MOVIE REVIEW: Into the Ashes

Restraint is not a common artistic or narrative characteristic in revenge films nowadays. We live in an explicit world where the louder and more outlandish outpourings of violence are what grab attention and audiences. The stern and sullen are taken as dull and tedious. Like its title, Into the Ashes resides in the crackling smolder instead of the bright flames. There is plenty of heat to burn and brand from that calmer temperature of cinematic coals. The movie debuts on July 19th in limited theatrical release and VOD outlets.

3 STARS, 2019, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on DemandDon ShanahanJuly 18, 2019Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Lion King

Jon Favreau’s The Lion King stands as the biggest test to all of that progress and the attached criticism because of how little beyond the pristinely pixelated exterior is actually “reimagined.” So incredibly and, dare I say, unnecessarily much is nearly a shot-for-shot duplication of Disney’s most popular and most successful film of their Renaissance era. To go back to Dumbo, duplicated enjoyment may have been the goal, but that makes one question a tangible purpose for truly needing any such update. Luckily, the shininess, so to speak, is an undeniably impressive redeeming feature to a lack of implemented originality.

MOVIE REVIEW: Always Be My Maybe

Far rarer than they used to be twenty-plus years ago, easy and breezy flicks like Always Be My Maybe from Netflix remind us the traditional romantic comedy is alive and well. Best of all, the nostalgia present in today’s artists from growing up during that 1990s heyday are now making their own movies with their own lens. Smash hit stand-up comedienne Ali Wong and the ever-affable Randall Park of Fresh Off the Boat fame are clearly two of those people. Affectionately blending their own societal zest from their place in America’s Melting Pot, Wong and Park bring new voices as a genius comic pairing. Much of the method of Always Be My Maybe may be routine, but the resulting charm is unfailingly welcome.

2019, 3 STARS, Independent Film, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanJune 1, 2019Netflix, Always Be My MaybeComment

MOVIE REVIEW: John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

War set to a rate-of-fire beat of melee lead and breaking bones is indeed what you’re getting with John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum. Springboarding from its increasing success, one could say the movie stylishly assaults your senses with its own creative focus, commitment, and will behind the camera to match the stoic Keanu Reeves protagonist in front if it. Swelling enough from its redundancies, this symphony of gunpowder and gumption will satiate your summer thrills just fine.

2019, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMay 19, 2019AMC River East 21Comment

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: Penguins

Penguins represents the combined work of over a dozen cinematographers documenting the miraculous and treacherous annual life cycle of the Adelie penguins of Antarctica. The two directors sought to give this circle of life character. That’s where the affable Ed Helms comes in as a narrator. He provides color commentary as “Steve,” one such Adelie penguin who is a first-time father for this annual journey. High and low, dry and wet, close and far, and through every blizzard in between, Penguins presents this apprehensive newbie with education and entertainment combined together.

2019, 3 STARS, DOCUMENTARY REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanApril 30, 2019Comment

SHORT FILM REVIEW: Trained

The opening scene of filmmaker Yuri Rutman’s spare yet sizzling short film tantalizingly begs many questions. What kind of couple are we witnessing? What triggers provoke this passion? A montage follows to show that this wild escapade is not the first time the hearts and loins of these two people have been electrified around the rails of public transportation. This is Jake and Emma, and they are tragically intoxicated by two different things at the expense of each other.

2019, 3 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, SHORT FILMS, Social MediaDon ShanahanApril 30, 2019 Comments

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.

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

MOVIE REVIEW: Finding Steve McQueen

Finding Steve McQueen carries the boasting superlatives of the detailing the “largest bank heist in U.S. history” and, according to director Mark Steven Johnson, one of “the greatest stories never told.” Don’t expect a film of that kind of scope and size. This is a big crime orchestrated by small people who think they are bigger than they really are. The year is 1972 and the illegal act is the United California Bank Robbery.

2019, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMarch 14, 2019AMC Streets of WoodfieldComment

MOVIE REVIEW: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

One of the most exceptional qualities of the How to Train Your Dragon films are their undaunted sense of encouragement. Too many animated film entries targeted to kids are dominated by crass and crude humor. We may laugh, but we don’t grow. This hit franchise always achieves the latter in splendid fashion. Through its motivating attitude, rich pathos, and indomitable spirit, the final chapter of How to Train Your Dragon celebrates the substance that has made this series triumph.

2019, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanFebruary 23, 2019AMC River East 21Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Fighting with My Family

The new film Fighting with My Family drops the perfect gem of a “soap opera in spandex” and has characters describe themselves as “riddled with wrestling” like an addiction. The fitting melodrama is as ripped as the muscles being flexed. Stephen Merchant’s film borrows and mashes together two tried-and-true movie formulas to tell a very engaging true story of one of their superstars, Sariya-Jade Bevis, better known as Paige.

2019, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanFebruary 21, 2019Comment