Posts tagged Chicago Tribune
MOVIE REVIEW: Landline
MOVIE REVIEW: Landline

If the Windy City can show us anything, it’s that die-hard Chicago Cub fans come in all shapes, sizes, and ages.  More so, fans come from different walks of life, waving flags of different colors, including, best of all, the rainbow-colored variety.  “Landline,” from local do-it-all filmmaker Matthew Aaron, is a fun-loving LGBTQ+ comedy merging ardent North Siders with snappy musings on our societal obsessions with technology, all in proximity to the heavenly palace that is Wrigley Field.

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2017, 2 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, Video on DemandDon ShanahanMusic Box Theatre2017, Landline, Matthew Aaron, LGBT, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ, Chicago, Chicago films, Ryne Sandberg, Chicago Cubs, Hall of Fame, Jim O'Heir, Tom Arnold, Chicago premiere, VOD, Video on Demand, Video On Demand, Music Box Theatre, Nick Searcy, Parks and Recreation, Breaking Bad, Patrick Hartigan, Chad Michael Singer, Betsy Brandt, Justified, Castaway, Wrigley Field, Lagunitas, Garnier, film review, movie review, independent films, indie film, Chicago filmmakers, film commentary, movie commentary, life lessons, life lessons from film, life lessons from movies, Life lessons, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Facebook, Facebook page, Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan Comments
MOVIE REVIEW: Mr. Turner
MOVIE REVIEW: Mr. Turner

As beautifully presented as Mike Leigh's "Mr. Turner" is at telling the story of English Romanticist painter J.M.W. Turner, too much of it is uninteresting, familiar in tone, and predictably in execution.  What normally can save a film about an artist is the subject's life beyond his or her work.  An interesting person can make up for the uninteresting content.  Though led by a invested performance from character actor Timothy Spall, "Mr. Turner" can't muster enough of that to separate itself as something special.

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2014, 2015, 2 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMr. Turner, J.M.W. Turner, British Art, Biographical films, Biopics, Mike Leigh, Timothy Spall, Best Actor, Cannes Film Festival, Dick Pope, Best Cinematography, Gary Yershon, Palme d'Or, New York Film Critics Circle, Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, Indiewire, Thompson on Hollywood, Variety magazine, Paul Jesson, Dorothy Atkinson, Marion BaileyComment