The very accomplished Denzel Washington is and has been many superlative things throughout his illustrious career. His signature intensity and ardent commitment to character have filled trophy cases and made him a magnetic draw across five decades now. One thing you could never call him was boring. Sure, the same can’t be said about all of his movies, but he was never (and I mean never) part of the dullness. Well, after nearly 50 films, there’s a first time for everything and John Lee Hancock’s The Little Things, debuting on HBO Max, is the culprit.

2 STARS, 2021, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanJanuary 29, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Dig

It’s rare, as rare as the ancient treasure trove shown in the movie at hand, but sometimes you encounter a “based on a true story” movie that may have been more compelling and richly told as a documentary than a theatrical drama. The Netflix new release, The Dig, is one of those. Why? Call it subject matter versus character and the pendulum of revealed truths against manufactured melodrama. Sometimes, the dramatic licence amplifies the impact of the embedded facts, but in other instances the injected theatrics water down the truism. While bolstered by a fine cast, Simon Stone’s The Dig is too much of the latter.

2021, 2 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanJanuary 28, 2021Comment

GUEST COLUMN: 3 Reasons Why You Should Start Watching Foreign Films

by Kevin Gardner

Each country or culture has a unique way it approaches filmmaking. Moviegoers worldwide enjoy settling in for lengthy mental escapes to unknown lands and new characters. It is a visual art form that can be drastically different from one country to the next. Watching a foreign film will immerse you into a microcosm in which you are highly unfamiliar. It allows you to experience new landscapes, food, and customs. Get away from the familiar and delve into the world of international film. Here are three good reasons to make an effort to see films from far-away lands.

2021, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, Independent Film, StreamingDon ShanahanJanuary 19, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Ultimate Playlist of Noise

There is a small delight many viewers may share with Marcus, the main character of Hulu’s The Ultimate Playlist of Noise played by emerging actor Keean Johnson of Midway. This writer is one of them. Marcus’s narration brings up his enjoyment watching the facial expressions and body language of people hearing any array of sounds. Be it directly or voyeuristically, he’s astounded and inspired by the captivation seen among those listeners. He’s right. Try it yourself.

2021, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, Video on Demand, Streaming, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanJanuary 15, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Outside the Wire

The gulf between how good Anthony Mackie looks and everyone else in Outside the Wire is as wide as the Mississippi River delta the New Orleans-born actor hails from. Paired with a whiny and clunky younger partner and pitted against the mirage of a paper-thin, nondescript European villain, there’s so little complimentary muscle next to Anthony. The overwhelming majority of this futuristic army flick couldn’t arm wrestle a toddler.

2 STARS, 2021, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanJanuary 13, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Pieces of a Woman

Nearly every artistic element of Pieces of a Woman holds a fixation with its lead Vanessa Kirby and rightfully so. Co-stars encircle her aura hoping to get closer. They are met by a lithe posture contorted in guarded torment that holds back their approaches. Her icy blue eyes, arched by her dark eyebrows, hold dry from tears, hang open while lost in thought, and project stares when attention is gained. Of all the points of focus captured by director Kornél Mundruczó, Kirby’s hands are purposefully watched the most. Historical quotes keenly remind us “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” and “nothing good comes from boredom.” Pieces of a Woman finds places to condone those vices.

MOVIE REVIEW: Shadow in the Cloud

At the tipping point in Shadow in the Cloud when action becomes necessary to confront mounting threats, it is a lone woman surrounded by chauvinistic men that doubtlessly steps up above all others. Pushed to fight or flight, she’s going nowhere and her battle cries are “You’ll see what I’m capable of!” and “You don’t understand how far I will go!” Fellas, be afraid. Don’t dare cross a determined woman, no matter their size, age, or profession. They have outright toughness most cannot fathom.

MOVIE REVIEW: One Night in Miami

Now, judging by storied perception of the “Louisville Lip” and his towering ego on the biggest night of his young career, one might expect One Night in Miami to set off a boastful barnburner of boozy partying and liberating frolic. The result is quite the contrary. There are no bars, no girls, no flashbulbs, and no hanger-on fans. It is just these four influential men and the hotel spaces before them as they wrestle with the gravity of the moment and share the ongoing bigotry they have experienced on different levels and from different sources. To celebrate here is the exhale and vent, not dance and prance.

2020, 5 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Film Festival, Home Media, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, Video on DemandDon ShanahanDecember 24, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Wonder Woman 1984

Too much of this sequel’s accomplishments stop at that last prepositional phrase of “for the main character.” Everything crafted for Gal Gadot’s heroics works wonderfully to strengthen her and the character’s prominence. Good graces and affections are rightfully earned. Maybe it is enough of a victory that Wonder Woman is not the problem of a Wonder Woman movie. That said, the material and surroundings she is given do her very little favors.

2020, 3 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, MOVIE REVIEW, Home MediaDon ShanahanDecember 23, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Soul

Since Monsters, Inc., Up and Inside Out director Pete Docter doesn’t directly hide his envoys of empathy anymore. Honest-to-goodness people are once again front-and-center in his newest film, Soul, coming to Disney+ on Christmas Day. Its people may get magically spun into spectral vessels moving through a very uniquely manufactured system of the heavens, but they’re still humans being human. That said, with Soul, Pixar finally goes all the way with its streak. They evoke existentialism head on.

2020, 4 STARS, Animated Film, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanDecember 22, 2020 Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Sylvie's Love

A skeptical label Sylvie’s Love might receive is being called anachronistic. Such a descriptor is a compliment not a hindrance. In fact, it would be disappointingly out of place if Sylvie’s Love was anything less than properly rooted right where it is as a pseudo-time capsule. Ashe isn’t trying to insert a progressive modern agenda with revisionist history for current appeasement. The desire was a period romance with sweep, ambiance, and gloss. The look of the era and the look of love are all there.

2020, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanDecember 19, 2020Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Greenland

The trouble is Greenland still cannot resist overselling the unbelievable side of this whole ordeal. The former stunt coordinator director Waugh still needs silly thrills and spills. Rapid societal collapse would be far worse than a smattering of looted stores and some increased traffic here and there. For this movie to go that route, it had to commit more. While shooting for a more grounded perspective, the pitfalls and hurdles placed before Gerard Butler and company try to be harrowing, but they’re still too easy and light on risk. We still have an action hero getting lucky like an action hero too often does. When that happens, the repetitive disbelief smears the good graces of more tense intentions. The eye rolls take over.