MOVIE REVIEW: Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers

That aged appreciation and fanboy zest comes through in this movie as well as their brazen spirit. Rather than play out an easy reunion with some massive globe-trotting caper, screenwriters Dan Gregor and Doug Mand stick to Hollywood and the wedge of dichotomy that split our two title characters and kept them from talking to each other for three decades. Every nostalgic note or easy joke is cleverly wrapped with a candy-coated shell of self-awareness and a lingering implication of something bigger afoot that may not be as sweet as the outside.

2022, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanMay 19, 2022Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Senior Year

Through all of these little shocks to the system, nostalgia trips, and learning leaps is Rebel Wilson’s bull in a China shop. Much like Ryan Reynolds, Rebel Wilson is at her best playing Rebel Wilson. She has his commitment-to-the bit where her saucy signature personality and quick wit always follow her physical comedic bravery. She tells it like it is and we love it. Like her character, Rebel herself is more beautiful, smart, and funny that we give her full credit for.

2022, 3 STARS, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanMay 14, 2022Senior Year, Rebel Wilson, NetflixComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Foxhole

By observantly depicting three wars from three different centuries using the same troupe of actors, Foxhole filmmaker Jack Fessenden holds a multi-faceted mirror up to the humanity and mortality of war. His sophomore feature film questions if the causes have or have not changed when it comes to those two pillars. The way he measures that is within the soldiers themselves when placed in their most confined circumstances.

2022, 4 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanMay 13, 2022Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Along for the Ride

To its credit and nicely lifted by music by Beach House and a peppy soundtrack, Along for the Ride is a positive story for connections built on trust and friendship first and attraction second. It is not just some party movie of hot bodies wooing each other with little to no consequences. Love and identity are the center and they don’t come easy. Nothing is automatic or preachy for the characters. Alvarez has created a lush space safe for the expression and healing of personal emotions heavier than the usual wants and needs of youth.

2022, 3 STARS, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanMay 5, 2022Along for the Ride, Sofia Alvarez, Emma PasarowComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Put the atlas away and send the stenographer on vacation. For this one, you’re going to need a Ouija board, a witch doctor, a semester’s worth of Disney+ homework, and either a giant Ambian or the PASIV machine from Inception to join the dream party. OG Spider-Man trilogy director Sam Raimi stuffs this movie with all of his signature garish monstrosity that can fit under a PG-13 rating. Prepare to be dazzled and prepare to be dizzy as well.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Sound of Violet

When it comes to entertainment value versus artistic value, much can be forgiven about a film when its heart is in the right place. Beginning as a romantic comedy, The Sound of Violet has a beginning premise that veers very much into a cloying territory. Once the drama of its chosen realities thicken and the laughs no longer come easy, its sense of correction can feel quite heavy-handed. Normally, such an imbalance would be the death knell for a movie. Somehow, the openly hemorrhaging sweetness of The Sound of Violet grants a few critical pardons.

2 STARS, 2022, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanApril 27, 2022The Sound of VioletComment

MOVIE REVIEW: That Night

That Night may buzz around the living spaces and late-night haunts of the Windy City on a path to sunrises, but every pitfall or bit of good luck comes back to our main leads with karma and consequence. Through the boozy haze, Stacey and Lily confronting their uncertain futures is the locked core of the movie. Montenegro and Gester demonstrate excellent chemistry in their shared conversations where will-they/won’t-they cliches are challenged every step of the way.

2022, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, EVENTDon ShanahanApril 26, 2022That Night, The Logan TheatreComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Marvelous and the Black Hole

Serendipitously so, the opposite becomes the case. That line, among many others that follow, could sneakily summarize the FilmRise Sundance darling Marvelous and the Black Hole. Little wonders and big feelings percolate, intersect, smear, and overwhelm a collection of very unique yet relatable people in this film, and the effects could not be more touching and soul-stirring. For folks willing to seek it out in limited theaters, a rewarding hidden gem awaits you.

SHORT FILM REVIEW: Darcy Collis

Good movie fans know horror movies come in all shapes, sizes, and, most importantly, descriptors. The newest mini-odyssey from the Chicago-based Splatter Brothers filmmaking team, Darcy Collis, lives up to and stamps those three possible measurements. The shape is something reality-based. The size is that of a short film. Best of all, the descriptor of choice for this writer out of all the possibilities is “chilling.”

2022, 3 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, SHORT FILMSDon ShanahanApril 14, 2022Darcy Collis, Short FilmComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood

Written and directed with a galaxy’s worth of love by Richard Linklater, Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood may be one of the most rich and endearing “back in my day” yarns you will ever find. The proud Texas filmmaker has long embraced time capsule motifs and his suburban upbringing throughout his career. Bringing back his layover rotoscope animation style, Linklaker presents the point of view of a pre-teen daydreamer during 1969, one of the most influential years in American history.

MOVIE REVIEW: Father Stu

Mark Wahlberg, a notable devout and practicing Catholic, considers Father Stu a bona fide “passion project.” The soon-to-be 51-year-old actor learned about the life of Father Stuart Long from two priests over lunch in 2016 and co-financed the film to existence. Sometimes when actors put their money where their mouth is and stake their reputation on a story they truly believe in, good things happen. This is one of those good things.

2022, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanApril 12, 2022Father Stu, Mark Wahlberg, Mel GibsonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Daniels writing and directing team of Daniel Scheinart and Dan Kim (Swiss Army Man) apply surrealism that zips and zings to an extreme level in creating a very domestic multiverse movie that subverts superhero motifs. All the dazzlement laid before the audience funnels levels of familial love more connective and invincible than any costumed paragon from a bigger movie. To absorb this exhilarating and passionate flurry, you will need far more than 10% of both your brain and your heart.

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

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