Entertainment

In an alternate universe somewhere, Dwayne Johnson is thriving as a quirky, smirking superhero in the Marvel ranks. He’s on his third stand-alone film, has made cameos in a bunch of other movies, and is the smiling face of one of the biggest movie franchises on Earth. Things are great.

LIMA — It has been a long time coming, but the Ohio Theatre will finally have its first big event under new ownership.

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” a 1928 World War I novel by war veteran Erich Maria Remarque, was banned and burned in Nazi Germany. When the Academy Award-winning 1930 film version from Universal Pictures opened in Berlin, Joseph Goebbels himself entered the theater and started a riot. In 1979, a second version of the film was seen on American TV. Now, we have a version from Germany itself, and the film is the country’s selection for the Academy Award. I don’t know much about director Edward Berger, whose previous film “Jack” was about a troubled family. But his version of “All Quiet on the Western Front” is at least the equal of Lewis Milestone’s early talkie classic.

WAPAKONETA — The Auglaize County Fairgrounds will host a new event this weekend just in time for the fall season.

Rarely have so many stars labored to so little effect as they do in “Amsterdam.”

LIMA — Comedian Mike Head knows that familiarity is not the best weapon in a comedian’s arsenal. That honor belongs to relatability, which is something he tries to deploy in his act, which can be seen at 8 p.m. Saturday at The Lab, located in downtown Lima at 230 N. Main St.

For his follow-up feature to his Oscar-winning 2018 film “Green Book,” director Peter Farrelly (known mostly for his comic collaborations with his brother Bobby) has turned to a genial true story from the Vietnam War. “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” isn’t your typical Vietnam film. Based on a wild, improbable real-life tale, it hews closer to comedy than gritty war drama — it’s Nam-com, if you will. But over the course of the film, it evolves from lark to dark, as the central protagonist learns the brutal reality of war during his harrowing journey delivering cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon to his pals.

FINDLAY — Fall might be the perfect time of year for more than a few upcoming acts around the area, none more so than traditional Americana band Barbaro, which is scheduled to perform at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts in Findlay.

LIMA — While many acts have come and gone from Lima’s Veterans Memorial Civic Center, this next one promises to be unique.

VAN WERT – It’s been 15 years since the then-new kid on the entertainment block in northwest Ohio first opened its doors. Among the performers to grace the stage of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Van Wert during that inaugural season was legendary vocalist Marie Osmond.