Sierra, I’m sorry. Call me several times burned and now shy, but I must reject your offer of friendship. Unfortunately, the same goes for you, Pat and Carole, and you, Ashlee, and, sadly, Stephanie and Katrina as well. And Gaston, don’t even go there. Now, I understand, you’ve tried contacting me via facebook friend requests, message requests and e-mail a number of times. I see your messages, with their pert subject lines — “hello!” “Someone wants to meet you” and who can forget “Want to come play tonight?” I admit, you are nothing if... Read More

Want a peek behind-the-scenes at Countryside Community Theater’s “Godspell?” The musical continues with shows this weekend, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at North Scott High School auditorium in Eldridge. The cast features newcomer Drake Mason as Jesus and Quad City staples Nate Karstens (John the Baptist/Judas), Sara Diericx and Cindy Ramos. Jessica Tapscott, Gage McCalester, John McAtee, Casey Nabb, Rachel Bousselot and Martha Behnke round out the diverse cast of musical pranksters. All general admission tickets are $15 and can be reserved by visiting www.cctonstage.org.  Read More

Ballet Quad Cities are taking you on an adventure through Wonderland! The local dance troupe is presenting the imaginative and unforgettable “Alice in Wonderland” March 24 at 2 and 8 p.m. at Davenport’s Adler Theater, 136 E. 3rd St. Courtney Lyon and the dancers at Ballet Quad Cities are hard at work on an all new performance of “Alice in Wonderland.”  You won’t want to miss this exciting  twist on Alice’s adventures.  Bring your family and enjoy an unforgettable journey through Wonderland! For tickets see https://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/49254?brand=adlertheatre. For... Read More

Ever see 50 mics drop at once? Watch “The Shape of Water” and you will. Guillermo del Toro drops them all and probably secures his Oscar win. The man is genius. Period. I’ve always know that. You’ve always known that. After all, Pan’s Labryinth is one of the beautiful and important films of all time. But this is different. Very different… in every way. On paper, this Amazon monster-romance-horror-fantasy-heist (yes, it’s all those and more) seems an unlikely smash hit but on the screen it sizzles and inspires. “The Shape of Water” is the year’s... Read More

The lucky nominees of the 90th Annual Academy Awards will be announced Tuesday, January 23 at 7:22pm central time. Will The Shape of Water break a record? Will The Florida Project fail to secure a Best Picture nomination? Will Sebastian Stan slide into the Best Supporting Actor category at the last minute? It’s been one of the best years for film in a decade and I am positive there will snubs and surprises galore come Tuesday morning! How do I think it will all shake down? Let’s check it out….   BEST PICTURE Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri The Shape of Water The... Read More

Sunday, the Golden Globes will be awarded, with a ceremony hosted by Seth Meyers airing at 7 p.m. CST on NBC. You really never what the hell will happen with the Golden Globes. To quote three time host Ricky Gervais, the Golden Globes are “a bit louder, a bit drunker,” and it always shows, especially in the nominations. I always read the nominees with a plethora of WTF’s. This year is no different and this year is even harder to figure out. I sat down and did my best to sttay one step ahead and so… here are my predictions for Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards:   Best Picture... Read More

It’s that time of year again, when every critic rolls out his or her best of for the last 365 days, in hopes of turning other people on to new music and showing off their own music tastes to the world, particularly other critics, who we all desperately try to one-up in our selections. And of course, I’m no different. So here are my picks for THE BEST MUSIC OF 2017!!!! 10.) album recorded by a hygiene-challenged, agoraphobic shut-in that sounds like The Beach Boys recorded in his parents’ basement on an eight track and a player piano. 9.) precocious, wildly hyped all-female British New-punk... Read More

It’s the end of one year and the beginning of the next, which means that everyone is lining up their goals and resolutions to ignore and feel guilty about in the next 365 days or so. Most of those goals will involve some sort of fitness regimen or losing weight, getting in shape or dieting. Or some combination of all of the above. Me? I’m right there with you. But I’m taking it one step beyond. My goal is to find the vampire workout video. That’s right, the vampire workout video. Hear me out. You hardly ever see any fat vampires. They’re almost invariably beautiful, young (or young-ish)... Read More

WARNING: Contains language some may find offensive. The language is used for context and is not gratuitous, but may trigger or offend some individuals. The Keaton bullying video brought tears to my eyes and broke my heart. As anyone who went to junior high with me knows, I was bullied mercilessly seventh and eighth grade years. I was a skinny, awkward, artsy, goofy kid with messy hair who loved art, writing, Dr. Who, David Bowie, Duran Duran and all kinds of other so-called “faggot things.” I was poor and had ripped clothes and went to a rich kids’ school. I was pitifully awkward with girls... Read More

Last month I read an article up on io9 titled “There’s Never Going to Be a ‘Right Time’ for The Punisher TV Series” (https://io9.gizmodo.com/theres-never-going-to-be-a-right-time-for-the-punisher-1819326835) and I wanted to address some issues I had. The core idea of the article I agree with; which is that given the level of gun violence in the United States there isn’t a week that goes by that would make a good week to release their show about a lone wolf mass shooter. Even if we only talk about real life mass shootings, between the Las Vegas shooting that closed the... Read More