MOVIE REVIEW: Rogue One

Lags of preparation and mounting conflict aside, there is more than enough big-screen excitement infusing the gravitas that give way to pathos. "Rogue One" smoothly delves into an untold narrative while providing clever and catchy callbacks and nods to the expanded universe we know is on the other side of the horizon. Fleshing out key history, “Rogue One” instantly becomes an indispensable companion piece to “Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope.” Watching this mini saga and seeing the seeds it plants makes one appreciate the fruits of the 39-year-old classic’s triumphs even more.

MOVIE REVIEW: Jackie

Mesmerizing describes the film as a whole and its incomparable lead performance from Academy Award winner Natalie Portman playing First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the immediate hours and days following her husband's 1963 assassination. Far from a biopic and more of a psychological examination, Portman and Larrain sear the screen with emotion and imagery that is as captivating as it is difficult. It is astonishing that it takes a foreign director to create the most empowering portrait of American history put to film in years.

2016, 5 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Chicago Film Festival, Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanDecember 9, 2016Chicago International Film Festival2016, 2016 Holiday Movies, Jackie, Jackie Kennedy, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Robert Kennedy, Greta Gerwig, Chicago International Film Festival, 52nd Chicago International Film Festival, Special Presentations, Best of 2016, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actress, JFK, Pablo Larrain, No, Neruda, Billy Crudup, Max Casella, John Hurt, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Jr., Caroline Kennedy, Movie presidents, First Lady, Camelot, movie review, film review, movie commentary, film commentary, film festival, Festival review, Festival coverage, life lessons from film, life lessons from movies, life lessons from films, life lessons, Life lessons, life lesson, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Jacqueline Kennedy, Jean Rabasse, Halina Gebarowicz, Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, Broadway musical, Mica Levi, Noah Oppenheim, Madeline Fontaine, Mac Casella, Jack Valenti, John Carroll Lynch, Lyndon B. Johnson, Casper Phillipsom, Theodore H. White, LIFE magazine, Hyannis PortComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Hunter Gatherer

The micro-budgeted indie film “Hunter Gatherer” is the directorial debut of art director Josh Locy. The filmmaker has cut his teeth creating the visual palettes of independent fare such as an art director on David Gordon Green’s “Prince Avalanche” and Peter Sattler’s “Camp X-Ray.” His film, led by a charismatic performance from Andre Royo, shows the egotistical plight of a recently released con trying to reinsert himself in his old South Central Los Angeles neighborhood.

2016, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Chicago Film Festival, Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on DemandDon ShanahanDecember 8, 2016Chicago International Film Festival2016, Hunter Gatherer, Joshua Locy, Josh Locy, Andre Royo, Chicago International Film Festival, 52nd Chicago International Film Festival, U.S. Indies, independent films, micro-budget film, Ashley Wilkinson, George Sample III, Adam Robinson, Jon Aguirresarobe, X-Ray, Prince Avalanche, The Wire, Kellie Stewart, life lessons, life lessons from film, life lessons from movies, life lessons from films, life lesson, movie review, film review, movie commentary, film commentary, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, VOD, Video On Demand, SXSW Film Festival, 2016 SXSW Film Festival, Best Narrative Feature, Best Actor, Camp X-RayComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Loving

With a minimalist style and unadorned simplicity to reflect on racial intolerance, Jeff Nichols crafts “Loving” as a reminiscence of history without the histrionics. Devoid of soapboxes, speechifying, and manufactured swells of forced emotion seen in far too many historical dramas, “Loving” cuts a different cloth, trading in Hollywood glamor for blue collar truthfulness. Nichols brilliantly lets the honesty and grace of Richard and Mildred Loving stand on their own without an unnecessary pedestal. Cite this film as proof that “tell it like it is” does not require bombastic noise and volume.

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: Resilience: The Biology of Stress and Science of Hope

The light shed by the shared research, connections, and testimonials of James Redford’s documentary “Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope” opens eyes and stirs immediate personal reflection. Toward your own self or in the role of a parent, “Resilience” puts the right mirrors in front of faces. It is a worthy alarm notification that encourages more character building than being told to “pull up your bootstraps.”

MOVIE REVIEW: Doctor Strange

Now in its third phase, Marvel continues to take C-level and D-list comic book characters and titles, breath cinematic life into them with top-notch talent in front of and behind the camera, and turn the obscure in newly minted household names and merchandising windfalls. "Doctor Strange" continues the studio's blueprint of Midas Touch success while jubilantly kicking down the door for magic and mysticism in the MCU. You may not know him yet, but Stephen Strange is a major player and huge addition to an already-loaded heroic panorama.

