Nearly every artistic element of Pieces of a Woman holds a fixation with its lead Vanessa Kirby and rightfully so. Co-stars encircle her aura hoping to get closer. They are met by a lithe posture contorted in guarded torment that holds back their approaches. Her icy blue eyes, arched by her dark eyebrows, hold dry from tears, hang open while lost in thought, and project stares when attention is gained. Of all the points of focus captured by director Kornél Mundruczó, Kirby’s hands are purposefully watched the most. Historical quotes keenly remind us “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” and “nothing good comes from boredom.” Pieces of a Woman finds places to condone those vices.

MOVIE REVIEW: Shadow in the Cloud

At the tipping point in Shadow in the Cloud when action becomes necessary to confront mounting threats, it is a lone woman surrounded by chauvinistic men that doubtlessly steps up above all others. Pushed to fight or flight, she’s going nowhere and her battle cries are “You’ll see what I’m capable of!” and “You don’t understand how far I will go!” Fellas, be afraid. Don’t dare cross a determined woman, no matter their size, age, or profession. They have outright toughness most cannot fathom.

GUEST CRITIC #51: Y Ti Mama Tambien

by Lafronda Stumn

As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.

2020, GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social Media, Foreign FilmDon ShanahanDecember 27, 2020Comment

GUEST CRITIC #50: Us

by Lafronda Stumn

As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.

2020, GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social MediaDon ShanahanDecember 27, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: One Night in Miami

Now, judging by storied perception of the “Louisville Lip” and his towering ego on the biggest night of his young career, one might expect One Night in Miami to set off a boastful barnburner of boozy partying and liberating frolic. The result is quite the contrary. There are no bars, no girls, no flashbulbs, and no hanger-on fans. It is just these four influential men and the hotel spaces before them as they wrestle with the gravity of the moment and share the ongoing bigotry they have experienced on different levels and from different sources. To celebrate here is the exhale and vent, not dance and prance.

2020, 5 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Film Festival, Home Media, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanDecember 24, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Sylvie's Love

A skeptical label Sylvie’s Love might receive is being called anachronistic. Such a descriptor is a compliment not a hindrance. In fact, it would be disappointingly out of place if Sylvie’s Love was anything less than properly rooted right where it is as a pseudo-time capsule. Ashe isn’t trying to insert a progressive modern agenda with revisionist history for current appeasement. The desire was a period romance with sweep, ambiance, and gloss. The look of the era and the look of love are all there.

2020, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanDecember 19, 2020Comment

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the "Feelin' Film" podcast for "Contact"

The Feelin’ Film podcast hosted by Aaron White and Patrick Hicks cordially asked me to join in a deep and thoughtful review and conversation of 1997’s monumental Robert Zemeckis film Contact. It’s been a big personal favorite of mine for a long time and one I advertise and endorse heavily in social circles. The three of us muse on the implications and themes that come with the movie’s pendulum of unity and conflict between science and faith. Enjoy!

MOVIE REVIEW: Promising Young Woman

There is a very good chance that “shocking” will be the first and most basic reactionary word to come out a viewer’s dropped jaw after seeing Promising Young Woman, the holy-f—king-shit movie of 2020. If someone isn’t shocked, there’s something wrong with them. If anything, the predicament of self-examination will be which condition of shock they’re carrying as they come down from the buzz of this movie.

2020, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, 5 STARS, Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanDecember 14, 2020 Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Wander Darkly

Many existential movies that kick around the questions of life, death, and afterlife dangle the idea of revision. From It’s a Wonderful Life to The Tree of Life, characters alive, dead, or somewhere in-between are presented visions or exercises of how their lives could have been different with wholesale changes or tangential opportunities. Those musings often steer them to accepting their life as it was, pitfalls and all. The new drama Wander Darkly from Tara Miele working the festival circuit goes there not with an eraser, but with a red pen instead. Channeling my school teacher day job, Wander Darkly, in an interesting way, is about proofreading life more than revising it.

GUEST CRITIC #49: The Trial of the Chicago 7

by Lafronda Stumn

As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.

2020, GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social MediaDon ShanahanDecember 12, 2020The Green MileComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Wild Mountain Thyme

Unfortunately, this moment of the borrowed title song getting its proper spotlight is the rustic crest of this movie. Wild Mountain Thyme tries so hard to climb higher. Its romance is constantly saddled with blindness that misses the point of the lyrics. It’s as if the refrain of “will ye go” in the song is stuck by the living embodiment of “s--t or get off the pot” instead. There’s real beauty there, it’s a shame the movie didn’t have it other than the scenery. In the words of one of Ireland’s ancient language, dia ár sábháil!

1 STAR, 2020, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Home Media, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanDecember 9, 2020Comment

GUEST COLUMN: The Worst of Navy SEAL War Movies

by John M. Caviness

Everyone knows what a Navy SEAL is. These secretive commandos are so uniquely popular in our American culture that they've become like celebrities. Whether it's jumping into an NFL football game, or having characters based on them in the latest video games, SEALs are assumed by Americans the country over to be the best of the Special Forces community. And because they are so very popular, they've popped up in many films, especially within the last two decades. Not all of these films though obtain the quality of character that is required of SEALs themselves. Here are the worst.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Independent Film, Home MediaDon ShanahanDecember 6, 2020Comment