MOVIE REVIEW: mother!

There is extreme thematic and visceral content in mother! that will rattle even the toughest souls. Metaphorical imagery and symbolism are everywhere, and the number of literal and figurative interpretations of what is implicitly or explicitly transpiring can kill as many brain cells as it multiplies. The film begs endless questioning. Surviving and absorbing the film becomes a maddening experience. In the end, what is evident to celebrate is also categorically impossible to fully condone.

2017, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Film Festival, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanSeptember 13, 2017AMC River East 212017, 2017 Fall Movies, mother!, Mother, Mother!, Darren Aronofsky, Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfieffer, Domhnall Gleason, Brian Gleeson, Hunger Games franchise, Philip Messina, Matthew Libatique, Oscar winners, Rosemary's Baby, The End of the World, Skeeter Davis, Patti Smith, film review, movie review, advance movie review, film commentary, movie commentary, Hollywood commentary, social commentary, movie critic, film critic, CIFCC, Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, film festival, Black Swan, Noah, life lessons, life lessons from movies, life lessons from film, Mindfuck, Mindfuck movies, Mindfuck films, psychological thriller, horror, Don Shanahan, Donald Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Chicago Independent Film Critics CircleComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Passengers

Mixing romance with science fiction always seems to be a dodgy proposition of preposterousness. The emotionality of love is not something readily explained by science, unless some smarty pants cites neurotransmitters, adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin. The marketing and publicity push of “Passengers,” starring the hot ticket names of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, want you believe that you’re stepping into “Titanic in Space.” Hey now, come out of hyperdrive or drop out of warp speed (your choice, fellow geeks) and pump your space brakes! The only apt comparison between “Passengers” and “Titanic” is the metaphorical sinking.

MOVIE REVIEW: X-Men: Apocalypse

After two movies of turn-back-the-clock course correction, it is fair to rank the "X-Men" series right next to "The Fast and Furious" as a film franchise that was derailed, left for dead, and since rescued with a filmmaking resurgence. "X-Men: First Class" introduced new youthful vigor and was followed by the return of original franchise steward Bryan Singer for the slate-wiping "X-Men: Days of Future Past." The latter film grossed more than double any of its franchise predecessors and enabled the series to pass the torch from the seniors to the juniors. Flush with success, good graces, and a new lease on life, "X-Men: Apocalypse" arrives with the goal to top everything that's been done in 20th Century Fox's offshoot shingle of a Marvel universe.

2016, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEW, 2 STARSDon ShanahanMay 16, 2016AMC 600 North MichiganX-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: The Last Stand, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Brett Ratner, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Alexandra Shipp, Ben Hardy, Olivia Munn, Magneto, Erik Lehnsherr, Raven Darkholme, Mystique, Psylocke, Angel, Storm, Lucas Till, Nicholas Hoult, Hank McCoy, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Charles Xavier, Seth Rogen, Moira MacTaggert, Rose Byrne, Evan Peters, Quicksilver, Nightcrawler, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Scott Summers, Jean Grey, life lessons from movies, life lessons from film, life lessons, Life lessons, life lessons from films, movie review, movie commentary, film review, film commentary, comic book films, comic book movie, Fox Marvel Universe, X-Men, X-Men franchise, Fast and Furious series, 2016, 2016 Summer Movies, summer movie, summer blockbusters, Summer Movies, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Don Shanahan, Donald ShanahanComment

COLUMN: Predicting the major 88th Academy Award nominations

The 88th Academy Award nominations will be announced tomorrow morning, January 14, 2016, hot off of the weekend's 73rd Golden Globe awards. I've been following the full awards season over on my Awards Tracker page. Using that data as the tea leaves and a truckload of hunches, I'm going to attempt to closely predict the Oscar nominations for the "Big 8" categories for the third year in a row.

2015, 2016, Column, Editorial, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 13, 2016Best Picture, The race for Best Picture, Oscar Predictions, Oscar nominations, Oscar contenders, Oscar hopefuls, Oscar bait, 88th Academy Awards, 88th Oscars, Oscars, 2016, 2015, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Big 8, Oscar snubs, Oscar surprises, Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, The Big Short, Carol, Room, Brooklyn, The Martian, Bridge of Spies, Creed, Inside Out, Son of Saul, Straight Outta Compton, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, George Miller, Tom McCarthy, Todd Haynes, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Ridley Scott, Adam McKay, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Ryan Coogler, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs, Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl, Matt Damon, Bryan Cranston, Trumbo, Johnny Depp, Black Mass, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Keaton, Brie Larson, Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years, Jennifer Lawrence, Joy, Charlize Theron, Sarah Silverman, I Smile Back, Helen Mirren, Emily Blunt, Sicario, Sylvester Stallone, Mark Rylance, Michael Shannon, 99 Homes, Paul Dano, Love and Mercy, Jacob Tremblay, Benecio del Toro, Mark Ruffalo, Steve Carell, Christian Bale, Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation, Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina, Alex Garland, Rooney Mara, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria, Rachel McAdams, Josh Singer, Pete Docter, Meg LaFauvre, Josh Cooley, Oren Movermann, Michael Alan Lerner, Matt Charman, Ethan Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen, Joel CoenComment

COLUMN: Who should win/will win the 2016 Golden Globes?