2016, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEW, 3 STARSDon ShanahanNovember 1, 2016Regal City North Stadium 14 IMAX2016, 2016 Holiday Movies, 2016 Fall Movies, Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scott Derrickson, Kevin Feige, C. Robert Cargill, Jon Spaihts, Steve Ditko, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., Marvel Comics, Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Films, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Phase 3, Marvel, Disney/Marvel, Disney, Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Ben Davis, Michael Giacchino, Kathmandu, Nepal, Kaecilius, The Ancient One, Stephen Strange, Christine Palmer, Karl Mordo, Mordo, Dormammu, Eye of Agamotto, Cloak of Levitation, film commentary, film review, movie commentary, movie review, comic book movie, comic book films, The Avengers, Infinity War, Thor, Thor: Ragonark, life lessons from films, life lessons from film, life lessons from movies, life lessons, life lesson, Life lessons, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a LessonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Middle Man

52nd Chicago International Film Festival U.S. Indies entry and presentation

“Middle Man” blends an acidic edge with showy panache that bleeds from every character, large and small. Credit the devious fun of Crowley for the snappy dialogue that pops from each character. The comedy is clever instead of coarse while maintaining its darkness. Nearly every speaking part of this colorful cast of funhouse mirrors nails a zinger or two that fits right into that line of taste.

MOVIE REVIEW: In a Valley of Violence

“In a Valley of Violence” lives up to the promised bloodshed suggested by its title and spins its own brand of tension and, best of all, a frank and bone-dry humor that blows into the whole film. You will either love the comedic edge or find it a distraction from the revenge. There is an undeniable panache to the absurdity that makes the film an absolute hoot. This is the giddy Western Quentin Tarantino wishes he could make while he wastes six hours of our time and stretched disbelief.

ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, 4 STARS, Film Festival, MOVIE REVIEW, 2016Don ShanahanOctober 20, 2016Jumpy, life lessons from movies, American Westerns, Mythos, American Horror Story, V/H/S, Don Shanahan, Donald Shanahan, Quentin Tarantino, independent films, Jumpy the dog, In a Valley of Violence, CFCA, film commentary, Ethan Hawke, 2016 SXSW Film Festival, Taissa Farmiga, life lessons from films, life lessons from film, Django Unchained, Tropes, Jeff Grace, Western genre, James Ransone, The House of the Devil, movie commentary, Ti West, film critics, Guardians of the Galaxy, movie review, The Innkeepers, Bone Tomahawk, The Hateful Eight, 2016 Chicago Critics Film Festival, Sinister, Westerns, life lessons, 2016, SXSW Film Festival, The Salvation, John Travolta, western genre, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Doctor Who, film discussion, Burn Gorman, Life lessons, Western horror, Chicago Critics Film Festival, Karen Gillan, film reviewComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bete)

All eyes are on the hotly anticipated live-action "re-imagining" of Walt Disney Pictures' enormously successful "Beauty and the Beast" from 1991. That March 2017 sure-fire blockbuster will garner tremendous attention in its attempt to honor the animated Best Picture Oscar nominee and double Academy Award winner. In the meantime, the fairy tale's home country of France throws down its own gauntlet to give Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve's 1740 original story and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's abridged 1756 standard the grand, epic big-screen treatment it warrants. Let's just say the French sure know what they are doing.

MOVIE REVIEW: Snowden

There was a time Oliver Stone took risks and punched harder with his filmmaking style and history-challenging investigation efforts through compelling dramatization. The 70-year-old self-described dramatist used to stir provocative emotions and drop jaws with grand revelations. Those days feel like a distant memory with "Snowden."

MOVIE REVIEW: Bridget Jones's Baby

Tongues are inserted into cheeks at a rapid-fire pace in “Bridget Jones’s Baby. The euphemisms, drollery, puns, wild physical gags, and self-deprecating farce originate from all directions and target anyone with eyes and a smile. The writing is harebrained in the most smart and witty ways possible and, trust me, that is a compliment. Better yet, when it needs to, the movie turns off the jokes and hits you with the necessary heart to make all the silly stuff enormously endearing.

2016, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEW, 3 STARSDon ShanahanSeptember 14, 2016Kerasotes ShowPlace ICON X at Roosevelt Collections2016, 2016 Fall Movies, Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason, Bridget Jones's Baby, Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Patrick Dempsey, Colin Firth, Tim Beven, Eric Fellner, Sharon Maguire, Helen Fielding, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Women over 40, Romantic comedies, life lesson, life lessons from films, life lessons from film, life lessons from movies, Life lessons, movie review, film review, movie commentary, film commentary, sequels, movie sequels, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Bridget Jones, Dan Mazar, Dan Mazer, Sarah Solemani, Sally Phillips, James Callis, Shirley Richardson, Neil Pearson, Kate O'Flynn, Gangnam StyleComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Sully

Celebrated director Clint Eastwood is no stranger to biopics based on historical figures, making him an ardent practitioner of hero worship. Because the 86-year-old, four-time Oscar winner classically directs with a soft hand and a comely tone, his brand of adoration consistently lands on the veneration half of the definition. Combining forces for the first time with another hero worship professional in All-American leading man Tom Hanks on “Sully,” you have double the cinematic potential of cherished devotion.

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

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