Podcast
River Cities Reader Podcast
Hosted by River Cities Reader Podcast · EN
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.
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
February 20, 2025, with Dave and Darren — “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Paddington in Peru,” and the 2025 Oscar-Nominated Short Films — Animated and Live Action
Feb 20, 202500:15:35Tap to summarizeMike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra talk movies and wonder aloud about the wisdom of re-releasing The Comeback Trail (dir George Gallo, starr Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones, Morgan Freeman, Zach Braff, Emile Hirsch, Eddie Griffin, Kate Katzman, and Blerim Destani) and showing it once a day at 9PM. Yeah, that doesn’t make much sense, does it? Captain America: Brave New World (dir Julius Onah, starr Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford). Paddington in Peru (dir Dougal Wilson, starr Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Carla Tous, Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, and Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington). Then there are the fifteen short films, both animated and live-action, that have been nominated for Oscars — brace yourself: Yuck! (dir Loïc Espuch, feat the voices of Noé Chabbat, Katell Varvat, Enzo Desmedt, Camille Bouisson, Hugo Chauvel, Roman Freud, Mattias Marcussy, Mokhtar Camara, Olivia Chatain, and Théo Costa-Marini). Magic Candles (dir Daisuke Nishio, feat voices Yoshifumi Hasegawa, Hiroshi Iwasaki, Haruto Shima, Sakiko Uran, Ikkei Watanabe, Kazuhiro Yamaji, and Kiko Ôi). Beautiful Men (dir Nicolas Keppens, feat voice Peter Van den Begin, Peter de Graef, and Tom Dewispelaere). In the Shadow of the Cypress (dirs Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani, starr Zahra Moosavi). Wander to Wonder (dir Nina Gantz, feat voice Neil Salvage, Toby Jones, Amanda Lawrence, and Terence Dunn). The Last Ranger (dir Cindy Lee, starr Avumile Qongqo, Liyabona Mroqoza, and David S Lee). Anuja (dir Adam J Graves, starr Sajda Pathan, Ananya Shanbhag, Nagesh Bhonsle, Gulshan Walia, Sushil Parwana, Sunita Bhadauria, Rudolfo Rajeev Hubert, Jugal Kishore, and Pankaj Gupta). A Lien (dirs David and Sam Cutler-Kreutz, starr William Martinez, Victoria Ratermanis, Koralyn Rivera, and Jennifer Bergum). I’m Not a Robot (dir Victoria Warmerdam, starr Ellen Parren, Henry van Loon, Thekla Reuten, Juliette van Ardenne, and Asma El Mouden). The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (dir Nebojša Slijepčević, starr Dragan Mićanović, Goran Bogdan, and Alexis Manenti). The documentary Instruments of a Beating Heart (dir Ema Ryan Yamazaki). The doc The Only Girl in the Orchestra (dir Molly O’Brien). The doc Death by Numbers (dir Kim A Snyder). The doc I Am Ready, Warden (dir Smriti Mundhra). The doc Incident (dir Bill Morrison). Previews: The Monkey (dir Osgood Perkins, starr Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy, Adam Scott, and Elijah Wood). The Unbreakable Boy (dir Jon Gunn, starr Zachary Levi, Meghann Fahy, Jacob Laval, Drew Powell, Gavin Warren, and Patricia Heaton) “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Paddington in Peru,” and the 2025 Oscar-Nominated Short Films — Animated and Live Action
Transcribe →February 13, 2025, with Dave and Darren — “Heart Eyes,” “Love Hurts,” and “I’m Still Here”
Feb 14, 202500:12:55Tap to summarizeMike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra talk smack about movies, the best habit of them all: Heart Eyes (dir Josh Ruben, starr Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Michaela Watkins, Devon Sawa, and Jordana Brewster). Love Hurts (dir Jonathan Eusebio, starr Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose, Daniel Wu, Marshawn Lynch, Mustafa Shakir, Lio Tipton, Rhys Darby, André Eriksen, and Sean Astin). I’m Still Here (dir Walter Salles, starr Fernanda Torres, Fernanda Montenegro, Selton Mello, Guilherme Silveira, Antonio Saboia, Valentina Herszage, Maria Manoella, Luiza Kosovski, Marjorie Estiano, Barbara Luz, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, Cora Mora, and Olívia Torres). Previews: Captain America: Brave New World (dir Julius Onah, starr Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford). Paddington in Peru (dir Dougal Wilson, starr Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Carla Tous, Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, and Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington). “Heart Eyes,” “Love Hurts,” and “I’m Still Here”
Transcribe →February 6, 2025, with Dave and Darren — “Companion,” “You’re Cordially Invited,” and “Dog Man”
