New Movies & Things to Do in Iowa City & Coralville this 4th of July Weekend

July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It’s Friday and it’s 4th of July weekend – Lots of choices for things to do in Iowa City and Coralville this weekend… In Iowa City we have the Toyota-Scion Jazz Festival – a 3 day event from July 2 – July 4. In Coralville the 4th of July celebrations started yesterday already making it a 4 day extravaganza.

With all this going on, is anyone thinking of going to the movies this weekend? It’s my regular day for looking at new movies so let me give you the lowdown on what your choices are this weekend just in case you are. As far as new movies are concerned, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has been out a couple of days now and is sure attract a lot of attention – 4th of July weekend or not! I haven’t seen any of the Twilight movies, but then I’m not a teenager. I’m definitely not in the demographic they are shooting for! They have quite a cult following so I’m sure they’ll do well. Apparently Eclipse, the new sequel has pleased the critics more than New Moon, the last offering. I don’t think it really matters though. Cult followers won’t care. They’ll think it’s great no matter what.

The other new movie is The Last Airbender, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The movie is based on the successful Nickelodeon TV series and it seems the controversial Mr. Shyamalan messes up badly taking it to the big screen. Who knows, maybe it’s got a forgiving cult following too who will look past the poor interpretation of the source material. It wouldn’t be the first time critics got it all wrong!

You can check the schedule for movies at the Coral Ridge Mall Movie Theatre in Coralville and the Sycamore Mall Cinema in Iowa City…

The weather is perfect and there’s fun stuff going on in both Iowa City at the Jazz Festival and in Coralville at 4thFest. And if neither of the above movies are your cup of tea Toy Story 3 is a safe bet for a fun time. The way things are going it might end up being the movie of the year!

Whatever you’re doing this 4th of July weekend I hope you have a wonderful time!

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THE Movie of the Year… And the World Cup Heats Up… Fun Times!

June 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

If you thought last weekend was a great weekend for movies then you’re in for a real treat this week! The most anticipated new release of the year is coming out today and according to those who are “in the know” it lives up to the hype and some! Toy Story 3 is what I’m talking about of course. In 3D no less… Really cute story line too. If you’re like me you’re probably wondering where they could go with Woody and Buzz. Well, let me just tell you the makers had the genius idea of telling the story of what happens to toys when their owners grow out of them… Expecting to land in the attic the toys get shipped off to Sunnycare Daycare and it’s there the fun begins. Of course they’ve introduced some new characters into the mix to keep it interesting. Of course Woody doesn’t stay put and goes on walkabout. Looks like they’ve figured out all the right buttons to press, doesn’t it? I’m sure they have and I’m sure they’ll be rewarded at the box office!

You can check the schedule at the Coral Ridge Mall Movie Theatre in Coralville and the Sycamore Mall Cinema in Iowa City…


Jonah Hex is the other new movie out today. Josh Brolin plays the disfigured gunslinger/bounty hunter on his biggest adventure yet. The reviews are somewhat lacking. (And I’m being polite). Maybe the villain of the piece, played by John Malkovich can save the day… I wouldn’t hold your breath though. There are too many good movies out at the moment to imagine this one making any headway. (What do I know though, it’s not my kind of movie in the first place – blood and gore are not really my thing).


That’s the big screen covered. On the little screen things are starting to get interesting with the World Cup. France seems to be losing ground and on it’s way out of the tournament. Spain, one of the favorites got off to a rocky start losing their first match. The three countries that matter in our house are all playing today. Germany kicks off at 6.30am. They blew everyone out of the water with they first match. Let’s see if they can deliver a repeat performance.  England on the other hand needs to kick it up a notch, as does the USA. By the end of the day we will know whether they’ve managed to do that… By next week we will have sorted out the riff raff and should be seeing some quality soccer football… If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about. Tune in. A major tournament like this feeds on itself and as excitement breeds more excitement the games get better and better. Don’t take my word for it. Watch it and figure it out for yourself!

Here’s the schedule. Time shown is South African time – 7 hours ahead of us. (With an icon to change the time zone too).

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What’s Happening on the Big & Small Screen This Weekend

June 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

What a weekend for movies! The A-Team and Karate Kid. Those are the movies coming out today. Boy does that bring back memories! My sons grew up in the 80′s. They were huge fans of The A-Team TV show and watched the Karate Kid video so many times I think they could recite the script! Now we have remakes of both of them. I’m sure there will be A LOT of young men in their late twenties rushing to the cinema this weekend as they remember the “good ol’ times” growing up. Do I need to do a synopsis for either of these movies? I don’t think so…. If you don’t know what they’re about, then you must have been living in a cave in the 80′s!

