MOVIE REVIEW: Lucky

In each winsome second, Lucky continuously unearths affecting ways of making cantankerous endearing. With grizzled resolve and humor as dry as the desert he walks in, the late Harry Dean Stanton personifies the charm culled from the crotchety put on display in John Carroll Lynch’s straight-shooting film. Far from any Grumpy Old Men folly and possessing a hidden heart twice the size of Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, meet a lovable unlovable asshole that flourishes to galvanize unexpected wholesomeness from the prickliest of cacti.

2017, 5 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Chicago Film Festival, Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanOctober 6, 2017Music Box TheatreComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Blade Runner 2049

To get people talking about a film, or better yet keep them talking about it, storytellers and filmmakers can choose one of two extremes to ensure conversation. The film can have everything to say, or it can have nothing to say. Either route creates captivating and immeasurable levels of ambiguity that are irresistible for near-infinite discourse. The vagueness, obscurity, and uncertainty were driving forces that made 1982’s Blade Runner an initially maligned vision that grew to become a revered science fiction classic. The power of ambiguity strikes again with its long-distance sequel.

2017, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanOctober 6, 2017AMC River East 21Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Te Ata

Not all actors and actresses are motivated by fame and profit. Some are in it for the performance and chance to share culture through an artistic medium. Before the hey-day of cinema, one such actress captured the fascination of an audience higher than any Hollywood premiere and did so as an ostracized minority. Better yourself with a slice of history to learn about Mary Frances Thompson, or, as she was called on stage, Te Ata.

2017, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on DemandDon ShanahanOctober 3, 20172017, independent film, indie film, historical drama, Te Ata, Mary Frances Thompson, Q'orianka Kilcher, Chickasaw, Oklahoma, The New World, Gil Birmingham, Wind River, Hell of High Water, Douglas Johnston, Dances With Wolves, Graham Greene, Three Arts Club, New York City, Broadway, Mackenzie Austin, Clyde Fisher, Eleanor Roosevely, Jeannie Barbour, Esther Luttrell, First Encounters, Lithium Springs, Nathan Frankowski, To Write Love on Her Arms, film critic, movie critic, film review, movie review, film commentary, movie commentary, life lessons, life lessons from films, life lessons from movues, life lessons from gilm, life lessons from film, VOD, Video on Demand, Video On Demand, Don Shanahan, Donald Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, CIFCC, Falco InkComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Young Offenders

The banter and B.S. traded back and forth between Alex Murphy and Chris Walley is as hysterical as it is pleasurably uncouth. It’s an absolute wonder to realize that The Young Offenders is mutually their first on-camera film roles. Alex and Chris’s chemistry through sarcasm and shared shenanigans feels and looks effortless. Flabbergasted energy blasts out of both of them and it’s a hoot to watch. Seeing the two young actors operate these over-the-top losers with reckless abandon while still injecting a little coming-of-age heart for good measure, makes the film highly entertaining.

2017, 2016, 3 STARS, Chicago Film Festival, Foreign Film, Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanOctober 3, 2017Gene Siskel Film Center2017, The Young Offenders, Children's Act of 2001, Urban Dictionary, Knacker, Alex Murphy, Chris Walley, hijinks, Dominic MacHale, Shane Casey, Hilary Rose, Trainspotting, Danny Boyle, Conor MacSweeney, Jock Murphy, Euro, Peter Foott, Irish, Ireland, Ireland films, films set in Ireland, Irish American Movie Hooley, Irish films, Irish-themed films, Irish American films, 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey, Hibernian Transmedia, Movie Hooley, Gene Siskel Film Center, Siskel Film Center, Mike Houlihan, CIFCC, Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle, 3rd annual Irish American Movie Hooley, movie critic, film critic, foreign film, independent film, independent films, heist films, coming of age, movie review, film review, movie commentary, film commentary, Festival coverage, festival preview, closing night, comedy, life lessons, life lessons from film, life lessons from movies, life lessons from films, life lessons from foreign films, Don Shanahan, Donald Shanahan, Every Movie Has a LessonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Dunning Man

Inspired by true events, which will cause a fun double take as the film transpires, The Dunning Man is adapted from the published short stories of producer Kevin Fortuna. Precariously, at times, balancing somewhere between an urban drama and paperback crime novel, the film presents a seedy slice of Atlantic City calmed by nostalgic scene transitions of vintage footage of the city in its decadent heyday.

