When it comes to crime families in movies, any contenders and pretenders that want to be taken seriously are kissing the Corleone ring of “The Godfather” trilogy. That’s not happening with the Cutler clan in Adam Smith’s “Trespass Against Us.” As a mishmash of trailer park trash puffing their chests to operate with supposed principles, they occupy the polar opposite end of the glamorous spectrum of organized crime. Call them an “Irish fugazi,” if you will, complete with their own membership rings and cracks in the hierarchy.

MOVIE REVIEW: Lion

In a tonal shift from the trumpeted and showy norm of Oscar bait, “Lion” is yet another performance-driven dramatic film of 2016 entering this holiday season favoring prudence over theatrics. The feature film debut of award-winning commercial director Garth Davis, is a love letter instead of a power ballad that delivers genuine emotional heft all on its own, without the need to manufacture it for the sake of a movie.

MOVIE REVIEW: La La Land

In front of and behind the camera, you will find creative people that deftly understand and properly tap into the spirit and flavor of the classic genres and eras they are blending. Breathing jazzy life into a Hollywood musical set in the present day of Priuses and iPhones, Damien Chazelle’s follow-up to “Whiplash” is a modern cinematic masterpiece. It is the kind of film where you will remember where you were when you first saw it. You will not find a more jubilant, romanticized, or flat-out entertaining film this year.

Chicago Film Festival, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, 2016, Film Festival, MOVIE REVIEW, 5 STARSDon ShanahanDecember 15, 2016David Wasco, Crazy Stupid Love, Gene Kelly, life lessons from movies, Justin Hurwitz, movie review, Mary Zophres, La La Land, John Legend, film review, Damien Chazelle, Best of 2016, Don Shanahan, Chicago International Film Festival, Ryan Gosling, Donald Shanahan, Movie musicals, 2016 Holiday Movies, 52nd Chicago International Film Festival, Movies about Los Angeles, Every Movie Has a Lesson, film commentary, life lessons, Festival review, Festival coverage, Oscar contenders, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, J.K. Simmons, film festival, life lessons from film, Movies about Hollywood, Whiplash, Oscar hopefuls, Emma Stone, Life lessons, Linus Sandgren, musicals, Los Angeles Comments

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: Arrival

To reveal more of the emotional and scientific obstacle course would take away from the engrossing experience to be had by “Arrival.” This is the anti-”Independence Day,” so don’t expect a populist romp. Instead, open your mind to a stimulating and provocative mindbender that may require more than one viewing to grasp and appreciate. The trippy events unfolding out of the screenplay tangle the puppeteer’s strings and play with narrative and filmmaking forces few are daring enough, and smart enough, to wield.

MOVIE REVIEW: Moonlight

I dare you to look into the painful eyes of the three ages of Chiron and their matching performers and not have your soul triple in weight. The arc in "Moonlight" from the innocence of the little boy to the uncomfortable vulnerability hiding underneath the muscles and gold fronts of the hardened resulting adult is arduously moving on multiple levels. Observing his difficulties forces you to absorb the conflict and inescapable trepidation that surrounds the shared character. Pressing his heart to your own makes for one of the most moving and rewarding film experiences this year.

2016, 5 STARS, Chicago Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanNovember 6, 2016Landmark Century Centre Cinemas2016, Festival coverage, festival preview, Chicago International Film Festival, 52nd Chicago International Film Festival, Black Perspectives, Special Presentations, Moonlight, Barry Jenkins, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert, Barbara Lewis, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Brad Pitt, Plan B, #OscarsSoWhite, James Laxton, Nicholas Britell, Loving, Jeff Nichols, Andre Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monae, Jaden Piner, Liberty City, Miami, LGBT, LGBTQ+, Boyhood, Richard Linklater, film review, movie review, film commentary, movie commentary, Life lessons from movies, life lessons from films, life lessons from movies, life lessons, life lessons from film, Life lessons, Audience Award, 2016 Fall Movues, 2016 Fall Movies, 2016 Holiday Movies, Oscar contenders, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, independent filmsComment

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.

CAPSULE REVIEWS: The 52nd Chicago International Film Festival

For the third year in a row, this website has been granted press credentials to cover the many facets of the 52nd CIFF. I am targeting the U.S. Indies slate and will add selections from the Special Presentations, Black Perspectives, and World Cinema programs. Most of these films are appearing either before or without distribution dates, meaning my reviews here will stay brief capsule form. Come back to this page often and I will add films as I go!

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.

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World

Leave it to renowned filmmaker Werner Herzog to hit you with a buffet's worth of food for thought. His musings on the origins of the internet and its growing ramifications, both positive and negative, on this modern world are sternly served in his new documentary "Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World." Scintillating one minute and sobering the next, this film is required viewing for anyone who has seen how far we've come with connectivity and wonders fearfully just how high this Icarus of technology can fly towards the Sun before it melts and crashes back to Earth.

MOVIE REVIEW: Little Men

Celebrated director Ira Sachs channels a shade of William Shakespeare with his latest film "Little Men." An often-repeated quote from Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" reads "the sins of the father are to be laid upon the children." Sachs puts a beautiful spin on that notion using modern-day Brooklyn, two struggling families from different backgrounds, and a blossoming friendship characterized by two terrific debuting teen actors. "Little Men" may be small in scope, but it speaks volumes in repercussions.

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

BRINGING YOU MOVIE REVIEWS AND MORE SINCE 2010

CRYPTOCASINOS

TheVore.com Streaming options

Brilliantly

Content & Links