MOVIE REVIEW: Nosferatu

For many, the stark and startling films of Robert Eggers are existential affairs and appointment viewing for those cinephiles who overuse the term “elevated horror.” To others, his level of haunting disquiet triggers them all the wrong ways. No matter where one sits, audiences will marvel at the strong female nucleus of Nosferatu and the vigorous lyrical poetry given to unholy terror. As his own master of the horror genre who set out to achieve a decade-plus passion project, Eggers unleashed his vision in an unshackled and uninhibited way only he could accomplish.

2024, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanDecember 2, 2024Nosferatu, Robert Eggers, Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgard, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Ralph InesonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Rebel in the Rye

As it has been outlined on this website before on films like Get On Up, biographical films have their formulas and rules. In addressing the origins and rise to fame of reclusive author J.D. Salinger, Rebel in the Rye faces the familiar dramatization tightrope walk between sugarcoated hero worship and biting character study. The creative choices made by Danny Strong, in his debut directorial effort, swirl between an engaging warm hug and an indifferent cold shoulder.

MOVIE REVIEW: Sand Castle

Wars transform the soldiers that participate in them. Men and women in combat can be broken down, built up, or both in positive and negative ways. Because the young tend to serve, their stories, and the films that tell them, can mirror a late-term version of the “coming-of-age” archetype. The fingerprints of forced maturity appear all over the likes of “The Deer Hunter,” “Platoon,” “Jarhead,” and dozens of other films. In all honesty, the trope is overused and over-familiar and that’s the first mistake of “Sand Castle.”

MOVIE REVIEW: Equals

Young writer-director Drake Doremus has carved out a reputable niche in the romantic drama department. Many of the Sundance darling's films feature a prominent theme of longing love. That motif is on full display and meshed with mindful science fiction in his new film "Equals." Starring Nicholas Hoult and Kristen Stewart and backed by Ridley Scott, the film is making a limited theatrical run alongside a full release on VOD marketplaces. Mindful doesn’t exactly equal poignancy on the scale of desired response.

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

MOVIE REVIEW: Mad Max: Fury Road

For this writer, "Mad Max: Fury Road" is a daunting challenge for this website's definition of mindless action as a movie genre. Mindless action has its range from the trash of Michael Bay to the treasure of the "Fast and Furious" franchise. However, what separates the trash from the treasure is quality and impact. The quality speaks to the action and the impact speaks to the story being sewn along the way, even if it's secondary. The really good mindless action movies offer just enough heft of a compelling story to make the action matter and resonate beyond just superficial coolness. As incredible in stunt work and thrills as "Mad Max: Fury Road" is, it is missing too much of that heft to matter beyond being really cool to watch.

MOVIE REVIEW: Young Ones

"Young Ones" is set in a not-too-distant future where drought has ravaged the land and broken down society for several years now. Water is the top commodity and resource. Newer technology is mixed with cruder scraps and styles of the past for a unique world. The middle and lower class tenuously eek out meager survival among bandits and thieves in the rural areas. Beyond those outskirts, there is an unseen richer demographic of cities and a government presence that maintains a more normal society, pulls the strings, and delegates who and where gets the precious remaining water.

2 STARS, 2014, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on DemandDon ShanahanOctober 17, 2014Young Ones, Jake Paltrow, Michael Shannon, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult, post-apocalyptic moviesComment

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.