2017, 3 STARS, Chicago Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social MediaDon ShanahanSeptember 28, 2017Gene Siskel Film Center2016, 2017, The Dunning Man, Irish, Irish films, Irish-themed films, Irish American films, Irish American Movie Hooley, 2017 Irish American Movie Hooley, 3rd annual Irish American Movie Hooley, Ireland, Ireland films, 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey, Hibernian Transmedia, Movie Hooley, Gene Siskel Film Center, Siskel Film Center, Opening Night Film, Mike Houlihan, Atlantic City, Dun, James Carpinello, Gotham, Tom Kemp, Manchester by the Sea, Luke Cage, Queen Sugar, Green Zone, Nicoye Banks, Langston Fishburne, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, Matthew Rimmer, Scott Oakley, Kevin Fortuna, Michael Clayton, Petr Cikhart, San Jose Film Festival, Hoboken Film Festival, Emerald Loop Bar, film review, movie review, film commentary, movie commentary, film critic, movie critic, CIFCC, Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle, life lessons, life lessons from film, life lessons from films, life lessons from movies, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a LessonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: American Made

You know the drill of the typical “so unbelievable it has to be true” cinematic crime biography of a roguish anti-hero. The self-narrated humble beginnings give way to the zeal of daring accomplishment leading to wealthy illegal success, a rise to power, a peak of over-inflation, and the long arm of the law catching up to cause a fall from grace and comeuppance. However, the propeller that makes this jet-set ride swoop with showmanship is the dashing presence of Tom Cruise.

2017, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanSeptember 28, 2017Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Stronger

Diametric to its title, the core of Stronger’s life after trauma chronicles a venerating angle applied to the “Boston Strong” nature with little melodrama. This is director David Gordon Green’s best film to date, easily surpassing the fad success of Pineapple Express. Stronger’s touching tone carries unmistakable courage and inspires an unshakeable stir of appreciation.

2017, 4 STARS, Film Festival, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanSeptember 22, 2017Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Battle of the Sexes

Reflecting on the past, Battle of the Sexes recounts a tremendously positive turning point in women’s sports. Drawing parallels to the present, the film also stands tall as a pertinent message film where one can compare the amount of progress towards gender equality in 44 years. Injecting earnest drama and profundity into the tried-and-true sports movie formula, directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton have crafted a gratifying yarn packed with contagious enthusiasm.

2017, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, Film FestivalDon ShanahanSeptember 21, 2017Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Brad's Status

For better or worse, Brad’s Status, speaks from a very insulated and ostentatious point of view, that of the taboo term of “white privilege.” Even dramatized for soft realistic fiction, Mike White’s feature directorial debut tries to be a wakeup call of sorts. The dramedy carries a message, a fair and good one mind you, but one that will, unfortunately, fall on multiple deaf ears.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Villainess

The opening number makes the single-take climax fight with Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde look like a box waltz lesson from an elementary school gym class. The woman is the reckless assassin Sook-hee, played by Ok-bin Kim of Thirst, and the scene ends with a hint of a deranged smile of glee. The Villainess spins with dynamic energy of wanton mayhem and operatic displays of graphic violence when the talking stops and confrontations begin.

MOVIE REVIEW: mother!

There is extreme thematic and visceral content in mother! that will rattle even the toughest souls. Metaphorical imagery and symbolism are everywhere, and the number of literal and figurative interpretations of what is implicitly or explicitly transpiring can kill as many brain cells as it multiplies. The film begs endless questioning. Surviving and absorbing the film becomes a maddening experience. In the end, what is evident to celebrate is also categorically impossible to fully condone.

2017, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Film Festival, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanSeptember 13, 2017AMC River East 212017, 2017 Fall Movies, mother!, Mother, Mother!, Darren Aronofsky, Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfieffer, Domhnall Gleason, Brian Gleeson, Hunger Games franchise, Philip Messina, Matthew Libatique, Oscar winners, Rosemary's Baby, The End of the World, Skeeter Davis, Patti Smith, film review, movie review, advance movie review, film commentary, movie commentary, Hollywood commentary, social commentary, movie critic, film critic, CIFCC, Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, film festival, Black Swan, Noah, life lessons, life lessons from movies, life lessons from film, Mindfuck, Mindfuck movies, Mindfuck films, psychological thriller, horror, Don Shanahan, Donald Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Chicago Independent Film Critics CircleComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Viceroy's House

The most superlative aspect of Viceroy’s House and its chronicle of national history for the countries of India and Pakistan is the personal passion behind the project. Bend it Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice director Gurinder Chadha is the granddaughter of family displaced by the largest migration of people in recorded human history that occurred during the Partition of India of seventy years ago. There is an undeniable core of importance and respect present in the film that shows the great care of Chadha and all involved.