Bill Condon’s “Beauty and the Beast” stands firmly on its own merit. True to Disney’s recent trajectory, its goal is to “reimagine” a previous animated classic into the live-action medium for a new era and audience. Unlike the recent treatments of "Cinderella" and "Malificent," this "Beauty and the Beast" stays a full-blown musical. Imitation, emulation, and homage are all part of that process, but so is reappraisal and reinterpretation. Those later two actions are what drive this new fantasy film to soaring and successful heights.

2017, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMarch 15, 2017AMC Navy Pier IMAX2017, 2017 Spring Movies, Beauty and the Beast, La Belle et la Bete, Christophe Gans, Bill Condon, Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellan, Guga Mbatha-Raw, Emma Thompson, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Kevin Kline, Oscar nominee, Best Picture, Disney classics, Disney, animated films, live-action, remakes, Reimagining, Jeanne-Marie Leprine de Beaumont, Hattie Morahan, Kevin Kline Moustache Principle, Audra McDonald, Sarah Underwood, Katie Spencer, Atonement, Sherlock Holmes, Jacqueline Durran, Tobia A. Schliessler, Peter Berg, IMAX, IMAX 3D, Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Evan Spiliotopoulos, Hercules, Tim Rice, Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Evermore, Josh Groban, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Beast, Hugh Jackman, Controversy, La La Land, Screen Junkies, Honest Trailers, YouTube, Gaston, life lessons from film, life lessons, life lessons from films, life lessons from movies, Life lessons, movie review, film review, movie commentary, film commentary, review, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a LessonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Kong: Skull Island

“Kong: Skull Island” taps into the same definition of “spectacle” that applies to “Jurassic World” nearly two years ago. This ain’t your old “King Kong.” This is “go big or go home.” If you’re looking for the version steeped in awe and wonder, go watch the 1933 original. To expand the original’s wonderment with the best of today’s special effects, go watch Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake. If you want a rip-roaring roller coaster with no strings, rules, or heavy gravitas attached, you’ve come to the right place in 2017.

MOVIE REVIEW: Get Out

To come right to the point, “Get Out” is an 104-minute living embodiment of a slow-burning WTF moment that just keeps growing with every new detail. And it’s glorious for being that very thing. More psychological thriller than the spattered horror it’s being billed to be, Jordan Peele’s directorial debut is subversively edgy and devilishly clever.

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the "CinemaJaw" podcast #315

This past week, I was honored to be a guest on the CinemaJaw podcast, hosted by Matt K. and "Ry the Movie Guy" and ran by the "Best in the Biz." Since 2009, the Chicago-based trio of Matt Kubinski, Ryan Jagiello, and engineer Eliaz Gonzalez have put together one of the best and entertaining movie podcasts in this or any city. I'm a big fan of their work and you should be too.

SHORT FILM REVIEW: Incoming Call

2017 Chicago Irish Film Festival: Shorts Program

“Incoming Call” has a dynamite premise that would make for a fascinating nugget of science fiction. The possible latitude one could take with the idea of warning the past about the future is endless. This film keenly distills and scales that down to microcosm level of a single person and the matter of picking up the phone.

SHORT FILM REVIEW: The Apparel

2017 Chicago Irish Film Festival: Shorts Program

Director Peter Delaney and writer Daniel Mooney flesh out miniature character study with decent results. Andrew Bennett gives a very solid performance to construct numerous shades of character within Joe. He is a man that is losing touch with his comfort zone. We never fully know his issues and we shouldn’t have to.

SHORT FILM REVIEW: First Kiss

2017 Chicago Irish Film Festival: Shorts Program

As it plays out its thirteen minutes, “First Kiss” is hilarious and charming in its tidy simplicity. Written by Fitzpatrick himself and directed by Patrick O’Shea, the short film generates the right amplitude of sparks cooled by the right temperament of sweetness.

ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW: Logan

With stunning brush strokes soaked in pathos and blood, "Logan" taps into a cask of comic book scotch that been reserved to reach maturity. This is, by a country mile, not only the best film of the “X-Men” franchise, but the best of 20th Century Fox’s entire catalog of Marvel Films. Presented as an analogy, “Logan” is to comic book films what “Unforgiven” was to westerns.

