MOVIE REVIEW: Linoleum

Linoleum is a conversation-heavy film unafraid to talk honestly about trajectories and unfulfilled dreams. This multiple award winner from the indie festival circuit joins other small-scale science fiction diamonds-in-the-rough like Clara, I Kill Giants, Wonderstruck, The Time Capsule, and Safety Not Guaranteed that burrow heavy human emotion and the toll of one’s life into a premise floating in the realm of tangible fantasy. More heady and original efforts of this type are sorely needed on screens and streams.

2023, 4 STARS, Independent Film, Streaming, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanFebruary 28, 2023Linoleum, Colin West, Jim GaffiganComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Creed III

With confidence and integrity, Creed III has been created with outright strategy. This third entry has timed its moment to show that it has reached a maturation point to continue forward without Sylvester Stallone. Making his feature debut as a director, franchise star Michael B. Jordan represents and demonstrates a new level of command and authority. Moreover, rather than re-assembling and relying on more family trees, Creed III finds a very penetrating and personal singular focus for its choice of ominous opposition.

2023, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanFebruary 23, 2023Creed, Creed III, Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors, Tessa ThompsonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: 88

Many of those conspiracy theories are precisely outlandish enough for savvy Hollywood screenwriters to find pithy movie premises for an eternity. The truly fun part is that any single theory, with the right spin, could be crafted and played as a either comedic farce or a terrifying thriller with equal entertainment potential. With 88, filmmaker Thomas Ikimi, better known as Eromose, takes a rich conspiracy concept and runs with it.

MOVIE REVIEW: Emily

Following in the transcending footsteps of Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, award-winning actress Frances O’Connor makes her feature debut as a writer and director with Emily to blend biographical notes with envisioned dramatic license. Before her acclaim on the printed page, Emily Brontë was a lover, a sister, a daughter, and an independent woman of turmoil and ache. Anchored by a stirring lead performance from Emma Mackay, O’Connor’s emotive film seeks to flesh out that very soul.

MOVIE REVIEW: A Man Called Otto

Yet, we forget about Tom Hanks, “America’s Accomplished Actor.” We forget the two-time Oscar winner wears that very shiny sash as well. When committed, and it’s hard to cite a movie or role where he isn’t, he can convince us of any emotion, behavior, portrayal, or story arc. Hanks pulls off that kind of magic with A Man Called Otto for Finding Neverland and World War Z director Marc Foster. We root for the charmer, even when we know the charmer is there inside of something repulsive.

2022, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanDecember 28, 2022Tom Hanks, Mariana Trevino, A Man Called Otto, Marc Forster, David MageeComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

To quote the well-worn expression used in many frank judgments of character, “I didn’t think he had it in him.” Be ready to color yourself surprised. Thanks to heightened stakes and those aforementioned honest themes, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish gallups beyond the flashy shell of a cash grab sequel opportunity for Dreamworks Animation. This valuable new journey massages and improves the mettle of this excellent character without losing a whisker of derring-do.

MOVIE REVIEW: Avatar: The Way of Water

Through all the technological spectacle he creates through unmatched skill and sheer hubris– especially in his triumphant return with Avatar: The Way of Water, three-time Oscar winner James Cameron does not get enough respect as one of the best cinematic storytellers for action and emotion the medium has ever seen. With an editor’s eye for precise measurement, Cameron has crafted some of the most elaborate, dazzling, and iconic action sequences for decades now.

2022, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanDecember 13, 2022Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, James Cameron, Zoe Saldana, Sam WorthingtonComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Lady Chatterley's Lover

Sex sold then and it still does now. Go ahead and say it. D.H. Lawrence rolled in the hay so the likes of E.L. James could bang on posh furniture. Even so, both authors love that touchy-feely F-word. Watching an enlivened adaptation of Lawrence’s firebrand prose today– debuting on Netflix December 2nd and directed by The Mustang’s Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre– reminds us that sexual awakenings are still valuable, and, best of all, desirable.

2022, 4 STARS, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanNovember 30, 2022Emma Corrin, Jack O'Connell, Lady Chatterley's Lover, NetflixComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Luckily, as aforementioned, the sleuth takes it from there and he’s a hoot. With every “fiddlesticks” and “hell’s bells” exasperation, Daniel Craig and his slim cravats flip everything about Glass Onion for a loop every chance he gets. As if playing James Bond for a generation wasn’t iconic enough, the 54-year-old Brit has carved out another signature role we cannot get enough of that will define his career. Savoring this charm with the right cases and opposing actors to work against, he and Rian Johnson can rotate this party for decades without wearing out either of their welcomes.

MOVIE REVIEW: Devotion

Without question, Devotion is still a movie that paints its own brushstrokes of history and fills in cracks for engagement. The real story, especially in a case like this, will always be larger than the movie. Look no further than the official citation that accompanied Jesse Brown’s awarding of the Distinguished Flying Cross. In different hands, Devotion would be a Michael Bay fireworks show of grandiose noise. Director J.D. Dillard proves a story of proper hero worship can reach rousing and patriotic heights without screaming to high heaven. Once again, look no further than that perfect title and what it stands for in all its places.

2022, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanNovember 22, 2022Devotion, Glen Powell, Jonathan Majors, J.D. Dillard, Jesse L. Brown, NavyComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Fabelmans

Extending its fervent love of filmmaking, The Fabelmans begs the question of how magicians find their magic. It assuredly posits that the answer will be a humble origin born from the nuclear home, especially for the most commercially successful movie director of all-time. Through this very personal film, director Steven Spielberg puts his pants on one leg at a time like everyone else to show how one legendary magician remembers and treasures their own story. Since it is Spielberg after all, permission was granted to go ahead and tell that tale with a little magic of its own.

2022, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanNovember 22, 2022Steven Spielberg, The FabelmansComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Viewers and fans will contemplate whether Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was the best Ryan Coogler and company could have done with their tragic circumstances. They will wonder if this pivot and royal escalation was the right approach. At some point, all of those questions (and others) have dual contexts between what they mean on-screen and off. Those questions also do not have a universal best, right, or perfect answer. For better or worse, we are now past “must” and the show emphatically goes on.

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

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