MOVIE REVIEW: Dune: Part Two

Even still, so much of the Dune: Part Two dialogue (a noted dislike of the director) that could be winning hearts and minds is delivered in hushed platitudes. It’s positively wild than one of the loudest movies possible utilizing the biggest film screens the industry delivers can move someone so little where it counts. The crazy part is, Villeneuve and Dune still aren’t done. What began and was sourced from one interminably written ordeal could quickly become an interminable cinematic one as well.

2023, 2024, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanFebruary 27, 2024Dune, Dune Part Two, Denis V, Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgard, Austin ButlerComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Wonka

This lovely approachability in a fabulous package should come as no surprise for a film directed by Paul King of two cherished Paddington films and co-written by his series partner Simon Farnaby. With little motif tingles of the old signature “Pure Imagination” melody percolating in Talbot’s score before the Chalamet’s rendition of the full song closes the film, Wonka builds a respectful and winsome bridge from the future to the past.

2023, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanDecember 13, 2023Timothee Chalamet, Warner Bros. Pictures, WonkaComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Lady Bird

In her solo feature directorial debut, Greta Gerwig has stepped in and pushed this cinematic species tremendously forward with the dramedy Lady Bird. The film destroys any notion of the “manic pixie dream girl” fakery. Lady Bird is a cornucopia woven with striking candor and filled with delightful oxymorons artfully composed to challenge taboos and stereotypes. Let’s give each oxymoron a life lesson and a paragraph or two along the way.