As a feature film, Boston Strangler finds itself buried in the massive snowbank of true crime content available. Eager viewers have a buffet of binge-able rabbit holes, available in long and short forms, on dozens of channels and platforms at home. Held up against that docu-drama marketplace, a traditional two-hour fictionalized yarn playing in theaters feels nearly trite and tame by comparison, even if it dabbles with and challenges a theory or two about who really perpetrated these murders.

2023, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, Home Media, StreamingDon ShanahanMarch 18, 2023Boston Strangler, Kiera Knightley, Matt Ruskin, Carrie CoonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Linoleum

Linoleum is a conversation-heavy film unafraid to talk honestly about trajectories and unfulfilled dreams. This multiple award winner from the indie festival circuit joins other small-scale science fiction diamonds-in-the-rough like Clara, I Kill Giants, Wonderstruck, The Time Capsule, and Safety Not Guaranteed that burrow heavy human emotion and the toll of one’s life into a premise floating in the realm of tangible fantasy. More heady and original efforts of this type are sorely needed on screens and streams.

2023, 4 STARS, Independent Film, Streaming, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanFebruary 28, 2023Linoleum, Colin West, Jim GaffiganComment

MOVIE REVIEW: 88

Many of those conspiracy theories are precisely outlandish enough for savvy Hollywood screenwriters to find pithy movie premises for an eternity. The truly fun part is that any single theory, with the right spin, could be crafted and played as a either comedic farce or a terrifying thriller with equal entertainment potential. With 88, filmmaker Thomas Ikimi, better known as Eromose, takes a rich conspiracy concept and runs with it.

MOVIE REVIEW: Sharper

Frankly, a polished movie like this one, from the clean sets to the ominous Clint Mansell score, would have been relished in that fondly remembered mid-1990s marketplace of star-driven movies marketed for adults. Mature and malicious while skirting the line with a dash of kink, movies like Sharper don’t get made enough nowadays. Enjoy its casual boldness.

2023, 3 STARS, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanFebruary 10, 2023Sharper, Benjamin Caron, Julianne Moore, Justice Smith, Sebastian StanComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Somebody I Used To Know

To a degree, Somebody I Used to Know carries a bit of the same vein of misaligned praise and creativity. We have two lifelong Southern Californians (Franco of Palo Alto and Brie of Hollywood) pretending to lay out a pre-midlife crisis scenario in a setting far from their own. That said, there is a range of characters and grasp of relatable poignancy in the film coming from David and Alison that show how setting matters little when you have interesting people.

Latest Movies on Netflix in 2023

Netflix has become synonymous with quality entertainment, and their catalog of films only gets more impressive each year. So for those searching for the newest additions to Netflix’s ever-growing library, here are some of the latest movies it has to offer in 2023.

2023, Column, Editorial, StreamingDon ShanahanJanuary 28, 2023NetflixComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Maybe I Do

Familiar premises need a little wrinkle or twist to not be another retread. Thanks to Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Guess Who, the Meet the Parents franchise, and even the new You People, audiences have attended more than enough awkward meetings and dinners between contradictory parents trying to prevent a future marriage between their cherished children. Longtime Boy Meets World TV writer Michael Jacobs, making his feature directorial debut with a laudable cast, conjured an enticing sprinkle of spice towards this familiar setup with Maybe I Do.

2 STARS, 2023, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanJanuary 26, 2023Maybe I Do, Richard Gere, Diane Keaton, William H. Macy, Susan Sarandon, Luke Bracey, Emma RobertsComment

MOVIE REVIEW: You People

From Spencer Tracy and Sidney Poiter, forward to Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, and even to the likes of Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac, you’ve seen the interesting proposition of You People and its kind of entertaining clash before. Though it was made in 2021 and bears the label of 2023, You People is about a decade late to its own civics rally. The topicality has come and gone. Kenya Barris’s film arrives almost immediately wrapped in a time capsule, one that few will meaningfully open in years to come without more significance to recognize and remember.

AWARDS: Winners of the 2nd Annual North American Film Critics Association Awards

The second year of the North American Film Critic Association winners are here. On Monday, January 9th, the team got together and voted LIVE on The Drive-In Podcast YouTube channel to determine who would take home the biggest prizes of the year. Yours truly is a new voting member of the NAFCA, and it was a pleasure to be a part of the wild banter of this live voting party.

2023, AWARDS, EVENT, NEWS, Streaming, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 16, 2023NAFCA, North American Film Critics Association, AwardsComment

AWARDS: Nominees for the 2nd Annual North American Film Critics Association Awards

On Saturday, January 7, 2023, the North American Film Critics Association announced its nominee slate for the 2022 film season. Now in its second year, the group’s nominees represented 56 different films over 25 different categories. Yours truly, flying the Every Movie Has a Lesson and Film Obsessive flags, is a new member of the NAFCA. I participated in the live nominee announcement show:

2023, AWARDS, EVENT, NEWS, Streaming, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 8, 2023NAFCA, North American Film Critics Association, AwardsComment

Reelgood Top 10: Week of December 29, 2022-January 4, 2023

Reelgood published its Top 10 Titles in Streaming for this week (12/29/22 to 01/04/23). The movies White Noise and The Menu make their debut on our streaming chart, as Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery continues to reign the list. Netflix’s hit shows Wednesday and Treason take spots #5 and #9 consecutively, and Top Gun: Maverick on #8.

2022, Column, Television, Streaming, 2023Don ShanahanJanuary 6, 2023ReelgoodComment

Reelgood Top 10: Week of December 15-21, 2022

Reelgood published its Top 10 Titles in Streaming for this week (12/15/22 to 12/21/22). Yellowstone dethroned Netflix’s hit Wednesday as new titles make our streaming chart this week. The shows 1923 and The Recruit are new on the list taking places #4 and #7 consecutively, as are the movies Avatar, Black Adam, and The Banshees of Inisherin.

2022, Column, Television, StreamingDon ShanahanDecember 25, 2022ReelgoodComment