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Quad Cities USA - Guide to Davenport & Bettendorf Iowa and Rock Island & Moline Illinois
 

“The Hero” Starring Sam Elliott Premiers at SXSW 2017: Q&A with Cast

March 31st, 2017
“The Hero” Starring Sam Elliott Premiers at SXSW 2017: Q&A with Cast

This is part of film critic Connie Wilson’s exclusive coverage of the SXSW Film Festival for QuadCities.com. The mythic spirit of the western, our American archetype, is alive and well at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival. I’ve seen two westerns in two days at the Festival. “The Hero,” which showed at the Zach Theater on Friday, March 10th, was the better of the two. “The Hero” was an unusual picture because it focuses on a 71-year-old actor (Elliot) who has been playing western parts for most of his career. Now, he is in the twilight of that career, and most of his work seems to be voice-over... Read More

‘Split’ Is M. Night’s Return To Glory

February 10th, 2017
'Split' Is M. Night’s Return To Glory

‘Split’ Genre:  Horror, Thriller Running time: 157 minutes Stars:  James Mcavoy, Anya Taylor-Joy Night Shymalan burst onto the scene in 1999 with the blockbuster “The Sixth Sense” and followed that up with “Unbreakable” in 2000. Then some not-so-hot movies began. Recently, he was responsible for executive producing the television series “Wayward Pines,” but loser films like 2006’s “Lady in the Water” or “The Village: caused some of us to stop waiting for the next big M. Night Shymalan film. Those days are over and it’s a pleasure to welcome this Philadelphia-born Spielberg... Read More

`Claire In Motion’ Is Very Good, But Not Great

January 25th, 2017
`Claire In Motion’ Is Very Good, But Not Great

Genre:  Drama Run Time:  80 minutes Directors/Writers/Producers:  Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell Actors: Betsy Brandt, Zev Haworth, Sakina Jaffrey, Anna Margaret Hollyman You will recognize Betsy Brandt in the film “Claire in Motion” immediately if you ever were a fan of “Breaking Bad” or are now a fan of “Life in Pieces.” In “Breaking Bad” she played Walter White’s sister-in-law, Marie—the one married to the FBI agent. In “Life in Pieces” she is Heather, the wife married to the goofy doctor. In “Claire in Motion,” she portrays Claire Hunger, the college professor... Read More

These Are The Top Films of 2016

January 13th, 2017
These Are The Top Films of 2016

The Golden Globes are over but the nominees for the Academy Awards are coming up soon. It is time for me to alphabetically list the movies of the past year that  are the best films of the year. I’m sure there are some films, especially foreign films, that I have not seen. Still, I have listed the movies that were engrossing. I feel confident that many of these films will be surfacing again on February 26th. I decided against trying to rank order them 1 to 20 and went with alphabetical inclusion. (There will be some Honorable Mentions at the end.) Arrival:  This film either left you singing... Read More

Gory Gibson’s ‘Hacksaw’ Is A Bloody Bio But No Oscar Bait

November 11th, 2016
Gory Gibson’s ‘Hacksaw’ Is A Bloody Bio But No Oscar Bait

“Hacksaw Ridge” Genre: War drama/biography Director:  Mel Gibson 132 minutes Stars:  Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Teresa Palmer, Vince Vaughn, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths Mel Gibson’s first directorial effort in 10 years (since 2006’s “Apocalypto”) is “Hacksaw Ridge,” the true story of conscientious objector Desmond T. Doss, a 7th Day Adventist who served as a medic in WWII in Okinawa and elsewhere in the Pacific Theater. As Gibson said, “He was an ordinary man doing extraordinary things under the most difficult of circumstances.” Gibson went on to explain that, in... Read More

“Arrival” Is Worthy Addition to Sci-Fi Predecessor “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”

November 4th, 2016
“Arrival” Is Worthy Addition to Sci-Fi Predecessor “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”

NOTE: Nationally known film critic Connie Corcoran Wilson is providing coverage of this year’s Chicago International Film Festival for QuadCities.com. The closing film of this year’s Chicago International Film Festival, “Arrival” is a great alien sci-fi film in the tradition of such classics as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Contact,” and fans of those films should enjoy it when it hits theaters nationwide on Nov. 11. Amy Adams plays a linguist named Louise Banks who is drafted by the military to figure out how to communicate with aliens who land in 12 locations around... Read More

‘Olympic Pride, American Prejudice’ A Great Historical Film

November 3rd, 2016
‘Olympic Pride, American Prejudice’ A Great Historical Film

NOTE: Nationally known film critic Connie Corcoran Wilson is providing coverage of this year’s Chicago International Film Festival for QuadCities.com. “Olympic Pride, American Prejudice”: The Untold Story of the 1936 Olympics is a gripping film. This film from Director Deborah Riley Draper examined the 28 athletes who traveled to Berlin in 1936 for the Olympic games held when Hitler was in power. Everyone remembers the name Jesse Owens from those games. But there were 17 other African American or Jewish athletes who participated as part of the U.S. team of 400 who remain largely forgotten,... Read More

‘Trespass’ Disappoints Crowds In Chicago

November 3rd, 2016
‘Trespass’ Disappoints Crowds In Chicago

NOTE: Nationally known film critic Connie Corcoran Wilson is providing coverage of this year’s Chicago International Film Festival for QuadCities.com. When you tell me that Michael Fassbender is starring opposite veteran UK actor Brendan Gleeson in a film, I’m there. I’m expecting good things. These are two great actors and the plot, set across 3 generations of the Cutler family of criminals, sounds exciting. THE GOOD The Cutler family live as outlaws in their own anarchic corner of Britain’s richest countryside. (At one point the patriarch of the clan suggests they move on to Kent, where... Read More

Director Roberto Sneider Debuts A Charmingly Hilarious ‘Susana’

November 2nd, 2016
Director Roberto Sneider Debuts A Charmingly Hilarious ‘Susana’

NOTE: Nationally known film critic Connie Corcoran Wilson is providing coverage of this year’s Chicago International Film Festival for QuadCities.com. The new Gael Garcia Bernal film, based on the Spanish novel “Deserted Cities” by Jose Agustin explores the changing nature of male-female relationships in Mexico and the world. This entire concept of the changing nature of female roles in the world has been a big topic in this year’s films, including “The Eagle Huntress” (from Mongolia) and documentaries “Girls Don’t Fly” and “The Swedish Theory of Love,” (in which we learn... Read More

`Kaleidoscope’ Features Toby Jones Playing `Psycho-like’ Character at Chicago Film Festival

November 2nd, 2016
`Kaleidoscope’ Features Toby Jones Playing `Psycho-like’ Character at Chicago Film Festival

NOTE: Nationally known film critic Connie Corcoran Wilson is providing coverage of this year’s Chicago International Film Festival for QuadCities.com. Kaleidoscope is a taut, psychological thriller that explores the inescapability of a destructive relationship between a middle-aged man and his mother. At the heart of this modern-day “Psycho” are some unsettling questions:  Can we ever escape the role in which we are cast by early circumstances? Is a perpetrator first a victim? The film starred Toby Jones, the well-known actor who portrayed Truman Capote and, more recently, portrayed the... Read More