MOVIE REVIEW: Coffee & Kareem

Those posters clearly catch the eye, but once Coffee & Kareem attempts to evoke the promotional notion that it is worthy of standing next to classic giants like those three films as a homage or even as an lesser riff, it’s asking to bomb. When you fail, even intentionally, you become one more shitty cop movie from a generation ago. Does someone get an award somewhere from some lofty agency of aficionados when you make a shitty cop movie precisely as shitty as the old shitty cop movies this shitty cop movie emulates and remembers? Is that a Razzie or something else?

REWIND REVIEW: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Big as a billboard in some places and as small as a mobile ad in others, the marketing imagery of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker touts the tagline “The Saga Will End.” There’s something to be said for finality, especially with a 42-year-old franchise as venerated and cherished as this one. The virtues of remembrance, culmination, gratification, and other such lofty notions loom so much larger when an entity is billed to be the last of something important. The movie in disc form hits store shelves everywhere today.

2019, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on Demand, VIDEO REVIEW, DISC REVIEW, 2 STARS, 2020, 3 STARS, StreamingDon ShanahanMarch 31, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Vivarium

Vivarium earns very positive credit for its premise and aim. Bending relationship dynamics of survival and gender roles around the middle class dreams of homeownership and building a family is, no question, both absorbing and ambitious. The social commentary is as frank as it is smartly bleak. The graying realities are well-masked by the colorful production dwellings. Their dreamscape trap of the Yonder development is rightly simplistic yet imposing.

2019, 2020, 2 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanMarch 28, 2020Comment

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the "You'll Probably Agree" podcast talking feel-good movies in the time quarantine

During this COVID-19 quarantine, a portion of our easy-going lifestyle of going to communal theaters to catch a big screen spectacle has been dealt a body blow. For many, this isolation is not a very fun time. Turning to our favorite movies at home or discovering some motivating and engaging new ones can be great medicine for happiness against the cabin fever blues. I joined Mike Crowley’s You’ll Probably Agree podcast this week to talk comforting cinema in a group conversation with Ian Simmons of Kicking the Seat and the esteemed Pat McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com. Give Mike’s YouTube channel a new subscriber, his Facebook page a like, and his Twitter a follow!

Social Media, SPECIAL, Podcast, Media Appearance, 2020, Home Media, Independent Film, StreamingDon ShanahanMarch 28, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Stargirl

When you take a gander at Grace VanderWaal’s title character in Stargirl, you probably don’t think “unassuming.” The loud outfit seems goudy. The ukulele on her back reeks of ostentatiousness. And, by golly, that rat on her shoulder screams straight-up weird. Miraculously and sweetly, director Julia Hart makes all of this boldness as unassuming as possible, free of arrogance or pretension. The modesty of Jerry Spinelli’s hit source novel is intact and invigorating on this Disney+ original.

MOVIE REVIEW: Troop Zero

To rightly thumb its nose at the historically warped expectations of young ladies, Troop Zero may not be high-minded cinema. What it is, however, is high-hearted entertainment. That calls for trite covered in treat. Put this movie in front of any girl, hell, any kid period, that’s been demeaned about their differences or forced to conform to supposed societal standards. Let them watch this movie, smile, and stitch their own sash or freak flag to be proud of.

2020, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, StreamingDon ShanahanJanuary 22, 2020Comment

GUEST COLUMN: Warm Comedies for a Winter Evening

by Justin Osborne

When the temperatures start going down outside, the only fun thing left to do is snuggling up on your couch with some of the best winter comedies. It will be extremely cold out there. But so long as you have a blanket, snacks, candles and some holiday comedies, you’ll not only feel warm but also laugh all night long. There will always be something for everyone here. It doesn’t matter whether you are alone, with your family or your better half. You’ll have a variety of options to choose from to ensure you don’t leave your house until things get better outside. When it’s too cold to go outside, here are some of the best winter movies for you. Keep reading!

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, Streaming, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 16, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Two Popes

They may “play for the same team,” if you will, yet there is a rhetorical battle of divine wills and egos. Sizing each other up, there is zero agreement between the two, who could not be farther apart philosophically, politically, or personally. But, to see the respect, oh my, the respect, being shared is like a balm of hopeful covenant all its own. Powered by two impeccable performances, there is truly something marvelous to see these powerful men reach a true “meeting of the minds.” The Two Popes is available now streaming on Netflix after a brief theatrical run.

MOVIE REVIEW: Marriage Story

There is an old adage used by married people, kind of passive-aggressive burn really, that says “you can’t tie your shoes without me.” In a pithy way, the saying speaks to the symbiotic relationship between the partners for even the smallest things. While it may not always come down to shoelaces, there is a given and even understood level of dependency in marriage. That is until such dependency becomes harmful. In one of the finest films ever on the matter of divorce, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story challenges the breakdowns of resiliency and vulnerability that push this painful process.

2019, 5 STARS, Chicago Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on Demand, StreamingDon ShanahanNovember 29, 2019Music Box TheatreComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Lady and the Tramp

This new film is a wise and modest update to one of Disney’s best romances of its Silver Age. By utilizing actual dogs, many of which are rescued pets at that, with a mild computerized varnish, feels more tangible than fake in one of these Disney re-imaginings for the first time in a long time. This restraint of creative prudence is what defines its humble disposition and winning achievements. All year long, its mainstream blockbuster peers tried every costly artificial and technological height to be a blaring chorus of bells and whistles, when all that was really needed were some cute, real animals backed often by a swanky band.

2019, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on Demand, Streaming, 4 STARSDon ShanahanNovember 12, 2019Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Irishman

By the time the exhalation of the final minute of those 210 is reached, Frank remains in that same setting. Age has done its job on him and us in the audience. The sizzle has been squelched and the thrill is gone. The exquisite ruminations on display for over three hours build The Irishman into what feels like a conclusive coda for all of the veteran artists involved. Yet, the meandering pace of what all transpires reverberates with a slender essence no better than a hospice bedtime story.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Red Sea Diving Resort

Ari likes define the risky propositions in this movie as having one of these two outcome feelings. Sadly, the movie itself wobbles between the same. Entertainment comes easy in this Netflix-backed programmer and yet with consequently little attention paid to the predominantly off-screen annihilation of an ethnic group. Reality like that makes the glee hard to take. We live in an era where we can do better than solely bravura. Good filmmakers and creative powers can aim for challenging movies that address vital history and still entertain.

2 STARS, 2019, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on Demand, StreamingDon ShanahanAugust 4, 2019Comment