SPECIAL: Winners of the 24th Online Film Critics Society Awards

The largest group of online film critics has spoken! Today, the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), of which I am a member representing Every Movie Has a Lesson, announced the winners of their 24th annual film awards. The OFCS, which is comprised of nearly 300 film critics from around the world, will be announcing the final winners on January 25, 2021. Here’s the list of winners from OFCS. While I’m not a big Nomadland fan, I think the voting body did an outstanding job celebrating 2020’s best.

2020, 2021, SPECIALDon ShanahanFebruary 14, 2021Comment

GUEST COLUMN: 8 Impressive Movies About Artificial Intelligence

by Miranda Woolridge

Art of Cinema - Best Artificial Intelligence Films

Today humanity has come close to creating a full-fledged artificial intelligence. Of course, each of us is interested in learning more about AI and how it can affect our lives. The cinema offers a ton of similar stories, and many films have become truly iconic (such as The Terminator, The Matrix, or Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey). In this review, we'll talk about lesser-known paintings that deserve your attention.

2021, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home MediaDon ShanahanFebruary 13, 2021Comment

GUEST COLUMN: 10 Movies That Can Renew Your Faith In Love

by Timothea Bradley

Some of us don’t need proof, we already know that true love exists, we just have to find it! But other people might need some reassurance or encouragement. Enter, the best romantic movies about love. Yes, you can be skeptical and claim that a movie is a fiction. Moreover, most recent movies are all about cliches and standard plots. But you will be surprised to learn that not all movies are so plain. Some nice films are worthy of your attention, even if you aren’t into romantic movies. Some of them might encourage you to start looking for love on such sites or apps as filipino-women.net or Tinder.

2021, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home MediaDon ShanahanFebruary 13, 2021Comment

GUEST COLUMN: 10 Mind-Bending Movies To Watch Right Away

by Devin Caldwell

While a classic blockbuster or a comedy is often satisfying, sometimes a mind-bending movie is just what the doctor ordered. Wrapping your brain around an insane movie can be exhilarating! If you're looking for the next thrilling film to watch, here are ten mind-bending movies to watch right away.

2021, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home MediaDon ShanahanFebruary 13, 2021Comment

GUEST COLUMN: The Best Racing Films and What Makes Them So Great

by Kevin Faber

Like most sports, racing is limited to a specific season. There are practical reasons for that; racing season is when conditions are most favorable for racing and safest for driving. Nevertheless, the off-season can be difficult for fans to endure. Fortunately, there are still ways to get your fix while waiting for the season to begin again. Racing has held such a fascination for so many people for so long that there are dozens of movies centered around it. Here is a chance to relive some old favorites and perhaps discover some new ones.

2021, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home MediaDon ShanahanFebruary 13, 2021Comment

GUEST CRITIC #58: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

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.

GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social Media, Foreign Film, 2021Don ShanahanFebruary 13, 2021Comment

GUEST EDITORIAL: Movie Lessons About Going After Your Dream Job

by Adrian Johansen

There have been countless great movies about people going after their dreams. They continue to be successful because they’re inspiring. When you watch a movie about someone either overcoming the odds to get their dream job or climbing the ladder to find success, it might inspire you to do the same. If nothing else, it can show you that it’s possible.

2021, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home MediaDon ShanahanFebruary 13, 2021Comment

Valuable Life Morals We Can Adopt From Movie Characters

Movies do not just entertain viewers. They can also be outlets or mediums through which the creators can relay their ideas, philosophies, values, and visions. Movies can reach out to the minds and consciousness of viewers and evoke their realizations about life and other situations portrayed in the movies. Some remarkable movie characters can deliver powerful messages and performances that make us reexamine ourselves, our beliefs, our past, or even our future. Whatever genre a movie labels itself with, you are bound to find something worth relating with one or several characters in that movie.

2021, Column, Editorial, Home MediaDon ShanahanFebruary 12, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

For the impressionable young woman and clearly smitten guy, played by Freaky’s outstanding Kathryn Newton and future West Side Story cast member Kyle Allen, all hope is far from lost after this first unified encounter. They get to do this all over again. Playing in the self-aware Groundhog Day and Palm Springs pond, their Mark and Margaret are stuck in a temporal loop, repeating the same sunny Alabama spring day that ends with the hints of a cleansing thunderstorm at midnight that never comes before the alarm clock awakens the restarted day.

2021, 4 STARS, Home Media, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanFebruary 12, 2021The Map of Tiny Perfect ThingsComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Judas and the Black Messiah

Director Shaka King and his co-writer Will Berson, both prior specialists of television, have penned and lensed an appropriately audacious feature film debut that deserves reverence and reaction. Through it all, there is tangible grizzled inspirational force to watching the agitators humanize and refine their plight. To hell with any “product of its era talk” because this is a crusade that many will cite as ongoing today with much of the same potency. Taking much deserved latitude, Judas and the Black Messiah does not beat around a single bush with where the antagonistic blame belongs.

2021, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanFebruary 12, 2021Comment

EDITORIAL: Breaking into the Film Industry in New Zealand

The COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic has been brutal on most industries. Most factories had to be shut down, and workers were laid off globally as the pandemic rendered most industries useless. But the film industry in New Zealand stood tall, a beacon of hope in a globe thwarted by the devastating virus. Unsurprisingly the hard-hit Hollywood looked to New Zealand to film their projects in the virus-free zones amid the Coronavirus crisis. Add to that the government's plan to cash in on the country's coronavirus status. The NZ Government announced a boost in domestic and international filmmakers' funding and released over $230 million into several projects.

2021, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIALDon ShanahanFebruary 10, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Mauritanian

The Mauritanian presents a compelling case in the opposite direction to all those oorah roars. Shedding cinematic light on a staunch case of injustice tangential to those fateful 2001 events, this film has the unenviable task of proving its story’s importance in spite of the egregious systemic flaws it chronicles and exposes. You don’t have to go as far back as slavery or colonization in national history to know how most triumphantly-inflated Americans don’t want their noses rubbed in their heinous mistakes. The treatment of Mohamedou Ould Salahi is one of them.

2021, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanFebruary 10, 2021Comment