Movie reviews of Don Shanahan

It’s extraordinary how one auspicious independent film effort became timely and relevant by happenstance. Review

The result is a trying yet damn interesting jaunt through prickly pressures and uncomfortable themes. Review

The glow and glue that makes this all work remains Richard Dreyfus. As aforementioned, the Oscar winner lifts everything and everyone he touches as if they were featherlight. Review

Following that classical starter with his chosen target of story setting, the director’s usual approach of homage becomes readily apparent. Making so many fairy tales with a fat creative license to revise whatever he wants, fancy, zeal, and style are never Quentin Tarantino’s problems. The tightness of his brand of chatty and meandering excessiveness is usually the hangup. This movie has some of the best of the former and st... Review

Like its title, Into the Ashes resides in the crackling smolder instead of the bright flames. There is plenty of heat to burn and brand from that calmer temperature of cinematic coals. Review

Heavy in that melancholic milieu, you have The Farewell. Drawing from a deeply personal story, director Lulu Wang’s sophomore feature film shines comedy into drama on a culturally unique situation of gallows humor. Review

The shininess, so to speak, is an undeniably impressive and redeeming feature to a lack of implemented originality. Review

Much appreciation is earned by Sean Fallon and Charlotte Burnett to deal with this weight in a frank, honest, and tidy fashion. Even in contracted form, the timing and pacing is excellent. Review

Extra Innings challenge suicide with a very virtuous balance of wrought drama and disarming brevity. This is can be a hard watch, but an overwhelmingly heartwarming one as well. Review

The Kris Bowers musical score and the soaring drone, helicopter, and action cam cinematography is eye-popping for the silver screen. Still and matching her Hollywood biopic, the soulfulness of Bethany Hamilton is the reason to watch this film. Her earnest thankfulness and her indomitable will are greater than the oceanic wonders. Review

Foreign soil be damned, the honesty and harmony of hardscrabble is alive and well in Wild Rose. Shouts of anger and tirades of tears fuel the fights and the vocals churning from Jessie Buckley in what will stand as one of the finest performances of the year. Review

All of this is a downright blast and a big screen feast for a summer movie season that has burned more cinematic food on the grill than it has properly served. Review

Turn the volume up and indulge in such wonderful reverie. Review

The movie looks and sounds like a billion bucks. That said, story and purpose matter more than prowess at this point. Review

Dangling the mysteries of the fallout from an off-screen cataclysmic event, the mental maelstrom of Starfish is eerie, imaginative, and highly impactful. Review

Men in Black: International goes nowhere you haven’t seen three times. Review

With spunky material, both actors show tremendous comic timing and moldable talent to squeeze the sugar and wring the acid out of these two potential partners. Review

Young Lola Wayne Villa’s nearly solo performance is shattering. To put her in that position with poise, this is a bold and intriguing filmmaking effort from Amber Sealey. Review

Try as it may, this second attempt is another impossible undertaking and unmitigated disappointment. Review

Much of the method of Always Be My Maybe may be routine, but the resulting charm is unfailingly welcome. Review

 The story of The Biggest Little Farm may be a niche, but it has the power to inform and inspire similar wellsprings of progressive innovation and change. Review

The three-man editing team macheted the satiating slugfest we wanted with the bumbling calamities and preposterous survival saves of the people we don’t care about. This movie will have its loyal audience, but it is a creative step back for the MonsterVerse. Review

The casting and performances in Aladdin are one step forward and two steps back. Review

With each increasingly more expensive movie in this series, the hero and the action have become more relentless with every new threat. Review