GUEST CRITIC: The Maze Runner

As busy I get from time to time (and having a newborn baby at home isn't helping), 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, sometimes a simple sentence or two from a friend says it all. 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 quick-hit movie reviews.

EDITORIAL: Movies and the 9/11 impact

UPDATED: September 11, 2015 with updated and new movie inclusions (after original post from the 10th anniversary in 2011) and a new section of faded and relaxed sensitivity. I plan to make this an annual post and study.

GUEST CRITIC: The Prince and Me (10th Anniversary)

Today's guest critic is here to review what, in some circles, is considered a recently modern romantic classic. She is here to charm your heart with her youthful yet insightful take on a film that turns 10 years old this year. Meet Becca and her review of 2004's "The Prince and Me" from director Martha Coolidge and starring Julia Stiles and the dreamy long-lost Luke Mably.

SPECIAL INTEREST: Upcoming book examines renowned director David Fincher

Dr. Laurence Knapp, an editor from University Press of Mississippi, has compiled and created the newest book in the "Conversations with Filmmakers" series. "David Fincher: Interviews" hits store shelves on August 1, 2014. You can preview and even pre-order a copy of "David Fincher: Interviews" over at Amazon today.

COLUMN: The Ultimate Playlist of Movie Music Lullabies

I hope this big post and 200-song playlist finds you and serves you well. It's been quite the passion project for me to build, on and off, over the last year and a half. Thanks for letting me merge sounding like a parenting blogger and a movie in one post. Please share this column with your friends with kids. It's all not just for babies either. If you like this kind of music, it works great in the car or at the office as well. As a school teacher, I used to play this in my elementary school classes all the time. It's excellent music for creativity and focus for all ages. Enjoy!

EDITORIAL: Improving on the "Mozart Effect" with movie music

For those website followers that don't know me on social media, I've become a first-time father in the past year-and-a-half and have a second child on the way due this fall. For this column, I might turn into a parenting blogger more than a movie critic, but bear with me. I think you will like it.

EDITORIAL: The 10 Best Films of 2012

With 2012 now in the books, it's time to reflect on the best films of this past year. I feel that, for the second year in a row, I've been lucky enough to catch as many of the best and brightest movies of 2012 as just a regular guy, without the flashy access that most big-wig critics get with their advanced screenings and special events.

10 Best, 2012, Best Films, Column, Editorial, LIST, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 6, 2013Comment

VINTAGE REVIEW: E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial

Movies have always been considered magic on some level, to make fiction appear to come to life. Some movies, though, just flat-out have more magic than others. Steven Spielberg's E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial is one of those movies. The film has more heart, finesse, performance, and magic in single scenes than some movies have in their entire running time, and does it with an animatronic special effect as a main character.

VINTAGE REVIEW: Singin' in the Rain

Co-directed and starring Gene Kelly, Singin' in the Rain is commonly regarded as the greatest Hollywood movie musical. It topped the American Film Institute's list of movie musicals and was most recently their #5 overall greatest film of all-time.

2012, 5 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, SPECIAL, Vintage ReviewDon ShanahanJuly 13, 2012Comment

EDITORIAL: My top 10 baseball movies and their lessons

In honor of the opening day of the 2012 Major League Baseball season, I felt obliged, just as I did with an editorial last fall for the opening of the NFL and college football seasons, to put my reputation on the line with my picks for the best baseball movies of all-time.

"Editorial", "Top 10 list", 2012, Column, Editorial, Home Media, LIST, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanApril 5, 2012Comment

VINTAGE REVIEW: Titanic

This month in 2012, just in time for the 100th anniversary of the ship's fateful maiden voyage and the 100th birthday of Paramount Pictures, Titanic has been meticulously re-mastered for a 3D re-release to movie theaters around the world.

2012, 5 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, Retrospective, SPECIAL, Vintage ReviewDon ShanahanApril 4, 2012 Comment

VINTAGE REVIEW: Casablanca

To anyone who will listen, I preach the greatest love and respect of Casablanca, the 1943 Oscar winner for Best Picture from director Michael Curtiz. You might be able to name singular instances, throughout the vast history of cinema, of better ensemble acting, better war-time intrigue, better left-field star turns, better broken hearts, better dialogue, and better romance. You might. However, I challenge and dare you to find a better movie in Hollywood history that has all of those qualities working together at once. Because of the successful combination of so many outstanding qualities, Casablanca is a perfect movie to me.

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

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