GUEST CRITIC #49: The Trial of the Chicago 7

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.

2020, GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social MediaDon ShanahanDecember 12, 2020The Green MileComment

INFOGRAPHIC: Top 30 Raunchiest Mainstream Movies Revealed

Sex sells! In 2020 alone, searches for “sexy films” have increased by 52% worldwide, proving that even in troubled times, and with less films being made, there’s still an appetite for cheap thrills and torrid trysts. MattressNextDay examined 28,841 films from IMDb containing a range of sex related keywords to find out the top mainstream films containing the most sex related content, how much they’re raking in and how the sex is depicted. Our worldwide results show that sex is prolific and provocative across all genres, even horrors and comedies.

2020, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, Infographic, LIST, Social MediaDon ShanahanDecember 11, 2020Comment

INFOGRAPHIC: Guess the Numberplate Quiz

At Peter Vardy, they thought, as the coronavirus has somewhat clamped the handbrake on our year, it was about time that we all had a little bit of fun. That’s why today we bring you a quiz on Movie Number Plates. They’ve selected a series of number plates from the most famous cars in film and brought them together to see how many you can guess correctly. Some are easy but some are extremely tough. If you can correctly identify all of them, we’ll be very impressed! The plates range from films dating back to some of the all-time classics, to the car-focussed thrill rides on the big screen today. We’ve also thrown in a couple tailspins to keep you on your toes too. When you’re ready, give the quiz a go then make sure to send it to all your friends and family to see who's the biggest movie motor buff!

2020, Column, Editorial, Home Media, Infographic, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanDecember 10, 2020Comment

GUEST COLUMN: The Greatest Holiday Films to Watch Together with Someone Special

by Rebecca Shinn

There is nothing like enjoying a cozy night of holiday movies with someone you cherish. During the lockdown, it is a very welcome choice indeed. Staying in and having a safe but entertaining time is all the more important nowadays. We will give you a list of the most loved holiday movies so you won't run out of great options to watch.

2020, Column, Editorial, Home Media, GUEST EDITORIAL, LIST, Social MediaDon ShanahanDecember 6, 2020Comment

GUEST CRITIC #48: The Green Mile

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.

2020, GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social MediaDon ShanahanDecember 6, 2020The Green MileComment

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the "You'll Probably Agree" YouTube channel talking the future for movie theaters

Back in May, I joined Mike Crowley’s You’ll Probably Agree podcast with Ian Simmons of Kicking the Seat and Pat McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com in discussing the state of movie theaters knee deep during this pandemic. Things looked brighter then. Now, six months later, with a spiking virus, streaming business moves, and conpanies closing or circling bankrupcies? Not so much. The four of us took to Mike’s YouTube channel recently to ponder the uncertain future. Enjoy this spirited conversation! I’m sure we’ll be doing it again soon.

Social Media, SPECIAL, Podcast, Media Appearance, 2020, Editorial, Home MediaDon ShanahanDecember 6, 2020Comment

GUEST CRITIC #47: Holidate

by Arham Khokhar

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.

2020, GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social MediaDon ShanahanNovember 22, 2020Comment

GUEST EDITORIAL: Who's the Toughest Action Star of All Time?

by Alissa Zucker

A while back, I got to wondering who the toughest action hero of all time is. Not the actor playing the action hero, but the action hero themselves. In other words, I wanted to know what John McClane from the Die Hard series would do if he ended up in a fight with Dirty Harry. I wanted to know how Mad Max would fare in a fight against Han Solo. And so, I decided to create some fictional battles, and try and figure out the answer to this burning question!

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, LIST, Social MediaDon ShanahanNovember 22, 2020Comment

GUEST EDITORIAL: The Best and Worst of Dumb Action War Movies

by Rebecca Carter

You could say that there's a lot of action films that borrow from the war film genre, without ever actually being war films themselves: They borrow Navy SEALs and aircraft carriers and war movie villains like terrorists. That doesn't necessarily make a good proportion of the big dumb action movies also war movies, it just makes them big dumb action movies with elements of a war film within them. When I think of war movies, I think of Black Hawk Down, not Die Hard.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, LIST, Social MediaDon ShanahanNovember 22, 2020Comment

GUEST CRITIC #46: The Score

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.

2020, GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social MediaDon ShanahanNovember 22, 2020Comment

GUEST CRITIC #45: On the Basis of Sex

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.

2020, GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social MediaDon ShanahanNovember 21, 2020Comment

GUEST EDITORIAL: Healthy Relationships in the Eyes Of Modern Scriptwriters

by Jamie Polsters

Movies with unrealistic and unattainable love stories are so easy to find. A lot of them have love stories filled with so much toxicity and manipulation. For people getting influenced by movie plots and scripts, this is not healthy. With Hollywood movies giving us superficial reasons to want to fall in love, there are still some writers who will show the realities of love. Their scripts portray the ups and downs, the fights and breakups. Setting the standard for your relationship based on movies is not ideal; nevertheless, there is always something to learn from every movie.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, Social MediaDon ShanahanNovember 19, 2020Comment