Every braided shoestring of DIY indie filmmaking on Lake Michigan Monsters swings a proverbial kitchen sink of derring-do flair on the end of it. Editor and animator Mike Cheslik of Netflix’s The Get Down (the MVP of this film) splashes buoyant pacing and endless layers of light visual effects that have creativity and energy to spare. Each sink of eye-popping detail is wielded like a medieval flail used to dispatch dragons of snobbery and doubt. Never ever look down on this class of movie because this is where you find true commitment.

2020, 4 STARS, Film Festival, Home Media, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanAugust 2, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Summerland

Hospitality jokes aside, manners come into play. The wrinkle is when pleasing homeliness mixes with the negative connotation of hospitality. Summerland, the feature film directorial debut of playwright Jessica Swale, emanates pleasantry around a central character who is the rude opposite. No matter how uncouth or ill-tempered Gemma Arterton’s hermetic author Alice behaves, an honorable heart shines through. That’s the narrative oil and water of this nostalgic film.

3 STARS, Independent Film, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanAugust 2, 2020Comment

COLUMN: Snowpiercer: Good Entertainment or a Bad Remake?

The modern TV industry is incredibly focused on serving relevant entertainment to the general public. Every show is targeting a certain demographic and their needs or characteristics. Nevertheless, there are quite a few general trends that occur all over the world. First and foremost is the rise of science fiction. Yes, we do remember good old Doctor Who and a long list of science fiction shows or movies from the mid and late 20th century. However, this niche has never been as active and relevant as it is now.

2020, Column, GUEST CRITIC, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, Editorial, Streaming, SPECIALDon ShanahanJuly 28, 2020Comment

COLUMN: Defending Jacob: An Exquisite Crime Drama Everyone Will Enjoy

Over the past few years, we have witnessed many adaptions and excellent shows filmed by big corporations such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO and Apple TV. Thanks to gigantic investments in the film and TV production industry, we now have an opportunity to watch a wide variety of shows. The sector has become so competitive that there is very little point in comparing productions to each other. Rather, we should evaluate and discuss them individually. We have come to the point where every TV product and a movie is remarkably personal.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST CRITIC, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, SPECIAL, StreamingDon ShanahanJuly 28, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Truth

To pull off holding court without reducing matters to the preening or showy variety, the performer must have screen presence. Deneuve, the ageless ingenue, “frigid femme fatale,” and “grandes dame” of French cinema, has wattage for a thousand cameras, even now in her mid-70s. With that stature, compelling shockwaves come at will. The acting awe within The Truth is that Deneuve’s prestige is matched moment-to-moment by Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche, a contemporary, if you will, every bit as powerful as the senior. Their pairing as an estranged mother and daughter in the celebrity world writes cinematic scripture.

2020, 2019, 4 STARS, Chicago Film Festival, Film Festival, Independent Film, Foreign Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Home MediaDon ShanahanJuly 20, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Dirt Music

For anyone over the age of five-years-old who doesn’t have “The Gravel Foot” anymore, we know not all natural surfaces are easy and lush. The sensation of each pace toughens and prepares the heels and toes for the next one. Such is life as well. The literal and figurative barefoot steps of the characters from Tim Winton’s celebrated novel have tread over the hard grounds of loss and regret. The developed calluses mix with the ever-present dirt for messy lifestyles. Any songs present croon to that lamentation. Alas, the titular melodies advertised to break down the melodrama blow away weakly with the wind.

2020, Independent Film, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanJuly 17, 2020Comment

SHORT FILM REVIEW: Farewell Waltz

When no flowery language is flowing to fill our ears, another ambiance is necessary. The sweep of Felipe Tellez’s musical score is astounding. His arrangements were performed by the Budapest Air Orchestra and their lovely strings keep Farewell Waltz soaring with the remembrance and regret of the narrative. One would not readily imagine a 10-minute short film could reach heartstrings so assuredly and effectively, yet this throwback from Levy does so with lingering beauty above films ten times its length.

2020, 4 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, SHORT FILMS, Streaming, Film FestivalDon ShanahanJuly 12, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Old Guard

Charlize would be the one to tell Queen to take their romantic sweetness and shove it with harshness. That tone and timbre works just fine for the Academy Award winner who has been cementing this attitudinal career niche for the better part of a decade. Based on Greg Rucka’s 2017 Image Comics graphic novel featuring the art of Leandro Fernandez, The Old Guard combines its own brew of created legends intersecting modern settings and compulsions. Like its lead, The Old Guard has a toughness completely devoid of anything trite. The narrative screws might not be the tightest, but its aim is deadly enough to draw you in.

2020, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanJuly 8, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Greyhound

There’s something to be said for a film that can constantly exude tautness. Some films will have stress and pressure, but not convey those traits with true tension. An element or two will have general solidity, but not have legitimate, durable steadiness. Like every battened down hatch on a warship cutting through its rough seas, the thrilling course of the new Apple+ Tom Hanks vehicle Greyhound throbs with tightness. Stutter, stumble or hesitate and a punctuating torpedo detonates your lack of focus.

2020, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on Demand, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanJuly 6, 2020Comment

COLUMN: Top 10 Fascinating Netflix Movies and Documentaries about Business and Entrepreneurship

Many educationists have come to find increasingly innovative methods to deploy teaching methodologies. It is essential to know that education is basically defined as the process of facilitating the acquisition of viable knowledge and information which professionals and students can deploy and implement in their real situations. This opens a whole new avenue where popular forms of entertainment, such as educational movies and films, can be used to deliver a way of experiential learning that can help people to learn valuable lessons.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, LIST, SPECIAL, StreamingDon ShanahanJuly 2, 2020Comment

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: No Small Matter

Documentaries often carry a sharp specificity by design. The backers and filmmakers have zeroed in on a pointed topic or singular issue they feel needs a spotlight or, even stronger, a public wake up call. Sometimes, they downright demand it. The challenge of an exemplary documentary is to convince next to its natural aim to inform. Their demands need worth, especially if the subject is too narrow to the point that it is inconsequential. That’s where the documentary No Small Matter lives up to its title. The demand matches the worth.

2020, 4 STARS, DOCUMENTARY REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on Demand, StreamingDon ShanahanJune 30, 2020No Small MatterComment

EDITORIAL: Lessons on the New Future of Movie Theaters

With several regions of America starting to re-open (including my own state of Illinois and city of Chicago), it was time to get on the stump and arm the cannons. I put some of what follows into spoken word recently on an episode of Mike Crowley’s “You’’ll Probably Agree” podcast, but the issue has grown since then. Click into the multitude of links in the lessons for the deeper referenced stories. They are well worth their reads and your attention. The theme of this all can be summarized as cautiously optimistic.

2020, Column, Editorial, SPECIAL, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanJune 27, 2020Comment