Despite Dindal’s decision to change some of the details in a gratuitous manner — Garfield is lactose-intolerant, so he can’t eat lasagna; Odie is a genius-level savant, which doesn’t track — it had good comic timing and kept Schulz entertained. “Mea culpa, Garfield,” Schulz said.
- Babe, directed by Pamela Adlon and starring Ilana Glazer (who also co-wrote the film), Michelle Buteau, John Carroll Lynch, Hasan Minhaj, and Sandra Bernhard, it’s got Babe City energy and a similar lack of couth. If you like raunch, this will probably do it for you; if not, then not.
Previews:
- In a Violent Nature, a Canadia slasher directed by Chris Nash and starring Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Charlotte Creaghan, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Sam Roulston, Alexander Oliver, Lauren-Marie Taylor, and Timothy Paul McCarthy.
- Summer Camp, directed by Castille Landon and starring Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Beverly D’Angelo, Nicole Richie, Josh Peck, Betsy Sodaro, Dennis Haysbert, and Eugene Levy. “The trailer is appalling,” Schulz says. The plot description sounds like Beach Blanket Bingo 2: The Oldening.
- Ezra, a dramedy about connecting with your autistic son, directed by Tony Goldwyn and starring Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne, Vera Farmiga, Whoopi Goldberg, Rainn Wilson, Tony Goldwyn, William Fitzgerald, and Robert De Niro.
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “Babes,” and “The Garfield Movie”
Mike Schulz discusses with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra what a low box-office draw this Memorial Day was — you have to go back to 1995, the summer of Caspar, for a lackluster opening that couldn’t be blamed on a pandemic. Schulz wasn’t expecting Furiosa to break records, being a Hard-“R”-rated film. Still, it must have been tough for him to watch a film crash and burn in quite the manner that Furiosa, a film devoted to crashing and burning, did.
- Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, directed by George Miller and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Alyla Browne, Chris Hemsworth, and Tom Burke. Compared to Fury Road, Furiosa looks green-screened. Schulz did like the film, over-all, but there were a number of details to pulled a viewer out of the experience where Fury Road kept one plugged in from the jump.
- The Garfield Movie, an animated adventure-comedy film based on the comic strip created by Jim Davis, directed by Mark Dindal and featuring the voice-work of Chris Pratt, Samuel L Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Harvey Guillén, Brett Goldstein, Bowen Yang, and Snoop Dogg. Schulz didn’t hate it at all. That was shocking to hear, because he was expecting not to like it at all. Despite Dindal’s decision to change some of the details in a gratuitous manner — Garfield is lactose-intolerant, so he can’t eat lasagna; Odie is a genius-level savant, which doesn’t track — it had good comic timing and kept Schulz entertained. “Mea culpa, Garfield,” Schulz said.
- Babe, directed by Pamela Adlon and starring Ilana Glazer (who also co-wrote the film), Michelle Buteau, John Carroll Lynch, Hasan Minhaj, and Sandra Bernhard, it’s got Babe City energy and a similar lack of couth. If you like raunch, this will probably do it for you; if not, then not.
Previews:
- In a Violent Nature, a Canadia slasher directed by Chris Nash and starring Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Charlotte Creaghan, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Sam Roulston, Alexander Oliver, Lauren-Marie Taylor, and Timothy Paul McCarthy.
- Summer Camp, directed by Castille Landon and starring Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Beverly D’Angelo, Nicole Richie, Josh Peck, Betsy Sodaro, Dennis Haysbert, and Eugene Levy. “The trailer is appalling,” Schulz says. The plot description sounds like Beach Blanket Bingo 2: The Oldening.
- Ezra, a dramedy about connecting with your autistic son, directed by Tony Goldwyn and starring Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne, Vera Farmiga, Whoopi Goldberg, Rainn Wilson, Tony Goldwyn, William Fitzgerald, and Robert De Niro.
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “Babes,” and “The Garfield Movie”
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy talks with WQUD Morning Show host Pat Jones, who’s taken over the spot from GM Aaron Dail, re recent highlights, both online and within Issue N° 1021. These include the Reader‘s entries for its Spring 2024 Photo Contest (with the winning entry, Kevin Richard Schafer’s “Secret,” as well as the image you see before you) and articles by Kathleen McCarthy (Scott County Appointments to Elected Offices Keep Records Secret and Not Transparent), Rochelle Arnold (Carbon Wolves Pause, For Now), and Ezra Sidran PhD (What We Know Now a Year After the 324 Main Street Disaster). Transparency is the issue’s theme, in particular the QCA’s perennial observance of it in the breach. Forthcoming regional events include the May 28 show by Chicago, a band that’s been together for nearly sixty years and would likely continue for another sixty, were humans not such frail animals, vulnerable at last to the ravages of age. (Jones mentions how his brother would break out the latest Chicago album every time he broke up with his high-school girlfriend — leaving one to ask, How many girlfriends did he have, really? Because Chicago had an album for every year of the Seventies and every other year of the Eighties. That seems to be the window, anyway.) McGreevy also boldfaces Bruce Walters’s Buried Stories: Louie Bellson (1924-2009) as a recommended feature, as local history shot through the lens of gravesites retains a certain evergreen fascination. Walters, who has contributed essays and illustrations for many years, will submit his final work for the Reader, as he is at work on a book — props, Bruce, and thanks for the memories. . .
On today’s show, originally broadcast live on TNTRadio.live, Todd McGreevy & Jason Bermas discuss the recent cover story in the June 2024 River Cities’ Reader: What We Know Now a Year After the 324 Main Street Disaster. Excerpt: Former Davenport City Administrator (who was paid more than $338,000 annually by taxpayers in 2023) Corrine Spiegel, hired the department heads that mismanaged two of the city’s biggest disasters in modern history – the 2019 flood wall failure and the 324 Main St. building collapse – secured a $1.6MM payment for emotional damages and lost wages in secret without a city council vote until after the 2023 municipal elections. This secret pay-off was after two of Spiegel’s staffers secured their own payoffs of $200,00 each citing similar emotional damages. After much obfuscation, delaying tactics and law fare to keep Spiegel’s demand letter undisclosed (including at one point attorneys for the City who filed a lawsuit to ask the courts to determine if the demand letter can remain confidential stating in a court hearing that they can’t find a copy of said letter) plaintiff Dr. Allen L. Diercks prevailed and the hush-hush demand letter has been disclosed, by his attorney Mike Meloy. Readers can read the letter for themselves and determine if Spiegel’s recounting of her eight years as City Administrator warranted a secret $1.6MM settlement so that she would not sue the City. Given the gravitas of what had transpired in 2019 with the flood wall disaster and in 2023 with 324 Main St. disaster – both of which occurred on Spiegel’s watch as the top paid city official – compared to the school-age-girl-thin-skinned complaints in the demand letter, one could say Spiegel’s demand letter is a “nothing burger.” Read the entire letter at RCReader.com/y/spiegel2. Read the entire timeline with further receipts at The Decline and Fall of Davenport, Iowa? A Timeline.
Watch the full Jason Bermas first hour broadcast at https://tntvideo.podbean.com/e/todd-mcgreevy-on-the-jason-bermas-show-25-may-2024/
Mike Schulz discusses with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra the films that he brought for them from the sea. The haul this week was considerably more plentiful than the one film Schulz saw (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes). Such privations forced them to talk about TV shows. They appear to be stuck in that mindset, as they find other stuff to discuss other than film. Like their childhoods, and whether or not they had imaginary friends.
The films Schulz reviewed:
- IF, directed by John Krasinski and starring Cailey Fleming, Ryan Reynolds, Fiona Shaw, Alan Kim, and Liza Colón-Zayas, and featuring the voices of Krasinski, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr, and Steve Carell. Not as bad as Schulz expected, owing largely to the caliber of the vocal talent, but the story on the whole fails to rise up to it. Actually, it’s kind of stupid.
- Back to Black, the Amy Winehouse biopic directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and starring Marisa Abela, Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan, and Lesley Manville. Abela is great, and even sounds like Winehouse, which is incredible, as it’s the first time she’s ever sung on film. Everything else about it feels weird and uncomfortable, given the participation of Blake Fielder-Civil, the boyfriend who reportedly got her heavily into drugs, and father Mitchell, whose role in his daughter’s career was more outsized than the film would have one believe.
- The Strangers: Chapter 1, a three-part horror series, directed by Renny Harlin and starring Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez. Schulz was willing to give it a shot, but, dammit, Levora was right: It was a bloody reboot, not an origin story. No reason, either, to reboot the franchise.
- I Saw the TV Glow, directed by Jane Schoenbrun and starring Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine, with Ian Foreman, Helena Howard, Fred Durst, and Danielle Deadwyler. This is Schulz’s Best Film of the year so far, beating out Snack Shack. “Very Buffy-y, very Twin Peaks-y, very X-Files-y” is his description. Schulz felt inadequate trying to discuss it
Previews:
- Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, directed by George Miller and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Alyla Browne, Chris Hemsworth, and Tom Burke. No good can come from hanging out with people with names like “DeMentis.” It’s a prequel to the events of Fury Road, and doesn’t have Max in it.
- The Garfield Movie, an animated adventure-comedy film based on the comic strip created by Jim Davis, directed by Mark Dindal and featuring the voice-work of Chris Pratt, Samuel L Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Harvey Guillén, Brett Goldstein, Bowen Yang, and Snoop Dogg. Will it be ninety minutes of Garfield sitting in front of a TV show? Given the character’s major characteristic is his laziness, it would be a funnier outing if that turned out to be the case. But no, there’s a story attached to the cat with the decades-long strip that launched a thousand memes. Feels like Russian roulette, this one. . .
“IF,” “The Strangers: Chapter 1,” “Back to Black,” and “I Saw the TV Glow”
Mike Schulz has only one full-fledged film to discuss with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, directed by Wes Fall and starring Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, and William H Macy. Compared to the bravura direction of Matt Reeves (2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes), Fall’s is workmanlike — that is to say, competently executed. Competence, particularly in this era, isn’t anything to disesteem outright. Nonetheless, one returns to the words of the Twentieth Century dramatic critic John Mason Brown: “The more one has seen of the good, the more one asks for the better.” If you can tell a story well, then good on ya; but if you can make that story stick in peoples’ heads for decades to come. . .
Aside from some chat concerning the forthcoming entry to the Lord of the Rings, with Andy Serkis directing in place of Peter Jackson, as well as the Mad Max prequel opening this weekend, the bulk of the broadcast is given over to previews (below) and TV shows.
- IF, directed by John Krasinski and starring Cailey Fleming, Ryan Reynolds, Fiona Shaw, Alan Kim, and Liza Colón-Zayas, and featuring the voices of Krasinski, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr, and Steve Carell. That’s a deep bench you’ve got there, JK.
- Back to Black, the Amy Winehouse biopic directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and starring Marisa Abela, Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan, and Lesley Manville. Like the Bob Marley biopic, the Winehouse story confines itself to the making of her breakthrough album, 2006’s Back to Black. Initial reviews have not been kind.
- The Strangers: Chapter 1, a three-part horror series, directed by Renny Harlin and starring Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez. There’s something dispiriting about being informed from the outset that this is just the first film, and you’ve got more to go. . .
- Poolman, a 2023 mystery-comedy, directed by Chris Pine (in his directorial début) and starring Pine, Annette Bening, DeWanda Wise, Stephen Tobolowsky, Clancy Brown, John Ortiz, Ray Wise, Juliet Mills, Ariana DeBose, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Danny DeVito — quite the cast there, too!
As for shows, it’s Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime (in that order):
- Under the Bridge, a true-crime drama developed by Quinn Shephard from the book of the same name by Rebecca Godfrey and starring Lily Gladstone, Vritika Gupta, Chloe Guidry, Javon Walton, Izzy G, Aiyana Goodfellow, Ezra Faroque Khan, Archie Panjabi, and Riley Keough.
- Baby Reindeer, a darkly-comic British drama-thriller (a “driller”?), created by and starring Richard Gadd, based on his one-man play of the same name. The show also stars Jessica Gunning, Nava Mau, and Tom Goodman-Hill. Schulz doesn’t know how to approach this series critically — yet.
- Fallout, a post-apocalyptic drama based on the role-playing video game franchise created by Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, and starring Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Kyle MacLachlan, Moisés Arias, Xelia Mendes-Jones, and Walton Goggins. There may be a case on behalf of a series like this that some series benefit more from weekly serialization rather than dumped on viewers in one fell.
Levora was all about Shogun, an FX series created by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell, and starring Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano, Takehiro Hira, Tommy Bastow, and Fumi Nikaido. When it came to absorbing Fallout, however, he feels to be at sea.
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra continue a prior discussion of their mutual fondness for Marcia Strassman, of Welcome Back, Kotter and MASH fame,
- The Fall Guy, directed by David Leitch and starring Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, and Winston Duke. An adaptation/update of the Lee Majors TV series of the Eighties, the film leans into its stunt-heavy/CGI-minimum action, but that’s about as much as the film has to offer. If you go looking for a story, you will hurt your brain.
- Tarot, directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg (in their directorial début) and starring Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Avantika Vandanapu, Wolfgang Novogratz, Humberly González, Larsen Thompson, and Jacob Batalon. “Tarot-ble” is Schulz’s decree. Moving on. . .
- The Idea of You, directed by Michael Showalter (friend of the show!) and starring Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, and Ella Rubin, the film flips the usual script of the May-December romances, where Hathaway is the older, more experienced partner and Galitzine the younger, hormone-addled participant, and points out the numerous ways and prevailing attitudes to which such a romance would fall prey to prevailing attitudes. We should never forget the ineffable qualities that Hathaway brings with her to her films, particularly as she’s still around and only getting better in her profession.
- Unfrosted, directed by Jerry Seinfeld and starring Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Max Greenfield, Hugh Grant, and Amy Schumer. Christophe Beck, the film is streaming on Netflix — which sounds like a good thing, given Schulz’s disdain for it: “It’s been years since I’ve seen something that completely moronic.” Would you have wanted to pay to see that? Okay, it’s on Netflix, so you’re already paying for it — but you have the option to bail on a given film whenever it starts to wear out its welcome. Movie theaters don’t allow you that luxury! Now, this was a judgement hard come by for Schulz, who sounds like he really wanted to appreciate a new work by Seinfeld. The fact that Unfrosted is a satire of a burgeoning genre of film, which we might call “The Origin of That Thing,” seems to offer promise, as Seinfeld’s timing is spot-on. So does his cast, which is front-loaded with comic talent (Schumer excepted). Unfortunately, Unfrosted treats its talent with all the wit and grace of the Battle of Verdun. As director, Seinfeld sets his actors up just so he can mow them down with a Maxim gun full of bad material. One has to believe that he did this to them on purpose, because who would otherwise be so foolish as to lead actors, flush in their prime of their lives, into such an abattoir unwittingly? Given Seinfeld’s recent remarks about the deleterious effect the political Left has had on modern comedy — an argument that was tired and shagged-out when people were calling woke-ist sentiment “political correctness” — such crimes against humanity seem well within his abilities. One might speculate further that Seinfeld realized what a piece of crap he was offering people, and he thought perhaps he might distract them beforehand with his idiotic old-man remarks about how comedy used to make people laugh back in his day, and allow Unfrosted to squeak on through his résumé like a dull fart. One might speculate thusly — if only Unfrosted were an event that just happened. You know, like Tunguska. But no: Human agency was definitely what felled the tall timber within this film. Unlike Michael Richards’s Laugh Factory spazz-out, Seinfeld cannot plead temporary insanity with any plausibility.
As for coming attractions, there is but one:
- Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, directed by Wes Fall and starring Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, and William H Macy. Not a reboot, thank Christ.
“The Fall Guy,” “The Idea of You,” “Tarot,” and “Unfrosted”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra just can’t seem to get enough of each other. They discuss the habit of recent films to distinguish films as pre- and post-COVID pandemic and the seeming return of sex to the cinema, sans Purex. And not a moment too soon, apparently.
The films Schulz caught are:
- Challengers, a romantic sports film directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist, Darnell Appling, AJ Lister, and Nada Despotovich. “Endless fun” was Schulz’s ruling. “Sweaty and horny like no one’s business.” In the hands of Luca Guadagnino? Yeah — we’re there. Don’t take your mother.
- Unsung Hero, a Christian drama, with a tinge of autobiography, directed by Richard Ramsey and Joel Smallbone and starring Smallbone, Daisy Betts, Kirrilee Berger, Jonathan Jackson, Lucas Black, Candace Cameron Bure, Diesel La Torraca, and JJ Pantano. “Better than the [normal spate of faith films],” says Schulz. It helps that the protagonists are relatable as flawed human beings and not religious robots who always know in which direction True North leads them. Schulz caught it on a double bill with Challengers — thank heavens for the break between films!
- Boy Kills World, a 2023 action comedy-thriller film directed by Moritz Mohr and starring Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Famke Janssen, Sharlto Copley, Brett Gelman, Isaiah Mustafa, Andrew Koji, and the voice of H Jon Benjamin. Skarsgård plays a deaf-mute, known only as Boy, who’s hellbent on revenge (family, execution); Benjamin’s voice provides color-commentary to Skarsgård’s frenzy. In spite of badly-depicted action scenes, Boy Kills World is much better than one might have expected from such an outing.
Upcoming films include:
- The Fall Guy, directed by David Leitch and starring Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, and Winston Duke. A cinematic remake of the Eighties Lee Majors TV series The Fall Guy, the previews promise a level of excitement that one would not have sussed if one only had the press description to go by. Otherwise? You had us at Gosling and Blunt.
- Tarot, directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg (in their directorial début) and starring Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Avantika Vandanapu, Wolfgang Novogratz, Humberly González, Larsen Thompson, and Jacob Batalon. Is this a plot by Big Tarot to sell more cards? The cards cannot tell us what’s coming, so — prepare.
