MOVIE REVIEW: American Hustle

During the seemingly long Oscar season each year, studios save some of their best and brightest films for the end of the year so that voters with short memories will remember them most when its time to fill out a ballot for awards nominations. It's incredibly rare to see a Best Picture Academy Award winner from a month earlier than October. The term that gets used a great deal is "Oscar bait." This creates a very flooded market in December of memorable film after memorable film. These studios pull out all of the marketing stops and want that "Nominated for..." and "Winner of..." sound byte or graphic on their print advertisements, posters, trailers and TV spots. They long to be showered with praise and are cradled by the powers-that-be to grab that spotlight. They want you to pay your money and join in that praise, hence the term "Oscar bait."

2013, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanDecember 23, 2013Chicago, IL, USAAmerican HustleComment

ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Directing his fifth film and first since the purposely over-the-top Tropic Thunder from 2008, Ben Stiller turns the macho dial way down and takes his shot at loosely adapting the famous 1939 James Thurber short story that was previously made into a film starring funnyman Danny Kaye in 1947.

"2013 Holiday Movies", "2013", 2013, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanDecember 19, 2013Chicago, IL, USAComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

While it's not quite as good or instantly quotable as the first film, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is a hilarious follow-up to make this already funny world even bigger while poking great fun at our modern news. I'm in the camp that loves this sort of thing and it's arguably the funniest movie of the year.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Book Thief

As a film, I think The Book Thief does enough to get half of that aforementioned hopeful goal to make people happy. The film has its respectful essence, but lacks a bit of the spirit and entertainment value.

"2013 Holiday Movies", "2013", "3 STARS", "Movie Review", "The Book Thief"Don ShanahanDecember 18, 2013Peoria, IL, USAComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Like a great middle chapter should, this film escalates the tension, danger, and risk towards an as-yet-unseen climax that is sure to blow our socks off. Are the producers still milking us for three movies that could have fit into one? Probably, but, once again, I, for one, have the patience to respect what these filmmakers are up to and value what others might call tedious.

"2013 Holiday Movies", "2013", "5 STARS", 2013, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanDecember 15, 2013Chicago, IL, USA Comment

ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW: Saving Mr. Banks

For my website's 250th movie review, I'm proud to bring you an advance review of Saving Mr. Banks, the newest live-action feature film from Walt Disney Pictures.

ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW: Hours

Shedding most of his action star attraction and playing a dedicated father and husband,Hours easily stands out as the best Paul Walker has ever been as an actor instead of just a movie star. With his unfortunate and untimely death, it will be a shame that we will never get to see him capitalize from this passion project and personal success. Hours is a film and performance to be proud of. It's nothing award-worthy, but a very solid effort that resonates.

MOVIE REVIEW: Nebraska

His new film, Nebraska, is his smallest and most nuanced film to date for Alexander Payne. Shot in black-and-white on a micro-budget and populated by mostly unknown performers instead of Hollywood A-listers, the film strives to slow things down and give you something interesting to follow and compare with your own family's generational gaps.

ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW: The Last Days on Mars

Continuing the 2013 parade of science fiction on a smaller scale is The Last Days on Mars , the debut full-length feature film from Oscar-nominated short director Ruairi Robinson. After taking part in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival, it debuts in limited theatrical release on December 6th after primarily aiming for a Video On-Demand audience to stir up some buzz. Boasting a notable cast of steady performers and character actors, The Last Day of Mars , on premise alone, is aiming for that subtle suspense that made Moon and Sunshine surprise small-scale science fiction hits within the last decade. The result, however, is as laden with horror cliches as Saturn is encircled with rings.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

After seeing the second installment, the hotly anticipated The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, my gut feeling is that they are saving their best for their swan song and not the middle. While the budget and star power have increased with success and maturity from the comparatively modest first film 20 months ago, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire does not do enough to achieve that level of being a great middle trilogy film on the same scale as The Empire Strikes Back orThe Dark Knight.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Best Man Holiday

The Best Man Holiday pulls out many surprises, not the least of which is a heartfelt dramatic core that will warm your spirit and leave a lasting impression of friendship and fellowship. While it has its flaws and cheesy elements,The Best Man Holiday is one of the most flat-out entertaining and satisfying romantic comedy experiences to come to movies in years.

"2013 Holiday Movies", "2013", "4 STARS", "Movie Review", "The Best Man Holiday"Don ShanahanNovember 15, 2013Chicago, IL, USAComment