2017, 5 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanFebruary 20, 2017Kerasotes ShowPlace ICON X2017, 2017 Winter Movies, Logan, Wolverine, The Wolverine, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men franchise, X-Men, Marvel Films, Marvel, Marvel Comics, Fox Marvel Universe, Hugh Jackman, James Howlett, Patrick Stewart, Professor X, Charles Xavier, Unforgiven, Old Man Logan, X-23, X-23: Innocence Lost, Stephen Merchant, Caliban, Dafne Keen, Laura Kinney, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Marco Beltrami, Deadpool, James Mangold, Cop Land, Girl Interrupted, 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, Shane, Alan Ladd, movie review, film review, movie commentary, film commentary, comic book films, comic book movie, western themes, life lessons, life lessons from movies, life lessons from film, Life lessons from movies, Life lessons, Don Shanahan, Donald Shanahan, Every Movie Has a LessonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Great Wall

"The Great Wall" is an imposing creature feature that stands as a three-headed glamour project. You have an A-list star venturing overseas for international credibility and a splashy director landing his official English-language debut. Aiming higher in aspiration is a production company hoping to open a new and profitable pipeline of investment between Hollywood and China. Visually splendid from top to bottom, this epic adventure squeaks by on its looks and spares no expense to make sure of that.

MOVIE REVIEW: The LEGO Batman Movie

Chock full of more jokes, puns, and references than there are virtual plastic bricks, “The LEGO Batman Movie” is a breezy blast of unabashed fun. Twirling with dazzling animation and saturated with endless character possibilities, these two hours of zippy entertainment offer exhilarating playful engagement for young audiences and many absolute belly laughs for the adults. Like “The LEGO Movie” before it, the biggest flaw will always be the manic pace.

2017, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanFebruary 14, 2017Classic Cinemas North Riverside Luxury 62017, 2017 Winter Movies, The LEGO Batman Movie, The LEGO Movie, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Bros. Pictures, Batman, Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Alfred, Robin, Barbara Gordon, Chimera, Bellerophon, The Joker, Will Arnett, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, Adam West, Dark Knight, The Bright Knight, The Dark Knight, Superman, Jason Mantzoukas, Adam DeVine, Riki Lindhome, Ellie Kemper, Mariah Carey, Hector Elizondo, Jemaine Clement, Seth Green, Eddie Izzard, Conan O'Brien, DC Comics, Billy Dee Williams, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Seth Grahame-Smith, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Community, Chris McKenna, Emmet Brickowski, Rosario Dawson, Siri, Batcave, Ralph Fiennes, Jerry Maguire, life lessons from film, life lessons from films, life lessons from movies, life lessons, Life lessons, animated films, family films, computer animation, movie review, film review, movie commentary, film commentary, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a LessonComment

CAPSULE REVIEWS: The Oscar nominees for Best Animated Short

This year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Short are an eclectic bunch. One of them, “Borrowed Time,” I have previously reviewed in full on this website. Here are my collected capsule reviews of the slate of five, complete with my signature life lessons. Look for the theaters this month bundling these nominees together for public viewing and ticket opportunities.

2 STARS, 2016, 2017, 3 STARS, 4 STARS, Best Films, CAPSULE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, SHORT FILMS, Video on DemandDon ShanahanFebruary 11, 2017Landmark Century Centre CinemaBest Animated Short Film, Best Animated Short, 2016, 2017, Borrowed Time, Pixar, Gustavo Santaolalla, Pearl, Piper, Finding Dory, Alan Barillaro, Marc Sondheimer, Best Short Film, Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle, Adrian Belew, Blind Vaysha, Georgi Gospodinov, Caroline Dhavernas, Theodore Ushev, Kottarashky, Pear Cider and Cigarettes, Uwe Rafael Braun, Mass Mental, Dave Nunez, Anitek, Robert Valley, life lessons, life lessons from animated shorts, life lessons from short films, life lessons from film, life lessons from films, movie review, short film review, Short Film, Short films, short film commentary, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Donald Shanahan, Don ShanahanComment

GUEST CRITIC #20: John Wick: Chapter 2

Shameful as this sounds, I have not seen the first "John Wick" and I was not a place to catchup before "John Wick: Chapter 2." Meet Emmanuel Noisette of Eman's Movie Reviews. He is an emerging film critic tackling both written and video reviews. His YouTube channel is must-watch and automatic subscribe material. Emmanuel is a colleague of man with the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle (CIFCC). Eman is a big fan of the first and the second one impressed him greatly.

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

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