MEDIA APPEARANCE: Panel participant on the "Kicking the Seat" podcast talking about "Finding Dory"

After an advance screening of "Finding Dory," I was invited to participate in a post-film round table podcast hosted by Ian Simmons of Kicking the Seat. I was one of five Chicago film critics chatting about our feelings, opinions, and reactions to "Finding Dory" with tangents on Pixar, Burger King (our lucky location for the podcast), and even "The Gilmore Girls." Ian does outstanding work putting these shows together and I was highly honored to be included. I hope to be a guest again in the new future! Enjoy the show!

VIDEO: Post-film reactions to "Finding Dory"

This week, I joined my fellow members of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle for an advance screening of Disney/Pixar's "Finding Dory." I am proud to be a co-founder and co-director of this fine group. We all took away a bunch of heart and love from the "Finding Nemo" sequel. Enjoy the first takes of yours truly, Gabrielle Bondi of The Young Folks, and Emmanuel Noisette of Eman's Movie Reviews!

COLUMN: Newly updated BAG website and platform for "Every Movie Has a Lesson"

Back in January, I introduced you to my involvement on BAG Movies as one of their "PRO" critics and contributors. In April, I was one of their inaugural "Critics of the Month." As of today, I've logged over 650 reviews on their site. I am happy to report that BAG Movies has gotten a massive facelift making it even more organized, personalized, and interactive than before. Their new-and-improved website just launched here in June 2016.

VIDEO: Post-film reactions to "Captain America: Civil War" from the CIFCC

I am very proud to share the first official video of the newly-formed Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle, of which I am a co-founder and co-director. When I attended an advance screening of "Captain America: Civil War" on May 2, 2016 with my press credentials, I was able to participate in a group video of post-film reactions with a small gathering of a few of my fellow members and directors of the CIFCC.

MEDIA APPEARANCE: "The Harvey and Bob Show" meet the CIFCC

Film critics El'Ahrai Stanek and John Robinson are two Chicago area podcasters that have been reviewing films and talking shop on their "Harvey and Bob Show" since 2006, longer than most of us have been blogging or writing. As a founding director of the new Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle (CIFCC), I was invited to come and take part in their weekly podcast. Between the 14-minute mark and the 47-minute mark, El'Ahrai and John interview us about how we started the CIFCC, our backgrounds, and our goals going forward.

EDITORIAL: 17 films to watch for the 2017 Oscars

On this day after the Oscars, we must already call those 2015 films old news and look towards next year's contenders. Plenty of movies will hit theaters in 2016, but only the best become Oscar hopefuls. Set your sights on these 17 films for the 2017 Oscars. Keep in mind that release dates and even titles of some of these unfinished films could still change. Surprises come all the time, but this what the crystal ball is showing for the 89th Academy Awards.

EDITORIAL: Final 2016 Awards Tracker and Oscar Reactions

Last night, I correctly predicted 16 of the 24 winners, tied with last year for my lowest total. To conclude the awards season with a final update of the Awards Tracker data, here are the finishing tallies, Oscar winners, and my reactions to the winners and losers.

2015, 2016, Column, Editorial, SPECIALDon ShanahanFebruary 28, 20162015, 2016, 2016 Awards Tracker, 2016 Oscars, 2016 Oscar Predictions, 88th Academy Awards, 88th Oscars, Oscar snubs, Oscar nominations, Oscar hopefuls, Oscars, Oscar winners, Oscar bait, Oscar contenders, Oscar surprises, Oscar Predictions, 2015 films, Awards Predictions, Award Prediction, Awards Talk, Academy Award nominations, Academy Award nominees, Academy Award, Academy Award winner, Academy Awards, Academy Award nominee, Editorial, Column, Website feature, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, movie commentary, film commentary, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Original Screenplay, Best Musical Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, Best Edit, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Hair-Styling, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Documentary, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Animated Short Film, Best Animated Short, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Animated Feature, Best Live Action Short, Best Live Action Short Film, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Directing, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Actress, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Motion Picture, Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Picture, The race for Best Picture, Best Movies of 2015Comment

COLUMN: Five snubs and five surprises from the 88th Academy Award nominations

As with any year, there are hot topics being debated immediately stemming from snubs and surprises. Here are my reaction and takeaways, consisting of five snubs and five surprises, coming out of this morning's nominations announcements.

2016, Column, Editorial, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 14, 20162016, 2015 films, Oscar surprises, Oscar snubs, Oscar nominations, Oscar contenders, Oscar hopefuls, Oscar bait, Oscar Predictions, Oscar winners, Oscars, 88th Oscars, 88th Academy Awards, Academy Awards, Academy Award winner, 2016 Academy Awards, Academy Award, Academy Award nominations, Academy Award nominee, Academy Award nominees, film commentary, movie commentary, Awards Tracker, Awards Talk, Awards Predictions, Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Picture, The race for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Directing, Don Shanahan, Donald Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Minority performers, Michael B. Jordan, Creed, Mark Rylance, Sylvester Stallone, Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, The Revenant, The Big Short, Jacob Tremblay, Room, Benecio del Toro, Sicario, Paul Dano, Love and Mercy, Michael Shannon, 99 Homes, Michael Keaton, Spotlight, Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation, Inside Out, Anomalisa, Boy and the World, When Marnie Was There, The Good Dinosaur, The Peanuts Movie, Minions, Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Puth, Furious 7, See You Again, Lady Gaga, Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight, Best Original Song, Best Original Score, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Titanic, Mad Max: Fury Road, Lenny Abrahamson, Todd Haynes, Carol, Ridley Scott, The Martian, Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl, Ex Machina, Straight Outta Compton, Bridge of Spies, Star Wars: The Force AwakensComment

COLUMN: Predicting the major 88th Academy Award nominations

The 88th Academy Award nominations will be announced tomorrow morning, January 14, 2016, hot off of the weekend's 73rd Golden Globe awards. I've been following the full awards season over on my Awards Tracker page. Using that data as the tea leaves and a truckload of hunches, I'm going to attempt to closely predict the Oscar nominations for the "Big 8" categories for the third year in a row.