More and more each year, the Golden Globes have become more an a popularity contest than a true precursor to the Academy Awards. What you're watching on TV is a party thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and hosted by Ricky Gervais in an effort to be loved and share some love. To its credit, the awards show still garners legitimate attention and ratings. The winners do get a pretty positive rub and the marketers gain a few more "Winner of..." graphics to put in the newspapers next to their films.

2015, 2016, Editorial, Column, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 8, 2016Best Original Score, Carter Burwell, Carol, Daniel Pemberton, Steve Jobs, Alexandre Desplat, The Danish Girl, Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto, The Revenant, John Williams, Johann Johannsson, Creed, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Fifty Shades of Grey, Furious 7, Elle Goulding, Wiz Khalifa, Brian Wilson, Love and Mercy, Writing's on the Wall, Sam Smith, Spectre, Simple Song #3, Sumi Jo, Youth, Mustang, Son of Saul, The Brand New Testament, The Club, The Fencer, Timbuktu, The Assassin, Best Foreign Language Film, Amour, The Artist, Best Animated Feature, Inside Out, Shaun the Sheep, Shaun the Sheep Movie, The Good Dinosaur, The Peanuts Movie, Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufman, Disney/Pixar, Emma Donoghue, Room, Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer, Spotlight, Aaron Sorkin, Adam McKay, Charlie Randolph, The Big Short, Quentin Tarantino, Brooklyn, Michael Shannon, 99 Homes, Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation, Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies, Sylvester Stallone, Paul Dano, Mark Ruffalo, Benecio del Toro, Sicario, Jacob Tremblay, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Helen Mirren, Trumbo, Jane Fonda, Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina, Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria, Lily Tomlin, Grandma, Jennifer Lawrence, Joy, Melissa McCarthy, Spy, Maggie Smith, The Lady in the VAn, The Lady in the Van, Amy Schumer, Trainwreck, Teyonah Parris, Chi-Raq, Al Pacino, Danny Collins, Infinitely Polar Bear, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Matt Damon, The Martian, Kevin Hart, Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Brie Larson, Charlize Theron, Carey Mulligan, Suffragette, Far from the Madding Crowd, Will Smith, Concussion, Michael Fassbender, Eddie Redmayne, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bryan Cranston, Michael Keaton, Michael B. Jordan, Tom Hanks, The Wolf of Wall Street, Todd Hayne, George Miller, Ridley Scott, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globes, 73rd Golden Globes, Golden Globe nominees, Golden Globe winners, who will win/should win, Awards Predictions, Awards Tracker, Awards Talk, 88th Academy Awards, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a LessonComment

COLUMN: New Year's Resolutions for the Movie Industry in 2016

As I say every year, plenty of regular everyday people make New Year's Resolutions, but I think bigger entities, namely movie makers and movie moguls, need to make them too. Over the life of this website, this is my absolute favorite editorial to write every year. I have fun taking the movie industry to task for things they need to change. I'm sarcastic, but I'm not the guy to take it to the false internet courage level of some Twitter troll. This will be as forward as I get all year.

2016, Column, Editorial, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 1, 2016New Year's Resolutions, New Year's Resolutions for the Movie Industry, Movie trends, Movie problems, 2016, Column, Editorial, 2015 films, strong female protagonists, female protagonists, female leads, LGBT, LGBTQ+, Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road, Carol, The Danish Girl, Stonewall, Grandma, racism, xenophobia, jingoism, Chi-Raq, documentary, Netflix, Beasts of No Nation, J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Pictures, Han Solo, Boba Fett, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Golden Goose, Kevin Feige, Marvel Films, Joss Whedon, Ava DuVernay, Black Panther, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Warner Bros. Pictures, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Spider-Man, Sony Pictures, Adam Sandler, Pixels, The Ridiculous 6, VOD, Video On Demand, Seth McFarlane, Ted 2, Terminator, Terminator: Genisys, Minions, Honest Trailers, Jennifer Lawrence, Alicia Vikander, Brie Larson, Room, Ex Machina, Joy, The Good Dinosaur, Fifty Shades of GreyComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Joy

The problematic factor for this David O. Russell and his acting muses is the diminishing returns of their final products. Showing a case of beginner's luck, "Silver Linings Playbook" was a crowd-pleasing quirky romance that netted Lawrence an Oscar. Full of promise, "American Hustle" was an overrated and misguided attempt at Scorsese Lite. "Joy" now arrives with a random mix of events that may begin insinuate the 14th century expression of "going to the well once too often" for this group. Like the idiom's definition, Russell and company have taken repeated risks and have now pushed their luck too far.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2

