MOVIE REVIEW: Swan Song

By channeling its abundantly unique story down a futuristic path, Swan Song also embraces the realm of potential science fiction. Moored by an immensely complex performance from two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali, the crux of Cleary’s debut feature film oscillates on a virtuous decision amplified by the reach of technology not yet viable today. The drama may be all-inclusive with its existential dread, but the choices and implications considered and then enacted are strenuous yet sublime.

2021, 5 STARS, 2022, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanJanuary 17, 2022Swan Song, Mahershala AliComment

SPECIAL: Winners announced for the first annual CIFCC Awards!

The 28 film critics and voting members, including yours truly, of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle completed their final ballots in 25 categories for their first annual CIFCC Awards. The CIFCC hosted an invitation-only awards reception at Transistor Chicago on January 8, 2017.

2016, 2017, Independent Film, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 9, 2017Transistor ChicagoAwards, Awards Talk, CIFCC, CIFCC Awards, Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle, 2016 CIFCC Awards, Oscar hopefuls, Ava DuVernay, 13th, Jacqueline Stewart, Charles Musser, Pioneers of African-American Cinema, Yorgos Lanthimos, The Lobster, The Love Witch, Anna Biller, Atmo Horrox, Piper, Doctors Strange, Swiss Army Man, La La Land, Justin Hurwitz, Tom Cross, Madeline Fontaine, David Wasco, Linus Sandgren, Viola Davis, Mahershala Ali, Manchester by the Sea, Natalie Portman, Jackie, Casey Affleck, Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Kenneth Lonergan, Damien Chazelle, Southside with You, Richard Tanne, Kubo and the Two Strings, Travis Knight, Laika, The Fits, Anna Rose Holmer, O.J.: Made in America, The Handmaiden, Best Independent Film, Best Studio Film, Best Foreign Film, Best Documentary, Best Microbudget Film, Best Animated Film, Best Chicago Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Ensemble, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Short Film, Best Undistributed Film, Trailblazer Award, Impact Award, Donald Shanahan, Don ShanahanComment

COLUMN: Who should win/will win the 2017 Golden Globes?

What you're watching on TV on Sunday night is a party thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association hosted by Jimmy Fallon in an effort to be loved and share some love. It’s a popularity contest more than a true Oscar precursor. 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 and we get Brendan Fraser GIFs.

MOVIE REVIEW: Hidden Figures

With a family-friendly PG rating, “Hidden Figures” becomes an instant must-see film for both classrooms and living rooms. Boy or girl, man or woman, black or white, any audience member who has ever marveled at the Space Age of our national history will find much to love in Theodore Melfi’s follow-up to “St. Vincent” adapted from Margot Lee Shetterly’s nonfiction book.

COLUMN: New Year's Resolutions for the Movie Industry in 2017

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. Annually, including this sixth edition, 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 ShanahanDecember 31, 2016New Year's Resolutions for the Movie Industry, New Year's Resolutions, Column, Editorial, 2016, 2017, New Year's Eve, Adam Sandler, Seth McFarlane, Michael Phillips, MTV, Donald Trump, Felicity Jones, Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain, Jackie, Miss Sloane, Emma Stone, La La Land, #OscarsSoWhite, Moonlight, Fences, Hidden Figures, Mahershala Ali, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Naomie Harris, Octavia Spencer, Ava DuVernay, 13th, The Birth of a Nation, Southside with You, The Fits, Kicks, LGBT, Disney/Marvel, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Sony Entertainment, Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Homecoming, X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool, Doctor Strange, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Geoff Johns, Denis Villeneuve, Dwayne Johnson, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, Ridley Scott, Alien: Covenant, Jumanji, Baywatch, Kicking the Seat, Pixar, Pixar Punch, Sing, The Secret Life of Pets, The Angry Birds Movie, The Emoji Movie, Pete's Dragon, Mark Wahlberg, Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day, Transformers: The Last Knight, Jason Statham, Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters, Damien ChazelleComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Moonlight

I dare you to look into the painful eyes of the three ages of Chiron and their matching performers and not have your soul triple in weight. The arc in "Moonlight" from the innocence of the little boy to the uncomfortable vulnerability hiding underneath the muscles and gold fronts of the hardened resulting adult is arduously moving on multiple levels. Observing his difficulties forces you to absorb the conflict and inescapable trepidation that surrounds the shared character. Pressing his heart to your own makes for one of the most moving and rewarding film experiences this year.

2016, 5 STARS, Chicago Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanNovember 6, 2016Landmark Century Centre Cinemas2016, Festival coverage, festival preview, Chicago International Film Festival, 52nd Chicago International Film Festival, Black Perspectives, Special Presentations, Moonlight, Barry Jenkins, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert, Barbara Lewis, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Brad Pitt, Plan B, #OscarsSoWhite, James Laxton, Nicholas Britell, Loving, Jeff Nichols, Andre Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monae, Jaden Piner, Liberty City, Miami, LGBT, LGBTQ+, Boyhood, Richard Linklater, film review, movie review, film commentary, movie commentary, Life lessons from movies, life lessons from films, life lessons from movies, life lessons, life lessons from film, Life lessons, Audience Award, 2016 Fall Movues, 2016 Fall Movies, 2016 Holiday Movies, Oscar contenders, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, independent filmsComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Free State of Jones

Since Hollywood has become a hit-generating factory more than a garden of artistry and truth, a historical drama film like “Free State of Jones” only has to raise its barometer to a midpoint of “good enough.” That is because there is nearly unwinnable tug-of-war of disservice between history lessons and entertainment value, especially when your poster reads “based on a true story.” Veer away from the facts too far with dramatic license and the film becomes disingenuous. Veer too close to history without cinematic flashiness and no one will pay to see it. “Free State of Jones” falls somewhere in the middle of that mud pit.

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.