DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: Music by John Williams

With every chapter, Music by John Williams defines and stamps the maestro’s brilliance, even if the running time could be doubled or tripled to peel back even more “how does he do it” storytelling and clinical breakdowns from film to film and era to era. Plenty of cinephiles would love to see all that, but only so many nuanced moments fit alongside the big ones in one feature-length documentary. Even comprised as the parade it is, the Disney+ film is a fitting biographical tribute to the artist who could have rested on his laurels a quarter-century ago and still been an all-timer worthy of nonfiction hero worship.

MOVIE REVIEW: Here

In spite of this, some of us will crack our shells of disenchantment, swell with whimsy, and make the most of the cathartic reflection that comes from this grand journey. They will see the holes and seek to fill them with goals of betterment for themselves and, hopefully, others, especially after watching plenty of aspirations in Here not turn out positively for all involved. Here may not be the fully judicious beacon it fashions itself to be, but the thoughtfulness and plenty of poignant care it attempts with its lyrical finesse is still worth welcoming and appreciating.

2024, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanOctober 30, 2024Here, Robert Zemeckis, Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Kelly Reilly, Paul BettanyComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Your Monster

By expanding her own 2020 short film of the same name, Lindy has struck indie film gold creating a wholly original genre amalgamation with these two fresh leads. The mashup of Your Monster works any way you slice it, from a rom-com or behind-the-scenes theater yarn all dashed, slashed, and splashed with a surprise of crimson hemmorage. When this movie says it’s putting on its “happy face,” it’s one crowned by smiling fangs. In doing so with its extremely comedic slant, Your Monster turns growls into howls.

2024, 3 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanOctober 25, 2024Your Monster, Caroline Lindy, Melissa Barrera, Tommy DeweyComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Woman of the Hour

Even though a fair share of great liberties were taken to change how the actual Dating Game episode played out, the palpable lift and principled spotlight given to Sheryl’s perspective and struggle raise Woman of the Hour above a plodding true crime story or a period-era costume party. Kendrick hammers the problematic and deadly ordeal home by exploring the evidential threads and dangerous effects of two very different minefields brought together. Stone-cold seriousness hides behind the bright lights and clapping audiences, and any fluff is soaked in effective poison.

MOVIE REVIEW: Exhibiting Forgiveness

Titus Kaphar wisely kept the power focused on this single family unit, knowing the enveloping intimacy found there was more than enough to speak volumes of trueness and relatability to anyone watching. Exhibiting Forgiveness is as emphatic and resonating of a father-son conflict as any other in recent memory. For many, it will stick with you and hit home like a sledgehammer. More than everything, all of this hurt is worth every reflective second of the artistically melded experience.

MOVIE REVIEW: We Live in Time

Going through this heartbreaking ordeal, you fall in love with these two characters not only in the big moments of rapture, of which there are plenty, but in those little ones where it’s simply the two of them finding their unity and initiative to move forward. After all, true partners are found in honest talk more than pillow talk. Goddamn, the way Andrew Garfield looks at Florence Pugh is simply everything in We Live in Time.

MOVIE REVIEW: Bad Genius

Despite so many settings demanding quiet for test-taking, Bad Genius still chooses stumps with plenty of anti-establishment aims to shout about. As Lynn and her classmates come to see it, their attitude is to determine their own futures themselves, especially with the rank socioeconomic and ethnic divisions present between the mix of united people. They don’t want a test to outweigh their own merits and perceived hard work. In their eyes, they deserve the competitive advantages they are bending the rules to seize.

2024, 4 STARS, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanOctober 11, 2024Bad Genius, Juliah Onah, J.C. LeeComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Apprentice

The answer to how to make an appealing biopic about an unsavory character is to have a hell of an actor or actress embody them. After that, The Apprentice strives strongly in its quest to expose and air out a few dirty laundry chapters of Donald Trump’s past. Very few punches are pulled, creating a– needless to say– a purposefully unflattering portrait of the recent President in his virile younger days. It’s easier said than done to divorce the external politics and take this in as only a movie.

2024, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanOctober 7, 2024The Apprentice, Ali Abbasi, Jeremy Strong, Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Donald TrumpComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Saturday Night

The thing is embellishment couldn’t be more appropriate to venture into the storied origins of a high-concept sketch comedy show. The bawdy and rowdy new film Saturday Night is a fish story version of festooned truths. The stuff of nostalgic backstage lore made with embellishment then is retold in a loosey-goosey “based on a true story” fashion with its own embellishment now. When executed with flair, a good fish story that gets stranger and more exaggerated as it unfolds–and, hot damn, does this one ever do that–can engage and entertain.

MOVIE REVIEW: Lee

Matching the shared praise shown within the journalism realm from that heart, there’s an automatic level of respect demanded and earned by Kate Winslet. Her clout as an actress equals her commitment to the difficulty of this role in Lee. Knocking on the door of 50 years old, Winslet nevers wastes a scene of this plum opportunity. The very same can be said of the moral foil and intrepid shadow portrayed by Andy Samberg as Scherman. The frequent funnyman capably uncorks his first dramatic film role with absolute reverence for the true and vigilant representation his character involves and embodies.

2023, 2024, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanSeptember 30, 2024Lee, Kate Winslet, Andy Samberg, Marion Cotillard, Noemie Merlant, Josh O'Connor, Lee Miller, David Scherman, biopicComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Wild Robot

Alas, all of that jaw-dropping and triumphant artistry stands firmly behind The Wild Robot’s stirring power to massage hearts and minds with virtuous messages and an ideal balance of jovial humor. Much like how the rustic wear-and-tear discolors, dents, and dulls our shiny mechanical proxy parent over time, the sheer fortitude and kindhearted selflessness permeating The Wild Robot grows on you like the speckled moss on Roz.

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story reinforces that the coda of Christopher Reeve and Dana Reeve’s stories deserves to be their tireless charitable efforts. The millions of dollars raised for research and pieces of government legislation written in their names create a legacy that will last as long as any blockbuster one. This impactful work is proudly carried on by Matthew, Alexandra, and Will to this day. For them to bring this poignant and heart-rending story to us is one more measure of their own new heroism for a future made better by their past.

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

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