The Reader

2 weeks ago | thereader.com | Ryan Syrek

Comedians these days can either accept that “funny” is an incredibly subjective term or blame their lack of talent on the “woke mafia.” So at least, there are options now. Tim Robinson is a prime example of the former option. A true Hawaiian pizza of a jokester, he is arguably too vehemently defended by those who find his humor delicious and remains baffling to a much wider majority. Having previously fallen into the latter group, I did not expect to enjoy Friendship.

3 weeks ago | thereader.com | Ryan Syrek

I do not understand the Final Destination movies. I mean their appeal. I understand the movies themselves just fine. They are not very complicated. In all of them, death is some kind of sentient, unseen being with a Rube Goldberg fetish who gets his invisible jollies from decapitating young people with seemingly innocuous objects like bowling balls and such. Weirdly, everyone in the films automatically genders the formless “death” as a man.

3 weeks ago | thereader.com | Arthur Jones

With the sound of rolling road cases, members of local IATSE 42, a union of theatrical stage employees, unload a truck in front of Omaha’s Orpheum Theater. The cases contain all the different pieces of “Hamilton” merchandise — pins, shirts, posters — you name it. Once all of that is loaded in the front, the truck driver brings the truck around back to one of two loading docks behind the theater.

3 weeks ago | thereader.com | Arthur Jones

The results of Omaha’s city mayoral election are in. Democrat John Ewing Jr. defeated Republican incumbent Mayor Jean Stothert with Stothert having 36,307 votes trailing challenger John Ewing Jr.’s 45,336, based on unofficial results. Ewing said he was going to celebrate Wednesday, and get to work Thursday. “What I’m going to do is start talking to people about being on the team so we can build a great team for the people of this community,” Ewing said. “It feels amazing.

4 weeks ago | thereader.com | Ryan Syrek

So many production companies have their logos in front of Fight or Flight, it is almost certain one is just straight-up laundering money, right? No one has yet invented a better way to cleanse ill-gotten gains than financing a Josh Hartnett action movie. That is a joke, just in case any of those 10-20 companies have good lawyers. This is all to say that, from the jump, Fight or Flight feels dodgy and suspect.