- We’re also bearing witness to the re-release of the sextet of Star Wars films — the original trilogy plus the dispiriting prequels — plus the best of the bunch, Spaceballs, playing at The Last Picture House, 4 May. Spaceballs is already sold out, so you’ll probably want to hang out in the new rooftop bar that’s opening up the same day.
“Challengers,” “Unsung Hero,” and “Boy Kills World”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra dealt with some microphone-monkeying that had gone on before Levora and Pitra climbed aboard and got on with it. They discuss the family Shyamalan, with M Night’s daughter Ishana Night Shyamalan’s forthcoming directorial début The Watchers. Will Ishana be hobbled by the defects of her familial predecessor, Manoj Nelliyattu? God, let’s hope not.
And here, now, the reviews.
- The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusanmokun, Cary Elwes, Til Schweiger, Henrique Zaga, Roger Snipes, Danny Sapani, and Freddie Fox. Stupid Nazis whose stupidity makes you wonder how their real-life counterparts could have ever been a threat to anybody, and a bunch of English charm-pushers whose travails lack any urgency or suspense to justify a film. Given the film is based on real events, that’s a harsh indictment of Ritchie’s cinematic storytelling skills. Add to it the continuing dilemma of what to do with an actor like Cavill, who looks like he has charisma, but then he opens his mouth and — gone.
- Abigail, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and starring Alisha Weir, Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Matthew Goode, and Giancarlo Esposito. If you didn’t know this was a vampire-ballerina film, you’d be better off. Best forget you read this and watch it. Or not. This outing, as with the other films, was a “meh” affair.
- Sasquatch Sunset, directed by David and Nathan Zellner and starring Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, and Christophe Zajac-Denek. “I didn’t get it,” Schulz concluded. The cast bark at one another under heavy latex makeup, but none of it amounted to what one might construe as a comedy.
As for previews:
- Challengers, a romantic sports film directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist, Darnell Appling, AJ Lister, and Nada Despotovich. Soapy-sounding premise, but Guadagnino’s directing, so it’s got that going for it.
- Boy Kills World, a 2023 action comedy-thriller film directed by Moritz Mohr and starring Bill Skarsgard, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Famke Janssen, Sharlto Copley, Brett Gelman, Isaiah Mustafa, and Andrew Koji. Skarsgård is Boy, a deaf-mute killing machine whose inner voice is furnished by H Jon Benjamin. Apparently, Benjamin’s telling Skarsgård that he’s gotta kill, kill, and once more kill. As Richard Hickock said to Perry Smith before they went about their business, “Plenty of hair on them walls.”
- Unsung Hero, a Christian drama directed by Richard Ramsey and Joel Smallbone and starring Smallbone, Daisy Betts, Kirrilee Berger, Jonathan Jackson, Lucas Black, Candace Cameron Bure, Diesel La Torraca (portraying Joel Smallbone — pret-ty meta, sis) and JJ Pantano. An Australian family overstuffed with children relocates to Nashville in 1991. And, somewhere, Jesus.
- Last, but certainly not least, is the forty-fifth-anniversary showing of Ridley Scott’s Alien, starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto. Schulz has watched Alien a hundred-score and ten, but he’s excited to finally see it on the big screen. Will Scott be celebrating the film again in five years?
“Abigail,” “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” and “Sasquatch Sunset”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra chit the film chat for a tight fifteen. Schulz liked what he saw this week, which disappointed Levora, who finds Schulz to be most fun when he’s attacking some form of abominable tripe. No luck this week, Dave.
The films under discussion:
- Civil War, directed by Alex Garland and starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Jesse Plemons, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Nick Offerman. Ludicrous plot-points notwithstanding, Garland’s film is more an experiential work rather than a story that requires logical plot development. Levora says his friends were bugged by the lack of explanations, but Schulz didn’t mind not being so unlumbered. If you can just accept the premise at face and let it wash over you, you’ll find lots to enjoy.
- Arcadian, a post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Ben Brewer and starring Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins, and Sadie Soverall. A Quiet Place, with smell replacing sound as the monster-signaler. Clever, Brewer.
- Vanya, directed by and starring Andrew Scott, it’s a one-man rendition of Anton Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya. You have to dig it for the sheer feat of it, apparently.
- The Last Picture House has booked 2022’s Hundreds of Beavers, directed by Mike Cheslik and starring Ryland Brickson Cole Tews (who also co-wrote the film with Cheslik), Olivia Graves, Wes Tank, Doug Mancheski, and Luis Rico. Schulz likens the work as a black-and-white Looney Tunes feature stretched out to film-length. Schulz doesn’t think he’ll see it again, as he laughed a half-dozen times, but smiled at the proceedings more than anything.
Previews for films for Schulz to review, should he decide to:
- The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusanmokun, Cary Elwes, Til Schweiger, Henrique Zaga, Roger Snipes, Danny Sapani, and Freddie Fox. Sounds like Inglorious Basterds, but with English blokes in place of the Jewish-American bad-asses (and Brad Pitt).
- The People’s Joker, a 2022 superhero parody, directed by Vera Drew and starring Drew, Lynn Downey, Kane Distler, Nathan Faustyn, Scott Aukerman, Tim Heidecker, Maria Bamford, David Liebe Hart, Robert Wuhl, and Bob Odenkirk. Interesting premise.
- Abigail, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and starring Alisha Weir, Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, and Giancarlo Esposito. Concerns a vampire ballerina. Mmmmmm, pass?
- Sasquatch Sunset, directed by David and Nathan Zellner and starring Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, and Christophe Zajac-Denek. The film has become notorious for driving viewers aware with scenes of man-apes behaving as man-apes will if no one was watching them. For those made of sterner stuff, there may be laughter ahead. . .
“Civil War,” “Arcadian,” “Vanya,” and “Hundreds of Beavers”
Mike Schulz has overcome last week’s problem (car died, again) to make it into studio to jaw with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about stuff cinematic. Schulz credits the fine folk at Uber for making the film-going experience sans automobile an enjoyable one, even when the films proved underwhelming or even anti-whelming.
These are the films that Schulz has reviewed:
- Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, directed by Adam Wingard and starring Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen as the humans. Baby Kong should have been killed off within the first ten minutes. Schulz caught this during a matinee showing, so he got to see the film from a kid’s perspective, insofar as the dearth of human dialogue didn’t drive him bonkers.
- In the Land of Saints and Sinners, released last year, directed by Robert Lorenz, and starring Kerry Condon, Liam Neeson, Jack Gleeson, Colm Meaney, Sarah Greene, Niamh Cusack, and Ciarán Hinds. Schulz was disappointed to inform us that he wasn’t disappointed in the film. As great an actor as Neeson remains, he’s had a ten-year run of bad films up to now. Nice to see the undertow of badness hasn’t claimed him for keeps.
- Ripley, the Netflix eight-episode limited series, written and directed by Steven Zaillian and starring Andrew Scott, Johnny Flynn, and Dakota Fanning. Schulz loved the 1999 Talented Mr Ripley and was over the moon about the series. Bingeworthy for sure.
- The New Omen, directed by Arkasha Stevenson and starring Nell Tiger Free, Tawfeek Barhom, Sônia Braga, Ralph Ineson, and Bill Nighy. Schulz had a serious case of déjà vu, given that there’s so many of these sequels. How many Omen sequels do we really need? Who’s asking for them? TELL us, goddammit!
- Monkey Man, directed by Dev “Slumdog Millionaire” Patel and starring Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash Tripathy, Vipin Sharma, Sikandar Kher, Adithi Kalkunte, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, Makarand Deshpande, Jatin Malik and Zakir Hussain. Despite getting strong reviews, Schulz thought Patel was letting up on all the things that make a solid action film so that he can sneak in some insight into Indian culture where he can. It’s a case of misplaced ambition. Less puranas, Patel, and more punching, please.
- Wicked Little Letters, a 2023 British black-comic mystery, directed by Thea Sharrock and starring Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Joanna Scanlan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Eileen Atkins, and Timothy Spall. Levora only needed to hear Schulz say “Olivia Colman” and he’s seeing the film, so Schulz might as well go home. Happily, Sharrock’s film has a lot to recommend it to audiences.
- Problemista, an autobiographical surrealist-comic film written, directed, and produced by Julio Torres (triple THREAT!) and starring Torres (QUADRUPLE!), Tilda Swinton, RZA, Greta Lee, Catalina Saavedra, James Scully, and Isabella Rossellini. “Self-consciously precious in a fantastical way that’s like A-24 at its worst” and “too much Tilda Swinton” are Schulz’s verdicts. Too much Tilda Swinton? Really? Yes, folks. Really.
As for previews:
- Civil War, directed by Alex Garland and starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Nick Offerman. Previews were disturbing. One would think the premise would lend itself to satire, but Garland has chosen to play it straight. In the words of Schulz’s friend, “Is this the movie we need right now?”
- Arcadian, a post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Ben Brewer and starring Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins, and Sadie Soverall. Has the Quiet Place vibe about it. It may be a case of déjà vu all over again.
- Sting, an arachnid horror film directed by Kiah Roache-Turner and starring Danny Kim, Noni Hazlehurst, Alyla Browne, Silvia Colloca, Jermaine Fowler, Robyn Nevin, Ryan Corr, and Penelope Mitchell. Spiders, yo. Arachnaphobia for a new generation of viewers who haven’t decided yet whether spiders freak them out or not.
- The Last Picture House has booked 2022’s Hundreds of Beavers, directed by Mike Cheslik and starring Ryland Brickson Cole Tews (who also co-wrote the film with Cheslik), Olivia Graves, Wes Tank, Doug Mancheski, and Luis Rico. Schulz will be in the Chicagoland area during this film’s run, which kinda pisses him off, because “it looks like slapstick genius.”
“Ripley,” “The First Omen,” “Monkey Man,” “Wicked Little Letters,” and “Problemista”
“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” and “In the Land of Saints and Sinners”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra take an extended stroll down Memory Lane with the films from 1989. Road House wasn’t the only film released that year, you know. That’s what Wikipedia tells us, anyway.
To the movies, ladies and gentlemen!
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, directed by Gil Kenan and starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, and Logan Kim. How did this franchise become so serious? And seriously unfunny? And why did the audience with which he saw it eat every line up as if S J Perelman supplied the dialogue? This was an occasion that Schulz felt a frission of existential horror at the scene unfolding before him — and it wasn’t the film.
- Late Night with the Devil, a real-time found-footage horror film directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes and starring David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Georgina Haig, and Josh Quong Tar. Dastmalchian, in his first lead role, plays a Seventies-era talk-show host who decides to hold a stunt broadcast on Halloween by hosting a demon-possessed girl and a medium. This, and Immaculate, redeemed Schulz’s movie-going experience.
- Immaculate, directed by Michael Mohan and starring Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Dora Romano, Giorgio Colangeli, and Simona Tabasco. Sweeney plays an innocent young pregnant virgin in a convent; and it only gets weirder and nuttier from there. In this instance, this is not a bad thing. It helps that Sweeney has actual acting ability from which she can draw.
- Shirley, a bio-drama about the 1972 presidential run of Shirley Chisholm, directed by John Ridley and starring Regina King, Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell, André Holland, Terrence Howard, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie, Dorian Missick, Amirah Vann, W Earl Brown, Brad James, and Reina King. Schulz felt let down by the tack Ridley took with the material, insofar as it couldn’t celebrate the character of Chisholm without pointing out that she didn’t win her run for the presidency. Oh, word? We must have missed the memo on that bit of history! Good grief, filmmakers. . .
- The Road House remake, directed by Doug Liman and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Conor McGregor (in his feature film debut), J D Pardo, Arturo Castro, and Billy Magnussen. Schulz has never seen the first film, believe it or not. He had no basis for comparison, so he was robbed of anything that might sustain his interest. Seriously, Schulz? The Patrick Swayze original was on cable practically every day throughout the Nineties! How? HOW?!
As for previews:
- Asphalt City, released in Europe in 2023 as Black Flies, directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, and starring Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Raquel Nave, Kali Reis, Michael Pitt, Katherine Waterston, and Mike Tyson. Schulz is keen to see this because it’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen Sean Penn in anything (Licorice Pizza!), and he wants to see what the former young punk renegade can pull off nowadays. Good enough reason, Schulz.
- In the Land of Saints and Sinners, released last year, directed by Robert Lorenz, and starring Kerry Condon, Liam Neeson, Jack Gleeson, Colm Meaney, Sarah Greene, Niamh Cusack, and Ciarán Hinds. Finbar Murphy (Neeson) plays a former assassin who (surprise) retires to an Irish town, but (surprise surprise) can’t leave behind his violent past. Levora does an incredibly funny imaginary dialogue between two Irish tough guys at cross-purposes with one another, with one trying to rhetorically leverage the other back into “the loife.”. Seriously, you hear Levora and you swear you’ve already seen Shamrock O’Blarney Stone — or, rather, everything you’d expect to see/hear from the latest Liam-Neeson-with-a-gun shoot-’em-up.
- Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, directed by Adam Wingard and starring Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen as the humans. More of the “explosive” showdown between the fire-breathing lizard and the chest-beating gorilla. What does the “X” stand for, again? Opinions differ. To some, it’s “against”; to others, it’s “multiplied by,” which seems problematic if you’re only getting the two monsters. The honorable Elijah Muhammad taught that members of the Nation of Islam took “X” as their surnames in order to emphasize their status of a dispossessed people, stolen from their homeland and cut off from their roots. Somehow, that last one doesn’t seem like it would apply to Wingard’s film. Levora thinks there’s no way in Hell that this film will outdo Godzilla Minus One. He’s probably right. But what would the honorable Elijah Muhammad think?
“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” “Road House,” “Shirley,” “Immaculate,” and “Late Night with the Devil”
Mike Schulz was over the moon with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about how many films he was able to watch and review (five) and still visit his mother in Chicago. Good job, homie.
Here, now, the reviews:
- Arthur the King, directed by Simon Cellan Jones and starring Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu, Juliet van Kampen Rylance, and Nathalie Emmanuel. Still can’t get that running sketch on Saturday Night Live of Mark Wahlberg talking to animals out of one’s head (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjpUdjYR6s). Wahlberg’s attempts at sincere emotion regarding his canine comrade elicit tears of laughter, as one is reminded of how spot-on Andy Samberg was so many years ago. . .
- One Life, a 2023 bio-drama directed by James Hawes and starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Jonathan Pryce, and Helena Bonham Carter. “It’s good, it’s solid,” says Schulz. Half the film is set in the Forties, with Flynn portraying the young Sir Nicholas Winton as he undertakes the rescue of Jewish children in German-occupied Czechoslovakia, and half in the Eighties, where Hopkins conveys a man haunted by what he wasn’t able to accomplish — all those lives he couldn’t save. Sir Winton gets a reminder from those he did that his efforts weren’t all for naught by way of the British program That’s Life! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqqbM1B-mPY) Very affecting material that one would have to be monstrously incompetent not to get right.
- Love Lies Bleeding, directed by Rose Glass and starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco, and Ed Harris. “A really weird movie,” according to Schulz. Set in New Mexico in 1989, Bleeding starts out a Forties-style noir drama, and then, forty minutes toward the conclusion, the film gets slapstick in its goofiness. Which is not necessarily a bad thing — just that, tonally, Bleeding is a bit of a bleedin’ mess.
- The American Society of Magical Negroes, directed by Kobi Libii and starring Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver, Michaela Watkins, Aisha Hinds, Tim Baltz, Rupert Friend, and Nicole Byer. Schulz doesn’t understand the nasty reviews this one has been getting, as he enjoyed both the concept (an ancient order of African-Americans who endeavor to preserve the warm, fuzzy feelings of white people) and its execution. Schulz thought the satire better than American Fiction, and he laughed much harder than that Oscar-pleasing underachiever.
- Snack Shack, directed by Adam Carter Rehmeier and starring Conor Sherry, Gabriel LaBelle, Mika Abdalla, Gillian Vigman, David Costabile, Nick Robinson, and JD Evermore. Schulz really liked this one. Think Meatballs, but with profanity straight out of a David Mamet script. Reminded him of Adventureland and Dazed and Confused. It wasn’t the genre-parody of a Wet Hot American Summer, which was Schulz’s first impression, but not every comedy has to be, right? Certainly, the producers would agree. . .
Concerning the previews:
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, directed by Gil Kenan and starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, and Logan Kim. After the first sequel, one would have thought it would have killed off any desire for follow-ups. Well, the 2021 sequel (to say nothing about the 2016 reboot — which nobody talks about) failed to quell such sensations, no matter how blasé the results. Levora’s itching to see it; Schulz, not so much. . .
- Late Night with the Devil, a found-footage horror film directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes and starring David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Georgina Haig, and Josh Quong Tar. Looks very promising. The reviews one has read are hesitant to give away the ending — that’s a quality side. Like potatoes au gratin.
- Immaculate, directed by Michael Mohan and starring Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Dora Romano, Giorgio Colangeli, and Simona Tabasco. Another horror film that’s been raved. The juggernaut that is Sydney Sweeney’s career continues, despite her participation in Madame Web, a film that’s made every critics’ worst-of lists, but has nonetheless drew viewers curious as to how bad “bad” can possibly be.
- Shirley, a bio-drama about the 1972 presidential run of Shirley Chisholm, directed by John Ridley and starring Regina King, Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell, André Holland, Terrence Howard, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie, Dorian Missick, Amirah Vann, W Earl Brown, Brad James, and Reina King. Looks fascinating; the era under review certainly was. . .
“Arthur the King,” “Love Lies Bleeding,” “One Life,” “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” and “Snack Shack”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra sound alarmed about the possibility of another mic having fritzed out, leaving Pitra to shout out his contributions from the bleachers. Not this time, baby! Schulz was happy with the Oscar production and the films that won (mostly). Ryan Gosling’s “Ken” song? Who could resist that? And he was happy with his rate of Oscar predictions, having missed only five of them, having tied for last year.
