MOVIE REVIEW: Hit Man

This baked-in layer of brains amid the brawn in Hit Man is credited to Linklater and Powell working together to punch up a screenplay together allowing fun to frolic next to intrigue. All of the nerdy philosophy would normally feel like serendipitous mumbo-jumbo tacked on a less intelligent premise. Instead, Hit Man’s slick polish and playful panache combine to create witty smartness seething with sensational sexiness at a level higher and hotter than we have seen in years with romantic comedies and crime capers. This date night delight is just what this summer season needs, be that in a theater or on your Netflix couch.

2024, 5 STARS, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanMay 24, 2024Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Richard Linklater, Hit Man, NetflixComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood

Written and directed with a galaxy’s worth of love by Richard Linklater, Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood may be one of the most rich and endearing “back in my day” yarns you will ever find. The proud Texas filmmaker has long embraced time capsule motifs and his suburban upbringing throughout his career. Bringing back his layover rotoscope animation style, Linklaker presents the point of view of a pre-teen daydreamer during 1969, one of the most influential years in American history.

2022, 4 STARS, Animated Film, Independent Film, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanApril 12, 2022Apollo 10 1/2, Richard Linklater, Jack BlackComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Moonlight

I dare you to look into the painful eyes of the three ages of Chiron and their matching performers and not have your soul triple in weight. The arc in "Moonlight" from the innocence of the little boy to the uncomfortable vulnerability hiding underneath the muscles and gold fronts of the hardened resulting adult is arduously moving on multiple levels. Observing his difficulties forces you to absorb the conflict and inescapable trepidation that surrounds the shared character. Pressing his heart to your own makes for one of the most moving and rewarding film experiences this year.

2016, 5 STARS, Chicago Film Festival, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanNovember 6, 2016Landmark Century Centre Cinemas2016, Festival coverage, festival preview, Chicago International Film Festival, 52nd Chicago International Film Festival, Black Perspectives, Special Presentations, Moonlight, Barry Jenkins, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert, Barbara Lewis, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Brad Pitt, Plan B, #OscarsSoWhite, James Laxton, Nicholas Britell, Loving, Jeff Nichols, Andre Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monae, Jaden Piner, Liberty City, Miami, LGBT, LGBTQ+, Boyhood, Richard Linklater, film review, movie review, film commentary, movie commentary, Life lessons from movies, life lessons from films, life lessons from movies, life lessons, life lessons from film, Life lessons, Audience Award, 2016 Fall Movues, 2016 Fall Movies, 2016 Holiday Movies, Oscar contenders, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, independent filmsComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Comfort

The simplified noun definition of “comfort” reads “a state or situation in which you are relaxed and do not have any physically or emotionally unpleasant feelings.” Especially during this summer season of loud blockbusters and mayhem, when was the last time you felt simple comfort coming out of film? What types of films bring you comfort? That is a formula few genres and films can crack. William Lu’s patient romance and successful festival award winner is entitled “Comfort” and does its absolute best to deliver that very feeling.

MOVIE REVIEW: Everybody Wants Some!!

Through two parallel veins of his filmmaking career, director Richard Linklater freely operates between free-wheeling fun and poignant realism with scant middle ground. His movies are either a party or a deep character study. Kick back and turn off the introspection for "Everybody Wants Some!!" This is a shameless dudes' flick and Party Linklater of the highest order. Those of you with Y chromosomes are going to love every minute.

Independent Film, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, 2016Don ShanahanMarch 31, 2016Music Box TheaterDazed and Confused, J. Quinton Johnson, Tyler Hoechlin, Don Shanahan, South by Southwest Film Festival, movie commentary, Ryan Guzman, film review, Wyatt Russell, film commentary, movie review, Juston Street, Every Movie Has a Lesson, life lessons from film, Before Sunrise, Schlitz, 2016 Spring Movie Calendar, School of Rock, life lessons, Temple Baker, Swinging dicks, Forrest Vickery, Everybody Wants Some!!, Texas, Urban Cowboy, 2016 Spring Movies, Blake Jenner, Austin Amelia, Before Midnight, 2016 Spring Movie Preview, Tanner Kalina, college comedy, SXSW Film Festival, Will Brittain, Zoey Deutch, life lessons from movies, Boyhood, 2016, Glen Powell, Footloose, Richard Linklater, Life lessons, Donald Shanahan, 2016 Spring Movie Checklist, life lessons from films, Oldsmobile 442, Lone Star Beer, Before Sunset, Everybody Wants SomeComment

