Movie reviews of Don Shanahan

With no modern punch, his sluggishness shows. Composer Marco Beltrami, known for tension and injections of experimental instrumentation, mails in one of the most basic and uneventful scores of recent memory. Review

Fresh could have very easily devolved into a sloppy mess of body horror and ditzy damsels in distress, but Cave and Kahn’s exaggerated and sharpened appraisal of the modern dating scene led by tough femininity is what makes Fresh as noteworthy as it is surreal. Review

From these sensational emotions and the relatable wish fulfillment in the premise is where Ryan Reynolds brings himself to another place. His rapid fire humor was never going to be absent in The Adam Project, as evident by the ball-busting hot potato game of jokes he shares with Scobell and Ruffalo at many points in the movie. Review

In conceiving and crafting this journey thick with symbolism, they are expressing cultural viewpoints with confident mouthpieces and vibrant digital paint brushes. They represent many welcome female and ethnic firsts for Pixar while still matching the studio’s tried-and-true ability to create approachable, entertaining, and poignant analogies for hefty topics. Review

The nit-pickers and flag-planting loyalists will be missing a damn good movie. The Batman has the teeth to impress any of the opposition and eat their hearts out in the process. Review

While Family Squares is respectfully dedicated to all those who have lost someone during this awful pandemic, Laing’s movie allows us some much-needed, profanity-laced laughs. Playing out a dramedy fitting and formed by our current plight, the movie can be seen as a future time capsule for our shared mini-era. Not all the tangents work or are worthwhile, but the salute to collective solidarity is there. Review

The movie is laser-focused on this one mom and her one kid with very little respect extended to the fullness of the event or larger issue. Review

Even with that risky deviation, the fanciful softness makes it very easy to fall in love with the menagerie on display. Review

With the origin story out of the way, maybe they can unshackle their marquee star and get into some real danger. To do that, they need to start with spitting out all the bubble gum. Review

It’s not that the sideshow antics are overly mean-spirited from characters we’re set to like. They are just not as interesting or funny, wasting too much of Scott Eastwood’s handsomeness and Gina Rodriguez’s untapped hilarity. Review

Minamata barely scratched the surface of the voluminous possible details. Peripheral activity was condensed to give Depp the spotlight. Review

For the leads, their characters and performances are missing that next level of swoon. Charismatic as they may be tip-toeing closer to each other with earnest courtship, neither Lopez or Wilson in Marry Me produce a signature moment of attraction that destroys weakened knees or collapses captured hearts. Review

As an astute and stylish filmmaker, he used his own instincts and ingenuity where he saw fit to amplify what lacked to make a compelling movie experience for a new generation. Review

The flippant behavior everywhere reinforces the pedantic and high brow taste of Rifkin’s Festival trying to make its ineffectual dreaminess up as it goes. Review

He knows the true nucleus of this story lies between the ears and between the ribs. Clench your own heart and mind tightly in welcoming one of the best films of 2021. Review

Dana Canedy’s unassuming story is the kind of soulful stimulus that one should bring back to their own lives as they leave the audience. Review

Within these hefty performances within the magnificent confines, the original play’s themes and motifs are still as deadly as a heart attack and substantial enough to fill volumes of lectures and examinations. Review

The same compliments can be given for Zachary Levi’s very appealing lead performance. We all know he can swoon anyone and anything with his smile and charm. Review

The illustrious star never overplays it. Each moment of easygoingness and smooth dialogue is matched by another he evokes with soothing or bracing honesty for the hardships at hand. That’s where Affleck and The Tender Bar glow towards some rare exceptionality. Review

Without naming names or describing specifics, each ensemble member sharing one or more of those impressionable activities with Holland adds to the compelling luster and valuable esteem radiating from this movie. Review

Like him and his movie or not, with its Dr. Strangelove-ian and Network-ish vibes, Adam McKay raised his pantheon level for farce and had the filthy courage to shock as many faces as possible to get there. Review

Put it all together and Ansel’s Tony does not sell us on the knee-buckling intensity necessary to woo game-changing love or thwart community strife. That’s the top glaring weakness in an otherwise triumphant achievement from one of cinema’s true greats flexing his powerful intent to honor something he adored as an aspiring filmmaker. Never doubt Steven Spielberg. Review

There’s true slow-burn with promise and then there’s this overly slight and insubstantial tension. Review

The movie warms you with mirth and destroys you with punch, just as a proper Irish creation should. Review