Feb 6, 202500:14:24Tap to summarizeMike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra remember Jurassic Park — were we ever so young? — and discuss the latest round of releases: Dog Man (dir Peter Hastings, voiced by Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Poppy Liu, Stephen Root, Billy Boyd, and Ricky Gervais). Companion (dir Drew Hancock, starr Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén, and Rupert Friend). You’re Cordially Invited (dir Nicholas Stoller, starr Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon, Geraldine Viswanathan, Meredith Hagner, Stony Blyden, Leanne Morgan, Rory Scovel, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Ramona Young, and Jack McBrayer). Previews: Love Hurts (dir Jonathan Eusebio, starr Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose, Daniel Wu, Marshawn Lynch, Mustafa Shakir, Lio Tipton, Rhys Darby, André Eriksen, and Sean Astin). Heart Eyes (dir Josh Ruben, starr Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Michaela Watkins, Devon Sawa, and Jordana Brewster). I’m Still Here (dir Walter Salles, starr Fernanda Torres, Fernanda Montenegro, Selton Mello, Guilherme Silveira, Antonio Saboia, Valentina Herszage, Maria Manoella, Luiza Kosovski, Marjorie Estiano, Barbara Luz, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, Cora Mora, and Olívia Torres). “Companion,” “You’re Cordially Invited,” and “Dog Man”
Transcribe →January 30, 2025, with Dave and Darren — “The Brutalist,” “Presence,” and “Flight Risk”
Feb 1, 202500:13:45Tap to summarizeMike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra talk about the latest round of film releases as they each try to withstand the pressure of the looming Oscars in their individual ways: The Brutalist (dir Brady Corbet, starr Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé, and Alessandro Nivola). Presence (dir Steven Soderbergh, starr Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Lucas Papaelias, West Mulholland, and Eddy Maday). Flight Risk (dir Mel Gibson, starr Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, and Topher Grace). Previews: Companion (dir Drew Hancock, starr Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén, and Rupert Friend). Dog Man (dir Peter Hastings, voiced by Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Poppy Liu, Stephen Root, Billy Boyd, and Ricky Gervais). “The Brutalist,” “Presence,” and “Flight Risk”
Transcribe →January 23, 2025, with Dave and Darren — “One of Them Days,” “Wolf Man,” “Nickel Boys,” “The Room Next Door,” and “Hard Truths”
Jan 24, 202500:18:39Tap to summarizeMike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra discuss the latest pictures as well as this year’s Oscar nominations. Schulz was most happy that many of his predictions were correct — a solid “B” average. One of Them Days (dir Lawrence Lamont, starr Keke Palmer, SZA, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Maude Apatow, Katt Williams, Joshua Neal, Aziza Scott, Patrick Cage, Dewayne Perkins, Amin Joseph, Gabrielle Dennis, DomiNque Perry, Lil Rel Howery, and Janelle James). Wolf Man (dir Leigh Whannell, starr Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, and Sam Jaeger). Nickel Boys (dir RaMell Ross, starr Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor). The Room Next Door (dir Pedro Almodóvar, starr Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, and Alessandro Nivola). Hard Truths (dir Mike Leigh, starr Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, and David Webber). Previews: The Brutalist (dir Brady Corbet, starr Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé, and Alessandro Nivola). Flight Risk (dir Mel Gibson, starr Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, and Topher Grace). Presence (dir Steven Soderbergh, starr Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Lucas Papaelias, West Mulholland, and Eddy Maday). “One of Them Days,” “Wolf Man,” “Nickel Boys,” “The Room Next Door,” and “Hard Truths” The 2025 Academy Awards Nominations
Transcribe →January 16, 2025, with Dave and Darren — “Better Man,” “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” and “The Last Showgirl”
Jan 16, 202500:15:48Tap to summarizeMike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra discuss a couple Oscar-worthy films and wonder if there was ever a time in the past when anyone would consider Pamela Anderson to be on such a list. Per Schulz, she did an A-1 job in The Last Showgirl, so it isn’t such a jolt for him to notice how the list has dated like curly fries: Better Man (dir Michael Gracey, starr Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Kate Mulvany, Alison Steadman, and Damon Herriman). Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (dirs Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, voiced by Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, and Reece Shearsmith). The Last Showgirl (dir Gia Coppola, starr Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, Billie Lourd, and Jason Schwartzman). Previews: Wolf Man (dir Leigh Whannell, starr Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, and Sam Jaeger). One of Them Days (dir Lawrence Lamont, starr Keke Palmer, SZA, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Maude Apatow, Katt Williams, Joshua Neal, Aziza Scott, Patrick Cage, Dewayne Perkins, Amin Joseph, Gabrielle Dennis, DomiNque Perry, Lil Rel Howery, and Janelle James). “Better Man,” “The Last Showgirl,” and “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”
Transcribe →January 9, 2025 with Dave and Darren — “Den of Thieves: Pantera”
Jan 10, 202500:21:32Tap to summarizeMike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra spend an inordinate amount of time discussing the films of 2024, as if 2025 never happened. There are a couple forthcoming films — “previews,” if you will — upon which Schulz offers thoughts: Den of Thieves: Pantera (dir Christian Gudegast, starr Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr, and Meadow Williams). Better Man (dir Michael Gracey, starr Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Kate Mulvany, Alison Steadman, and Damon Herriman). The Last Showgirl (dir Gia Coppola, starr Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, Billie Lourd, and Jason Schwartzman). Reminiscences on the 2024 Movie Year