Here, now, the movies:
- The animated martial-arts comedy film Kung Fu Panda 4, directed by Mike Mitchell with Stephanie Ma Stine. The film is voiced by mainstays Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, and Ian McShane, and joined by Awkwafina, Ke Huy Quan, Ronny Chieng, Lori Tan Chinn, and Viola Davis. What’s it say about a movie, animated or otherwise, where the main character spends the first few minutes essentially apologizing for the absence this time around of characters from the previous films? Despite this, Kung Fu Panda 4 was the N° 1 movie at the box office this past week. Apparently, the kids needed their cinematic fix, and Kung Fu Panda 4 was the nearest drug for them within reach. Generation Zed is doomed, isn’t it?
- Imaginary, directed by Jeff Wadlow and starring DeWanda Wise, Tom Payne, Taegen Burns, Matthew Sato, Pyper Braun, Veronica Falcón, Betty Buckley, and the voice Dane DiLiegro, the film is a supernatural horror film that features a sinister teddy bear. The film was advertised as “From the studio that brought you M3GAN, and Five Nights at Freddy’s, and The Invisible Man, and The Black Phone” — and little did Blumhouse Productions realize, Schulz says, that Imaginary is essentially all of those films put into a blender. Watching Betty Buckley going bugsy might have salvaged the evening for Schulz.
- Cabrini, directed by Alejandro Gómez Monteverde and starring Cristiana Dell’Anna, David Morse, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Federico Ielapi, Virginia Bocelli, Rolando Villazón, Giancarlo Giannini, and John Lithgow, the film involves the life of Catholic missionary Francesca Cabrini (Dell’Anna) in late-Nineteenth-Century New York City. Well-acted and subtle, and Lithgow is still nuts, still very much an alumnus of the Big Actor School of Performances.
- 20 Days in Mariupol, a 2023 documentary about the first weeks of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, directed by Mstyslav Andriiovych Chernov, is as brutal as the title subject suggests. 20 Days won the Best Documentary Feature Film, and it’s streaming on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvAyykRvPBo).
As concerns the previews:
- Arthur the King, directed by Simon Cellan Jones and starring Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu, Juliet van Kampen Rylance, and Nathalie Emmanuel. Basically, it’s Mark Wahlberg and a dog. Did you ever see the running sketch on Saturday Night Live of Mark Wahlberg talking to animals? No one who’s seen it will be able to get that out of their head (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjpUfdjYR6s). You’re welcome. Saw hello to your mother for us. . .
- One Life, a 2023 bio-drama directed by James Hawes and starring Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Jonathan Pryce, and Helena Bonham Carter. Hopkins portrays Nicholas Winston, a London stockbroker who rescued 664 Jewish children from the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia and spent nearly fifty years thereafter lamenting the children he could not save. In 1988, the British program That’s Life reunited Sir Winston with the children who were placed with foster families successfully, thanks to Sir Winston (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqqbM1B-mPY) — and (hopefully) salved his conscience for the remaining 27 years of his life, dying at age 106.
- Love Lies Bleeding, directed by Rose Glass and starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco, and Ed Harris. Schulz wasn’t sure which film this was, and neither did Levora or Pitra, it seems — though it would seem that saying any combination of “Kristen Stewart” and “Rolling Stone magazine cover” should have cleared up the cobwebs, particularly after the Colbert interview with Stewart aired (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ2wLJWIOn8). You go, Stew!
- The American Society of Magical Negroes, directed by Kobi Libii and starring Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver, Michaela Watkins, Aisha Hinds, Tim Baltz, Rupert Friend, and Nicole Byer, this looks like good, satirical fun, with the characters part of a magical society of African Americans whose mission is to make the lives of white people easier.
- Snack Shack, directed by Adam Carter Rehmeier and starring Conor Sherry, Gabriel LaBelle, Mika Abdalla, Gillian Vigman, David Costabile, Nick Robinson, and JD Evermore, sounds like Wet Hot American Summer with an age-appropriate cast. The New York Times has praised this film, so — there’s that.
“Imaginary,” “Cabrini,” “Kung Fu Panda 4,” and “20 Days in Mariupol”
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy talks with WQUD GM Aaron Dail and Pat Jones, Sancho Panza to Dail’s Don Quixote, re recent highlights, both online and within Issue N° 1019. Joining the two for half of the discussion is Li Arellano, the former mayor of Dixon, Illinois, and one of three Republicans vying for the open 37th District state Senate seat at present. (The other candidates are Chris Bishop, former Dixon teacher and a member of the Dixon City Council, and Tim Yager, a member of both the Henry County Board and the Henry County Farm Bureau.) McGreevy solicits Arellano’s opinion re the recent state efforts to push Donald Trump off their ballots — since decided by the Supreme Court to be the provenance of Congress, not the states — and both question the legality of such efforts, given that (to date) Trump hasn’t been convicted of any federal offense that would mandate such pre-emptive actions.
The Decline and Fall of Davenport, Iowa? A Timeline
Dr Ezra Sidran lays it out in his header: “How did the City Administrator, who hired the department heads that mismanaged two of the city’s biggest disasters in modern history, secure a $1.6 million payment for emotional damages and lost wages in secret without a city council vote until after elections?” Much like his previous month’s timeline on the collapse of the Davenport Hotel (324 Main Street Disaster Timeline and Receipts), Dr Sidran filed a bunch of Freedom of Information Act requests, and from them was able to determine the timeline of city-administrative chicanery that, in the latter instance, led to a number of officials resigning their posts and receiving pay-outs that were kept secret from citizens until the last possible moment. Sidran provides us a wealth of instances to keep in mind the next time we get an opportunity to register our grievances — which, if Mayor Mike Matson’s embargo on public commentary in open-session committee meetings holds, may well be the next election cycle.
The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens by Richard N Haass
Lydia Electrum’s review of The Bill of Obligations lauds the principles espoused by Haass. As concerns his fidelity to those principles, however, Haass — who was president of the Council on Foreign Relations from July 2003 to June 2023, prior to which he served as Director of Policy Planning for the United States Department of State (established by George F Kennan in 1947 as the Cold War was settling in) and a close advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell under President George W Bush (not so plum a posting, that) — has much to teach us as an object lesson in how compromised one can become in trying to keep them straight, and not so much the latter-day Walter Isaacson-style Wise Man policy Moses with tablets of wisdom to lug down Mount Sinai and break upon the skulls of the uneducated, doltish masses. One recalls the hair-splitting of arguments Haass performed on NPR’s All Things Considered for Robert Siegel (Richard Haass: ‘I Did Not Believe in The Iraq War’: NPR, 13 May 2009), wherein he described himself as “60 percent against going to war in Iraq” — the remaining 40 percent of his doubts about his doubts being enough to keep him from resigning in protest, evidently. In the course of his career, Haass had wandered into moral territory wherein the maps had fallen off the maps; how he made his way from one end to the other might have made for a more honest, less equivocal book.
Buried Stories: D D Palmer (1845-1913)
Bruce Walters’s analysis of Davenport’s arguably most important contributor to world knowledge, D D (Daniel David) Palmer, gains in esteem in everyone’s eyes due to Walters’s portrait of the man as a member of some lost Hasidic sect of Judaism. Palmer, whose bust sits atop Brady Street Hill, was a Davenport citizen who started in the dubious field of magnetic healing, and discovered, in his stumblings, upon a more enduring contribution to medical thought in spinal adjustment; and his founding, in 1897, of the Palmer School and Cure in Davenport, later renamed Palmer College of Chiropractic, nailed his discovery into bedrock. Walters doesn’t say anything about the supposed rivalry that developed between D D Palmer and his only son, B J (Bartlett Joshua) Palmer, to the extent that the son was alleged to have run over his father during the homecoming parade for the Palmer School of Chiropractic in 1913, which led to the injuries that later claimed the elder’s life after his return to his home in Los Angeles. Whether D D Palmer died of typhoid fever, as is documented, or he was the victim of either outright patricide or a faulty clutch, only adds to the level of interest that the Palmers bring to their story; and Palmer College continues to this day to invite, and graduate, students from all over the world.
Reader Events Calendar: Your Key to Quad Cities’ Culture
Everything that’s worth seeing and/or doing in the QCA.
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra discuss Schulz’s recent reviews as well as the Oscars, airing this Sunday — and breathe out. Owing to technical issues, however, what should be an audio three-way sounds like one of the participants — in this case, Darren — has been mixed waaaay down in the feed. Technical issues in the studio left the three with only two working mics, so Levorac, mensch that he is, elected to give Schulz his mic. Bear that in mind as the discussion proceeds, ‘kay?
On to the movies, then! Wagons ho!
- Dune: Part Two, directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and Léa Seydoux, looks stunning, though the battle scenes feel interchangeable with those of David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation.
- Spaceman, directed by Johan Renck, written by Colby Day, and based on the 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař. The film, which is streaming on Netflix, stars Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Kunal Nayyar, Isabella Rossellini, and Paul Dano. The very premise is absurd: Sanders is Jakub Procházka, a Czech astronaut who’s been sent into space to investigate an interstellar cloud and has to deal with a four-foot being who grows out of his nose and takes an incessant interest in the astronaut’s marriage to Lenka (Mulligan), who is carrying his baby. You keep expecting laughs around every corner, but they never arrive. Nope: This is one of Sandler’s serious turns. He has to show audiences and colleagues from time to time that he has acting chops, baby, and this is one of them. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Concerning the previews:
- The animated martial-arts comedy film Kung Fu Panda 4, directed by Mike Mitchell with Stephanie Ma Stine, the film is voiced by mainstays Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, and Ian McShane, and joined by Awkwafina, Ke Huy Quan, Ronny Chieng, Lori Tan Chinn, and Viola Davis. If you enjoyed the previous three films, there’s no reason why the fourth should fail to stick the landing.
- Imaginary, directed by Jeff Wadlow and starring DeWanda Wise, Tom Payne, Taegen Burns, Matthew Sato, Pyper Braun, Veronica Falcón, Betty Buckley, and the voice Dane DiLiegro, the film is a supernatural horror film that features a sinister teddy bear. For those who felt Seth MacFarlane failed to properly exploit the Ted concept to its logically horrific end, Imaginary may be your film.
- Cabrini, directed by Alejandro Gómez Monteverde and starring Cristiana Dell’Anna, David Morse, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Federico Ielapi, Virginia Bocelli, Rolando Villazón, Giancarlo Giannini, and John Lithgow, the film involves the life of Catholic missionary Francesca Cabrini (Dell’Anna) in late-Nineteenth-Century New York City. This may be good, but one’s brain kind of turned off after hearing Levora’s impersonation of Lithgow’s agent. Good stuff, Dave!
“Dune: Part Two” and “Spaceman”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra have a comparatively brisk tête-à-tête. Next week, they’ll be on about the Oscars. And Dune: Part Two.
- Drive-Away Dolls, directed by Ethan Coen, starring Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp, and Matt Damon. Since Ethan had separated professionally from his brother, Joel, their individual works feel like they’re missing something. Since then, we’ve learned some immutable truths: When the two split, it wasn’t just a professional split. They are one being, and they have been halved at an atomic level. And we need to figure out how to fuse them back together before it’s too late and we — can’t.
- Ordinary Angels, directed by Jon Gunn from a script written by Meg Tilly with Kelly Fremon Craig, starring Hilary Swank, Alan Ritchson, Nancy Travis, and Tamala Jones. Swank, back from an interim of seeming inactivity, plays Erin Brokovich. Nice proof of life about the Swankster; other than that, the film’s pretty bland. But at least it wasn’t a hot mess like Drive-Away Dolls.
Concerning previews, there’s just Dune: Part Two (directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and Léa Seydoux). Just. . . Dune. Surely, that must be more than enough, right?
“Drive-Away Dolls” and “Ordinary Angels”
Dr Stranglehold or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Movie: Predicting the 2024 Academy Award Winners
Dave Levora told Mike Schulz how he regrets not being present when MS saw Madame Webb: “I love it when you just tee off on a film,” he said. Levora’s not the only one — Darren Pitra presumably shares it. And good kids who eat their cereal get a healthy dose of irony with each spoonful!
The films in questions:
- Madame Webb, directed by S J Clarkson and starring Dakota Johnson in the title role, alongside Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, and Adam Scott, it’s as bad as all the notices it’s received say it is, but not so-bad-it’s-good bad. Read Schulz’s review, save your money, and watch it when it streams with the radio on or a book open or some other form of media that will relieve the headache you might otherwise get from Clarkson’s folly.
- Bob Marley: One Love, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and starring Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton, Tosin Cole, Aston Barrett Jr, Anthony Welsh, Sevana, Hector Lewis, Michael Gandolfini, Nadine Marshall, and Henry Douthwaite, was the N° 1 film its first weekend — a feat no one was expecting. It still seems inexplicable, given how bland the proceedings are, and its musical sequences, though lovely, don’t have the climactic feel of Bohemian Rhapsody.
- The Last Picture House had booked all of the nominees in this year’s Academy Awards races for Best Animated and Live-Action Short Film. (They would have had the Best Documentary entries as well, but they had to make room for Marley.) Surely, there’s something that might buy your eye!
Regarding previews:
- Drive-Away Dolls, directed by Ethan Coen, starring Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp, and Matt Damon — and judging from the plot-description, it sounds like Raising Arizona, albeit with more viscera. Can’t wait!
- Ordinary Angels, directed by Jon Gunn, starring Hilary Swank, Alan Ritchson, Nancy Travis, and Tamala Jones. Meg Tilly co-wrote the script with Kelly Fremon Craig — this was the occasion for our intrepid trio to play “Remember When?” about Meg Tilly from her salad days. Although it is, as Tony Soprano described it, “the lowest form of conversation,” “Remember When?” is a lot of fun for cretins like us.
“Bob Marley: One Love,” “Madame Web,” and the 2024 Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Animated and Live Action
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy talks with WQUD GM Aaron Dail and his amigo Gary re recent highlights, both online and within Issue N° 1013. Christopher Gadsden’s iconic “Don’t tread on me” snake from the Gadsen flag adorns the cover, a serendipitous decision, according to McGreevy, given the contents of this issue:
To Comply or Not to Comply, That Is the Question
Dail observes that the recent new COVID-19 variant has been received with more skepticism by the public this time around, and the World Health Organization’s acumen isn’t taken on such blind faith anymore. As with the first go-around, Kathleen McCarthy asks the questions about which the local media, whatever their respective reasons, chose (and choose) to duck. McCarthy writes, “Never forget by the end of 2022, the CDC had to dial back its claim of one million US deaths with COVID, to approximately 40,000 deaths from COVID, after it had been discovered that the CDC ordered hospitals, coroners, and medical examiners nationwide, to record deceased patients with positive PCR test results, as primary COVID deaths on their death certificates.” “It’s all I can do,” McGreevy says, “[to prevent myself from] putting a hundred-sized font on the front saying, ‘WE TOLD YOU SO’.” When public health officials can’t get their numbers straight on such a scale, citizens do themselves a disservice when they don’t question the narratives that proliferate, either with or without the WHO’s assent.
The more things change. . . Dr Ron Paul’s recent column (A New Covid ‘Variant’… Just in Time for Election Season!) found comedy in the return of the recently-retired Anthony Fauci to national prominence, “like a moth drawn to the light of publicity.” Back in March 2020, Dr Paul contributed The Coronavirus Hypocrisies to the Reader; and the only change of note to the handling of the variants is that Donald Trump was still president then. Now it’s Joseph Biden at the wheel, but, in the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
Buried Stories: William Louis Sandoval (1923-1944)
The most recent installment in Bruce Walters’s series of the famous among the locally-interred concerns William Louis Sandoval, one of the East Moline, Illinois natives who was heralded as what has since been branded “Hero Street” in Silvis. Twenty-two families from that street sent 57 of their children to fight in WWII. Sandoval was among the eight who didn’t return. In fact, Sandoval’s body was never recovered. A monument conceived by a childhood friend of Sandoval’s, Sonny Soliz, was commemorated in 2007, and it honors those eight, and serves as a reminder that, for a far-too-brief moment in time, soldiers like Sandoval did more than simply walk the earth; they fought for every centimeter of ground they could hold, and they paid for it in blood.
Nate Lawrence, 1942-2023
McGreevy and David Baker observe the passing of another unsung hero, Nate Lawrence, who died 15 August 2023, age eighty. Lawrence helped co-found, with Shellie Moore Guy, Polyrhythms, the grassroots non-profit responsible for the Third Sunday Jazz concerts and free student workshops with internationally-renowned jazz artists, the Donald Meade Jazz Griot Award, and the Bill Bell Jazz and Heritage Festival. He helped keep the Watertown musicians alive in the historical discussions of jazz greats from the Quad Cities when it seemed it might only have room to accommodate Bix Beiderbecke and Louie Bellson. Lawrence was also heavily into promoting transparency in media, so his passing has added relevance.
The Harsh Lessons of “Rich Men North of Richmond”
Dail was very taken with Loren Thatcher’s assessment of Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond”: “Unlike the maximalist production so essential in sending Aldean’s floater to the top of the pop country Port-A-John, Anthony’s video is as spare as the song itself: just a man and his guitar and a couple of dogs, presumably on his Farmville, Virginia homestead.” Dail also thought it pertinent to mention that Thatcher also hosts The Black Light Blues Show, a psychedelic-rock show on WQUD, which Dail thinks gives him “a peculiar pedestal to stand on and judge other music when you’re a psychedelic rock-show host” — said with much love, naturally.
G Edward Griffin Stays True to Himself at Red Pill Expo in Des Moines
Jason Bermas, a New York transplant who moved his family to the area three years ago, writes about Adam Callaghan’s interview with G Edward Griffin at the 13 August Red Pill Expo in Des Moines. Gary, who mentioned a YouTube clip wherein the discussion focused on the ominous omnipresence of nanoparticles in our world,* moved McGreevy to bring Griffin up, as Griffin, at 91, is a nanoparticle ninja.
