Rafe Spall’s Teddy shares a lovely line to his best girl Leanne, played by Zahra Newman, towards the beginning of Long Story Short. He says “I love you more than I did yesterday and not as much as I will tomorrow.” I adore that line. It speaks with such intentional optimism. If only we all lived our lives as honestly and as purposefully as that little mantra. If you see sweetness in that gracious sentiment, there’s much more where that came from in the romance at the center of this little Aussie VOD gem written and directed by actor Josh Lawson.

2021, 4 STARS, Home Media, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanJuly 20, 2021Long Story ShortComment

GUEST CRITIC #70: Detroit

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.

GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social Media, 2021Don ShanahanJuly 11, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Black Widow

Slotted with a self-important story to tell that takes place after the events of 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, this prequel arrives with a better-late-than-never party invitation of hype. Boasting some of the best melee work in a Marvel film, Black Widow belongs on the big screen and displays gratifying action sequences that rightfully highlight powerful females worthy of the spotlight. It also belonged in front of our eyes five years ago and not now. There is an unshakable magnitude of foregone conclusions that curtail the upper tier of potential excitement.

2021, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanJuly 2, 2021Comment

GUEST CRITIC #69: Nomadland

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.

GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social Media, 2021Don ShanahanJune 21, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Edge of the World

Edge of the World chronicles the story of James Brooke’s emergence as the first White Rajah of Sarawak on the Malaysian island of Borneo during the middle of the 19th century. The adoptive leader became the inspiration template for authors Rudyard Kipling and Joseph Conrad and their respective far-off adventure stories of The Man Who Would Be King and Lord Jim.

2021, 3 STARS, Independent Film, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanJune 17, 2021Comment

GUEST CRITIC #66: Promising Young Woman

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.

GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social Media, 2021Don ShanahanJune 7, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: A Quiet Place Part II

The counterpoint would be to ask why ruin what stands as a distinctive strength. While A Quiet Place Part II ventures outside of its original single setting into the open world of its neighboring countryside, any omniscient truth is still rightfully guarded and methodically uncloaked at its own speed. Simply put, to know any more than our invested characters in harm’s way would take away the whole fascinating mystique that draws us with its purposeful and rapt silence.

2021, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMay 31, 2021Comment

GUEST CRITIC #65: Judas and the Black Messiah

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.

GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social Media, Foreign Film, 2021Don ShanahanMay 29, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Cruella

Cruella tosses that “psycho” term and label around flippantly, even with its successful motivation to be interesting and darker than the usual live-action works from the Mouse House. It offers a villainess to believe in, but what does that say to audiences? Swinging for sympathy towards the amoral could have amounted to the same mistake as Maleficent seven years ago. Luckily, the conniptions and confrontations of “Emma vs. Emma” are damn fun. There’s a welcome place to relish in their wickedness.

2021, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanMay 27, 2021Cruella, Emma Thompson, Emma StoneComment

MOVIE REVIEW: In the Heights

As if there was any doubt, it doesn’t take any wider eyes than those capturing the plebian pageantry on display to recognize the meaningful platforms symbolized by In the Heights. Characters that assert their dignity in small ways amplify messages with larger substance. The settings and themes of Chu’s film are made all the more important and prescient by our country’s current socio-political times. A 14-year-old musical has not lost an ounce of power in telling the world of an undoubtedly eminent cross-section of American culture that is here and not invisible any longer.

2021, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, 5 STARS, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanMay 21, 2021AMC River EastIn the HeightsComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Water Man

That’s a sample of the welcome, sympathetic depth of The Water Man. So few fantasy films nowadays handle difficult questions like that one. Escapism for this demographic sells, no doubt, but internal odysseys will always have their place and merit. The Water Man, while destroying far fewer warehouses of Kleenex to reach its pinnacle, joins A Monster Calls and I Kill Giants as a trilogy of valuable discourses for bridging teens and adults together to engage with current and impending despair they may feel in their lives.

2021, Independent Film, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, 4 STARSDon ShanahanMay 8, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Here Today

Within the movie, the themes all surround help that comes from lifted spirits found in many walks of life, both personal and professional. On the performance side, the material is solid enough to matter more than mere bits, yet light enough to spread its wealth of charm. No one is scene-stealing because no one has to, and that’s quite a tall order with the presence of Tiffany Haddish sharing the billing. Everyone is making the same music, so to speak, with Billy conducting every measure.

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

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