MOVIE REVIEW: Lee

Matching the shared praise shown within the journalism realm from that heart, there’s an automatic level of respect demanded and earned by Kate Winslet. Her clout as an actress equals her commitment to the difficulty of this role in Lee. Knocking on the door of 50 years old, Winslet nevers wastes a scene of this plum opportunity. The very same can be said of the moral foil and intrepid shadow portrayed by Andy Samberg as Scherman. The frequent funnyman capably uncorks his first dramatic film role with absolute reverence for the true and vigilant representation his character involves and embodies.

2023, 2024, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanSeptember 30, 2024Lee, Kate Winslet, Andy Samberg, Marion Cotillard, Noemie Merlant, Josh O'Connor, Lee Miller, David Scherman, biopicComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Macbeth

51st Chicago International Film Festival Highlight special presentation

When you have a film adaptation of a William Shakespeare play as arresting, brawny, and commanding as Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth," one has to throw the theater snob rant out the window. They are exactly like the "book is better than the movie crowd" only more under-served. We get it. No cinematic adaptation is ever going to satisfy everyone. My advice is get over the nit-picking and soak in a movie and treat it as a different medium entirely than the static stage. This new "Macbeth" is an event, not a play, and a darn good one.

MOVIE REVIEW: Still Alice

If you haven't heard of "Still Alice," I advise you to trust this spoiler-free review and skip the trailer entirely. It's a beautiful preview, but it skews context, tips its hand, and gives away far too much. Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by neuroscientist and writer Lisa Genova, "Still Alice" was first adapted as a stage play at the Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago in 2013. The directing and writing team of Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland crafted it into a feature film. "Still Alice" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and has increased facial tissue sales ever since with a full release still to come. Learn the gist from here and let the film unfold before you.

MOVIE REVIEW: Two Days, One Night

With Cotillard commanding the screen and using none of her looks and star power, the Dardennes have created an intentionally minimalistic film that packs a punch without the need for gaudy theatrics. If this was a Hollywood film, this storyline of encounters would be backed by over-acted reactions, flashy star cameos, unrealistic results, a ticking clock like a "24" episode, and a heaping pile "Norma Rae"-level workplace politics and finger-pointing backed by some sweeping musical score that crescendos to a predictable and manufactured happy ending. A Hollywood film would beat those themes of confidence, sympathy, and pity to death with syrup and imposed drama. What started as realistic and approachable would be rendered melodramatic and fake. Because of the focused simplicity and plainness of this story and the artistic intent of the Dardenne brothers, none of those mistakes of over-indulgence occur.

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

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