- Might Gary be on about Chad Mirkin PhD’s discussion of nanoparticles, posted a couple months ago (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YdQE5yVSNs)?
Reader Events Calendar: Your Key to Quad Cities’ Culture
Links to events happening this month in the QCA, like River Action’s Taming of the Slough Mississippi River Adventure Triathlon, September 16 and 2023 Mississippi Valley Blues Fest, September 15 and 16.
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra discuss at length the perilous state of super-hero films — and, moreover, movies with numbers in their titles — before getting down to discuss the merits of, funnily enough, The Equalizer 3, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Denzel Washington as retired Marine and DIA officer Robert McCall. This is supposedly the final film in a trilogy that neither Mike, Darren, nor David thought even existed; they weren’t aware that The Equalizer 3 was a thing until they saw the previews. They knew that it’s an adaptation of the TV series of the same name, starring Edward Woodward as McCall in the first run (1985-89) and rebooted for Queen Latifah, who portrays Robyn McCall (2021-present). Schulz said he hated the first film and didn’t have time to see the second one, so his threshold of excitement was fairly low going in to the third. Schulz thought the material in The Equalizer 3 clichéd, filled with the two types of Italians we’ve seen in cinema since Edward G Robinson croaked out, “Is this the end of Rico?” We’re talking about the life-loving, excitable, Mama and Papa Leone types and the dead-eyed, throat-cutting Mafia jabronis — the kind of two-dimensional dolts whom David Chase alternately satirized and explored untold depths in six seasons of The Sopranos. Despite Fuqua lacking any of Chase’s ambitions or talent, Schulz enjoyed watching Washington “because he is clearly, at this point in his career, past the point where he has to prove anything. [Washington] can just show up, be confident, and talk quietly, and grin, and shake his head at how stupid these mafiosos are at getting in his way and refusing to back off; and it’s just such a delight. You can hear the happiness in the audience whenever Denzel’s, like, ready to kill people. He makes the whole thing worthwhile.” Schulz brought his 81-year-old mom with him to see it, and she loved it, in spite of (or perhaps because of?) how gory the whole thing was. Levora notes that no one has a hard time getting their moms to watch Denzel Washington, who is pushing seventy himself, who remember him from as far back as his 1982-88 run on St Elsewhere. (Pitra adds that the same cannot be said about Howie Mandel. True, that. Sad, that.) About the film Bottoms, which director Emma Seligman co-wrote with Rachel Sennott, who also co-stars with Ayo Edebiri, who is in seemingly everything these days, Schulz commends its “great subversive premise” of the charming old “teens-wanna-get-laid” theme, “but the teens are high-school senior lesbians.” Sennott and Edebiri believe opening a self-defense club (but really a Fight Club) so they can seduce cheerleaders. The plot, Schulz says, is “all kinda rapey and kind of, like, horrible, but done as a big slapstick comedy.” One would think that, given the set-up Schulz describes, he could overlook the usual concerns about teen comedies (where the “teens” are clearly in their twenties), where “the more outlandish it gets, the less you care,” but Schulz asks, “When anything can happen, what’s there to subvert?” Clearly, the critics have been playing up the whole “subversive” angle of the film, to the point where Schulz couldn’t derive as much pleasure from it as he hoped he would. He was hoping for a Heathers, “which you could see happening in the real world,” but Bottoms fell well short of that august standard. Oh, well. It sounded a lot better than Zombie Town, directed by Peter Lepeniotis and starring Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd (SNL alums! Back for the first time since 1985’s Spies like Us! Not counting 1991’s Nothing but Trouble!), Bruce McCulloch, Scott Thompson (Kids in the Hall alums! Back for the first time since — last year! On Amazon Prime!), Marlon Kazadi, Henry Czerny, Madi Monroe, and author R L Stine in a cameo appearance). “Disappointingly bad” is how Schulz puts it; a bunch of wasted opportunities (neither Chase nor Ackroyd really share a scene, nor do McCulloch or Thompson). “It was a Canadian production,” Schulz pointed out, “which broke my heart, because aren’t they supposed to be funnier than we are?” “Laugh-free” is how Schulz describes this attempt at a comedy. Best forget it like Nothing but Trouble (which our three critics have already done, having decided that 1985’s Spies like Us was the last time Chase and Ackroyd paired up). As for previews, Schulz awaits My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (“Bring it on. Every sixteen years, we have to get one of these”) and The Nun II, which takes place in the Conjuring universe of shared paranormal phenomena. And that’s it, preview-wise. What follows this is Levora’s pitch for a toy tie-in film that might win an Oscar. No, it isn’t The Mousetrap. Think Slinky. And Levora has researched this concept to such an insane degree that Hollywood, having endured a prolonged strike, really should put everything they have into making this a reality. Really, you have to hear him roll it out. . .
“The Equalizer 3,” “Bottoms,” and “Zombie Town”
Mike Schulz and Dave Levora tell Darren Pitra that Retribution was just as bad as they hoped it would be: Liam Neeson commits too much emotion on behalf of Matt Turner, a character trapped in an absurd premise; and his two bairns, Emily (Lilly Aspell) and Zach (Jack Champion), have the audience — well, two of them at least — actively rooting against their continued existence. Schulz deplores the film’s bad plotting, for which director Nimród Antal deserves obloquy, and excessive overwriting, which dings Chris Salmanpour. Unfortunately, Salmanpour’s commitment to detail does not preclude him from allowing logical plot howlers to pass along unacknowledged. It’s the kind of bad that makes one angry for having ponied up the dough for admission; the kind that has one talking throughout the film about how bad it is. Pitra asks Schulz if this is the worst film of the year so far, but Schulz had to concede that, no, the Celine Dion one (Love Again) still holds the prize. Right after Retribution ended, Schulz walked into Guy Nattiv’s Golda, starring Helen Mirren as Golda Meier, the Israeli prime minister whose armies had to fend off a coalition of Arab-state aggressors, overseen by Egypt and Syria, for two weeks and five days in October 1973. Schulz hasn’t much to say about that one, other than Mirren is solid in the role — leaving one with the implication that people who really know their Israeli history will get the most out of it. (“It’s solid, it’s strong, it’s gone.”) Then there’s Jeff Celentano’s The Hill, a biographical sports-drama about Rickey Hill (Colin Ford), set in Texas in the mid-Seventies. Hill overcame the handicap of his spinal disease, which required him to wear leg braces, in order to impress a scout, sign up with the Montreal Expos, and play four seasons of Major League Baseball. Now, how can one go wrong with such a premise? “By making everything so unbelievably phony and forced and laughably, laughably bad,” says Schulz. Dennis Quaid may have the least savory role in the film as Pastor Hill, who fears for Rickey’s safety and wants him to go into the family business of preaching the gospel. When Hill fils defies him and goes for it, Hill père decides to double down on his swinishness, telling his congregation that he’s proud that he hasn’t seen one of Ricky’s games. Proud! It’s apparent that the senior Hill was angling for his own record, that of Worst Father of the Seventies — okay, the mid-Seventies, given that the Rev Jim Jones would offer some stiff competition later in the decade. Now, concerning previews, Levora and Schultz saw the one for The Equalizer 3, which took Levora by surprise, as he wasn’t even aware that this film existed, let alone made and ready for viewing. It appears that Denzel Washington has established his own franchise, and all under Levora’s radar. Schulz says he didn’t care for the first Equalizer and didn’t get a chance to see the second, but the preview was such that he found himself saying, “How bad could it be?” A question whose answer was apparent immediately for Retribution. Will Equalizer 3 be to Washington what Retribution was to Neeson? Well, it’s unlikely that there will be a Retribution 2: Brand New Vehicle; but if the worst thing that happens is that folks like Levora and Schulz talk over your performance during its runtime, then both Neeson and Washington would be doing pretty good, no? And, uh, Bottoms is opening up this weekend, so. . . go see that. . . looks good. . . Porkies for women. . . why did they have to give it that title?
“Retribution,” “Golda,” and “The Hill”
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra point out that, traditionally, no good movies have been released in the last week of August. This fact suggests the forthcoming Liam Neeson action/road-thriller Retribution may be an even bigger box-office crash than the three of them anticipate. Still, they’re going to see it this Friday, and they … Continue reading August 24, 2023 on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Gran Turismo,” “Blue Beetle,” “Strays,” “Red, White, and Royal Blue,” “Of an Age,” and “Close” →
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about The Last Voyage of the Demeter, director André Øvredal’s adaptation of the “Captain’s Log” chapter from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula — ever heard of it? Schulz assures us that “the only thing wrong” with The Last Voyage is that “it’s not scary and it’s … Continue reading August 17, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” and “Jules” →
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about the hypnotic qualities of Levora’s lava lamp, as well as stuff cinematic. Schulz, sadly, did not like Meg 2: The Trench as much as he did the first film. 2018’s The Meg, directed by Jon Turteltaub from Steve Alten’s 1997 novel Meg: A Novel of … Continue reading August 10, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Meg 2: The Trench,” “Theater Camp,” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” →
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about the utter failure of Haunted Mansion, both as a film (a cast whose individual comic sensibilities jar against one another) and a money-making proposition ($38.7 million to date against a $150 million budget). The straight-up horror film Talk to Me, directed by Danny and Michael … Continue reading August 3, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Haunted Mansion,” “Talk to Me,” and “The Baker” →
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about their varying levels of enthusiasm for the forthcoming Wonka film. Schulz isn’t on board for it, whereas Levora and Pitra sound intrigued by what director Paul King, who was previously responsible for 2014’s Paddington and its 2017 sequel, will bring to the enterprise. Still, no … Continue reading July 13, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” “Sound of Freedom,” “Joy Ride,” and “Insidious: The Red Door” →
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about the terrific time he had watching Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny with his family, all two-and-a-half hours of it. “It’s not a great movie,” Schulz allows. “None of the sequels are great. But it’s got great stuff; and the best thing about it … Continue reading July 6, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny,” “Past Lives,” and “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” →
Mike Schulz begins his session with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about Mel Brooks’s ninety-seventh birthday. Levora shares a fantastic anecdote Brooks shared with Judd Apatow his experience in World War II — you should hear Levora tell it, here. (Or you could read it, elsewhere, in The Atlantic Monthly: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/07/mel-brooks-judd-apatow-interview/674167/.) After this, talk of … Continue reading June 29, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Asteroid City” and “No Hard Feelings” →
Anthony Dail talks with Tony Danza, the son of a Brooklyn garbageman and a graduate of the University of Dubuque, about the great good fortune of his career, whose embers started glowing on Taxi (1978-1983), caught fire on Who’s the Boss? (1984-1993), lighted his way to teaching English for a year for a reality show (Teach: … Continue reading “Who’s the Boss?”, Applesauce, Tony Danza — Not at a Loss, and Very Much Present: Aaron Dail Talks with the Man, May 4 →
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy talks with Aaron Dail and his buddy Gary re the highlights of Issue N° 1010: Link: Rule of Law and Its Breaches Reflect a Nation’s People Dail asks McGreevy if Kathleen McCarthy, the author of this article (and his wife), employs any personal protection. While downplaying KMcC’s formidable qualities … Continue reading Between What the Government Can’t Talk About and What It Won’t, We Survive, Somehow — Todd McGreevy & AD in the Morning on WQUD Discuss the June Edition of River Cities’ Reader →
Aaron Dail talks with Andrew Lehman about the big gets for this year’s John Deere Classic Tournament. Among them is West Des Moines’s Caitlin Clark, the celebrated Hawkeyes basketball guard, “the closest thing the state of Iowa has to The Beatles right now,” whose nine-hole club-off with Waterloo’s Zach Johnson will be well-attended. “We’ve seen … Continue reading Aaron Dail Interview with Andrew Lehman, New John Deere Classic Tournament Director, June 20 →
In the “Crows” segment Akira Kurosawa’s 1990 film Dreams, Akira Terao portrays an art student. The student views the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh one minute, and the next he steps inside the canvas, into the worlds Van Gogh rendered. He finds the artist, played by Martin Scorsese, and learns from him his extreme dedication … Continue reading Aaron Dail Interview w Fanny Curtat, June 21, re “Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience,” →
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about how, despite the warning signs, he didn’t hate Elemental, the latest Disney/Pixar animated joint. Given the film concerns anthropomorphic elements — earth, air, fire, and water — he was a bit flummoxed that earth and air didn’t figure hardly at all in the finished work. … Continue reading June 15, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Elemental” and “The Flash” →
Mike Schulz, back from holiday, having seen no movies over the break, talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about how “man-oh-man” good Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was; about how the richness of the concept (infinite Spider-Men across an infinite multi-verse, each sharing special life circumstances that made their super-heroism possible) is matched by the eye-popping … Continue reading June 15, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” →
This podcast is the ten-minute news conference held Monday, June 5, 2023 around 10AM. Only once was the Saturday before the collapse 911 call mentioned, and then only fleetingly, as if an afterthought. Andrew Wold, the owner of The Davenport Hotel, had to be brought up by a reporter, and might otherwise have gone unmentioned … Continue reading Monday June 5, 2023 Davenport City Officials Shift to “Under Investigation Can’t Answer Questions Mode” on The Davenport Building Collapse →
This podcast is the one hour news conference held Tuesday May 30, 2023 around 11am inside the Davenport Police Department in downtown Davenport.
This is in the wake of the City belaying the demolition crews of the building known as The Davenport (formerly The Davenport Hotel) less than 48 hours after the Sunday afternoon partial collapse of the west side of 324 Main Street, which is a 1914 built building diagonally across the street from Davenport City Hall. Said building had as many as 50 residential tenants leasing apartments inside.
Due to the public pressure from displaced and concerned citizens amassing in a near mob like protests outside of City Hall early Tuesday morning, backing down the demolition crews.
The concerned citizens are crying foul due to the city claiming there was no one left inside the building early Monday, only to have a woman appear in a window Monday evening to be rescued.
Prior to this Tuesday news conference rumors were abound that two people who lived there were still missing and unaccounted for.
At this news conference, hosted by the mayor, police chief, fire chief, fire marshall, and city housing development director, the public learned that the city considered 3 people unaccounted for that may or may not have been living in the building during the collapse and that 2 additional people were unaccounted for that were likely at the bottom of the rubble pile.
A reporter asked, “How did we go from plans to demolish [The Davenport Hotel] this morning — how did we have a plan to demolish this morning, and now, there’s no timeline, and we’re saying, ‘Find the missing’ and ‘Two may be in here’? For those for whom that does not compute, and how was [Lisa Brooks’s presence amidst the rubble] missed to that degree?”
Mayor Mike Matson replied, “The plan to get in position to demolish was to happen today, to set the stage. Actually putting the physical demolishment to happen today? We’re continuing to evaluate.” Assistant Fire Chief Jim Morris added, “When we originally evaluated the scene, we didn’t have the indication, even from the state team and the K9 dogs, in there that would make us proceed. We were not looking at instantaneously pulling that building down. It’s going to come down on its own, which we do not want; but we also want to make sure it’s in a controlled manner. We were receiving new information. The fire department, [which] pulled Lisa Brooks out of that apartment last night — that right there was an indicator that we needed to go up there. That was a viable indicator that we needed to address this. That’s why we’re moving forward with evaluating and getting additional search teams in there, to be able to do that. We had no other — we used all of our tools, all of Iowa Task Force One’s tools and technology, to assess that, and that’s why we’re moving forward the way we are now.”
The question was then asked how the dogs missed Lisa Brooks. Mayor Matson confessed that he didn’t know: “We want to know. All I can tell you is I’m committed to finding out.”
When asked if Andrew Wold, the owner of The Davenport Hotel, was under criminal investigation for negligence, Mayor Matson said, “I know the owner. He was on site Sunday. I saw him.” Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel then took up Mayor Matson’s slack. “The city has been in contact with [Wold]. We are currently consulting with state agencies to figure out who’s going to take the lead in this investigation. At this time, we have not determined if a criminal offense has occurred in order to initiate a criminal investigation. Regardless of what happens, there will be an investigation.”
When asked how the residents of The Davenport Hotel were allowed to stay inside a structurally-unsound building — indeed, how the building initially passed inspection — if Larry Sandhaas, the structural engineer with Shive-Hattery, could see bricks falling off the top of the roof, Chief Bladel said, “There were initial issues with the building. A structural engineer’s report was provided to the city to outline the work that was done. It was determined that it was safe by the structural engineer, which was not hired by us; it was hired by [Wold]. They were able to provide that report in order for us to make the determination to continue to occupy the building.”
May 30, 2023: Protestors outside Davenport City Hall re stopping demolition of The Davenport Hotel at 324 Main Street
Another reporter observed, “It seems like [Davenport] is in a really tough position where it has to weigh the safety of first-responders against the possibility of somebody still being alive in the building. What factors do you use to make decisions in this case?” Mayor Matson appreciated the reporter’s “understanding” and cited Quanishia White-Berry’s crisis (both legs pinned down in an area of the building that was considered dangerous): “[The first-responders] want to do everything they can to be there, in every possible place. [White-Berry] was in a place where it was unbelievably dangerous to get out. Those folks didn’t care about that. Their focus was to go and do that, save the life. Surgeons from this community were in the building, exercising trauma surgery in the building, saving lives. So for me, and our respective team, understanding that the effort of the first-responders and other medical professionals to go and do everything they can, in the risk analysis for me and our respective leadership, knowing from our experts, from here and abroad. . . Can I allow it? I don’t know that — I still am struggling with that, right? But that’s what we’re doing. Through the great work of Chief Morris and the Mavis Team, who are willing to do this, and we are working through that to do this, and our want to do this, there is a continual evaluation and want to go in again. We are evaluating that. But — you’re right. That’s me. Someone has to be accountable.”
