GUEST COLUMN: Warm Comedies for a Winter Evening

by Justin Osborne

When the temperatures start going down outside, the only fun thing left to do is snuggling up on your couch with some of the best winter comedies. It will be extremely cold out there. But so long as you have a blanket, snacks, candles and some holiday comedies, you’ll not only feel warm but also laugh all night long. There will always be something for everyone here. It doesn’t matter whether you are alone, with your family or your better half. You’ll have a variety of options to choose from to ensure you don’t leave your house until things get better outside. When it’s too cold to go outside, here are some of the best winter movies for you. Keep reading!

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, Streaming, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 16, 2020Comment

EDITORIAL: Five surprises and snubs from the 92nd Academy Award nominations

Leave it to the annual early morning Oscar nominations to always find a way to rock our worlds. Earlier this morning in an excellent show of diversity, Searching actor John Cho and Insecure TV star Issa Rae presented the names and films looking for validation and immortality come the night of February 9th in front of a (thankfully) host-less crowd for the second year in a row. I know I chase this race every year on my Awards Tracker page, but there are always swerves. Here are five knee-jerk snubs and five surprises from the nominees:

2019, Column, Social Media, SPECIAL, 2020, Editorial, Independent FilmDon ShanahanJanuary 13, 2020Dolby TheatreComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Clemency

All the while, here is Alfre Woodard staring holes through the most leaden armor. If the Oscars were to come calling, and they should if they had any sense, it would be Alfre’s first nomination in 37 years (Cross Creek) and her first leading one. Her hefty performance steps deeper into the accumulating difficulties that have come to beset the unflappable leader she portrays. Her character has to show collapse, but the performer never falters her requirements. Alfre is beyond compelling in taking on all of the destructive darkness this character envelopes around us all.

2019, 2020, 4 STARS, Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanJanuary 10, 2020Clemency, Alfre WoodardComment

GUEST COLUMN: 10 Best Inspirational Movie for Self Growth

By Stella Lincoln

Films can be transformational in your view of health, wealth and wellness or even give you a more creative aspect. Whether it is a biopic that encourages you to make the world a new backing or a documentary that makes you ruin your life, certain films can act as catalysts for personal transformation. With these extremely good movies, you will surely get motivated.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, SPECIAL, Social MediaDon ShanahanJanuary 9, 2020Guest Column, Guest Editorial, Stella LincolnComment

GUEST EDITORIAL: What Lessons Do 5 Top Pet Movies Teach You?

By Stella Lincoln

The animation was like never before at the start of this century. In the name of entertainment, not only did globalization have an impact on children's bedtime stories, but it was also intruding in ethics and morality in the form of rude caricatures and indecent cartoons. Nevertheless, you can let your children see easily with cartoons, and many of them are considered classics. Animals were popular with children when cartoons were concerned. Children may want to be able to see them moving on their monitors because they cannot communicate with many mice or lions like Ratatouille and The Lion King.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, LIST, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 9, 2020Guest Column, Guest EditorialComment

GUEST ESSAY: Architecture as a Vessel: "The Fifth Element"

By Coleman Coddington

Architecture in The Fifth Element functions as a vessel for the narrative of the film. The architecture is reminiscent of a utopian society in which the majority of objects are automated and function autonomously from human intervention. With this comes a certain level of disconnection between the characters and the buildings within the film. Architecture in The Fifth Element serves little purpose to the characters other than housing the events they partake in. Architecture remains ordinary and typical, allowing it to not become very prominent and distracting in the film. However, Besson has caused the opposite reaction. In viewing the film, the built environment almost becomes suspicious to the viewers. Since it consistently seems to be removed from the characters and events, viewers begin to wonder why it appears in the form it does

2020, Column, Essay, EditorialDon ShanahanJanuary 9, 2020 Comment

GUEST EDITORIAL: Five Lessons from "The Fault of Our Stars"

“My greatest fear in life is oblivion. I wouldn’t want to live without being remembered after I’m gone.” This line is from Augustus Waters, One of the lead characters from the movie The Fault in Our Stars which is an adaptation of John Green’s teen novel, “The Fault in Our Stars.” The movie is a heartbreaking story of a young girl Hazel Grace whose battle with metastatic thyroid cancer has left her with little rays of hope for life. Her condition and constant battle for her life defines the storyline of the movie.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, Independent FilmDon ShanahanJanuary 9, 2020Comment

COLUMN: My Top 100 Movies of the 2010s

To build a master list, I turned to the Pub Meeple Ranking Engine. I entered a list of just under 200 five-star and high four-star movies and let the hundreds of clickable “versus” matchup permutations slot everything. It’s really a slick tool, and it nailed my results. The cream of the rose to the top, just as they should. I’ve said this before on other lists, but this is more about “best” than “favorites.” Also, I did not include documentaries. Quality edges easy entertainment more often than not. Here are the results with a little commentary here and there in between!

MOVIE REVIEW: Just Mercy

There is a certain steadiness to Destin Daniel Cretton’s new film that pushes back those gaudy tendencies. Its central real-life figure Bryan Stevenson is not the firebrand type most legal movies typically adore and request. Played by Michael B. Jordan, in a fitting and matured leading role for the muscled actor, Stevenson is not made to be something he is not. His real-life story and iron will principles are not smudged just to show a little pizzazz for the sake of pizzazz.

COLUMN: New Year's Resolutions for the Movie Industry for 2020

Plenty of regular everyday people make New Year's Resolutions, but I think bigger entities, namely movie makers and movie moguls, need to make them too. Annually, including this eighth edition, have fun taking the movie industry to task for things they need to change. As always, some resolutions come true while others get mentioned and reiterated every year. Welcome to 2020. Enjoy this year’s and this decade’s hopes and dreams.

Column, Editorial, LIST, Social Media, SPECIAL, 2020Don ShanahanJanuary 1, 2020Comment

COLUMN: The 10 Best Movies of 2019

In all, I published “only” 94 film reviews in 2019, which is plenty, but down from 110 last year and my high mark of 126 in 2017. I saw a dozen and a half more, but full-time school teachers, husbands, and dads like me only have so much free time to put 1000 words down every time. Work-life balance, so to speak, is always a challenge, one that I aim to do better in the life direction. No matter, I think I’ve got 2019 figured out. Here are my picks for the ten best films of the year accompanied by, as always and true to my site’s namesake niche, their best life lesson.

2019, 2020, Best Films, Column, Editorial, LIST, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 1, 2020 Comment

GUEST COLUMN: 13 Most Anticipated Horror Movies Of 2020

By Justin Osborne

There is always that feeling about watching a horror movie, which you get from no other film. With the increasing number of fans in this genre, producers are working extra hard to deliver entertaining and thrilling content to the enormous mass. This means that we will witness more horror movies in the run-up to the coming year – 2020. This year, 2019, has given us amazing treats, but 2020 is going to be better.

2019, 2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIALDon ShanahanDecember 19, 2019 Comments