GUEST EDITORIAL: What Lessons Do 5 Top Pet Movies Teach You?

By Stella Lincoln

The animation was like never before at the start of this century. In the name of entertainment, not only did globalization have an impact on children's bedtime stories, but it was also intruding in ethics and morality in the form of rude caricatures and indecent cartoons. Nevertheless, you can let your children see easily with cartoons, and many of them are considered classics. Animals were popular with children when cartoons were concerned. Children may want to be able to see them moving on their monitors because they cannot communicate with many mice or lions like Ratatouille and The Lion King.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, LIST, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 9, 2020Guest Column, Guest EditorialComment

COLUMN: My Top 100 Movies of the 2010s

To build a master list, I turned to the Pub Meeple Ranking Engine. I entered a list of just under 200 five-star and high four-star movies and let the hundreds of clickable “versus” matchup permutations slot everything. It’s really a slick tool, and it nailed my results. The cream of the rose to the top, just as they should. I’ve said this before on other lists, but this is more about “best” than “favorites.” Also, I did not include documentaries. Quality edges easy entertainment more often than not. Here are the results with a little commentary here and there in between!

SPECIAL: Fourth annual CIC Award Winners

I was among the 20 prolific members of Chicago Indie Critics who cast their final ballots last week to declare the winners of 23 categories for their fourth annual film awards. At a special ceremony open to the public last evening at the Cards Against Humanity Theater in Chicago hosted by stand-up comedienne and former film critic Katie Baker, the CIC film critics, fans, and guests gathered to celebrate milestones, commiserate among peers and professionals, and honor the very best from 2019.

2019, CIC, EVENT, Media Appearance, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 6, 2020Cards Against Humanity TheaterCIC, CIFCC, Chicago Indie CriticsComment

COLUMN: New Year's Resolutions for the Movie Industry for 2020

Plenty of regular everyday people make New Year's Resolutions, but I think bigger entities, namely movie makers and movie moguls, need to make them too. Annually, including this eighth edition, have fun taking the movie industry to task for things they need to change. As always, some resolutions come true while others get mentioned and reiterated every year. Welcome to 2020. Enjoy this year’s and this decade’s hopes and dreams.

Column, Editorial, LIST, Social Media, SPECIAL, 2020Don ShanahanJanuary 1, 2020Comment

COLUMN: The 10 Best Movies of 2019

In all, I published “only” 94 film reviews in 2019, which is plenty, but down from 110 last year and my high mark of 126 in 2017. I saw a dozen and a half more, but full-time school teachers, husbands, and dads like me only have so much free time to put 1000 words down every time. Work-life balance, so to speak, is always a challenge, one that I aim to do better in the life direction. No matter, I think I’ve got 2019 figured out. Here are my picks for the ten best films of the year accompanied by, as always and true to my site’s namesake niche, their best life lesson.

2019, 2020, Best Films, Column, Editorial, LIST, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 1, 2020 Comment

SPECIAL: Fourth annual CIC Award Nominations

Leading all films with an impressive eight nominations is Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women. Two of those nominations highlight Gerwig’s work as a director and screenwriter. Following next with seven nominations each is the quartet of The Irishman, Marriage Story, 1917, and Parasite. On an individual level leading the field, Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho earned five personal nominations and Lulu Wang of The Farewell earned four across the 23 categories. In all, 43 films are represented with nominations for the 2019 CIC Awards.

2019, CIC, EVENT, Media Appearance, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanDecember 29, 2019Cards Against Humanity TheaterCIC, CIFCC, Chicago Indie CriticsComment

20 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE: The best of the rest of 1999

As the historians will tell you, 1999 was a damn fine year. Man, that was living. There are many films from that year that count as favorites and greats in several different ways. Some have gotten better with age and some have worsened, even dropping at as former favorites. Here are my little breakdowns of the “rest of 1999.” Enjoy some personal favorites, underrated gems, guilty pleasures, overrated picks, and still bad dogs.

Best Films, Column, Editorial, Retrospective, SPECIAL, 2019Don ShanahanDecember 28, 20191999Comment

20 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE: The 10 Best Films of 1999

In an annual series, Every Movie Has a Lesson is going to look back twenty years to revisit, relearn, and reexamine a year of cinema history to share favorites, lists, and experiences from the films of that year. When measuring back as far as twenty years or more, I feel like “favorites” that have stood the test of time have aged to become some level of “best.” I feel like a bunch of those populate my reflective look back at the best of 1999.

Best Films, Column, Editorial, LIST, Retrospective, SPECIAL, 2019Don ShanahanDecember 27, 2019Saint Joseph's College1999Comment

GUEST COLUMN: 7 Best Movies to Watch While Being On a Winter Break

Winter breaks are awesome because they give you the time you need to spend with yourself and your family and friends. Some people love visiting their friends or family, while others love spending time indoors, drinking mulled wine and enjoying the cozy atmosphere. Winter holiday is the perfect moment to relax and chill, and how can you better do this otherwise than watching some movies? Some movies are full of action and thrill, but some movies inspire you to be good and calm. When it is snowing and the weather is cold, you can enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, some cookies, and a movie.

Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanDecember 27, 2019 Comments

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the "Kicking the Seat" podcast and talking "All the President's Men" for the "ReelPolitk" series

If the two of us were paid for doing this stuff, Ian Simmons of Kicking the Seat and I would be following the money for All the President’s Men. For a little something different than our usual big roundtables for new movies, Ian and I put the recorders on to mix politics and movies together. The dark parking garage was optional. For nearly an hour, we build bridges between old brilliance and analog journalism to our 24-hour news cycle and current times with this masterpiece being the mold. Enjoy this very topical and jovial shared conversation!

Media Appearance, Podcast, Social Media, SPECIAL, 2019Don ShanahanDecember 23, 2019AMC River East 21Kicking the Seat, JokerComment

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the "Kicking the Seat" podcast and YouTube talking "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"

The dead speak! On an early morning in advance of its much ballyhooed release, Ian Simmons of Kicking the Seat assembled the clones of myself, David Fowlie of Keeping It Reel, Emmanuel Noisette of E-Man’s Movie Reviews, and Mike Crowley of You’ll Probably Agree to put all of our Midichlorians on the table to immediately react to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. There’s so much forceful spirit on this dais, you would think it’s the real versions of all of us. Enjoy this podcast episode!

Media Appearance, Podcast, Social Media, SPECIAL, 2019Don ShanahanDecember 23, 2019AMC River East 21Kicking the Seat, JokerComment

COLUMN: Looking for Some of the Best Classic Movie Posters? Buy Online

According to Forbes, movie enthusiasts are always looking for novelty. However, they are obsessed with only those films that match with the conventional genres they seem to be used to and comfortable with. They would like to enjoy something new, fresh and original within the same genre. Movie buffs love original stories that present unique visceral experiences, visuals, and viewpoints. Over the years, many Hollywood movies have won the hearts of millions of viewers. Let us explore some of the classic film posters that are still in huge demand among movie buffs, auctioneers, and collectors. If you are thinking of adding to your collection of classic movie posters, buy online for an amazing selection.

2019, Column, Editorial, Home Media, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanDecember 23, 2019Comment