The follow-up question as to what the plan is if the building comes down unexpectedly, Mayor Matson spoke more about treating the site as the resting-spot of two people than the plans, which he said had been discussed and was “being worked through.” Todd McGreevy of the Reader asked, “The structural-engineer report that the owner provided to the city: How long ago was that provided? And what engineering firm provided that report?” Rich Oswald, City Development and Neighborhood Services Director, cited Select Structural Engineering out of Bettendorf, who submitted two interim reports in the last six months, one at the end of January, the other last week. “What the city asked, “ Oswald said, “was that in January, they would let us know the building is structurally sound or they would have to vacate it. They came back and said, ‘The building is structurally sound at that time,’ and they went with the belief that it was safe to have tenants there.” Oswald said the two reports would be made available, and that the first report was requested when the complaints of bricks falling off the building’s roof was made, “and our building official and building staff went in, and then they required the first report. The second report started when they had some more bricks falling, so we asked for another report.” Was the city satisfied with the second report? Per Oswald, the Chief Building Official was satisfied with the repairs and how they were done. McGreevy pushed on that point, asking about the building being declared sound six months ago and six months later requiring additional repairs. “In the original January report requested,” Oswald clarified, “for that repair work, which was brick-work, we deemed they said that the building was structurally sound for people to stay in. So that repair work was done under Permanent (?), it was signed off on; and just in May, we had a second incident which required a new structural unclear where the permits were pulled, and they were currently making those repairs at the time of the collapse.” Nice clarification. The building needed repairs, but it was safe enough for people to stay in. Until it wasn’t.
So, the question goes: Who failed the city? Mayor Matson answered, “We do everything we can to try to ensure safety. . . We will continue to do that and we will continue to understand what that is and continue to move forward with — whatever it is.” The reporter pressed him on the point; Mayor Matson offered more procedure. Apparently, no one’s to blame. Moving on.
Davenport Fire Chief Michael Carlsten said the Hotel’s demolition will not involve explosives in a heavily-populated downtown area; that it will involve a more controlled process, involving outside contractors to disassemble the building methodically, provided the building doesn’t fall down of its own accord beforehand. So, there’s really no timeline for getting contractors on site to safely take apart a partially-collapsed structure. Sandhaas said the most likely place where demolition, however the actual process, would start would be in the area of the debris — “which, unfortunately, is the area of concern with respect to victims. There’s concern about, if the building is close to an alley, close to adjacent buildings on the south side, the demolition contractor would have to take care not to damage any adjacent property. It’s condemned property, it’s hollowed ground, it’s. . .
A question about the city’s familiarity with complaints by residents against The Davenport was met by Oswald, who said Davenport’s rental-inspection program dealt with rental complaints being investigated by a rental inspector. If something was found in violation or in need of repair, the inspector would follow up on it until the building was in compliance. Absent complaints, inspectors would visit the property every two years.
Everything clear now?
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about having missed Kandahar, but he may have dodged a bullet there; otherwise, he saw the majority of the movies discussed last week. About The Little Mermaid, one of The Deez laments the exclusion of the song “Les Poissons” from the remake, which he felt was the best song in the original. Though the film was not designed to be a “laugh riot,” as Schulz indicates, Rob Marshall’s 2023 remake did do better than either man in the studio could have foretold ($209.2 million on a $250 million budget, and expected to grow, grow, grow). Nonetheless, the recasting of what was once a very funny animated feature to be a latterday weepy romance (at two hours and twenty minutes, no less) made Schulz more ambivalent about the overallness of it than he would have preferred. There were superb touches, such as Halle Bailey’s performance and singing, but even that wasn’t enough for Our Man in the Seats to label it a worthwhile, shell-out-the-cash, pawn-your-car type of cinemagoing experience. About the comedy You Hurt My Feelings, Schulz thought it fantastic, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Beth, a first-time author whose husband, Don, played by Tobias Menzies, confesses to a friend that he thinks the product of her labors is a flaming zeppelin of a failure — and, naturally, Beth overhears this and goes into a tailspin. Moreover, in a supporting cast brimming with talent, Michaela Watkins was cited by Schulz as a pure delight as Sarah, Beth’s sister, who must somehow contain the whirlwind of Beth’s outward-spiraling neurosis. About The Starling Girl, featuring Eliza Scanlen as Jem Starling, a fundamentalist Christian in Kentucky who falls in love with both the art of dance and the boy of Owen (Lewis Pullman), who’s also a youth pastor freshly returned from missionary work. What sounded like a remake of a film that’s already been remade (Footloose) is to Schulz a fine melodrama, “a little ‘Afterschool Special’ [in parts],” particularly in its portrayal of the religiously devout as a nest of smiling spitting cobras — and with Jimmi “Liam McPoyle” Simpson as the father, how could it be otherwise? — but enjoyable on the whole, owing to Scanlen and Pullman’s performances. About The Machine, Peter Atencio’s adaptation of a stand-up bit by shirtless comic protagonist Bert Kreischer, and About My Dad, Laura Terruso’s film based on the reminiscences of comedian Sebastian Maniscalco’s relationship with his father, Salvo (Robert De Niro), the gang expressed incredulity that both films, in their culturally-specific ways, shared the same plot about hanging with your dad — “so it should have been a Father’s Day release,” Schulz said. Kreischer’s story/routine concerns his college days, when he visited Russia in the Nineties, found himself infiltrating the Russian Mafiya — as one does — and all manner of comic chaos following in his wake. The first half of the film concerns his initial trip, with Jimmy Tatro portraying his apple-cheeked self; and then, in the second half (which is taken from Kreischer’s “sequel” to his “Machine” shtick), Dad-bod Kreischer has to return to Russia with his Dad-Dad, played by Mark Hamill, to somehow get Pandora back in her box. Perhaps because the milieu is post-Soviet Russia, the events of The Machine are much gorier than Schulz had expected (surprise N° 1), but (surprise N° 2) it was a well-crafted, intricate film, much more involved than the notion of a filmmaker adapting a comic’s old stand-up bit might lead one to believe possible. Kreischer’s performance didn’t impress Schulz, though the lone group of guys who were present during the showing were apparently primed to guffaw over nearly utterance made by him. Hamill, meanwhile, impressed the Deez with the level of comic performer he has turned out to be (though a case can be made that he’s always been, even if inadvertently, going back to his Luke Skywalker days), having aged into grandfather roles. About About My Father, the fact that Sebastian Maniscalco is a very big deal right now on the comic circuit was apparently all the proof Lionsgate Films needed to distribute a whole film based on a length of his old rope. Maniscalco, portraying himself, shares a Sicilian upbringing, with Robert De Niro basically reprising his old schtick from the Meet the Parents franchise as his father — Jack Byrnes with a Godfather accent. Sonny-Sebastian is bringing the family of Elle (Leslie Bibb), his fiancé, over to meet his sprawling clan. He’s a bit nervous about the coming clash of civilizations, about which Dad feigns a prideful incredulity. It’s the sort of set-up that traditionally gets portrayed in the broadest manner possible. The film had some solid laughs (plus Kim Cattrall, who hasn’t been seen in quite a while), but when asked if he preferred it over The Machine, Schulz couldn’t respond definitively, except that he had no plans to ever see either film again. (Based on the abysmal box office both films made, it may surprise some people if either film gets streamed.) Schulz will be out of office until June 15, but should have a review in the pages of the River Cities’ Reader of the animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Boogeyman, a Stephen King adaptation by local boys Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (with Mark Heyman). Schulz hasn’t taken a holiday in a long time, folks, so you’ll have to wait a while for your next fix. . .
The Little Mermaid, You Hurt My Feelings, The Starling Girl, About My Father, and *The Machine*
Mike Schulz reflects with Dave Levora (the presence of Darren Pitra not in evidence) over his nearly-thirty-year-long writing stint as a film critic for the River Cities’ Reader (“the mid-Nineties were the worst. . . Forrest Gump has not aged well at all. . . I hate Bravehart; I really hate Bravehart”) before discussing Fast X, either the tenth or the eleventh installment in the Fast and the Furious franchise — eleven if you count the Hobbs and Shaw spin-off with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. For some reason, none of the characters in Fast X convert to the Nation of Islam, as the title doubly suggests — which, like Jason X back in 2001, is a shame of a missed opportunity, story-wise. Even more unfortunately, Fast X isn’t as good as the last two, maybe three cinematic offerings, at two hours and maybe change. Jason Mamoa is great (“He’s clearly having a blast, because he’s just playing a big, swishy gay stereotype who looks and talks like Jason Mamoa — which was really inspired in a way I didn’t expect”). The other actors, however, caught up as they are in their own meaninglessly-kinetic subplots (Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson doing light comedy, John Cena and Vin Diesel’s kid on the road, Michelle Rodriguez and Charlize Theron trying to escape a CIA black site), are just marking time, lamenting the absence of Paul Walker all the more, as he should be the one taking the brunt of these exercises in plot-furtherance and slap-happy action sequences. A million miles away from any of this is Master Gardener, which was playing at the Film Scene in Iowa City. Directed by legendary director/screenwriter/auteur-nominee Paul Schrader, the film features Joel Edgerton as a former neo-Nazi in hiding whose past threatens to re-emerge and engulf him. Schulz didn’t think Master Gardener to be up there with earlier works by Schrader as First Reformed (2017) and The Card Counter (2021), though it does have great performances, in particular Sigourney Weaver as a wealthy dowager who exploits Edgerton in all sorts of ways. With the Memorial Day weekend peeking over the horizon, the Little Mermaids corporeal remake of the 1989 animated original threatens to waste our time: A shot-for-shot recreation with very little new material, but longer still. (“I think it’s partly because humans just can’t move as fast as animated people.”) There’s also The Machine, featuring the ever-shirtless Bert Kreischer, with director Peter Atencio recreating one of Kreisher’s stand-up routines from 2016 — that WARNING light you see blinking? It might be Hollywood signaling it’s about to run out of ideas. Kandahar, yet another Afghanistan-war film, sits at its extraction point, waiting to take us awaaaaay, much like those Calgon commercials of old. (Remake that, producers!) About My Father, starring Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert DeNiro as father and son (guess who’s who here) learning to bond anew, despite cultural and life experiences yawning chasm-like between them — speaking of yawning. . . The Starling Girl, directed by Laurel Parmet, features Eliza Scanlen as a Kentucky teenager who must reconcile her Christian-fundamentalist faith with her love of dance — rather like Footloose, but with more torment and less catharsis. Schulz is especially enthusiastic about You Hurt My Feelings, a dramedy directed by Nicole Holofcener, which, pace Schulz, sounds fun, but, given its premise — the discomfort of codependent relationships — could very well turn out not to be. You’ve been warned, viewers. Happy Memorial Day weekend.
Mike Schulz wants Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about Book Club: The Next Chapter, which he deems “a strange movie” because “it’s not really a movie”: There really isn’t a plot that makes sense or is in any way important. It sounds like it’s just an excuse to get Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen back together to hang out in Italy and drink like Germans. There are a few wisps of narrative here and there, but nothing to indicate that there are any stakes; Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s Trip series of foodies-abroad films feel like the Fast and the Furious franchise. (More on the latter later.) There are just scenes of them quaffing ferocious quantities of liquor in restaurants, enough for Ernest Hemingway’s long-dead corpse to stand up in its Ketchum grave and shoot the gang a hearty salute. If you can take all of that on board, then the film won’t bother you; your liver might quaver, but more out of sympathy for the octogenarians on-screen. What did bother people, apparently, was Schulz’s review of the film. He even drew a rebuke from his mother. Mom said senior citizens aren’t fans of the current movie trends, with their quick-cuts and their costumed bozos being punched through walls. Who would have ever thought that to be the case? So, as one of the Deez says, it makes good business sense for films like Book Club to not go in that direction. Schulz caveats by saying the film had better be at least generically appealing to cis-gender hetero males ages fifteen through thirty, or it won’t crack $40 million at the box office, as was the case with 80 for Brady (which, in fairness, did crack that barrier, with a $40.3 million return sigh of relief). On that basis, Schulz fears The Little Mermaid, which opens next week, will falter at the chains. Then there’s the SF thriller Hypnotic, directed by veteran filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, with Ben Affleck as a detective looking for his missing daughter — only he’s given to question the nature of his reality, that he might be hypnotized — only he’s given to question the nature of his reality, that he might be a hypnotic, or a powerful hypnotist trained by a secretive government “Division” to control people’s minds — only he’s given to question the nature of his reality, that he might be a hypnotized hypnotic — ad infinitum, ad nauseum. Having the rug pulled out from under the audience again and again for 94 freakin’ minutes put Schulz into the headspace where “it finally reaches the point where you say, ‘Great. Please roll the credits.” Then there’s the “bio-tragic” comedy, BlackBerry, directed by Matt Johnson, about the invention of the BlackBerry mobile phone. Seems like a piddling excuse of a subject for building a film around, but BlackBerry, written by Johnson with producer Matthew Miller, has its surprises. The film covers the years 1996 to 2008 — the arc of the BlackBerry’s popularity — with Glenn Howerton’s portrayal of Jim Balsillie, the tech-illiterate businessman who helped sell investors on the BlackBerry, singled out by Schulz as amazing — “a – MAY – zing”: “He is such a douche,” Schulz says. “He’s not likeable for five seconds; and yet he’s hypnotic; he urges you [to say], ‘Yeah, keep on doing those awful things.’” Waxing autobiographical (or auto-tragic), Schulz recounts the period when he was the proud owner of a second-hand BlackBerry, which he enjoyed until he had to upgrade. (Rosebud. . .) The people who made and pushed the BlackBerry were apparently hellbent on their tech having keyboards built into them, and could not conceive of a phone that didn’t have one. . . we guess you can figure out how that turned out. Next week, Schulz will report on the tenth Fast and the Furious film (there will be twelve, apparently). Schulz loved the first film, hated the next five, but loved the last three. “They’re just basically really expensive James Bond movies. . . they’re just proudly ridiculous” is how Schulz diagnoses their appeal. Since the plot went to outer space in the last installment, one is given to wonder how the franchise plans to top that. Given the synopsis, which promises a more earthbound threat involving a family threatened by a drug-dealer, one guesses time-travel will be in the works. Levora’s wife, incidentally, who’s an English teacher, undertook a binge-watch of the F&F films one summer in order to “disconnect [her] brain from thinking about school.” Did she enjoy them? “Well, she followed them,” the DL says, emphasizing her ambition to disconnect — which sounds like a lot of work for a summer off; but they did the job: “I’m not thinking about school anymore,” she said as she finished the last installment. Will she go to see the next one? Well, she’s back in school, presumably, and not drooling on her lap in a padded cell, so disconnecting her brain anew sounds like it would be counterproductive at this point, doesn’t it?
“Book Club: The Next Chapter,” “Hypnotic,” and “BlackBerry”
Mike Schulz wants Dave Levora and Darren Pitra — and, by extension, everyone in the known universe — to know that he understands the appeal of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3: “It’s pushin’ buttons like crazy.” Understanding, however, is not the same thing as enjoying, and Schulz is one of the outliers who wasn’t responsible for Guardians overtaking Super Mario Bros as the N° 1 film. “[Guardians] was so aggressively pushy,” decrees Schulz, “[with] too much button-pushing.” He enjoyed the comedic touches, many of them furnished by Chris Pratt, “who is better than he has been for a while,” while Zoe Saldaña is “terrific,” Karen Gillan “really good,” and Dave Bautista “always fun.” The problem for Schulz is that the film plays as the heart-tugging, tear-wrenching, grandparent-on-an-IV-drip, cancer-children-cavorting, footage-of-Holocaust-camp-survivors-recently-liberated, Titanic-type entry of the series — so much so that “if [director/screenwriter James Gunn] played a Celene Dion song, I would not have been surprised.” Whither the subtlety of those bygone days of yore? Moreover, the villain manages to “eliminate all chances of scary” by calling one of his minions a “twit.” Well, the use of the word “twit” is certainly a holdover from those bygone days. Schulz also repeats his objection from last week that, with all the characters being used seemingly interchangeably in every other Marvel release coming out on a near-weekly basis, one’s understanding of a given film’s continuity is shot to hell; and Gunn (heh) doesn’t want to waste precious seconds catching everyone up to script. Schulz, moreover, was surprised to hear that the film has so far underperformed at the box office: He guesses just — “just” — $110 million, and one of the Deez proffers $118 million; but, to date, it has earned $344 million on a $250 million budget — that’s a $94 million profit, folks. Profits like that could finance a decade’s worth of independent features, but the suits at Marvel Studios must be pulling out their hair-plugs over such a piddling amount, and sweating through their Armani in anticipation as their secretaries hit “refresh” on the next round of figures. Then there’s Love Again, directed by James C Strouse and starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan, and (not kidding) Celene Dion as herself. Love Again was a film with which our trio of skeptics enjoyed much sport when discussing next week’s previews, and Schulz, having seen it at last, declares it “my favorite thing ever,” as “it’s the worst thing I’ve seen in at least a couple years. It’s so very bad — but hilariously bad!” Basically, it’s Hallmark film material, with Dion treated by Heughan as an oracle bestowing the wisdom of the ages to bestow befitting a mere journalist looking for an angle for his profile of Celene Dion, middle-aged ballad-blaster. As a romantic comedy that takes itself much too seriously, the intended laff-getters in Love Again are lame — but the unintended yucks provoked by the proceedings (not to mention so much Celene Dion — fifteen scenes’ worth, and eleven songs on the soundtrack) provide camp kicks that more than justify the time thrown away on it. Love Again is the sort of thing that, as one of the Deez puts it, you want to drink a lot of wine with your friends before you attend a screening so that y’all can participate in Mystery Science Theatre 3000’ing the hell out of it. Compared to the compromised enjoyment of a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, the straight-up so-bad-it-hurts-from-laughing train-wreck of Love Again holds more appeal. As for flicks this weekend, there’s the forty-fifth anniversary of Grease and Book Club: The Next Chapter, featuring Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen reprising their roles from the first 2018 Book Club, which, if you remember Book Club, then you’re one up on one of the Deez as to your awareness of its existence. There’s also the cartoon Rally Road Racers, with racers competing in a high-stakes race along the historic Silk Road trade route; and Robert Rodriguez’s Hypnotic, an Inception-y SF action thriller featuring Ben Affleck — which could be either outstanding or incoherently awful. Happy viewing!
