by Lafronda Stumn

As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.

GUEST CRITIC, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Social Media, Foreign Film, 2021Don ShanahanJanuary 3, 2021Comment

SPECIAL: Winners of the fifth annual Chicago Indie Critics Awards

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by George C. Wolfe and adapted from August Wilson’s stage play, dominated this year’s CIC Awards, winning seven of its nine nominations. Topmost, the Netflix original film was named the Best Studio Film in a tie with another offering from the streaming leader, Best Director winner Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom also won awards for adapted screenplay, lead actor, lead actress, ensemble cast, costume design, and makeup.

2020, CIC, Column, EVENT, LIST, SPECIAL, Social MediaDon ShanahanJanuary 2, 2021 Comment

COLUMN: New Year's Resolutions for the Movie Industry for 2021

Plenty of regular everyday people make New Year’s Resolutions, but I think bigger entities, namely movie makers and movie moguls, need to make them too. Annually, including this tenth edition, I have fun taking the movie industry to task for things they need to change. I have no false internet courage to be a Twitter troll. As always, some resolutions come true while others get mentioned and reiterated every year. Boy, was this a turd of a year for the movies, eh? There’s so much to say about so little that transpired with a predominantly locked-down marketplace.

Column, Editorial, LIST, Social Media, SPECIAL, 2021Don ShanahanJanuary 1, 2021Comment

GUEST EDITORIAL: Do Movies Predict the Future or Influence It?

By Kevin Gardner

It is always strange when you are watching an old movie and see a far-fetched scenario that has since played out in the real world. Did the movie writers have privileged information about some new gadget? Maybe a child who watched that movie was inspired and grew up to design something similar. Either could be possible. On the other hand, there are some movies that predict social issues and world events that nobody could have imagined.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanDecember 30, 2020Comment

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.

SPECIAL: Nominations for the fifth annual Chicago Indie Critics Awards

Leading all films with an impressive nine nominations is Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom helmed by Best Director nominee George C. Wolfe and starring acting nominees Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis. Following next with seven nominations each was David Fincher’s Mank and Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, both also hailing from Netflix. In all, 45 different films are represented with nominations for the 2020 CIC Awards.

2020, CIC, Column, EVENT, LIST, SPECIAL, Social MediaDon ShanahanDecember 28, 2020Comment

10 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE: The 10 Best Films of 2010

Despite the overall crappiness of this year, 2020 has been the 10th anniversary of this website Every Movie Has a Lesson. I didn’t start this endeavor until May of 2010 and, when the end of the year rolled around, I didn’t have a complete “sample size” or body of work, so to speak, to write a proper “10 Best” list. Missing that chance has always bothered the completist in me. I’ve been meaning to fix that and this little anniversary seemed like the right time, especially after charting a “best of the decade” list a year ago at the close of the 10s. So, turning back the clock a decade, here are my “10 Best Films of 2010.”

Best Films, Column, Editorial, LIST, Retrospective, SPECIAL, 2020, 2010Don ShanahanDecember 28, 2020Saint Joseph's College2010 Comment

GUEST COLUMN: The Top 10 Indispensable "Expendables" Action Star Film List

by Christopher D. Childs

In 2010, 63-year-old Sylvester Stallone had a brilliant idea: throw a bunch of veteran action stars all into one movie and then crank up the testosterone. Thus The Expendables was born. The film pulled in more than $220 million worldwide and spawned a sequel, The Expendables 2, which allows the franchise to pull in even more action stars. Some of these guys are heading into senior citizen territory but so far none is using a walker to kick some ass. So here's a list of the most indispensable films representing each of these iconic Expendables action stars.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home MediaDon ShanahanDecember 27, 2020Comment

GUEST COLUMN: The Top 10 Most Successful Action Franchises of All Time

by Daniel T. Anderson

What would you guess to be the most profitable action movie franchise of all time? If you had to choose one, which would it be? Mission Impossible? The Pirates of the Caribbean? The Matrix films? Reporting on these sorts of box office results is typically pretty simplistic. We're told the amount of money a film made domestically (and sometimes internationally) and how much the film cost to make. The difference is supposed to be the profitability. However, determining real-life profitability is much more complex.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home Media, LISTDon ShanahanDecember 27, 2020Comment

GUEST COLUMN: Top 10 Movies Based on TV Shows

by David Hoang

Adapting TV shows to movies hasn't always been popular. Hollywood initially looked at TV as competition fearing it would keep people at home and away from the theater, so studios weren't eager to suggest that there were small screen shows worthy of big screen attention. But TV didn't bring the demise of movies and studios eventually came to realize that TV audiences were worth tapping into. So here are the best of the films based on TV shows.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home MediaDon ShanahanDecember 27, 2020Comment

GUEST COLUMN: 7 Iconic Early Movie Monsters

by Gloria A. Adams

The action may move slowly, the special effects may be crude - yet there's reason to watch the early classic movie monsters. They established enduring legends with great black-and-white camera work. Instead of sophisticated special effects, many had terrific performances by actors under layers of makeup. Some can still cause a chill, and some can make you laugh out loud. Either way, these are the big, bad boys who provided the DNA for all the great movie monsters who followed.

2020, Column, Editorial, GUEST EDITORIAL, Home MediaDon ShanahanDecember 27, 2020Comment