Safety Not Guaranteed dares to keep your attention at every turn and really succeeds. The script is brilliant and deserves the praise it has already gotten. From diving deeper into Kenneth's world to seeing the different motivations that come to light, for both our time travelers and our magazine team tailing him, more and more layers of interest keep coming into play. All the while, you feel the countdown and are driven to wonder if Kenneth and his time machine are the real deal when the time comes to leave. This pace makes the movie breeze by and, unlike some other edgy indie movies that sell you with teases, the payoff is really rich and deserved.

"4 STARS", 2012, 4 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanJune 28, 2012Safety Not GuaranteedComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Brave

Brave is a fantastically empowering movie for mothers and daughters. Many daughters, young and old, can relate to this kind of story about the plans and expectations that their mothers have for them that differ from their own interests. The story is a bold one and devoid of cheese and syrup that can sometimes come with Disney's movies.

2012, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanJune 23, 2012Brave, PixarComment

MOVIE REVIEW: John Carter

The infinitely detailed world that Burroughs created 100 years ago in 1912 when it originally debuted as a magazine serial was transcendent, wildly inventive, and one of the major influences for George Lucas in creating Star Wars, James Cameron's Avatar world, and the science-fictional novelists that followed such as Ray Bradbury and Carl Sagan. To those gentleman, John Carter was their childhood "light bulb" discovery and fantasy, and it came in novel form, not a cartoon or a movie.

4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, 2012Don ShanahanMarch 12, 2012Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Grey

To me, Liam Neeson is channeling a darker and fiercer resolve than the other silver-haired tough guys like Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, and Steve McQueen that came before him. He's more rugged than Bronson, channels more rage than Eastwood, and is more stoic than McQueen's coolness. At this kind of game, he's better than any one of those guys would be if they were in roles like The Grey or Taken.

2012, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanJanuary 28, 2012Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. is not divorce drama like Kramer Vs. Kramer. You're not watching courtroom proceedings and messy custody battles. Crazy, Stupid, Love. is bigger than that and so much more. It's about personal reinvention, mentoring, courtship, fighting for love, and the idea of soulmates. It's incredibly fresh, funny, emotional, daring, and, for a romantic "dramedy," has more jaw-dropping twists than big budget thrillers.

2011, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanJuly 31, 2011Crazy Stupid LoveComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Thor

The popular trend lately (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) has been to create comic book movies that tone down the superpowers and focus on the realistic qualities and plausibility of human heroes capable of existing in our real world. Thor, unapologetically, does the absolute opposite. It's a grand, epic, and galaxy-bending display of gods among men. Never before has a superhero movie been so, well, super in its scope and size, yet still leaving room for a little dose of humanity.

2011, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMay 6, 2011Thor Comments