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3” and “Love Again”
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about his latest series of fives: Firstly, Big George Foreman, which was “pretty decent,” rather like Sweetwater, where the story itself is strong enough to carry the film forward, regardless of whatever lunacies — or, with your typical biopics, redundancies— a viewer encounters along the way. Khris Davis does a convincing job portraying Foreman, the oldest boxer to ever win the heavyweight championship, across two decades. As for the all-important Grill, director George Tillman Jr skipped a golden opportunity to anthropomorphize Foreman’s invention and make his biography into a buddy pic. Y’think Tillman will lament this shot not taken? What with a $4 million return (so far) on a $32 million budget? Secondly, Kelly Fremon Craig’s adaptation of Judy Blume’s 1970 classic YA novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., which has been a long time coming, mostly, Schulz contends, because of the whole menstruation kerfuffle. What might have present-day audiences and fans of the book biting down hard on their complimentary sanitary napkins, though, would be how much Craig veers away from the novel’s set-up: She dispenses with Margaret Simon’s first-person narration and invents a whole subplot involving the matriarch Barbara (Rachel McAdams), whose WASP-y family had cut her off for marrying the Jewish Herb (Benny Safdie). Despite himself, Schulz was pleased that Craig chose to put more attention upon the adults, as he’s unable anymore to relate to sixth-grade concerns; but the “kid stuff” is also fantastic, so audiences who were reared on the novel can rest easy knowing that Blume’s vision wasn’t sacrificed upon the altar of Mammon. Unfortunately, such bravery hasn’t translated into box-office success, given the $8.8 million return — so far — on a $30 million budget. Alas. Thirdly, Polite Society, directed by Nida Manzoor, a British-Pakistani action comedy-drama (or dramedy), as a “martial arts, Quentin Tarantino, James Bond slapstick comedy. . . absolutely insane. . . a mess of fun; really fun [and] really violent for a PG-13 movie especially. . .” Be sure to catch it when it hits streaming. Fourthly, Jalmari Helander’s Sisu was really disappointing, given how on-board Schulz was with the concept of killing Nazis for ninety minutes going in. Coming out, however, Schulz resents how the film kept getting grosser and grosser as it went along, but didn’t get any more entertaining after the first ten minutes — a real “be careful what you wish for”-type deal. “Relentlessly unpleasant” was Schulz’s takeaway — probably much like the milieu it portrays, come to think of it (the Lapland War of late 1944, when the Finns and the Nazis had it out). Fifthly, talk of massacring Nazis must inevitably turn back to Judy Blume, who was the focus of Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok’s documentary on Prime Video. Blume, now 85, spends the majority of the run-time being interviewed about her life and career, and since she’s a great conversationalist, Blume makes up for the lack of face-kicks and disembowelments they might otherwise enjoy/endure. She has a lot to say about the recent book-burning controversy, which seems like it’s becoming a generational blight (the burning of so-called “objectionable” books, to be clear), since she and her husband own an independent bookstore in Florida. Concerning films that are opening this weekend, we have Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, which Schulz fears is heading in the direction of most recent Marvel films (“so portentous, so serious-minded”). One of the Deez confesses legitimate fears of not knowing what’ll be going on, since he hasn’t seen any of the last five Marvel movies. There’s also Love Again, which isn’t a Marvel film, but since it involves Celene Dion as herself, might as well be. Love Again is an English-language remake of the 2016 German film SMS für Dich, directed by Karoline Herfurth, from the 2009 novel of the same name by Sofie Cramer — neither of which involve Celene Dion, it must be said. Also also, coming to Moline for twice-a-day showings is What’s Love Got to Do with It, which has nothing to do with the 1993 Tina Turner biopic, but sounds like Polite Society without the blunt-force trauma. Happy weekend!
“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.”, “Judy Blume Forever,” “Polite Society,” “Sisu,” and “Big George Foreman”
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about his second week of fives — first, the dream logic of Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid, “creepy, laugh-out-loud funny, and people are going to hate it.” Schulz loved the film, but thought it a narrative mess; and he suspects Aster doesn’t know how everything ties together, either. Second, there’s Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise, which doesn’t feel like much thirty minutes in, but after that — WATCH OUT! Not even the children are safe from the Deadites. “This movie is not messing around,” Schulz says, “and it is so über-gory. . . I’ve rarely seen that much blood in my life.” Add fantastic acting, make-up, and FX jobs, and the film redeemed itself for MS, despite being “more creepy than scary.” Third, there’s Stephen Williams’s Chevalier, about the Eighteenth-Century French-Caribbean musician Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, played by Kelvin Harrison Jr. Schulz, sighing, calls it “a Masterpiece Theatre movie, a Merchant-Ivory movie, basically,” with too-obvious plot points that won’t allow an audience to draw anything more than simple moral lessons, “and there’s not a believable moment in it, there’s not a surprising moment in it. It looks great — they all do —” a common criticism of the Merchant-Ivory films — “and geared to an audience that likes to go to movies to feel good about themselves. ‘Look at those horrible bigots up there!’” Fourth, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, so titled to distinguish it from all the other Covenant films out there, and not so much because Ritchie has traded up from chronicler of “Cockney goofball adventures” to auteur noble (though the fact that Jason Statham is nowhere to be found seems to genuflect to that latter quality). Set in war-torn Afghanistan in 2018, the film is a rescue thriller, with which Schulz had a problem, because “I realized, during the end-credits, that this was not based on a true story, which, like, all these movies are. . . They show images of actual soldiers with their actual interpreters. . . and then you gradually [realize], ‘everything in [The Covenant] that is too Hollywood for words automatically [becomes] worse for me. . . this action scene is clearly unrealistic, and this rescue, there’s no way that could happen — but if it were a real story, you could [surmise], “Well, yes, it did. . .”.’” The problem boils down to Ritchie’s set-up fooling viewers into thinking the events and the characters in his film are authentic, and the deaths have real-world tragic consequences — but without the artistic pay-off of a switcheroo film like, say, the Coen Brothers’ Fargo, whose bait-and-switch with the truth at least left you something to chew on; whereas Ritchie’s exercise didn’t promise as much but managed to deliver even less. Fifth, Ray Romano’s Somewhere in Queens, starring Romano and Laurie Metcalf — a “big ol’ screen sitcom. . . It’s something I’d watch on TV every week for a few years.” Next-week noteworthies include the marking of the fortieth anniversary of Star Wars Ep VI: Return of the Jedi with theater showings — and congratulations: If you saw it the first time around, you’re old; an adaptation of Judy Bloome’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, whose previous film, 2016’s The Edge of Seventeen, was the kind of film that, according to Schulz, “John Hughes would have made, but didn’t” — do with that info what you will; and Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World — or, to save time, Big George Foreman — a biopic whose story is neatly summed up in its title. Will it justify itself as a film that merits watching? We’ll see, won’t we?
“Beau is Afraid,” “Evil Dead Rise,” “Chevalier,” “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant,” and “Somewhere in Queens”
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about how the recent run of excellent films has come to an end — or, perhaps, sputtered to a temporary stop, awaiting fresh refills of petrol distillate. Schulz can’t give his heart to Renfield, ultimately, in spite of a top-notch performance by Nicolas Cage as Dracula, because of a stupid subplot, involving the New Orleans Mafia and a horribly-miscast Awkwafina as a straight-shooting cop, which manages to suck dry a rich and vital premise with such sitcom schlockola. (It’s also gratuitously bloody, which might be okay for a straight-up horror film, but for a horror/humor hybrid, it’s just plain distracting.) Schulz likewise ran cold on Nefarious, whose premise seemed custom-made for a horror film, or maybe just a kill-happy thriller, but as a “pro-faith drama about the evils of murder through abortion and euthanasia and the death penalty,” Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon’s 97-minute religious sermon is “a big, pushy screed, eventually, [where] you just don’t realize what [they’re] doing for a long time [in Schulz’s case, a half-hour-plus],” suffering from restrictions and tone-deafness that not even an exorcist could remove. Hold that thought. . . Concerning Sweetwater, a sports biopic about Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, one of the first African Americans to play in the NBA, Schulz says that Clifton’s story is so good as to withstand whatever horrible presentation can be done with it — and director Martin Guigui seemed hellbent to test that premise. (“It is clichéd as all-get-out; there isn’t a surprise in it; [the film] goes for the lowest-hanging fruit constantly. . . it’s like Hoosiers without any of the fun.”) But the premise held, despite all that, thanks in part to a robust cast (Richard Dreyfuss, Jeremy Piven, Cary Elwes, Eric Roberts — and, one presumes, Everett Osborne as “Sweetwater” Clifton). One of the Deez presses Schulz to call out the announcers, whom Schulz refers to as “Statler and Waldorf, but in their forties,” who manage to make basketball’s first slam-dunk a ludicrous occurrence. (“We’ve never seen anything like that before! That’s like dunking a doughnut in a cup of coffee! Let’s call it a ‘dunk’!” shudder) Concerning The Pope’s Exorcist, which, like all the other Exorcist films, purports to be based on a true story; and, since “no Exorcist movie is good unless it’s The Exorcist” (released 50 years ago), it’s already got a mighty cross to drag along. Is Russell Crowe, as the titular Pope’s Exorcist at the Vatican, actor enough to shoulder that cross across 103 minutes? Not with a “really laughably not-scary Devil” as his antagonist, making the proceedings feel like a dog-owner trying to bring his ornery bitch to heel. In the face of that, Crowe is a source of humor, partly because he’s given funny dialogue to deliver, partly because we see him tooling around Spain on a Vespa — but it doesn’t do a horror film any good when the best you can say about its cast is that its lead is “adorable.” And about the gangster comedy with Toni Collette, Mafia Mamma, it’s a film that you want to like because it has Toni Collette (and Monica Bellucci), but you can’t, because it was designed not so much as a comedy as Eat, Pray, Love-type self-actualization crap — which feels ludicrous in execution, given Collette’s suburban-housewife character is leveling up to Tony Soprano, FFS. As rich a comedic premise as that is, director Catherine Hardwicke plays her story straight, so consider MM a lost opportunity. Will the next batch of films redeem the souls of Mike Schulz and his fellow movie-goers for the time they’ve already thrown away so egregiously? Ari Aster’s three-hour Beau is Afraid looks like it could split either way; likewise Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, directed by. . . someone. Lee Cronin’s sequel to the 2013 Evil Dead remake has already received nasty reviews, but then, all the Evil Dead films have received nasty reviews initially, and the first three original films are now considered classics. Stephen Williams’s Chevalier, conversely, has received positive notices since its release overseas last September. And Somewhere in Queens, starring Ray Romano and Laurie Metcalf, directed by Romano, would be the third basketball-themed film our crew have seen in a row. Hey, everybody loves Ray Romano. . .
“Renfield,” “Nefarious,” “Sweetwater,” “The Pope’s Exorcist,” and “Mafia Mamma”
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about how Schulz really likes the Michael Jordan/Chicago Bulls biopic Air — the acting, the writing — in spite of (or, perhaps, because of) Ben Affleck’s participation (“he’s got a lot of turkeys to live down,” Schulz writes); Paint, the bizarre not-Bob Ross trip starring Owen Wilson, whose character paints the same mountain on his PBS program and who has a devoted senior audience, is described tonally by Schulz as “Wes Anderson meets Christopher Guest meets Errol Morris meets Napoleon Dynamite,” and doesn’t quite come together satisfactorily, but was enjoyable nonetheless; and everyone marvels at the first-weekend gross of The Super Mario Bros Movie — $146 million domestically — which manages to shock Schulz at how “nakedly what it is”: An extended product-push with some fun voice cameos (Jack Black unleashes his Tenacious D) and a plot that “doesn’t make a lick of sense.” The three also anticipate Nicolas Cage’s turn in the forthcoming Renfield — Cage, having portrayed a deluded yuppie who thinks he’s a bloodsucker in 1988’s Vampire’s Kiss, has come full circle; Mafia Mama, with Toni Collette as an American mother who inherits her grandfather’s mobster enterprise in Italy (“cornball, but sounds like fun”); and Russell Crowe in The Pope’s Exorcist (“Crowe has gotten so fun now that he’s become full Brando, y’know, where he’s three hundred pounds and could give a damn now, [he’s] gonna emote [his] heart out”).
“Air,” “Paint,” and “The Super Mario Bros Movie”
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about how Schulz, contrary to Dave and Darren (D&D), thought Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves “fine, with really good jokes in it,” but, overall, a bland outing, hobbled somewhat by the screenwriters’ ambition to show that their characters have FEELINGS to go along with the action. Also, Schulz was never a D&D fan like D&D. Nevertheless, the jokes do land, so it’s got that going for it. . . About A Thousand & One, about characters living under the foster-care radar in lower-middle-class Nineties-era Harlem, Schulz declares it his favorite film of the year so far, “so moving and surprising and caring. . . a knockout.” A Good Person, directed by Zach Braff, is good, not great, but has strong acting, with Florence Pugh as an opioid addict making horrible choices left and right and Morgan Freeman as one of her victims. The film reminded Schulz that Freeman was once an actor — was there ever a time when he wasn’t? — and, at eighty-five years old, he’s once again Oscar-worthy. . .
“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” “A Thousand & One,” and “A Good Person”
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about how a certain filmgoer should get over his hesitance about watching John Wick: Chapter Four — not to mention One through Three — which Schulz sums up as “Buster Keaton, but with a lot of bullets”: “You could put [the plots and dialogue from all four movies, running approx seven hours] on a cocktail napkin.” In the Wick world, everyone is an assassin — and once you’ve accepted that premise, then everything else falls neatly into place; and that’s the appeal of the series in a nutshell. They also discuss The Lost King, about the incredible, real-life story concerning Philippa Langley (Sally Hawkins), a commoner whose ME is not a title, but whose discovery of Richard III’s lost burial site changes all that, earning her (curiously enough) an MBE. Schulz thought the story, written by Steven Coogan and Jeff Pope, was entertaining, though the appearance of Harry Lloyd, who first portrays Richard III in a theatre production, popping up as a Richard apparition whom only Langley can see/hear, proves distracting as hell. (Note: In 1951, Josephine Tey wrote the novel The Daughter of Time, in which a convalescent Scotland Yard Inspector works out from his hospital bed the fact that the popular depiction of Richard III as a monstrous hunchback who murdered two young princes is a fiction — worse still, an example of era propaganda ossifying into fact. Nonetheless, Richard’s villainous image persists, owing primarily to Shakespeare’s portrayal of him. So we should all lay off the guy at long last; he’s suffered enough obloquy.) In other news, the boys are excited by the forthcoming Dungeons and Dragons: Honor among Thieves, despite the handful of predecessor films based on the role-playing game having all been terrible, and Schulz’s attempts at reading the source novels causing his eyes to water. It looks like the producers are playing this one for slapstick — not the worst thing that could happen to the material. Another is Spinning Gold, about Timothy Scott Bogart, the founder of Casablanca Records, which sounds — promising?. . .
“John Wick: Chapter 4” and “The Lost King”
Mike Schulz celebrates Dave Levora and Darren Pitra with his sixteen Oscar predictions coming through, except for the Best Actor and Actress awards (didn’t see Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh coming). Still, he originally predicted fifteen, so he’s going great guns in the prognostication racket. They also talked about Woody Harrelson’s latest, Champions, which, despite having Bobby Farrelly directing, allays any fears of the subject matter (Harrelson coaching a team of players with intellectual disabilities for his community service) descending to the level of “FRANKS AND BEEEEEANS!” No, it’s a charming outing, Champions, aside from the well-worn “triumph of the underdog” premise. Things get rather awkward when it comes to discussing Bettendorf natives Brian Woods and Scott Beck’s 65, whose title confused at least one skeptic as to whether or not time travel is involved, and left Schulz concluding the proceedings to be ultimately meaningless and arbitrary, lowering the sense of stakes further than an intelligent audience might otherwise expect. (“Not a fun review to write at all,” Schulz concedes.) And Shazam! Fury of the Gods, likewise, which opened last week (when the boys were off-duty), is not as enjoyable, in this case compared to the first time around: “Everything’s going to be twice as big, twice as loud, [and] not as much fun; and that’s exactly what it was. . . a big, thunderous waste of time.” Aside from that, Schulz awaits the fourth John Wick installment, as one would a fast-food meal, and the Brit-com The Lost King, which admittedly sounds fascinating (concerning the discovery of Richard III’s burial site in a parking lot). PS James R Hoffa remains at large, The Irishman notwithstanding; and the likelihood of his carcass being pulled out of some municipal fixture seems at this point to be less than zero. . .
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Champions and 65
Notes on the 2023 Academy Awards Telecast
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about the preview for Scream VI, featuring Jenny Ortega, Courtney Cox, Skeet Ulrich (incredibly enough, considering Scream I) and a change of scenery from Woodsborough, California (not many hiding places left for potential victims) for New York City (multi-story buildings, subways). “It [plays] to your memory, but in fun ways,” says Schulz. “I did not see that coming. . . Consistently clever.” Having not yet reviewed Scream VI for the Reader, Schulz reports warm and fuzzy feelings about the ninth film in the Rocky franchise, Creed III (“They finally do something smart in [this Rocky iteration] in that they make the opponent incredibly empathetic, and it feels like a fair fight: I don’t want either of you dudes [Michael B Jordan/Creed or Jonathan Majors/Damian “Diamond Dame” Anderson] to win this fight”). Like Scream VI, Creed III finds a way to provide fan service while respecting the audience’s intelligence. Schulz wishes he could summon as much enthusiasm for Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, but it’s a “meh” experience, “just like a mid-Nineties entertainment”; Jason Statham’s starting to show his age, too. There’s much enthusiasm all around for 65: Bettendorf alums Scott Beck and Bryan Woods will be present March 11 for its appearance here. Incidentally, Schulz blames Sesame Street for instilling a lifelong fear of quicksand, which seems to be making a comeback as a silver-screen menace (and features in 65). As for the Oscars on Sunday, March 13, Schulz is hoping for fifteen of his predictions to come true — he’s got the bills, yo. . .
