MOVIE REVIEW: Still Alice

If you haven't heard of "Still Alice," I advise you to trust this spoiler-free review and skip the trailer entirely. It's a beautiful preview, but it skews context, tips its hand, and gives away far too much. Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by neuroscientist and writer Lisa Genova, "Still Alice" was first adapted as a stage play at the Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago in 2013. The directing and writing team of Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland crafted it into a feature film. "Still Alice" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and has increased facial tissue sales ever since with a full release still to come. Learn the gist from here and let the film unfold before you.

ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

With the arrival of "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," we have made it to the payoff. This big story gets its ending, its tidy bow, and its cherry-on-top. Even if you think the movie studio was milking you for three movie tickets over three years out of a book that probably could have fit into a single film, you now get to see your patience rewarded and your virtue justified. You will realize it was worth it. You will feel like you stuck around to see "Superman" save the world, you survived the walk down those basement stairs in "Psycho," and you partied with the Ewoks and spirit Jedis in "Star Wars."

MOVIE REVIEW: Wild

When I call "Wild" a "chick flick" of the highest order, I don't mean the tropes, cliches, and stereotypes. I mean the label from the empowerment and importance standpoint. "Wild" is the positive kind of "chick flick" that isn't made enough and is drowned out by other crappier efforts targeted at women. With its true story tale, "Wild" is a strong and substantial film for female audiences. I do not say this next statement lightly. "Wild" is truly a film that every woman should see and one they should put on a more preferred pedestal for ideals compared to the "chick flicks" that ruin women's good sense. Better yet, it's an accessible film for all movie-going clientele, not just the ladies.

MOVIE REVIEW: Big Hero 6

For the creative merging of Marvel and Disney to work right, they needed the right story and set of characters from the Marvel catalog. To get the best animated hit, Disney needed something new and fresh, yet clever and approachable for a kid-aged audience. They needed something that can be just theirs and not something shared with the adults. Disney and Marvel have done just that and struck gold with “Big Hero 6.”

MOVIE REVIEW: Interstellar

MY 300TH REVIEW: Like all truly ambitious science fiction of the highest order, "Interstellar" pushes the limits for personal interpretation of both the science and the fiction. Both genre elements are wildly heightened to a bold and epic scale to address the internal opposites between logic and spectacle, science and sentiment, and brains and emotion. Each of those ideals have their soaring high points and matching low points across the board in "Interstellar." It all comes down to your taste, which makes "Interstellar" easily the most polarizing film of the year. You will either love it to the core or hate it to the bone with very little room for a middle ground.

MOVIE REVIEW: Nightcrawler

"Nightcrawler" is the cinematic equivalent of not being able to look away from an impending accident. This is the movie on that test that stops and watches for even more peril. In a movie like this, our own voyeurism and curiosity takes over and we find ourselves enraptured in what we see, even if it is wrong and against our usual likes, dislikes, morals, or beliefs. Movies that do that and still entertain are rare.

2014, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanNovember 2, 2014Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal, Dan Gilroy, James Newton HowardComment

MOVIE REVIEW: St. Vincent

Bill Murray, at his age and at this end of his career reinvention as a serious actor over the last two decades, has reached the point where he is unarguably great in everything he touches, right down to silly cameos and web videos. In his new film, “St. Vincent” his powers of talent and charm have merged and reached a new peak.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Equalizer

Denzel Washington's recent releases of "The Book of Eli," "Unstoppable," "Safe House," "Flight," and "2 Guns" have been some of the best financial earners of his career. He hasn't had a film open under $20 million since 2003. His age may have increased, but audiences still count on and flock to Denzel being the razor edge of intensity and initiative he's always been. His latest film is no different and it reunites Denzel with his "Training Day" director Antoine Fuqua. "The Equalizer" is a film remake of a CBS TV show that ran for four seasons from 1985 to 1989.

MOVIE REVIEW: A Most Wanted Man

This is still a bit of a tough sell. I think there's a large audience that wants explosions and sexiness with their spy thrillers. Some are going to call all of this quiet work boring and maybe even somber, matching some of the mainstream thoughts on other John le Carre film adaptations like "The Tailor of Panama," "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," "The Constant Gardner," and "The Russia House." Exciting or not, the man writes incredibly good thrillers. I see past the need for action and love that the devil is in the details. The slow burn factor works in "A Most Wanted Man" with compelling and steadily increasing story developments that maintain your investment.

MOVIE REVIEW: Calvary

The ominous meaning of the film's title soaks in quite well. The overwhelming sense of an impending showdown is excellent dramatic fuel to keep this journey taut and interesting. Filmed in County Sligo on the northwestern coast of Ireland, the raw landscape adds to the feeling of isolation and the intimate dynamics of a small, tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone. With that crafted tone, McDonagh's film feels like a religious-tinged western and a good one too. The slow build is excellent and the pay off resonates. If you can find this little film in limited release or on Video On Demand, you'll be well-challenged.

MOVIE REVIEW: Get On Up

"Get On Up," the new film from "The Help" director Tate Taylor breaks away from a good chunk of the formula and cliche pitfalls that beset biographical films. With the casting of lesser-known Chadwick Boseman and the flavor by which it does its time-hopping, "Get On Up" succeeds in those two extra qualities that I like to see in a really good biopic. For that, the film separates itself nicely from the rest of the pack as one of the best biographical films in recent memory.

MOVIE REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy

"Guardians of the Galaxy," on paper, was supposed to be that movie that tested the studio's resilience and ability, yet it's aiming to be the big August hitter for the summer of 2014. Ladies and gentlemen, it will win that title and then some. As out-there as it is, this is the most flat-out fun a Marvel movie has ever been. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" might be the better overall film and "The Avengers" will always be the first cornerstone off this combined universe's monumental success, but "Guardians of the Galaxy" might be the movie you keep watching year after year as a new favorite. The catchy and entertaining trailers nearly don't do it justice.

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

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