Transcribe →January 2, 2025 with Dave and Darren — “A Complete Unknown,” “Nosferatu,” “The Fire Inside,” “Babygirl,” “Mufasa: The Lion King,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” “The Six Triple Eight,” and “Juror #2”
Jan 4, 202500:18:45Tap to summarizeMike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra move on to lightning round to cover all the films Schulz had seen over the break, and conclude by discussing Schulz’s films of 2024: A Complete Unknown (dir James Mangold, starr Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz, and Scoot McNairy). Nosferatu (dir Robert Eggers, starr Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, and Willem Dafoe). The Fire Inside (dir Rachel Morrison, starr Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry, Oluniké Adeliyi, and De’Adre Aziza). Babygirl (dir Halina Reijn, starr Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Sophie Wilde, and Antonio Banderas). Mufasa: The Lion King (dir Barry Jenkins, voiced by Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Donald Glover, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, John Kani, Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Tiffany Boone, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose, and Blue Ivy Carter). Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (dir Jeff Fowler, voiced by Jim Carrey, Keanu Reeves, Ben Schwartz, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, and Idris Elba). The Six Triple Eight (dir Tyler Perry, starr Kerry Washington, Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Kylie Jefferson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, Moriah Brown, Gregg Sulkin, Susan Sarandon, Dean Norris, Sam Waterston and Oprah Winfrey). Juror #2 (dir Clint Eastwood, starr Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J K Simmons, Chris Messina, Zoey Deutch, Cedric Yarbrough, and Kiefer Sutherland). “A Complete Unknown,” “Nosferatu,” “The Fire Inside,” and “Babygirl” “Mufasa: The Lion King,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” “The Six Triple Eight,” and “Juror #2” Reminiscences on the 2024 Movie Year
Transcribe →December 19, 2024, with Dave and Darren — “Kraven the Hunter,” “Nightbitch,” “Maria,” “Queer,” and “Flow”
Dec 26, 202400:15:23Tap to summarizeMike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra pause their respective pre-holiday maneuvers to discuss the films on offer: Kraven the Hunter (dir J C Chandor, starr Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, and Russell Crowe). Nightbitch (dir Marielle Heller, starr Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Arleigh Snowden, Emmett Snowden, Mary Holland, Ella Thomas, Archana Rajan, and Jessica Harper). Maria (dir Pablo Larraín, starr Angelina Jolie, Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Aggelina Papadopoulou). Queer (dir Luca Guadagnino, starr Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Jason Schwartzman, Henry Zaga, Omar Apollo, and Lesley Manville). The dialogue-free animated fantasy adventure film Flow (dir Gints Zilbalodis). Previews: Mufasa: The Lion King (dir Barry Jenkins, starr Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Donald Glover, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, John Kani, Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Tiffany Boone, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose, and Blue Ivy Carter). Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (dir Jeff Fowler, starr Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Krysten Ritter, and Keanu Reeves). “Kraven the Hunter,” “Nightbitch,” “Maria,” “Queer,” and “Flow”
Transcribe →December 12, 2024, with Dave and Darren — “The Return,” “Y2K,” “A Different Man,” and “Between the Temples”
Dec 26, 202400:15:25Tap to summarizeMike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra talk films, as is their wont, and await the arrival of novelist Rachel Yoder, author of Nightbitch, which was adapted recently for the screen by Marielle Heller: The Return (dir Uberto Pasolini, starr Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Charlie Plummer, Tom Rhys Harries, and Marwan Kenzari). Y2K (dir Kyle Mooney, starr Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison, Rachel Zegler, Fred Durst, and Alicia Silverstone). A Different Man (dir Aaron Schimberg, starr Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, and Adam Pearson). Between the Temples (dir Nathan Silver, starr Jason Schwartzman, Carol Kane, Caroline Aaron, Robert Smigel, Madeline Weinstein, Matthew Shear, and Dolly de Leon). Previews: Kraven the Hunter (dir J C Chandor, starr Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, and Russell Crowe). The anime-fantasy film Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (dir Kenji Kamiyama, starr Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, and Miranda Otto). “The Return,” “Y2K,” “A Different Man,” and “Between the Temples”
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