COLUMN: Vampire movies and "Underworld: Blood Wars"

"Underworld" is an action-horror movie series based on the eternal struggle between vampires and werewolves. The same old formula has been used and abused over and over again on the big screen, and even "Twilight" – a franchise belonging to the romance/fantasy genre – has tapped into the centuries-long skirmish between the two undead clans.

SPECIAL: Winners announced for the first annual CIFCC Awards!

The 28 film critics and voting members, including yours truly, of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle completed their final ballots in 25 categories for their first annual CIFCC Awards. The CIFCC hosted an invitation-only awards reception at Transistor Chicago on January 8, 2017.

2016, 2017, Independent Film, Social Media, SPECIALDon ShanahanJanuary 9, 2017Transistor ChicagoAwards, Awards Talk, CIFCC, CIFCC Awards, Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle, 2016 CIFCC Awards, Oscar hopefuls, Ava DuVernay, 13th, Jacqueline Stewart, Charles Musser, Pioneers of African-American Cinema, Yorgos Lanthimos, The Lobster, The Love Witch, Anna Biller, Atmo Horrox, Piper, Doctors Strange, Swiss Army Man, La La Land, Justin Hurwitz, Tom Cross, Madeline Fontaine, David Wasco, Linus Sandgren, Viola Davis, Mahershala Ali, Manchester by the Sea, Natalie Portman, Jackie, Casey Affleck, Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Kenneth Lonergan, Damien Chazelle, Southside with You, Richard Tanne, Kubo and the Two Strings, Travis Knight, Laika, The Fits, Anna Rose Holmer, O.J.: Made in America, The Handmaiden, Best Independent Film, Best Studio Film, Best Foreign Film, Best Documentary, Best Microbudget Film, Best Animated Film, Best Chicago Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Ensemble, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Short Film, Best Undistributed Film, Trailblazer Award, Impact Award, Donald Shanahan, Don ShanahanComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Silence

But all of those lofty intentions will not be automatically transcendent for everyone. Let me say it like this as delicately as I can. The level of your Christian faith, or lack thereof, will formulate your reaction, appreciation, or acceptance of “Silence.” It is an agonizing personal test for an audience, just the same as it is for the characters on screen. This will either be a soul-rattling testament or maddening torture.

2016, 2017, 3 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanJanuary 8, 2017AMC River East 212016, 2016 Holiday Movies, 2017, Silence, Martin Scorsese, passion project, Pope Francis, Jay Cocks, Shusake Endo, Masahiro Shinoda, Edo period, Kakure Kirishitans, hidden Christians, Cristovao Ferreira, Liam Neeson, Alessandro Valignano, Ciarin Hinds, Sebastiao Rodrigues, Andrew Garfield, Francisco Garrpe, Adam Driver, Kuchijiro, Yosuke Kubozuka, Inoue Masashige, Issey Ogata, Tadanobu Asano, Thor, Thor: The Dark World, Hacksaw Ridge, The Wolf of Wall Street, Rodrigo Prieto, religious films, Christianity, Christian faith, life lessons from film, life lessons from films, life lessons, life lessons from movies, Life lessons, Martin Scorses, film review, movie review, film commentary, movie commentary, Donald Shanahan, Don ShanahanComment

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on WGN Radio's "The Nick Digilio Show"

This past week, I was given the outstanding opportunity to be an in-studio guest on WGN Radio's "The Nick Digilio Show" with host and fellow movie critic Nick Digilio. The main reason for my appearance was to represent the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle as one of the co-directors and co-founders to talk about our inaugural CIFCC Awards happening on January 8. I announced the full list of CIFCC nominees and made the exclusive announcement of two of the award winners on Nick's show.

COLUMN: Who should win/will win the 2017 Golden Globes?

What you're watching on TV on Sunday night is a party thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association hosted by Jimmy Fallon in an effort to be loved and share some love. It’s a popularity contest more than a true Oscar precursor. 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 and we get Brendan Fraser GIFs.

MOVIE REVIEW: Hidden Figures

With a family-friendly PG rating, “Hidden Figures” becomes an instant must-see film for both classrooms and living rooms. Boy or girl, man or woman, black or white, any audience member who has ever marveled at the Space Age of our national history will find much to love in Theodore Melfi’s follow-up to “St. Vincent” adapted from Margot Lee Shetterly’s nonfiction book.