Movie reviews of Don Shanahan

Not all of the zaniness meshes for laughs, but the effort is undeniable and the transposed concept is a sound and delightful one that needs to be seen to be believed. Review

While plenty interesting, Cold Copy may or may not be the kind of seedy dive you are willing to embrace. Review

The script and Gabriela Cowperthwaite offer a more-evolved approach, keeping I.S.S.-- at first– as reasonably cool, calm, and collected as possible until tension requires more peril. Review

The wealth of that effect emanates from a phenomenal performance from Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Paired with an uncharacteristically sublime Jon Bernthal swooning her heart, the long-underappreciated actress encapsulates loving strength pushing against weathered pain. Review

For a movie that started as hot-and-bothered as it did, the pendulum swing to dramedy heaviness of what’s really going on with these two in Which Brings Me to You is welcome and precarious at the same time. Like the leap the characters need to make to be better together, the 24-hour shorthand and 98-minute rush to pull it off is challenging and you miss the challenging humor. Review

Backing that humble, intimate passion in Society of the Snow is an equally tremendous level of technical prowess from Bayona and his production teams. Review

Taking stock over the entire kitchen sink that is this sequel and franchise finale, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom feels like a movie that gave up itself or had puppeteers do it for them in post-production– as rumored with extensive rewrites and reshoots– once a new regime arrived. Review

The Boys in the Boat is far from the first hero worship movie for the departed Greatest Generation, but, by staying solely on their titular young men, the film lacks a sizable antagonistic presence or well-established moral opponent to make the eventual victory more impactful. Review

Thanks to these three and the entire mood around every ordeal, The Iron Claw stands with its proverbial hand held high to be one of the most powerful films of 2023 and one of the damndest stories of brotherhood you’re going to find. Review

Poor Things is a movie of unsavory urges and scratched itches that pull the viewer down a pernicious drain of unconscionable behavior. There is a dark comedy buried in the muck of Poor Things that curdles to the surface in the final third as our strong female becomes the master of her own fate, body, heart, and business. Review

This lovely approachability in a fabulous package should come as no surprise for a film directed by Paul King of two cherished Paddington films and co-written by his series partner Simon Farnaby. Review

With American Fiction, those emotions balance each other, and audiences get the best of both worlds with arguably the year’s best satire packaged within a tissue-pulling, affecting drama. Review

To say Bradley Cooper threw himself into his work is an understatement. He is a marvel to behold. The actor was operating with a spot-on imitation of Bernstein’s vocal annunciations, inflections, cadence, and tone. Review

The booming choral score of composer Martin Phipps evaporates to a weak flute motif, and scenes that should showcase the intellect and ignite sources of passion within the famous sovereign plod by, like the lead actor, with wincing disinterest. Review

Haynes is left with a mood piece of examining taboo with more taboo and it gets unattractively lost in just that very vibe. Review

The visual beauty of Wish does something surprising most Disney animated films do not normally do and that is outshine the musical bread-and-butter. Review

If anything, Trolls keeps growing and evolving with its audience. Review

Like the main character, The Killer and David Fincher unfurl a mercilessness honed of precision that is as impressive as it is disturbing. It is a movie that stalks its prey and you. Review

Thanks to heart-pumping peril and committed performances, Nyad evokes maximum inspiration possible. Review

Some of the greatest enjoyment of The Marvels comes from the three screenwriters playing wildly with an otherworldly version of the screwball body-swap movie plot device. Review

Priscilla is likely not trying to make apologies, sugarcoat, protect, sanitize, or hide the sordid truth from the matriarch’s own memoir, but maybe, just maybe, it was too soft. That likely falls on Sofia more than Priscilla herself. Review

Killers of the Flower Moon does not create sweep for its compelling history, lift a credible romance for an emotional anchor, or even formulate fearful evil to resonate with an audience. It breaks no new ground and settles on being an actor’s showcase for two titans who didn’t need the help. Review

There’s a creative slightness that does not escalate a trippy premise that needed some additional atmosphere. Review

The Burial merges these intersecting pushes and pulls into a tightly composed picture that checks all the boxes. Review