MOVIE REVIEW: Storm Boy

Ten life lessons than pet ownership can teach children include responsibility, trust, bereavement, respect, self-esteem, physical activity, loyalty, patience, and social skills. Now, for most of us stateside, our preferred companions are often dogs and cats. The canines and felines get movies for days from Old Yeller to The Secret Life of Pets. In South Australia’s coastlands, the prevailing animal neighbors are birds. So, how well do you know a pelican? Come to Storm Boy and find yourself newly enamored.

Video on Demand, 2019, MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, Foreign Film, 2018, 4 STARSDon ShanahanApril 16, 2019 Comments

GUEST EDITORIAL: 10 Best Pet Movies for Your Next Night In

Grab your popcorn and snacks for your pups and marathon these 10 best pet movies. If you are a true pet lover, you appreciate pets in all their forms – in real life, in paintings, in music, in literature and especially in movies. From classics like The Lady and the Tramp to new favorites such as Garfield, these shows will receive a bark of appreciation from the whole crew. You are bound to have the time of your life through the adventures in the movie.

2019, Column, Editorial, GUEST CRITIC, GUEST EDITORIAL, LIST, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanApril 14, 2019Comment

INFOGRAPHIC: Iconic Opening Lines

The opening line from a film can make all the difference. It can be what hooks you in, it can be what makes you turn over. Some opening lines are so great that they’re works of art in their own right, and department store Oldrids & Downtown have captured that in these cool posters. Using the first line from some iconic films, they’ve created some fascinating illustrations that fans of the movies will love. By incorporating the visual themes and aesthetic of the film, they’ve nailed these, see for yourself here…

2019, Column, Editorial, Infographic, LIST, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanApril 14, 2019Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Breakthrough

Too often nowadays in our headline-seeking and attention-starved society, that first definition of “miracle” is stretched and overused to the point of hyperbole, right there next to other words like “epic” and “masterpiece.” There are places where effectiveness has been lost. That second definition calling for divine intervention is a doozy. It calls for higher piety. Well, good believers love divine challenges and so does this Breakthrough starring Chrissy Metz.

MEDIA APPEARANCE: David Ehrlich's IndieWire Critics Survey on April 8, 2019

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What film has most defied your expectations, either for better or for worse?

I harp often about unreasonable expectations. Between giving up trailers and really trying to bring a little more objective grading into subjective criticism, I’ve come to hate the term “expectations.” I really stretch to stay neutral at all times. That said, having zero expectations is impossible, which means, like this week’s question, plenty of movies will surprise me from what they were billed to be. For my answer this week, I dug back to 1999 and picked out a silly movie that really won my over, cheese and all.

Independent Film, Media Appearance, Social Media, SPECIAL, 2019Don ShanahanApril 10, 2019David EhrlichComment

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the "Kicking the Seat" podcast talking "Shazam!"

Look! It’s the other Captain Marvel movie! In a quick turnaround after Marvel took it’s turn in March, the “comic council” of film critics united again to say our own magic words. Kicking the Seat’s Ian Simmons crossed the Skype-streams to put the wizardry of Ian, David Fowlie of Keeping it Reel, Emmanuel Noisette of Eman's Movie Reviews and myself together for a heck of a super-spirited podcast. Enjoy!

MOVIE REVIEW: The Public

The number of debated points in The Public outnumber the aisles and stacks. On one hand, that crowding creates an involving and intriguing machine of tied fates and a roundtable forum sampler for the viewer. On the other, that same populated weight does make the film saturated with many bouncing tangents of rhetoric, not all of which mesh fluidly. Nevertheless, the debate balance of this brouhaha of hubris and sentiment favors the rightly idealized and positive. The Public makes a worthy stump speech for its checklist of modest societal issues.

2019, 3 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanApril 3, 2019AMC NapervilleComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Dumbo

During this continuing trend of Disney live-action “reimaginings,” one that shows no sign of stopping, fulfillment is an adulation not often realized by these newfangled and amplified tentpoles. Improvement is another lost reward. Audiences constantly question the values of duplicated enjoyment or tangible purpose for needing anything new and shiny made from something that worked just that way it was intended decades ago. With Tim Burton’s ambitious Dumbo, we fortunately get both.

2019, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMarch 28, 2019AMC River East 21DumboComment

GUEST EDITORIAL: Unusual Stories of Actors Before They Became Famous

For some, it’s quite difficult to come to terms with the fact that some of the iconic figures in the entertainment front were ordinary people at some point doing regular jobs and others going for days without shelter. Many of the biggest acts in the movie industry got their start by chance while others worked really hard to get to where they are currently. Well, we could go ahead to say it does help to be in the right place at the right time but then again for some hard work supersedes all.

2019, Best Films, Column, Editorial, LIST, Social Media, GUEST EDITORIALDon ShanahanMarch 25, 2019Comment

MEDIA APPEARANCE: David Ehrlich's IndieWire Critics Survey on March 25, 2019

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Is “elevated horror” a real thing"?

I’m not a horror film regular or connoisseur, but I know and appreciate a good horror film when I see one. I know “elevated horror” has become a buzz term, as evidenced by David Ehrlich’s survey this week, but I think the unlabeled idea of it has been around since the beginning of the genre. I consider it’s a compliment, which puts me in the slim minority this week on the dais.

Independent Film, Media Appearance, Social Media, SPECIAL, 2019Don ShanahanMarch 25, 2019David EhrlichComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Shazam!

Shazam! might be the new exemplar for the word “zany.” What is fantastical and ludicrous was just what was needed for this DC Comics material. Zachary Levi’s schtick of superpowered shenanigans becomes the epitome of both the adjective and the noun variations of that choice word. Zany is the bullseye of Shazam! and, boy, is that all kinds of satisfaction. Go get that satisfaction synonym list next.

MOVIE REVIEW, 4 STARS, 2019, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMarch 24, 2019Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Us

One’s communal theater experience and entertainment value is addictively fed and your mind will race afterword, preserving the impact for even more internalization, compartmentalization, and surprise. That said, what do these lessons and all of this in Us mean? If the details do not expand the buzz of the mindf — k at hand, nothing will. Keep Peele’s targeted purpose in mind when you dig into Us for what you can extract. Open your perceptions and hold your s — t together.

2019, 4 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMarch 21, 2019AMC River East 21Comment