To its credit and nicely lifted by music by Beach House and a peppy soundtrack, Along for the Ride is a positive story for connections built on trust and friendship first and attraction second. It is not just some party movie of hot bodies wooing each other with little to no consequences. Love and identity are the center and they don’t come easy. Nothing is automatic or preachy for the characters. Alvarez has created a lush space safe for the expression and healing of personal emotions heavier than the usual wants and needs of youth.

2022, 3 STARS, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanMay 5, 2022Along for the Ride, Sofia Alvarez, Emma PasarowComment

MOVIE REVIEW: That Night

That Night may buzz around the living spaces and late-night haunts of the Windy City on a path to sunrises, but every pitfall or bit of good luck comes back to our main leads with karma and consequence. Through the boozy haze, Stacey and Lily confronting their uncertain futures is the locked core of the movie. Montenegro and Gester demonstrate excellent chemistry in their shared conversations where will-they/won’t-they cliches are challenged every step of the way.

2022, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, EVENTDon ShanahanApril 26, 2022That Night, The Logan TheatreComment

SHORT FILM REVIEW: Darcy Collis

Good movie fans know horror movies come in all shapes, sizes, and, most importantly, descriptors. The newest mini-odyssey from the Chicago-based Splatter Brothers filmmaking team, Darcy Collis, lives up to and stamps those three possible measurements. The shape is something reality-based. The size is that of a short film. Best of all, the descriptor of choice for this writer out of all the possibilities is “chilling.”

2022, 3 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, SHORT FILMSDon ShanahanApril 14, 2022Darcy Collis, Short FilmComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Father Stu

Mark Wahlberg, a notable devout and practicing Catholic, considers Father Stu a bona fide “passion project.” The soon-to-be 51-year-old actor learned about the life of Father Stuart Long from two priests over lunch in 2016 and co-financed the film to existence. Sometimes when actors put their money where their mouth is and stake their reputation on a story they truly believe in, good things happen. This is one of those good things.

2022, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanApril 12, 2022Father Stu, Mark Wahlberg, Mel GibsonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Fresh

Maybe Fresh’s exotic menu is not a good place for that “no thank you bite.” However, please, please, pretty please with sugar on top, only apply that very fair dismissal to the controversial cuisine on display and not the actual movie. You would be missing a very interesting movie, one you might laugh at or become scared to death to experience. That sensation is worth its morsel of escapism.

2022, 3 STARS, Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanMarch 15, 2022Fresh, Sebastian Stan, Daisy Edgar-JonesComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Family Squares

While Family Squares is respectfully dedicated to all those who have lost someone during this awful pandemic, Laing’s movie allows us some much-needed, profanity-laced laughs. Playing out a dramedy fitting and formed by our current plight, the movie can be seen as a future time capsule for our shared mini-era. Not all the tangents work or are worthwhile, but the salute to collective solidarity is there.

3 STARS, 2022, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanFebruary 26, 2022Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Strawberry Mansion

That exchange is one of few that typifies the giddy hospitality and the bizarre allure of Strawberry Mansion from the writing and directing team of Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney. The movie extends a coy and welcome hand to join its descent into weirdness while still spinning plenty of heady oddities to rattle cages of normal sensibilities. Go ahead and take this movie’s leap into the surreal. You may just like what you find.

MOVIE REVIEW: Minamata

Minamata reminds us what Johnny Depp’s charisma can do outside of his fantasy wheelhouse and Tim Burton security blanket. Pushing through aging makeup, a potty mouth, and other curmudgeon behavior, Depp channels a unique and dour bluntness as W. Eugene Smith. True to the usual inspirational movie path, the heart of this dire story helps reduce the quirk factors and allows the actor to pleasantly play something straight and affecting.

2022, 3 STARS, Film Festival, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanFebruary 13, 2022Minamata, Johnny DeppComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Marry Me

Based on the graphic novel and webcomic of Bob Crosby, Marry Me is a kinetic collection of romantic, comedic, and musical moments that amount to more than enough appeal to create a pleasant journey and viewing experience. Honestly, that’s all it needs to be to succeed. Still, its looseness is bound by its limitations of being mere moments and not something a step or two more lingering.

2022, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanFebruary 10, 2022Marry Me, Jennifer Lopez, Owen WilsonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Tender Bar

George Clooney’s The Tender Bar has, above everything else, a crucial mentor character that wins over the entire film with everything he does. When regular dads are absent or inadequate, father-figures are incredibly important for an malleable kid. We’ve seen plenty of them in movies before, but Ben Affleck’s Charlie character feels more spot-on and special than usual. When he’s there putting an arm around a shoulder or mixing a martini, you’ll either wish for or recall your own Uncle Charlie from your life.

MOVIE REVIEW: Don't Look Up

Raising his stakes and his luridness considerably from dueling TV anchors, a housing crisis, and a maligned former Vice President, Adam McKay aims a comet at the entire planet ready to burn everything man, woman, child, Twitter handle, and political label to the ground. To both its credit and its eventual detriment, McKay’s Netflix entry sets out to push as many buttons as possible until one or more trigger the wrong responses to make one feel icky, offended, or, worse, seen.

3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanDecember 8, 2021Don't Look UpComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Power of the Dog

Calling down the inspirational Biblical thunder of Psalm 22:20 that swings like a pendulum between beloved darlings delivering souls and the deadly teeth of sin, The Power of the Dog allows straight bitterness to build its texture of smoke. You have a western that doesn’t pull a trigger to make its points. It kills without blades or bullets. Call it a woman’s touch, if you must, but that would be dismissive when you consider the source material and its notable twists.