MOVIE REVIEW: A Simple Favor

Putting the women in charge instead of the men in this modern landscape, Paul Feig’s A Simple Favor had the dreamy cast and pulpy source material locked in to invigorate the subgenre. Instead, the Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters comedy specialist and Nerve screenwriter Jessica Sharzar couldn’t help themselves. Satire is their aphrodisiac and they brought it to the wrong bedroom. Kinky and quirky can be fun, but that mix is tenuous at best. Watching A Simple Favor devolve from intrigue into incompetence is like pouring chocolate sauce over a sizzling steak.

2 STARS, 2018, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanSeptember 13, 2018AMC River East 21A Simple FavorComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Predator

As riotously entertaining as this ensemble bounds and gurgles with glorious and exasperated profanity, they feel lifted from a different movie. On paper, this infusion of infectious comedy counts as a something devilishly new squeezed onto the Predator franchise from the joyless failures of its past. In execution, the actors are having a blast, right down to the F-bomb dropping Tremblay, but the absurdity takes away from nearly all possible mystery and suspense.

2018, 2 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanSeptember 11, 2018AMC River East 21The PredatorComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Unbroken: Path to Redemption

Stepping forward unofficially as a literal and figurative “spiritual sequel,” Unbroken: Path to Redemption corrects that omission. Glowing with effort above its pedigree, the film is an earnest and very commendable exploration into what elevated the former Olympian and POW survivor into a true legend of his “greatest generation.” There is no begrudging this second attempt to make worthy what was tabled as circumstantial.

2018, 3 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on DemandDon ShanahanSeptember 11, 2018Comment

SHORT FILM REVIEW: Friends and Other Spooky Things

The same cadence of thinking can be extended to the upcoming short film Friends and Other Spooky Things by local Chicagoland filmmaker George Sourile. He chose the right adjective to include in that title because spooky is the proper wavelength of charm that makes something small and DIY like this work. It’s a nudge of an easy stroll that tip-toes rather than stomps and a worthy notch of greenhorn accomplishment, and that’s all it needs to be.

MOVIE REVIEW: We the Animals

The phrase “they’re just kids” shouldn’t be the verbalization of a dismissal. Rather, it should be spoken as a moment of pause to reflect on what future positive or negative impact could come from the lifestyle choice being observed. We the Animals, the feature debut of short film director Jeremiah Zagar, lives for those errors and pauses as one of the best independent films of the year.

2018, 4 STARS, Chicago Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on DemandDon ShanahanSeptember 4, 2018Music Box TheatreComment

MEDIA APPEARANCE: "Connecting With Classics" Episode 8: "Lawrence of Arabia"

Closing out the main summer months with the August pick of the Feelin' Film Podcast "Connecting With Classics" series, host Aaron White and I needed to carve out some serious committed time to absorb and appreciate the longest film ever to win the Best Picture Oscar. That revered classic and victor is the 56-year-old Lawrence of Arabia from director David Lean and it has a lengthy resume of accolades, rankings, and awards Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the definition of a true Hollywood epic.

2018, Media Appearance, MOVIE REVIEW, Podcast, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanAugust 31, 2018VertigoComment

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Minisode podcast guest for "Feelin' Film" to review "Searching"

If you follow my social media shingles, you know I can't stop and won't stop stumping for this film. Searching is an incredible combination of innovative filmmaking, anxiety-inducing thrills, emotionally complex characters, and relevant commentary on the internet as both a danger and potential tool for good. Feelin' Film co-creator Aaron White and I were both floored by writer/director Aneesh Chaganty’s debut feature film and John Cho’s performance in it, so we sat down for a conversation about what makes the film so special. Enjoy this excellent conversation with all the feels and kudos!

2018, CAPSULE REVIEW, Film Festival, Independent Film, Media Appearance, MOVIE REVIEW, Podcast, Social MediaDon ShanahanAugust 31, 2018Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Searching

The entirety of this daring film is presented through the layers of screens across computer desktops, video streams, and a mouse pointer that moves like a scalpel over those pixelated surfaces. The effect is addictively scintillating to create harrowing emotional triggers. Call it a gimmick all you want, but be prepared to be dazzled and proven wrong by the astonishing narrative construction and visual storytelling conduits. True to both the lurid intensity and exceeding excellence of the dictionary definition, Searching is downright sensational

MOVIE REVIEW: Pickings

Watching the death-dealing retribution and grudge-settling on display definitely shows the dishonesty part, but you will find nothing easy enough to be called “pickings.” Oozing all kinds of artistic flamboyance and crimson damage, this film is a straight punch to the face that has to swing hard to to knock you out. Like any punch, the hand delivering it stings as much as the cheek that receiving it. Sure enough, Pickings is a punch you’ll take and ask for another.

2018, 4 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on DemandDon ShanahanAugust 9, 2018 Comments

MOVIE REVIEW: The Meg

Smirking and confident in its own bristly sharkskin armor, The Meg is as lean a blockbuster as you will find. Any fat is trimmed quickly by the urge to chomp up more people and scenery. Since this go-big-or-go-home late summer IMAX sizzler is a creature feature B-movie dependent on a carnivorous buffet of victims (and customers) to satiate its excitement (and bottom line), the loving focus for this critique will be the types and cuts of meat consumed and on display. Tuck your monster movie napkin into shirt collar, skip the hoity-toity hand sanitizer, and bring your creative kill appetite to an entertaining little film feast.

MOVIE REVIEW, 2018, 3 STARSDon ShanahanAugust 8, 2018 Comments

MOVIE REVIEW: BlacKkKlansman

The slogan of Spike Lee’s long-time production company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmwork is “by any means necessary,” a tagline that could not be more fitting of the urgency and purpose of Spike’s works. Nothing he puts his effort into ends up empty or meaningless. His lightning rod flair singes silver screens again with Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix prize winner BlacKkKlansman, stoking a p

2018, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanAugust 7, 2018AMC River East 21Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Captain

Writer-director Robert Schwentke has boldly moved away from schlock (R.I.P.D., RED) and softness (The Time Traveler’s Wife) for something visceral and chillingly raw. As Herold shows no quarter, neither does Schwentke and this film’s penchant for discomfort. The events portrayed are so imprudently berserk that it borders on unbelievable farce, despite its cited historical inspiration of the man who performed these acts before he was even 21 years old.