MOVIE REVIEW: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

So far, so good, right? Staying local and rooted in family dynamics would make for an ideal Ant-Man movie and an escalator out of the grief management arcs of Phase 4, no? Wrong. Unfortunately, with a cinematic universe spiraling in a zillion rudderless directions of multiverse lunacy, the Marvel machine will not stand for that. Enlisting awards show and Rick and Morty writer Jeff Loveness (bask in that pedigree), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania reaches so poorly with attempted relevancy.

MOVIE REVIEW: Maybe I Do

Familiar premises need a little wrinkle or twist to not be another retread. Thanks to Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Guess Who, the Meet the Parents franchise, and even the new You People, audiences have attended more than enough awkward meetings and dinners between contradictory parents trying to prevent a future marriage between their cherished children. Longtime Boy Meets World TV writer Michael Jacobs, making his feature directorial debut with a laudable cast, conjured an enticing sprinkle of spice towards this familiar setup with Maybe I Do.

2 STARS, 2023, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanJanuary 26, 2023Maybe I Do, Richard Gere, Diane Keaton, William H. Macy, Susan Sarandon, Luke Bracey, Emma RobertsComment

MOVIE REVIEW: You People

From Spencer Tracy and Sidney Poiter, forward to Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, and even to the likes of Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac, you’ve seen the interesting proposition of You People and its kind of entertaining clash before. Though it was made in 2021 and bears the label of 2023, You People is about a decade late to its own civics rally. The topicality has come and gone. Kenya Barris’s film arrives almost immediately wrapped in a time capsule, one that few will meaningfully open in years to come without more significance to recognize and remember.

MOVIE REVIEW: When You Finish Saving the World

When You Finish Saving the World stops right when an interesting alignment of merits could possibly begin. That ambiguous final moment of discovered courage and acceptance ends the journey at the point it should have begun. What you’re left with is that same decision mentioned earlier of deciding between bearable and unbearable feelings about incensed and outspoken people. Too often, the latter impression wins out.

MOVIE REVIEW: Empire of Light

To press that feeble aesthetic further, the dramatic soap of Empire of Light is that everyone is cleansed when lovely cinematic journeys push viewers and servants alike to go out and get the life they want. Movie theaters are indeed an oasis of culture, a safe haven for friendship, and a shared glue of communal experiences. Can movies unlock repressed emotions for Hilary or improve her attitudinal state? Maybe and maybe not, but it’s quaintly nice to think so.

2022, 2 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, Film Festival, Chicago Film FestivalDon ShanahanDecember 7, 2022Empire of Light, Sam Mendes, Olivia Colman, Micheal WardComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Armageddon Time

The merit of this story of formative failure can only be truly assessed by whether this teenage proxy of the filmmaker himself turned out alright after the credits roll and history continued forward. One can learn by failure only if they learn. Like the main character, the submission of the movie itself does not put forth enough fight for earned growth. If Armageddon Time is the sum total of James Gray’s regret, then it is a weak indictment that comes off little better than someone saying “I had a Black friend once.”

2022, 2 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanNovember 4, 2022Armageddon TimeComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Summering

There is incomplete depth all over the place in Summering. Examining the relationships between these girls and their loyal mothers, the many absentee male examples, and the legitimate anxieties accompanying the apprehensive change between elementary and secondary school are heavy obstacles not easily healed by pouring on literal or figurative warmth. So much is glazed over for sunny rays, amateur detective aimlessness, and scary sideshows.

2 STARS, 2022, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanAugust 14, 2022Summering, James Ponsoldt, Madalen MillsComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Easter Sunday

While Jo Koy and Chandrasekhar are amiable enough to keep the content inclusive, newbies to Filipino quirks may misread what and why something is the butt of a joke. They’re not going to laugh like those in the know or, more appropriately, those in the family. What was supposed to introduce and celebrate an under-represented culture may set it back a little bit too, in the name of trying to gain popularity. The same result may come to Easter Sunday and its star. The cursory introduction is now out of the way. Next time, let’s see Jo Koy play someone other than himself and see if he can unleash true chops.

2022, 2 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanAugust 5, 2022Easter Sunday, Jay Chandrasekhar, Jo KoyComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Thor: Love and Thunder

If, from here on out, the Thor series is going to stay in Taika Waititi’s control, so be it. Let him own it and be all things Thor. Hemsworth’s natural charisma and self-deprecating personality, put on blast in Thor: Love and Thunder (buns and all) more than it’s ever been in that shiny armor, match the zany route Waititi has taken with this character. Going back to the bold spirit of Branagh’s mythic origins seems difficult, if not damn near impossible, where Waititi and company would be better off sticking with the fluffy cheese and not even trying. For better or worse, this is Thor now. Maybe at least, even in sideshow comedy mode, this character will finally have consistency.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Forgiven

Pedigree meets purpose with The Forgiven, the newest film from notable director John Michael McDonagh. Throughout his career, the Englishman has switched back-and-forth with a specialty for embedding foreboding darkness within settings of comedy (The Guard, War on Everyone) and drama (Calvary, Ned Kelly). Contributing his first feature film in five years since the buddy cop comedy War on Everyone, it’s drama’s turn.

MOVIE REVIEW: Spiderhead

In both keen and ineffective ways, mood confusion is the slant of choice for Joseph Kosinski’s Spiderhead opening on Netflix this week. Targeting both the narrative characters and us in the voyeurs’ seats, purposeful choices are made to set a certain vibe. That curated atmosphere is meant to cloak and subvert a more impactful identity underneath. The clinchers for Spiderhead’s engagement as a thriller are how tantalizing the constructed mood is and how provocative is the hidden truth.

MOVIE REVIEW: Jurassic World Dominion

Much like the God-playing antagonist characters of the movie, no one has learned anything since 1993, both in the movies and in the Universal Pictures writing room. Scientists are still screwing with forces they cannot control, and the big corporation everyone thinks is well-meaning shows their true, greedy colors to earn a violent comeuppance in the denouement. No smart screenwriter has broken that narrative loop to do something daring or different.

2022, 2 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanJune 9, 2022Jurassic World, Jurassic Park, Jurassic World: Fallen KingdomComment