You can check the schedule for movies at the Coral Ridge Mall Movie Theatre in Coralville and the Sycamore Mall Cinema in Iowa City…

Movies aside there is actually something even bigger than this kicking off today, not on the big screen, but certainly on many TV sets throughout the world. I’m talking about the World Cup, Weltmeisterschaft, Copa Mundial – Pick your language, it’s all about football – The European kind that is! Almost 11 years ago when I moved to the US football was not exactly high on anyone’s list of favorite sports and didn’t get a whole lot of airplay on TV. In fact in 2002 when Brazil played Germany in the final my German born sons were forced to watch it in Spanish, because that was the only channel it was being shown on. That went over real well, as you can imagine! Times have changed since then I’m happy to say, although I’m kind of missing the euphoria that I remember running up to this event when I was living in Europe…

Fun times in our house of course. I’m a Brit, my sons are German and we’re in the U.S. The good thing is that with the knock out system there is no shortage of possible teams to root for! I don’t need to tell you over the years I’ve taken a lot of heat from my sons for the fact that England just cannot seem to win against Germany in any of these major tournaments. Will they do it this time? Maybe. Germany’s team has taken a couple of major hits and are playing without their Captain, Michael Ballack, so we have a chance. Don’t hold your breath though, they’ll probably mess it up if it comes to penalties!

We’ll see… At any rate we’re all set. We have our new 42″ HDTV and are just waiting with bated breath for the fun to start. What do you say? Will you be watching England vs. U.S. on Saturday? Who’s your tip for the finals?

Here’s the schedule – Times are in the host country’s time – South African time – 7 hours ahead of us. (They also provide a handy little icon to change the time zone).

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New Movies & Events in Iowa City & Coralville This Weekend

April 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

3 new movies in theaters today for Easter weekend. We have a blockbuster, a family movie and an adult comedy, so there’s something for everyone. Of course they’re up against How to Train Your Dragon on a holiday weekend, so I’m not really sure how that will go… Actually I am. My money’s on Dreamworks, how about you?

You can check the schedule for movies at the Coral Ridge Mall Movie Theatre in Coralville and the Sycamore Mall Cinema in Iowa City…

So now to those new movies… The first one is a remake of the classic Clash of the Titans starring Sam Worthington. A big fan of Greek mythology I love the theme, but I’m not sure that even with stars like Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes it’s going to have much of a chance against How to Train Your Dragon… Watch this space next week to see if I need to eat my words!


The second new movie is The Last Song starring Miley Cyrus and Greg Kinnear – A movie about a father and daughter who don’t get along and find a way to reconnect through music. No prizes for figuring out that in a certain age bracket this is going to be hugely popular!

The last new movie this week is Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? Not thrilled with the title. It doesn’t sound right to me – Grammatically that is. At any rate it’s a sequel with the same cast as the original and covers the life and times of eight college friends who are struggling with married life. If you liked the original, odds are you’ll like this. Me, I’m still hung up on the title!:-)

That’s it for movies. Moving onto live entertainment… Pretty big weekend at The Mill this weekend with the Mission Creek Festival. Their biggest day is Saturday when they kick off events at 3.00pm – You can check their website for details.

We’ve got something for everyone when it comes live entertainment in Iowa City and if country music with dance is more your style, then check out the Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon. Great music and great food and free wi-fi… Check out their Facebook Fan page. The reason they’ve earned a regular place in my post is because they do a better job than anyone else I’ve seen using that media to give info on specials and upcoming events.

That’s it again for my weekly update. For more ideas on things to do in Iowa City this weekend I’ve written a couple of posts pulling things together making it easier for you to find theaters and live entertainment venues in Iowa City.

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New Movies & Events in Iowa City & Coralville This Weekend

March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Two new movies out today, (March 26) in Iowa City and Coralville and they both get really good reviews. I mention it because it’s kind of unusual – Opinions differ and usually reviews are mixed. It’s surprising to see positive reviews through the board!

Here’s the schedule for movies at the Coral Ridge Mall Movie Theatre in Coralville and the Sycamore Mall Cinema in Iowa City…

The first new movie is quite clearly going to be a rip roaring success. How to Train Your Dragon comes from the Dreamworks studio. Need I say more? And what’s not to like about a reluctant hero named Hiccup? That’s enough for me right there… And I haven’t even gotten to the part where you find out it’s about vikings and dragons yet. Our reluctant hero is not quite in sync with the rest of his tribe and finds his beliefs up-ended when he meets up with a dragon. This was the kind of movie I used to love taking my children to see, on the pretext I was doing them a favor, when all the while I was loving it!

The other new movie has the great title Hot Tub Time Machine. Starring John Cusack it’s about three friends dissatisfied with their lives who get shipped back in time in their hot tub for a do-over. Lighthearted entertainment – Just what the doctor ordered.

That’s it for movies. Moving onto live entertainment… The Mill has another full weekend lined up as usual. Tonight folk rock lovers will enjoy The Fruit Bats. Saturday it’s the Burlington Street Bluegrass Band and Sunday it’s Ol’ Thrashers Reunion 3 – The third year in a row where members of the Iowa City Punk scene get together to raise funds for United Action for Youth.

We’ve got something for everyone when it comes live entertainment in Iowa City and if country music with dance is more your style, then check out the Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon. Great music and great food and free wi-fi… Check out their Facebook Fan page. They do a better job than anyone else I’ve seen using that media to give info on specials and upcoming events.

That’s it again for my weekly update. For more ideas on things to do in Iowa City this weekend I’ve written a couple of posts pulling things together making it easier for you to find theaters and live entertainment venues in Iowa City.

Filed Under: Events in Iowa City & Coralville Tagged With: , , ,
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