EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

Posts tagged Olivia Munn

GUEST CRITIC #19: Office Christmas Party

Say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Jake and Kimberly Narens! Kim is a former co-worker of mine from back in the day. She was the art teacher and I was a fourth grade teacher at the Lloyd Bond campus of Chicago International Charter Schools during its inaugural school year in 2009-2010. We have both moved on to other jobs since then and also become first-time parents. While I am still in Chicago, she and her husband now call the sultry heat of Chandler, Arizona home. I'm guessing they don't miss shoveling snow.

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.