Posts in 2015
MOVIE REVIEW: Selma
MOVIE REVIEW: Selma

"Selma," whose name echoes the history being told, is one of those films that gets history right, honors it, entertains you without sacrificing the real thing, and moves you to no end.  Anchored by an amazing lead performance from David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Selma" has the ability to break and shatter the hardest of souls, thicken your pulse, and devour your tissue box.  The experience is entirely worth all of that trouble.  Best of all, it earn that emotion from you.  Dare I say, "Selma" might be even better than last year's Best Picture winner "12 Years a Slave."  That's the level of impact we're talking about.

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MOVIE REVIEW, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, 2014, 5 STARS, 2015Don ShanahanDr. Martin Luther King Jr., life lessons from films, life lessons from movies, Films inspired by actual events, Tim Roth, Common, Films based on actual events, life lessons, Montgomery, Selma, Carmen Ejogo, life lessons from film, Tom Wilkinson, Giovanni Ribisi, Coretta Scott King, Ava DuVernay, Martin Sheen, Alessandro Nivola, Lyndon B. Johnson, Wendell Pierce, Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels' The Butler, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jim Crow Laws, Civil Rights Act, Voter Registration, Tessa Thompson, James Bevel, Diane Nash, John Lewis, Stephan James, Lorraine Toussaint, Hosea Williams, Annie Lee Cooper, Amelia Boynton, Colman Domingo, Ralph Abernathy, 12 Years a Slave, Henry G. Sanders, Jason Moran, Bradford Young, George Wallace, Lyndon JohnsonComment
COLUMN: 2015 Winter Movie Preview
COLUMN: 2015 Winter Movie Preview

It has to be said every year, but the slowest season of the box office year are the months of January and February.  It's a dumping grounds for studios in slow months of cold weather and foot traffic at the multiplexes.  These are movies that aren't good enough for awards qualification and the holiday audiences of December or for the chipper personality of spring.  It's cold, slow, and drop off from awards frenzy.

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2015, Column, EditorialDon ShanahanWinter Movie Preview, 2015 Winter Movies, 2015 Winter Movie Preview, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death, Leviathan, A Most Violent Year, Taken 3, Selma, Blackhat, The Wedding Ringer, Paddington, Spare Parts, Still Alice, American Sniper, Mordecai, The Boy Next Door, Strange Magic, Black Sea, Red Army, Wild Card, Jason Statham, Mark Wahlberg, Liam Neeson, Jupiter Ascending, Sevent Son, Seventh Son, Shaun the Sheep Movie, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, Fifty Shades of Gray, Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Last 5 Years, The Last Five Years, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, MacFarland USA, Lazarus, Wild Tales, Focus, Maps to the Stars, Little BoyComment
EDITORIAL: My 15 most anticipated films of 2015
EDITORIAL: My 15 most anticipated films of 2015

During the shift from December to January, I enjoy retracing what I reviewed and enjoyed from the previous year, but the trailers and previews for next year's films are starting to make an impact.  I can't help but look ahead.  Every year, I wrote an "Most Anticipated List."   2015 looks wildly loaded with must-see films.  Let's make a new list for a new year.  Here are my 15 most anticipated films of this new year.  Enjoy!

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2015, Column, Editorial, SPECIALDon ShanahanJupiter Ascending, The Peanuts Movie, In the Heart of the Sea, The Revenant, The Hateful Eight, Tomorrowland, The Jungle Book, Jon Favreau, Brad Bird, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ron Howard, Quentin Tarantino, The Fantastic Four, Ant-Man, Marvel Films, Furious 7, Paul Walker, Pixar, Inside Out, Mission: Impossible 5, Jurassic World, Spectre, Skyfall, James Bond, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, J.J. AbramsComment
CHECKLIST: 2015 Winter Movie Calendar
CHECKLIST: 2015 Winter Movie Calendar

Here is your lineup of films coming your way in the slow months of January and February.  Add these to your calendar or print and slip this list on the fridge.  As always, release dates shift all of the time, so be aware.  Enjoy!

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2015, Column, EditorialDon ShanahanChecklist, Calendar, 2015 Winter Movies, 2015, 2015 movies, Winter Movies, Winter Movie Preview, A Most Violent Year, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death, Leviathan, Taken 3, Selma, Blackhat, The Wedding Ringer, Paddington, Spare Parts, Still Alice, American Sniper, Mordecai, The Boy Next Door, Strange Magic, Black Sea, Red Army, Max, Coming Home, Seventh Son, Shaun the Sheep, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, Fifty Shades of Gray, Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Last 5 Years, The Last Five Years, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, MacFarland USA, MacFarland, Lazarus, Janes Got a Gun, Wild Tales, Focus, Maps to the Stars, Little Boy, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Donald ShanahanComment
CAPSULE REVIEWS: My slate from the 50th Chicago International Film Festival
CAPSULE REVIEWS: My slate from the 50th Chicago International Film Festival

In accordance with the rules placed on me with my press credentials, I am not allowed to publish and post full reviews of the films I saw until their official U.S. distribution and release date.  For some movies, that's happening now with the festival itself and for others that holding stretches into 2015.  I would love to lay out everything, but I can't and you have to be patient.  What I am allowed put out are capsule reviews: brief takes and short critiques that offer a taste of the full meal.  Here are capsules for all of the films I attended from the 50th anniversary schedule.  Each are listed with their anticipatory U.S. release dates for when you will find my review.

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2014, Column, Editorial, SPECIAL, Video on Demand, CAPSULE REVIEW, 2015Don ShanahanMiss Julie, Rudderless, The Imitation Game, The Last 5 Years, Clouds of Sils Maria, The Salvation, Two Days One Night, Winter Sleep, Wild, Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, 50th Chicago International Film Festival, Capsule reviews, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Don Shanahan, Donald ShanahanComment
COLUMN: Award recipients named for the 50th Chicago International Film Festival
COLUMN: Award recipients named for the 50th Chicago International Film Festival

In its banner 50th anniversary year, the Chicago International Film Festival welcomed another deep field of cinematic competition spanning feature films, local works, animated efforts, international selections, numerous documentary films, and vast number of short films.  On Friday, October 17th, the festival held its annual awards banquet.  The ceremony and festivities were hosted by Fox News Chicago entertainment reporter and Chicago Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker.  Awards were given out in the following categories: International Feature Film Competition, New Directors Competition, Roger Ebert Award, Chicago Award, Q-Hugo Award, DocuFest and Shorts

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2014, 2015, Column, Media Appearance, SPECIALDon Shanahan50th Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Column, Examiner.com, Roger Ebert Award, Michael Keaton, The President, La Tirisia, Jorge Perez Solano, Abderrahmane Sissako, Timbuktu, Gold Hugo, Silver Hugo, Geraldine Chaplin, Sand Dollars, Rudderless, Anton Yelchin, Kathleen Turner, Bill Zwecker, Moshen Mahkmalbaf, Refugiado, Diego Lerman, The Founder's Award, Michael Kutza, Alejandro Inarritu, BirdmanComment