The post-credits cameo of the big bad Thanos in The Avengers set into motion an even greater arc of ambition that catapulted two more phases, twelve more films, and dozens of new major players since. Now at the ten-year mark of this endeavor, all of the patience, enthusiasm, and success pays off with Avengers: Infinity War. Thriving with a symmetry of captivating gravitas and heroic thrill on many levels, this saga’s newest peak is an expanse of scorched earth that stings, shocks, lingers, and satisfies.

2018, 5 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanApril 25, 2018AMC River East 21Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Rampage

The dignified art form of cinema may not need a dumb and dazzling film like Rampage, but what escapist audiences do seek out and need are larger-than-life stars. There will always be an ass-kicking place for brawny men like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the silver screen. The former WWE superstar has become the center square of any year’s blockbuster Bingo card. The fully-formed persona that is Dwayne Johnson is always a welcome treat

2 STARS, 2018, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanApril 11, 2018AMC Navy Pier IMAXComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Cold War

In Cold War, Jon and Maggie’s misery is our delight and played for side-splitting laughs. The level of vomit in the film is as voluminous as the dark humor. This comedy is the brainchild of writer J. Wilder Konschak making his feature-length screenplay and co-directing debut with Stirling MacLaughlin. His created scenarios and pitfalls are bracingly honest for both their entertaining embarrassment and sinister believability.

2018, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Film Festival, Video on DemandDon ShanahanApril 3, 2018Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: November

Some films that cross our eyes are an exercise of the art form. They trade tidy entertainment for a celebration of craft. There are clear pluses and minuses to such an undertaking. Stripping away conventions left and right to make something wholly unique and downright peculiar, November was Estonia’s 2017 entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award. The experimental foreign film brims with allegory and is strikingly shot. However, the film’s compelling qualities never seem to match its obscene effort towards the art

2017, 2018, 2 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Film Festival, Foreign Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanFebruary 20, 2018Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Black Panther

For any MCU film to do this leader and his civilization justice, it has to capture the traits of dominance. Ryan Coogler’s film accomplished that and then some with a stature and ferocity fitting of the comic book legend. Pushing aside the proclivity to have a empowered science nerd or a plucky quipster as its heroic lead, a Marvel film hasn’t been this brawny, righteous, and tough since Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Black Panther strides proudly and powerfully with every progressive step as one of the best MCU films we’ve ever seen.

2018, 5 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEW, SPECIAL, Social MediaDon ShanahanFebruary 14, 2018AMC River East 21Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Hostiles

Scoot Cooper’s grizzled western Hostiles opens with a quote from novelist D.H. Lawrence that reads: "The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted.” Those four adjectives and labels assigned by the English writer ring true for the late 19th century historical era he observed and also for the film itself you will watch. Each of those traits are embedded within Cooper’s difficult and impressive film.

4 STARS, Independent Film, 2017, MOVIE REVIEW, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, 2018Don ShanahanJanuary 3, 2018Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Phantom Thread

Phantom Thread is a exquisite film of elevated aesthetics that drape over a scintillating story of tumultuous potential discord. There is infinite richness within the despair, spun by Daniel Day-Lewis re-teaming with his There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson, as the fictional 1950s tailor of status. Mundane in some moments and mysterious in others, the sum of the literal and figurative details within the stitches and seams of this film make it one of the year’s best.

2017, 5 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanDecember 30, 2017Music Box TheatreComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Post

The Post feels like Spielberg painting by numbers, continuing a bit of a downward trend for the filmmaker. This was accomplished because it was easy, didn’t require a rush, and still cost a sizable $50 million, not because a director was shedding trappings to do a rough and raw film. The Post is a highly polished quality story gift-wrapped to Spielberg and completed with a precision that is pleasing and purposeful. It is effective, but not affecting or truly but not truly demanding for a director, ensemble, and creative team of this caliber.

2017, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanDecember 20, 2017AMC River East 21Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Throw out all of the Star Wars fan theories you’ve read or heard in the last two years. Ignore all of the online noise and irresponsible think piece editorials that have piled up on the web since Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Most importantly, relinquish whatever warped and selfish expectations that have been formulated by the blitz of marketing buzz. Star Wars: The Last Jedi takes its mountain of hype and shoves it away to make something nonconformist and wholly compelling in quite possibly the richest and most expressive entry of the storied franchise.

2017, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEW, SPECIALDon ShanahanDecember 12, 2017Dolby ATMOS at AMC River East 21Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Justice League

Justice League comes across like attempted course correction done on that Etch-a-Sketch. The artist, or artists in this case, are trying to retrace old paths and smooth over past missteps with redrawn swirls, lighter hues, and a fluffy cover-up we call comedy. That effort on the cinematic Etch-a-Sketch indeed changes the initial picture, but only after unnecessarily tedious effort and some remaining messy results.

MOVIE REVIEW: Mr. Roosevelt

This entire film is a head-turning and striking first impression if you missed Noel’s single season on Saturday Night Live four years ago. As aforementioned with a passion project like this, you beg and wonder how autobiographical a wild story like this has to be. No matter if it’s true or entirely created, the appreciation measures the heavily positive same. The jokes come from all angles and hit with every effect from belly laugh to full cringe.

2017, 4 STARS, Chicago Film Festival, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanNovember 3, 2017Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Wonderstruck

Haynes’ Wonderstruck still evokes true and impassioned power. The film strides within a sensitive middle ground of approachable and praiseworthy quaintness in addressing difficult youthful challenges and emotions. The effect is a grown-up experience audiences can, and should, appreciate compared to the mindless popcorn fluff and weightless distractions studio shovel into the PG marketplace. If a new definition could be created for the term “wonderstruck,” it would read “rapt attention.”

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

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