“Creed III” and “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre”
Predicting the 2023 Academy Award Winners
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy talks with Aaron Dail and Enrique Sandoval re the highlights of Issue N° 1007.
Link: Can Illinois Democrats Run Progressive Messages and Also Win Local Elections?
Rich Miller’s column about Illinois getting involved with school-board elections inspires among McGreevy, Dail, and Sandoval talk of “politiopath” behavior. Would Governor JB Pritzker be comfortable with HIS kids being taught about LGBTQ issues in elementary school?
Link: All Eyes on the International Health Regulations Proposed Amendments
Kathleen McCarthy’s look at International Health Regulations (IHR), which go beyond sharing guidelines with other nations about potential health crises to proposing a binding dictate from the World Health Organization (WHO) for everyone to tow a single line. James Rogulski provides his Top Ten list of IHR amendments that need to be opposed.
Link: Buried Stories: Napoleon Bonaparte Buford (1807-1883)
Bruce Walters’s study of one of Chippiannock Cemetery’s most colorful — and, alas, neglected — occupant, Napoleon Bonaparte Buford. Buford came out of retirement in 1861, at the age of 54, to take command as Colonel of the 27th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and thereafter saw action at the Battle of Belmont. In Spring 1862, Buford commanded the Flotilla Brigade of the Army of the Mississippi during the Battle of Island Number Ten, which cost the Confederate Army its position on the River for the first time. After surviving the Battle of Vicksburg in 1863, Buford, now Brigadier General, settled into his position as commander of the District of East Arkansas, an area of the Confederate state controlled by the North. It is here where he did his most notable work, bringing to heel smugglers, guerrillas, and plantation-lessees; organizing a freedmen’s department of five-thousand men; and established an orphan asylum and an industrial school for liberated slaves. Buford won admiration for his willingness to prosecute dishonesty among his own subordinates.
Link: Mark Rouw and the Champion Trees of Iowa
Scott Carlson’s cover concerns Mark Rouw, who’s measured the tallest trees across Iowa, with photos. Blinding.
Link: The Everything Bagel, with Locks: Predicting the 2023 Academy Award Winners
Mike Schulz hopes to see fifteen of his predictions borne out at this year’s Oscars. It’s all in others’ hands now. . .
Mike Schulz talks with Dave and Darren about Cocaine Bear (“really delightful”. . . “it’s really hard to intentionally make a cult movie”. . . “the people were very entertaining, which I did not see coming”. . . “Judd Hirsch and Hal Linden do not show up in it”), featuring twelve-year-old kids eating cocaine (“Well done, Elizabeth Banks, the director!”), heaping amounts of gore, Ray Liotta in one of his final film appearances, and, most importantly, a coke-enraged bear; and Jesus Revolution, the two-hour story of the Jesus Freak uprising in late-Sixties southern California (“solid”. . . “really sincere, as you would expect; funnier than you would expect, which is nice”. . .). Also, for what it’s worth, Jeff Loveness, the screenwriter for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, expressed depression over the negative criticial reviews his film received, but a visit to his local Cineplex, and the rapturous noise he beheld, alleviated him of his condition. Message for critics: Your judgments have consequences, be it in the form of depressed screenwriters or coked-up carnivoran mammals; so be mindful of the feelings of your fellow domesticated primates, and try to avoid incursions by stimulant-riddled caniforms. . .
”Cocaine Bear” and “Jesus Revolution”
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about how Mike was underwhelmed by Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, even by the low bar the franchise sets: Though Michelle Pfeiffer was better used this time around, and Jonathan Majors kills as Kang the Conqueror, Paul Rudd as a presence remains as light as a soufflé, overshadowed even by Corey Stoll as Modok; and, as for Marlowe, the less said, the better. (Even less than was discussed the last time.) Meanwhile, everyone is excited about Cocaine Bear, a concept so rich that even drug-free viewers might want to roll around in baby powder beforehand — and (get this) it features stars Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, and Margo Martindale; practically the whole cast of The Americans, reunited (and it feels so good). . .
“Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Marlowe”
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about how disappointing Magic Mike’s Last Dance was (“a Muppet movie, but with gyrating torsos”); Consecration (“a horror film in a convent. . . the devil has to show up at some point”); and the Netflix rom-coms Your Place or Mine (“crushing exposition” and Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon, who seem to have made the same film on their own at least once) and You People (a funny first hour of an hour-and-fifty-minute film, with Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill doing a variation on that old “Will these polar opposites ever get along?” theme). Mike also previews Marlowe, which “looks ago,” though the “story drags” — not so promising, given we’re talking about Raymond Chandler material. . .
“Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” “Consecration,” “Your Place or Mine,” and “You People”
Iowa Roots, Election Integrity, Border Invasion, Lying Media and the Power of First in the Nation Caucus Highlight Recent Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate’s Event in Bettendorf, Iowa February 10, 2023by Todd McGreevy – Publisher, River Cities’ Reader
Listen to the audio recording above for Kari Lake’s entire speech and remarks, unedited.To a standing room only crowd of over two-hundred fans, Iowa GOP officials, local and national news media Kari Lake kicked off her national speaking tour at the Tanglewood Pavilion in Bettendorf, Iowa. Lake was the guest speaker for the monthly Scott County Women’s GOP event.
After decades as a television news anchor in Phoenix, Arizona Lake ran for governor against the then sitting Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in 2022. Lake is contesting her purported loss to Hobbs by 17,000 votes with a lawsuit alleging election fraud, specifically regarding 300,000 ballots without a chain of custody, and election day shenanigans by intentionally printing a 19” image on a ballot that needed a 20” image to be properly tabulated by the election machines. This mishap caused thousands of ballots to be declined by the machinery and created wait times to vote of three to four hours at the polls. Her case in currently under review by an appellate court and details about the first judge’s ruling declining Lake’s complaint is available at this link here: https://www.uncoverdc.com/2022/12/28/the-kari-lake-decision-is-a-travesty-heres-one-reason-why/
Lake referenced her strong ties to, and influences from Iowa and recognized her family in the crowd. Lake was born in Rock Island, and grew up in North Scott County with seven sisters and a brother. Her father was the North Scott High School football coach, where she graduated in 1986.
“Iowa leads the whole charge when it comes to presidential politics. You guys see everyone come through here every four years. I know you take that responsibility seriously. You need to start calling out these candidates say ‘where do you stand on election integrity’ Because if we keep having elections stolen it does not matter how good the candidate is, or how good the policies are,” Lake said.
Explaining how when she first decided to run for governor in Arizone she was advised not to address controversial topics such as vaccines, COVID, masks or stolen elections. Lake explained she disregarded that advice because, “I’m not controlled by the uni-party, I’m not controlled by the political elite,” and that these were the very issues important to the voters.
Pointing to the row of television news cameras elevated at the back of the hall, Lake said of the media: “If you would talk about election integrity your viewership would go up.” Kari Lake says she has tried Iowa-nice plenty, and is about to go Iowa-witch on the media.
She explained she is focused 100% on her Arizona election court case and not running for any new office. “We’re taking our case all the way to the Supreme Court,” she said citing her father’s advice to “stay in the fight.” “I believe we will find some judges who have the courage to do the right thing.”
A crowd member yelled “Trump VP!” and Lake said, “I love the man, and I will do everything I can to help get him elected.”
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about the perfectly charming 80 for Brady, which has won so many hearts at the box office that you’d figure it would prefigure a flood of elderly-themed films from here on out — only for one to realize, once the ambrosia has worn off, that such waves are a generational thing, ie a self-contained one-off phenomenon for a given era (remember Cocoon?); Knock at the Cabin, the latest M Night Shyamalan joint with the characteristic plot twist built into the story’s center (Apocalypse a-brewin’, somebody’s gotta something: “Either they’re not telling the truth or they are. . . I was engaged the whole time”); and The Amazing Maurice (“a talking cat and a whole bunch of talking rats kind of like swindle towns out of all their money. . . but it’s British, and it’s really witty, and it’s Emilia Clarke, who’s really funny as the human narrator, and Hugh Laurie. . .” “it’s goofy, but it’s better than I expected”).
“80 for Brady,” “Knock at the Cabin,” and “The Amazing Maurice”
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy talks with Aaron Dail and Enrique Sandoval re the highlights of Issue N° 1006, including Art at the Airport: Fun Reasons to Visit the Quad Cities Aiport While Not Enduring Security Theatre, featuring the works of James Eli Bowden, Matt Moyer, and Corrine Smith, on display now through 02/28.
Link: The Sixth Annual Fake News Awards by James Corbett of The Corbett Report: JC offers his nominations for the Dino Awards — “Dino” as in “dinosaur media” — and the stories from the past year that have since been revealed to be examples of deceptive reporting. Included is a 45-minute video JC provides on it that’s entertaining, elevating, and excruciating in its implications (The “E” Trifecta!).
Link: Who Knew about These Firsts? by Todd McGreevy, featuring a new cartoon of “Uncle Scam” by Ed Newmann, which is so good that it adorns the cover of the Reader‘s print edition. McGreevy has thrown down the gauntlet to readers for them to point out something — anything — by the US federal government that isn’t a scam. He also points out a number of “firsts” of history to which the Quad Cities provided a setting. One such would be. . .
Link: John Atanasoff, the father of the modern computer: Augustana College’s Wallenberg Hall will hold a screening of Birth of the Computer: The John Atanasoff Story on 02/23, 6PM. In the tech world, Atanasoff, who went to Iowa State College in Ames (now Iowa State University), is a hero because of the testimony he gave during a lawsuit about how he came up with the concepts behind the first computer, which resulted in the computer becoming public domain, and IBM was thus prevented from owning the patent. In his testimony, Atanasoff talked about driving two hours from Ames to Rock Island in 1936 to get a drink — Iowa was then a dry state; Illinois wasn’t; and he had his a-HA! moment in a local tavern, where he wrote out on the back of a bar napkin the concept of the computer.
Link: The World Comes to DC to Demand Biden Drop the Case Against Julian Assange by Kevin Gosztola, concerning the organized international opposition to the United States government’s extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, thirteen years after his data-dump (which, incidentally, he carefully vetted before dropping it). Pressure is being brought to bear on the Biden administration to drop its efforts against Assange; will it be enough to free JA from his Ecuadorean-embassy “fortress”?
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about Oscar nominations Women Talking (“not as hard a sit as I expected, [as] the subject matter is horrifying. . . horrible, horrible story”), Living (Bill Nye — the British actor, not the Science Guy — gets a cancer diagnosis; has a few months to live; is a buttoned-up bureaucrat in post-War London who’s never lived before; “and I wish it were more interesting than it is”); To Leslie (Oscar controversy notwithstanding, Andrea Riseborough “is tremendous, absolutely deserves that nomination”); and the outlier, the unnominated Infinity Pool (directed by Brandon Cronenberg, David’s son: “So gross”; “People go to a luxury resort and they meet evil”; clones killing clones killing clones, presumably).
“Women Talking,” “Living,” “To Leslie,” and “Infinity Pool”
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about the percentage of Oscar nominations that he called correctly this year as well as Missing (“moves really fast,” “fun,” “ends kind of poorly, but it’s clever,” “decent”), EO (a “tough sit” concerning a donkey — just a donkey — traveling the country, not kicking any footballs nor offering witty banter), and The Son (with Hugh Jackman, Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Kirby, and Laura Dern: “Not a believable moment in it”).
“Missing,” “EO,” and “The Son”
2023 Academy Awards Nominations
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy attended the 2023 Legislative Event Series: Meet Your Legislators event on 20 January, 8-9AM, hosted by the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce. These were the featured speakers, state and federal, Republican and Democrat, Illinois and Iowa, who faced a lightning-round of questions:
- U.S. Representative Eric Sorensen from Illinois, Dist 17 (D)
- U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks from Iowa, Dist 1 (R)
- Iowa Senator Chris Cournoyer, Dist 35 (R)
- Iowa Senator Scott Webster, Dist 47 (R)
- Illinois Senator Mike Halpin, Dist 36 (D)
- Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, Dist 89 (R)
- Illinois Representative Norine Hammond, Dist 94 (R)
- Illinois Representative Gregg Johnson, Dist 72 (D)
- Illinois Representative Dan Swanson, Dist 71 (R)
- Illinois Representative Travis Weaver, Dist 93 (R)
- Iowa Representative Ken Croken, Dist 97 (D)
- Iowa Representative Monica Kurth, Dist 98 (D)
- Iowa Representative Gary Mohr, Dist 93 (R)
- Iowa Representative Norlin Mommsen, Dist 70 (R)
- Iowa Representative Mike Vondran, Dist 94 (R)
Rhonda Ludwig, Director of Government Affairs for the Chamber, deserves props for keeping her glims on the clock, keeping the speakers speaking at a brisk tempo while drilling down to the many questions specific to some of the legislators’ committee positions.
Tuesday, January 17, 2023, host Jason Bermas is joined by independent-newspaper publisher Todd McGreevy to discuss changes proposed to the way we request and use voter-registration lists. Such changes can have an adverse effect on our ability to identify ineligible voters and get them removed from our voter rolls. By “ineligible,” we mean the deceased, the duplicated, and the departed (they have relocated from the jurisdiction in which they remain registered).
Concerning, specifically, the Iowa Administrative Code, such changes would possibly make the process more difficult. Furthermore, we would be required to get permission from the Secretary of State’s office before we can share the lists with anyone else. This is overly-restrictive and puts conscientious citizens in the position of having a single authority in the SOS office tell us how we can use and share this information. This oversteps the language of Iowa Code 48A.39. Should one’s work not meet the Secretary’s criteria, would one be obliged to shack up in an embassy à la Julian Assange? All the more urgent to address the changes to 821-3.2(3) and 821-3.3, which proposes an increase in penalties for violating these rules from a serious misdemeanor to an aggravated misdemeanor. Is the Iowa government discouraging Iowa residents from engaging in good citizenship under threat of penalties under the law and these administrative rules that are subject to interpretation?
Link: Voter Registration Proposed Changes to Limit Citizens’ Access to Voter Rolls in Iowa?
Example: Iowa Admin Code 48A.39 says that voter-registration records can be obtained for a “genuine political purpose” or “bona fide political research.” The change proposed to Admin Rule IAC 821-3.2(2) would change the definition of “political purpose” to “a noncommercial purpose related to the express advocacy of a candidate or ballot issue.” It is not clear that this includes the work of citizen advocates who are trying to help clean the Iowa voter rolls. Since there isn’t a definition of “political research” in Iowa Code 821 Chapter 3, we’re left to wonder whether this includes the ability of, say, independent journalists to research registered-voter rolls. There should be a push made to such proposals as to define, categorically, “political research,” “genuine political purpose,” or “bona fide political research” in relation to voter-roll hygiene so that another push can steer the language away from its draconian implications and toward some straight talk that does not require an interested party being treated as a deputized entity without such concomitant benefits as health-care. Elsewhere, as regards 821-3.3(48A), “Contents of written request” has a change to item N° 9 so that it reads “A written explanation regarding the specific intended use of the list.” Such coy language sounds like it could be used to block legitimate requests from citizens if the State Registrar does not agree with the intended use — even though it is not contrary to Iowa Code 48A.39. Is “research to identify ineligible and duplicate voters” a sufficient explanation?
Resources relating to these proposed changes:* Description of Voter Registration Commission * Iowa Code section 48A.39 Use of Registration Information. * Current version of Iowa Adminstrative Code (IAC) 821-3 * Notice of Intended Action ARC 6772C * Voter registration list requests * Form for ordering a voter list
Link: Proposed bylaws change would entrench Republican establishment in South Dakota, opponents say
Just so you know it’s not just Iowa that’s in a benighted state (pun intended), as the South Dakota Republican Party’s State Central Committee is looking to change who gets a say in selecting statewide officers at the party’s convention, the result of a proposed bylaws change which would strip precinct committeemen of their voting rights at the state convention (per author Jason Harward).
Link: Precinct Strategy Discussion
Wherein precinct delegates have been getting bounced by crooked party leaders, with the recent dust up in South Dakota to get rid of all MAGA precinct captains.Link: Scott County GOP Corruption Exposed: The Jewel Is Tarnished
Memories precinct delegates getting bounced by crooked party-leaders in Scott County during the Ron Paul era reminds one when a Scott County GOP Convention was almost reconvened to make valid the delegates that move forward to Regional and State — bit of a lingering trauma from that rodeo.
Link: Whiteside County Sheriff Booker calls Illinois HB5417 violation of Second Amendment
Link: Rock Island County Sheriff Darren Hart says HB5471 in Illinois abrogates the Second Amendment, although he stops short of saying he would not enforce the statute
Link: Dr David Hartsuch suing two Iowa medical boards
With local doctor and former state senator David Hartsuch attempting to enforce the right to petition with his lawsuit the points McGreevy discusses in his 4 January 2023 article [directly below].
Link: Petitioning for Redress of the Bamboozle
Link: Noble Lies Are No Excuse for Ignoble Acts by Kathleen McCarthy
Whereas the former link concerns legal language, the latter concerns clear, identifiable footage of what’s happened. The majority of the forty-thousand-some-odd hours of the 6 January 2021 imbroglio at the nation’s Capitol has yet to be released and scrutinized. If not only for a full account of the events of the day, why would such material remain inaccessible?