With all honesty, this writer has never been a fan of "The Hunger Games." Dystopian worlds and brassy films about them are always fascinating, but kids-killing-kids-for-sport isn't a cup of tea fitting of endorsement. It is easy to be intrigued but admittedly hard to be entertained by such a thing. With the profit-milking complete from "Part 1" last November, "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2" ties together its loose ends with reasonable quality. To this critic, the series has always come down to your tolerance of overwrought melodrama, your acceptance of illogical hang-ups, and your stomach for grim fictionalized massacre with a high body count being pushed on kids. It's hard to be a fan of that bleakness.

2015, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanNovember 18, 2015AMC River East 21The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1, The Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence, Francis Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Sam Clafin, Jena Malone, Stef Dawson, Willow Shields, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Katniss Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne, Peeta Mallark, Natalie Dormer, Mahershala Ali, President Snow, Stanley Tuci, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Haymitch Abernathy, Ellie Trinket, I Am Legend, Peter Jackson, Movie trilogies, Movie franchise, life lessons from film, life lessons from movies, life lessons from films, movie review, movie commentary, film review, film commentary, 2015, 2015 Holiday Movies, 2015 Holiday Movie Preview, Don Shanahan, Donald Shanahan, Every Movie Has a LessonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: X-Men: Days of Future Past

The successful revitalization brought by “X-Men: First Class” and the unfaded star power of Hugh Jackman have brought us to “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” Original series director Bryan Singer, fresh from “Jack the Giant Slayer,” and “X-Men: The Last Stand” screenwriter Simon Kinberg have returned to correct old mistakes, untangle the knots, and realign this previously failed franchise for a healthy new lease on cinematic life and relevance.

2014, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMay 24, 2014X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men, X2: X-Me United, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Wolverine, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Newton Thomas Sigel, John Ottman, Hugh Jackman, Logan, Wolverine, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Professor X, Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr, Magneto, Michael Fassbender, Ian McKellan, Jennifer Lawrence, Mystique, Bolivar Trask, Peter Dinklage, Evan Peters, Quicksilver, Ellen Page, Kitty Pryde, Omar Sy, Bishop, Booboo Stewart, Warpath, Adan Costa, Sunspot, Bobby Drake, Iceman, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Storm, Beast, Hank McCoy, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman, X-Men: First Class, Brett Ratner, Marvel, 20th Century Fox, Apocalypse, movie commentary, movie review, summer blockbusters, summer movie, 2014 Summer Movies, comic book movie, 2014, sequels, reboots, film franchises, film review, life lessons from film, life lessons from movies, life lessons, Fan Bingbing, Blink, Colossus, Daniel Cudmore, Sentinels, Man of Steel, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Fast and Furious series, Days of Future Past, Chris Claremont, John ByrneComment

EDITORIAL: The 15 films to watch for the 2015 Oscars

Once one awards season ends, another one begins! The winners from last night's 86th Academy Awards can bask in the glow of immortality for a while. Meanwhile, business in Hollywood will quickly shift and move on to the 87th Academy Awards that will happen in February or March of 2015. Here are 15 films to watch for the 2015 Oscars.

2014, Column, EditorialDon ShanahanMarch 3, 20142015 Oscars, 87th Academy Awards, Whiplash, Sundance Film Festival, M, Miles Teller, Philip Seymour Hoffman, A Most Wanted Man, John le Carre, Anton Corbjin, The American, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright, Magic in the Moonlight, Emma Stone, Woody Allen, Colin Firth, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson, Ralph Fiennes, Serena, Bradley Cooper, Brothers, Jennifer Lawrence, Gone Girl, David Fincher, Ben Affleck, Get on Up, James Brown, Chadwick Boseman, Tate Taylor, The Help, Oscar Predictions, Oscar nominations, Oscars, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Editorial, Column, movie commentary, Interstellar, Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Christopher Nolan, Fury, David Ayer, End of Watch, Shia LeBouf, Logan Lerman, Exodus, Noah, Darren Aronofsky, Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Bible, Inherent Vice, Paul Thomas Anderson, Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, P.T. Anderson, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, Peter Jackson, Into the Woods, Disney, Rob Marshall, Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Unbroken, Angelina Jolie, Louis Zamperini, Jack O'Connell, Domhnall Gleason, Jai Courtney, Garrett Hedlund, Cameron Crowe, Danny McBride, John Krasinkski, Bill Murray, Will Smith, Annie, Quvenzhane Wallis, Clint Eastwood, Jersey Boys, Frankie ValliComment

OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2014: The female acting awards

It's time to make my formal predictions. In this fifth post, we are deep into the major award categories. Here are my picks for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Stick with me and I will win you your Oscar pool. Let's go!