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: Hitchcock/Truffaut

Picture your personal influences, either worshiped or admired, and imagine being granted the opportunity to have a conversation with them. What would you talk about? What would you ask them? How would it change you? In the world of cinema, such a conversation happened between a then-neophyte auteur Francois Truffaut and the aging master Alfred Hitchock in 1962. Their documented meeting has gone on to inspire generations of future filmmakers and cinephiles.

MOVIE REVIEW: Before We Go

"Before We Go" premiered in the special presentation undercard section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and got a second public look at the 2015 Seattle International Film Festival. It landed on Video on Demand in July and finally gets a chance to shine in a limited theatrical release starting on September 4. Borrowing way too much from the "Before..." series works of Richard Linklater to be a flattering mild homage or influence, "Before We Go" is a cute, approachable, yet flawed romantic comedy. The weak chemistry can't match an innate charm to honor its simple premise.

CHECKLIST: My full and official 2015 Oscar predictions

Alright, folks! I've done all of the research I can. I've read all of the tea leaves and broken down every race. I've made my detailed picks in seven columns and editorials over the past week. Here's my master list. In the three years of writing these Oscar nominations and following the data on my website, my prediction score has improved every year. Last year, I correctly guessed 20 of 24 awards up from 19 and 17 from the two years before. I'm gunning for another 20+ night again.

2015, Column, EditorialDon ShanahanFebruary 18, 2015Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Short Film, Best Documentary, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Live Action Short Film, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Song, Best Original Score, Boyhood, Birdman, Still Alice, Julianne Moore, Richard Linklater, Michael Keaton, J.K. Simmons, Whiplash, Patricia Arquette, Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Graham Moore, The Imitation Game, Ida, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Dam Keeper, The Phone Call, Citizenfour, Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, Interstellar, American Sniper, The Theory of Everything, SelmaComment

COLUMN: Predicting the major 87th Academy Award nominations

With the 87th Academy Award nominations being announced tomorrow morning, I'm cutting it close with my predictions of who and what names will hear their named called. I've been following the full awards season over on my Awards Tracker page, where I've been following the trends and reading the tea leaves. Using that data and a batch of hunches, here are my savvy predictions for tomorrow's nominations in the eleven major categories.

COLUMN: Who will win/should win the 2015 Golden Globes?

More and more each year, the Golden Globes have become more an a popularity contest than a true precursor to the Academy Awards. What you're watching on TV is a party thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in an effort to be loved and share some love. To its credit, the awards show still garners legitimate attention and ratings. The winners do get a pretty positive rub and the marketers gain a few more "Winner of..." graphics to put in the newspapers next to their films. Let's take a look at the film categories and pick some winners.

MOVIE REVIEW: Boyhood

What makes "Boyhood" this extraordinary experience and achievement is the opposite of that adjective: the ordinary. Linklater and company sought to deliver a genuine interpretation of a life experience without flashy movie bells and whistles. There is a subdued beauty behind the technical expertise. They know real life events don't play out or turn out like they do in the movies. They aren't announced with inane plot-descriptive dialogue by supporting characters and sidekicks. Real lives move in moments and operate in nuances. Our lives aren't backed by an orchestrational score and neither is "Boyhood." By operating in that style, the uniqueness of this divorce, divided family, and period of long change becomes approachable and even ordinary compared to other over-the-top family dramas that require multiple grains of salt to accept so many contrivances.

OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2014: The writing and directing awards

It's time to make my formal predictions. In this fourth post, we are starting to get to the major award categories. Here are my picks for the two screenplay awards and Best Director. Let's go! Stick with me and I will win you your Oscar pool.

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