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about Plane, a film Mike didn’t hate as much as he hoped he might — “too well-done,” “shot really well,” “at least the director knows how to do his job”; Skinamarink “such a weird, boring, creepy thing,” made with $15,000 Canadian; and the reboot of House Party, “not worth talking about at all, but fun — superfun”; “a mess of fun.” Plus, everyone’s anticipating the Oscars. . .
“Skinamarink,” “Plane,” and “House Party”
Predicting the 2023 Academy Award Nominations
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about M3GAN, the witty, homicidal robot girl-doll that’s won a nation’s hearts (and screens) and A Man Called Otto (not about a robot, but featuring Tom Hanks as a mean human who eventually becomes a little less mean — a “PC jerk,” as Mike calls him). A nice, light week — but the coming of Plane and the House Party reboot may change all that. . .
“M3GAN” and “A Man Called Otto”
Mike discusses with Dave, and Darren how real-world events (read: Chadwick Boseman’s death) have made “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” “a bit of a bummer,” especially when paired with “dumb jokes” that don’t land — are you sick of Marvel movies yet? Well, then, “Aftersun,” set in the present, reflects upon a character’s “beautiful, sad” family … Continue reading November 17, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Aftersun,” and “The Good Nurse” →
All Hail Elon, the New Twitter Lord and Champion of Free Speech: Five Reasons Elon Musk Is a Trojan Horse Not to Be Trusted Julian Assange Rots in Prison Because He Spotlighted the Manipulative Bitch The U.S. “Intelligence Community” Can’t Be Trusted to Police Itself: The People Need an Intelligence Ombudsman with No Conflicts of … Continue reading Who’s Watching Who? And Who Can You Trust? (Not Elon.) — Todd McGreevy & AD in the Morning on WQUD Discuss November Issue of River Cities’ Reader →
Mike discusses with Dave, and Darren how The Banshees of Inisherin could have been darker, considering the subject is loneliness in late middle-age and digit-removal in early-1920s Ireland, but is fine with its likability; how Armageddon Time is a little bit “afterschool-special-ly” for a film with a title like Armageddon Time, but, since it’s set … Continue reading November 10. 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Armageddon Time,” and “Decision to Leave” →
Dave and Darren discuss with Mike Schulz re Cate Blanchett getting #MeToo’d in TÁR; the power of Danielle Deadwyler’s performance of Emmett Till’s mother in Till; how unfortunate Call Jane is for being well-meaning, despite the worthiness of its subject matter (the late-Sixties/early-Seventies Jane Collective, the group of Chicago women who, with considerable personal risk, … Continue reading November 3, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “TÁR,” “Till,” “Call Jane,” and “Prey for the Devil” →
Loren Thacher speaks with the New York native blues-rock musician Joe Bonamassa about his craft and his tools as well as his spot on an upcoming fall US tour as “the weak link” — and if that’s the case, then that is one powerful chain. Bonamassa will play Davenport’s Adler Theatre on November 9. “Good … Continue reading Interview with Joe Bonamassa by Loren Thacher →
Mike, Dave, and Darren discuss “one of the most remedial” hits of late (Black Adam); Ticket to Paradise, which is somehow worse than Black Adam (might be the lack of capes); and Triangle of Sadness, the Palm D’Or film where the cast is as loathsome as Ticket to Paradise, but the laughs at their loathsomeness … Continue reading October 27, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Black Adam,” “Ticket to Paradise,” and “Triangle of Sadness” →
Mike, Darren, and Dave discuss the dubious merits of “Halloween Ends,” “Terrifier,” and the forthcoming “Black Adam” and “Ticket to Paradise,” and the unalloyed joy promised by a “Twister” sequel, at long last. “Halloween Ends”
Mike discusses with Dave and Darren how Amsterdam delivered “weird diversions” (“Quirky, but not in a funny way”), as if it was a dozen different films playing out at once — which didn’t please Mike’s fellow-watchers — but probably deserves a second viewing; and the adaptation of Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, “obnoxious in the way of most … Continue reading October 13, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Amsterdam” and “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” →
Mike, Darren, and Dave discuss Smile‘s effectiveness as well as its profitability (contrasted with the reboot “Jeepers Creepers: Reborn”) and Bros‘s effectiveness despite its box office. “Bros,” “Smile,” and “Jeepers Creepers: Reborn”
Mike, Dave, and Darren discuss how “Don’t Worry Darling” is kind of a “Stepford Wives”-type of film, neither offensively bad nor grippingly good; how the David Bowie doc “Moonage Daydream” was “really repetitive, which kind of bothered [Mike],” despite awesome performance footage; and how “Luck” is a generic kiddie film with a really solid premise … Continue reading September 29, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Don’t Worry Darling,” “Moonage Daydream,” and “Luck” →
Mike, Dave, and Darren discuss why Mike has been liking practically everything he’s seen lately (exaggeration); how “The Woman King” has rightfully received critical and commercial acclaim; how “God’s Country” is tight and intense, and you should catch it when it streams because it’s left the cinemas; how “See How They Run” is a fun … Continue reading September 22, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “The Woman King,” “God’s Country,” “See How They Run,” “Pearl,” and “Confess, Fletch” →
Mike, Dave, and Darren discuss how “Barbarian” leaves you asking “What’s going on?” so many times that your neighbors will think you’re Marvin Gaye — but nevertheless manages to reflect well upon writer/director Zach Cregger; and the Czech-epic (Czechpic?) “Medieval,” which might also be called “Bohemian Bravehart”. . . “Barbarian” and “Medieval”
The Riffs Will Flow and Beer Will Spill at Wake Brewing’s Five-Year Anniversary Party: September 9 and 10 Top Five Domestic Tyranny Steps Enacted by the US Government After September 11, 2001 Railroad Merger Prompts Review of Local Noise Ordinances
Reader Links: Top Five Domestic Tyranny Steps Enacted by the US Government After September 11, 2001 Vote “Weighting” Option Calls Election Integrity Into Question Battling Civic Impotence for 1,000 Issues Grand Reflection: A Thank-you Note Times a Thousand We’ve Been Lied to Our Whole Lives About Everything That Matters Compromised Media Enables Regulatory Capture: The … Continue reading Infowarrior Jason Bermas Hosts Publisher Todd McGreevy September 9, 2022: 1,000 Issues! Plus Top Five Domestic Tyranny Steps Enacted by the US Government After September 11, 2001 →
Mike, Dave, and Darren discuss Mike’s torn feelings re “Gigi & Nate,” as it’s “both better and worse than what [he] though [he] expected”; and how Regina Hall steals all her scenes in the mockumentary “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul,” about an embattled Baptist church’s dubious rebirth. “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul” and … Continue reading September 8, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.” and “Gigi & Nate” →
Mike, Dave, and Darren discuss Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba’s magical chemistry (or chemical magic); how “Breaking” is like “Dog Day Afternoon,” “but not fun” — not even with Michael Kenneth Williams present; and how “The Invitation”’s $6.8M weekend take-in seemed about right, considering how ridiculous it is. “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” “Breaking,” and … Continue reading September 1, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” “Breaking,” and “The Invitation” →
Mike, Dave, and Darren return to discuss the narrative knots the sequel “Orphan: First Kill” ties for itself, often to unintentionally-hilarious ends; how “Beast” is “‘Jaws,” but with paws” — and how that’s not necessarily a bad thing; and why Ron Howard’s “Thirteen Lives” is so unnecessary, given how the 2018 Tham Nuong Nan Nom … Continue reading August 25, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Orphan: First Kill,” “Beast,” and “Thirteen Lives” →
Reader publisher Todd McGreevy talks about the importance of print news now, more than ever, as well as the cultural importance of the local small press, in this interview with Aaron Dali, GM at WQUD FM 107.7, to commemorate the Reader’s 1,000-issue milestone. Grand Reflection: A Thank-you Note Times a Thousand Battling Civic Impotence for … Continue reading 1000 Issues of The River Cities’ Reader, and Counting . . . August 18, 2022 — McGreevy & AD in the Morning on WQUD Discuss August Reader Edition →
Mike, Dave, and Darren return to discuss how “Bodies Bodies Bodies” feels like a Gen-Z horror film written by Baby Boomers; how “Fall” has a strong upwards momentum, but nowhere to go from there; and how Diane Keaton’s talents are wasted on “Mack & Rita,” which, try as one might, one cannot outright hate. “Bodies … Continue reading August 18, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” “Fall,” and “Mack & Rita” →
Mike, Dave, and Darren return to discuss the odds of a twister hitting a drive-in theater in Newton, Iowa, months before it plays “Twister”; how “Bullet Train” is like two hours’ worth of Monster drink; and how an “Easter Sunday” movie in August is not at all strange. Not at all. “Bullet Train,” “Easter Sunday,” … Continue reading August 11, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Bullet Train,” “Easter Sunday,” and “Twister” →
Mike, Dave, and Darren return to discuss Mike’s “[laughing] occasionally really hard” during “DC League of Super-Pets” and how much fun “Vengeance” was owing to (or in spite of) B J Novak. Deep in the Heart of West Texas: “Vengeance” and “DC League of Super-Pets”
Mike, Dave, and Darren return to say “yup” to “Nope” (watch out for the monkey) and discuss why Mike goes Memento Man every time he recalls details of “The Gray Man.” “Nope,” “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” and “The Gray Man”
After a week off, the boys are back with discussion of Thor: Love & Thunder, Where the Crawdads Sing, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, and Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, an animated kiddie comedy adapted from Blazing Saddles. Seriously. Hammer Time: “Thor: Love & Thunder” “Where the Crawdads Sing,” “Mrs. Harris Goes to … Continue reading July 21, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Thor: Love & Thunder,” “Where the Crawdads Sing,” “Mrs Harris Goes to Paris,” and “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank” →
“If we don’t have press freedom, if we don’t have the freedom to whistleblow on the powers that be, on the people that are supposedly protecting our rights, like [Julian Assange] did, then it’s going to be a dark day if he goes down,” says Reader publisher Todd McGreevy in this interview with Aaron Dali, … Continue reading FDA Fast-Tracking More Jabs, Julian Assange & Mexico’s President; and More . . . July 12, 2022 — McGreevy & AD in the Morning on WQUD Discuss July Reader Edition →
Thursday, June 30: Discussion of Elvis, The Black Phone, The Phantom of the Open, Cha Cha Real Smooth, and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, including references to Tom Hanks’s inherent likeability and Emma Thompson’s enduring allure (characters and ages notwithstanding) Graceland of Opportunity: “Elvis,” “The Black Phone,” “The Phantom of the Open,” “Cha Cha … Continue reading June 30, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — Elvis, The Black Phone, The Phantom of the Open, Cha Cha Real Smooth, and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande →
Political Expediency Is Not Political Courage CapitolFax.com Crowdsourced Questions 2022 Rock Island County Sheriff Primary Election Questionnaire Crowdsourcing Critical Questions for Rock Island County Primary Candidates
Bison Bridge Webinar Recording and Related Info Questions for Scott County Board of Supervisors Primary Candidates
Thursday, June 23: Discussion of Lightyear and Brian & Charles, plus references to Porky’s, the Tom Cruise comedy Losin’ In, the ABC sitcom Soap, and other pop-culture touchstones. What’s Up, Buzz? Tell Me What’s a-Happening!: “Lightyear” and “Brian & Charles”
Thursday, June 16: Discussion of Jurassic World Dominion and Hustle. DNA-OK: “Jurassic World Dominion” and “Hustle”
Thursday, June 2: Discussion of Crimes of the Future, Watcher, and Fire Island. Organ-ized Crime: “Crimes of the Future,” “Watcher,” and “Fire Island”
Thursday, June 2: Discussion of Top Gun: Maverick and The Bob’s Burgers Movie. Bring Back That Lovin’ Feeling: “Top Gun: Maverick” and “The Bob’s Burgers Movie”
Thursday, May 26: They’re back! Discussion of Downton Abbey: A New Era, Men, Family Camp, Firestarter, The Survivor, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Kumbayeah!: “Family Camp,” “Firestarter,” and “The Survivor”
By Routing Bailey, Democrats Might Inadvertently Elevate Irvin’s Gubernatorial Prospects R.I.P. Amy Alkon’s Science-Based Syndicated Advice Column, 1995 to 2022 It’s Time for the Great Unraveling
Discussion of Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ambulance, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Mike’s movie reviews: Parallel Mothers: “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Ambulance,” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” “The most fun I’ve had in years! Top five of the decade so far. And, it’s spoiler resistant.”
Discussion of Morbius and The Contractor, including vampire bats. Mike explains why he wants to smack Jared Leto. Mike’s movie reviews: Leto Me In: “Morbius” and “The Contractor” “Though the film’s generic title suggests the gazillionth revenge saga to feature Liam Neeson and a gun, Saleh’s offering is actually a thoughtful, tense tale of betrayal that sends a … Continue reading April 7, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren →
Thursday, March 31: Discussion of The Lost City Infinite Storm, and the Academy Awards. “CODA,” and a Coda: Notes on the 2022 Academy Awards Telecast
“You’re gonna get the haunting!” – Darren Pitra. Mike’s reviews: Thrillers, Chillers, and Time Killers: “The Outfit,” “X,” “Umma,” “Deep Water,” “Fresh,” and “Master” The Outfit is 1956 Chicago mob crime thriller…. only seven characters for an hour and forty five minutes… “really twisty and the plotting is great.” Dave Levora knows Hollywood… he knows … Continue reading March 24, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren →
Inforwarrior Links Pandora Papers CNBC on Bilderberg Post Truth World Operation 7231 Japanese Experiments Reader Links: What Is the Great Reset? How the World Economic Forum and its strategic partners are openly implementing the Fourth Industrial Revolution to eliminate individual liberty, free will, and free markets. Emergency Powers Are Real Threats to People’s Lives and … Continue reading Infowarrior Bermas Hosts Publisher McGreevy March 23, 2022: The Post Truth World & Rules Based Orders →
What Is the Great Reset? How the World Economic Forum and its strategic partners are openly implementing the Fourth Industrial Revolution to eliminate individual liberty, free will, and free markets. Emergency Powers Are Real Threats to People’s Lives and Liberty Fear Inoculum: Tool, March 17 at the Tax Slayer Center in Moline
Scariest Batman Ever . . . The Batman is an Epic. “Might be better than the Dark Knight, I need to see it again,” says Mike Schulz. “It deserves its money.” Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to River Cities’ Reader Movie … Continue reading March 10, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren →
Discussion of Studio 666 and Cyrano, and anticipation for The Batman. Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to River Cities’ Reader Movie Critic Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren … Continue reading March 3, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren →
Thursday, February 17: Discussion of Death on the Nile, Marry Me, and Blacklight. Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to River Cities’ Reader Movie Critic Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave … Continue reading Feb 17, 2022 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren →
Journalism Not a Crime Quite Yet: Julian Assange Wins Right to Have Extradition Ruling Appealed in U.K. Supreme Court
Wherever There Is Risk, There Must Be Choice
COVID-19 Questions for Local Hospital CEOs and Medical Directors
Journalism Not a Crime Quite Yet: Julian Assange Wins Right to Have Extradition Ruling Appealed in U.K. Supreme Court
Wherever There Is Risk, There Must Be Choice
COVID-19 Questions for Local Hospital CEOs and Medical Directors
National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin – February 07, 2022 | View PDF Version
Thursday, February 10:Discussion of Jackass Forever, Moonfall, The Wolf & the Lion,and Tuesday’s Academy Award nominations.
Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to River Cities’ Reader Movie Critic Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren in the Morningteam of Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The morning crew previews upcoming releases, too.
Thursday, February 3, 2022:Discussion of Flee and Parallel Mothers, and predictions for the February 8 Oscar nominations.
Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to River Cities’ Reader Movie Critic Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren in the Morningteam of Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The morning crew previews upcoming releases, too.
Thursday, January 27, 2022:Discussion of The King’s Daughter, Redeeming Love, Belle,and A Hero.
Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to River Cities’ Reader Movie Critic Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren in the Morningteam of Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The morning crew previews upcoming releases, too.
Thursday, January 20, 2022:Discussion of Scream, Drive My Car, The Tragedy of Macbeth,and Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.
Reader Publisher Todd McGreevy is interviewed by WQUD FM 107.7’s GM Aaron Dali regarding the January print edition, which focuses on the January 6th 2021 events at the US Capitol, in Washington D.C., one year later.
One Year Later: Media and Congressional Political Agendas Continue to Gaslight the Increasingly Implausible January-6-Was-an-Insurrection Narrative
January 6: In Their Own Words — Firsthand Accounts from Five Concerned Citizens Who Were in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021
Reader Publisher Todd McGreevy is interviewed by WQUD FM 107.7’s GM Aaron Dali regarding the December print edition, which focuses on the Green New Steal, New Asset Classes and articles by Whitney Webb and James Corbett.
The Green New Steal
Brains & Bags to the Billionaires
U.N.-Backed Banker Alliance Announces “Green” Plan to Transform the Global Financial System
New Asset-Class Launch Advances Wall Street’s Nature Takeover
Jason Bermas explains the hypocrisy of YouTube’s censorship practices, with rules-for-thee-and-rules-for-thee. For example Jimmy Dore and Tim Poole can talk about invermectin, and play videos of Fauci contradicting himself, but Bermas cannot do the same on YouTube without having his channel suspended.
The Reader’s Green New Steal articles by Whitney Webb published in the December 2021 print edition are discussed. Bermas and McGreevy recount the recent presentation by Scott County Iowa medical director Dr. Louis Katz at the Bettendorf Public Library on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. And the former Scott County Supervisor Diane Holst is given a shout out for her efforts to save county workers from an illegal vaccine mandate issued by the county’s HR department void of elected supervisor oversight.
Links:
Brains & Bags to the Billionaires
The Green New Steal
New Asset-Class Launch Advances Wall Street’s Nature Takeover, by Whitney Webb
U.N.-Backed Banker Alliance Announces “Green” Plan to Transform the Global Financial System, by Whitney Webb