2015, 2016, Column, Editorial, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 13, 2016Best Picture, The race for Best Picture, Oscar Predictions, Oscar nominations, Oscar contenders, Oscar hopefuls, Oscar bait, 88th Academy Awards, 88th Oscars, Oscars, 2016, 2015, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Big 8, Oscar snubs, Oscar surprises, Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, The Big Short, Carol, Room, Brooklyn, The Martian, Bridge of Spies, Creed, Inside Out, Son of Saul, Straight Outta Compton, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, George Miller, Tom McCarthy, Todd Haynes, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Ridley Scott, Adam McKay, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Ryan Coogler, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs, Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl, Matt Damon, Bryan Cranston, Trumbo, Johnny Depp, Black Mass, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Keaton, Brie Larson, Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years, Jennifer Lawrence, Joy, Charlize Theron, Sarah Silverman, I Smile Back, Helen Mirren, Emily Blunt, Sicario, Sylvester Stallone, Mark Rylance, Michael Shannon, 99 Homes, Paul Dano, Love and Mercy, Jacob Tremblay, Benecio del Toro, Mark Ruffalo, Steve Carell, Christian Bale, Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation, Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina, Alex Garland, Rooney Mara, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria, Rachel McAdams, Josh Singer, Pete Docter, Meg LaFauvre, Josh Cooley, Oren Movermann, Michael Alan Lerner, Matt Charman, Ethan Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen, Joel CoenComment

COLUMN: Who should win/will win the 2016 Golden Globes?

More and more each year, the Golden Globes have become more an a popularity contest than a true precursor to the Academy Awards. What you're watching on TV is a party thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and hosted by Ricky Gervais in an effort to be loved and share some love. To its credit, the awards show still garners legitimate attention and ratings. The winners do get a pretty positive rub and the marketers gain a few more "Winner of..." graphics to put in the newspapers next to their films.

2015, 2016, Editorial, Column, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 8, 2016Best Original Score, Carter Burwell, Carol, Daniel Pemberton, Steve Jobs, Alexandre Desplat, The Danish Girl, Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto, The Revenant, John Williams, Johann Johannsson, Creed, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Fifty Shades of Grey, Furious 7, Elle Goulding, Wiz Khalifa, Brian Wilson, Love and Mercy, Writing's on the Wall, Sam Smith, Spectre, Simple Song #3, Sumi Jo, Youth, Mustang, Son of Saul, The Brand New Testament, The Club, The Fencer, Timbuktu, The Assassin, Best Foreign Language Film, Amour, The Artist, Best Animated Feature, Inside Out, Shaun the Sheep, Shaun the Sheep Movie, The Good Dinosaur, The Peanuts Movie, Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufman, Disney/Pixar, Emma Donoghue, Room, Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer, Spotlight, Aaron Sorkin, Adam McKay, Charlie Randolph, The Big Short, Quentin Tarantino, Brooklyn, Michael Shannon, 99 Homes, Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation, Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies, Sylvester Stallone, Paul Dano, Mark Ruffalo, Benecio del Toro, Sicario, Jacob Tremblay, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Helen Mirren, Trumbo, Jane Fonda, Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina, Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria, Lily Tomlin, Grandma, Jennifer Lawrence, Joy, Melissa McCarthy, Spy, Maggie Smith, The Lady in the VAn, The Lady in the Van, Amy Schumer, Trainwreck, Teyonah Parris, Chi-Raq, Al Pacino, Danny Collins, Infinitely Polar Bear, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Matt Damon, The Martian, Kevin Hart, Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Brie Larson, Charlize Theron, Carey Mulligan, Suffragette, Far from the Madding Crowd, Will Smith, Concussion, Michael Fassbender, Eddie Redmayne, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bryan Cranston, Michael Keaton, Michael B. Jordan, Tom Hanks, The Wolf of Wall Street, Todd Hayne, George Miller, Ridley Scott, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globes, 73rd Golden Globes, Golden Globe nominees, Golden Globe winners, who will win/should win, Awards Predictions, Awards Tracker, Awards Talk, 88th Academy Awards, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a LessonComment

COLUMN: New review platform for "Every Movie Has a Lesson"

I wanted to formally update my followers and readers of a cool new platform and opportunity for both you and this website. This past fall, I was approached by the one of the co-founders of the young website BAG Movies to add a professional profile to their community site. Founded in February 2015, BAG aims to be "one-stop shopping" for finding, watching, and sharing movies and TV shows. It can become your new place to talk and listen to your friends about what you're loving (and hating) in entertainment.

COLUMN: New daily themes for social media pages

For quite some time, I've been meaning to add more momentum and engagement to my presence on Facebook and Twitter. I'm active with posting my reviews and shared fun stories, but that content is more random than formal or thematic. It lacks a guiding regularity. So, as of this new year and new work week, I'm adding daily themes to my posts and threads shared on my Facebook and Twitter pages. I have a blast talking to all of you casually and I would like to do more. Here's the plan:

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by Don Shanahan

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