by Lafronda Stumn

As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.

2020, GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social MediaDon ShanahanDecember 6, 2020The Green MileComment

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the "You'll Probably Agree" YouTube channel talking the future for movie theaters

Back in May, I joined Mike Crowley’s You’ll Probably Agree podcast with Ian Simmons of Kicking the Seat and Pat McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com in discussing the state of movie theaters knee deep during this pandemic. Things looked brighter then. Now, six months later, with a spiking virus, streaming business moves, and conpanies closing or circling bankrupcies? Not so much. The four of us took to Mike’s YouTube channel recently to ponder the uncertain future. Enjoy this spirited conversation! I’m sure we’ll be doing it again soon.

Social Media, SPECIAL, Podcast, Media Appearance, 2020, Editorial, Home MediaDon ShanahanDecember 6, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Black Bear

Much to her flexible power for sardonic comedy or reckless abandon, actress Aubrey Plaza has a look. It’s not entirely a scowl. It’s not entirely a cynical grin. Deeming it a case of “resting bitch face” would be a dismissal to grander notions going on behind those eyes and curved lips. No, it’s more than that. It feels like all of the possible come-hither coyness mixed with all of the possible perilous threat her presence can express. She’s a puzzle, and it’s quite alright to love that about her.

2 STARS, 2020, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanDecember 4, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Wander

What folks are going to find with the escalating thriller Wander is a screwy little movie saved by committed performances. The trouble comes when the committed performance comes from the character that should be (and ends up) committed in the clinical sense. Be ready to question everything in Wander because the audience lens and main character is a rooting-tooting conspiracy theorist, yarn-and-tape boards with newspaper clippings and all, who makes his scratch as a private investigator. The unreliable narrator energy is strong, but that’s the entertainment when you make it to the finish.

MOVIE REVIEW: All My Life

This look and moment, which gets reminisced later as part of wedding vows, is the beginning of a very light and lovely shared journey in All My Life. From this opener onward, the two stars have each other, and us, hooked. Based on a touching true story of temporary time impeding on a forever kind of love, this approachable and endearing romance stockpiles the smiles to brighten all the trials and tribulations that follow.

2020, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanDecember 3, 2020All My LifeComment

GUEST EDITORIAL: Cinema Experience in the Time of COVID

by Lewis Robinson

As the pandemic has absolutely ravaged the movie industry, leaving it in tatters. It is now up to us, the consumers and movie-goers, to create a similarly satisfying experience in our homes. Even if the theaters were still open, it would arguably be grossly irresponsible to ignore the dangers of the pandemic and potentially spreading it around; alas, we are left to our own devices. With theater chains like Regal Cinemas and AMC closing down their theaters across the country, and in some cases for good, it seems to be the end of an era. No longer will we be able to enjoy a delicious batch of fresh movie popcorn. No longer can watch plots unfold with unexpected twists and turns on enormous screens providing a crystal clear picture quality with audio so clear and so loud that it would shake the very foundation of the seats in which we sat

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, SPECIALDon ShanahanDecember 3, 2020Comment

GUEST COLUMN: Top 5 Director's Cut Versions of Movies Everyone Should Watch

by Jennifer Holland

When it comes to deciding the final cut of the movie, directors are rarely the ones to make the call: it’s generally the producers that get this privilege. The reason behind this is that the ones who support the production financially usually have a better understanding of what the audience might like or dislike to see. Still, a professional who directs a movie often gets to make their own version of the film—the famous “director’s cut”—a version often longer than the one released to the general audience. Step inside your movie cave and get ready for a few surprises: here are the 5 movies which directors’ cuts you shouldn’t miss.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, LIST, SPECIALDon ShanahanDecember 3, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Luxor

There’s another great line in Luxor that says this is “a place that whispers to you if you listen.” It’s an effect threaded into the soundscape of the film by sound designer Frédéric Le Louet (The Informer) wafting in and out of the score from documentary composer Nascuy Linares (Embrace of the Serpent). The tourists around Hana hear tales of reincarnation and the passionate myths of polytheistic demigods. Whether she believes them or not does not compare to where her conflicted self esteem hangs precariously during this short holiday.

2020, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Foreign Film, Independent Film, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanNovember 30, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Mank

Sports fans like to say “game recognizes game” when youngblood contemporaries hat-tip the greats in their presence or those that came before them. Thanks to The Social Network ten years ago diving into the not-so-nice history of Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, David Fincher knows this Welles-Mankiewicz territory all too well. He put a bullseye on an emerging institution and enlisted the wily Aaron Sorkin to help him light the fuse. The masterful director returns with a stylish tribute to courage that came before him. He gets it. Call Mank “balls recognizing balls.”

2020, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanNovember 29, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Nomadland

That said, this odyssey has highs and lows for Fern living among the saguaros, grasslands, or rocks across the American West. No matter how much she has learned to take care of herself, painful solitude creeps in. Self-reliance only fulfills so much enterprising spirit. Courage can only stave off so many endangering risks faced by a woman her age alone. In many ways, Chloe Zhao’s film, her follow-up to The Rider before going Marvel with The Eternals, has the same range of stamina and lethargy. Unvarnished prestige too has its limits.

MOVIE REVIEW: Sound of Metal

With rock-heavy undertones replaced by the dramatic struggles of silence, Sound of Metal can personify every one of those questions. This labor-of-love and festival darling debuts in limited release and Amazon Prime on December 4th. Led by a sensational, internalized performance from Riz Ahmed, read here, see on the screen, and hear anyway you can how this stands as one of the best films of the year.

MOVIE REVIEW: Superintelligence

As dippy as all of this in Superintelligence may sound and transpire, there are undeniable streaks of kindness bigger than terabytes. Not all that far removed from the likes of George Bailey or Walter Mitty, the imagination to root for hope and love in people with laughs along the way feels good. Such a sincere sweetness cannot be discounted or denied. Once again, simplicity earns that kind of vibe. Welcome that to your viewing coach this season. We could use it this year.