Movie reviews of Don Shanahan

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

A film like Black White and the Greys shows that money doesn’t matter if passion and honesty exist for the story to tell. Thurman and Nelson have something truly special here that is as profound as it is painful. Review

About half of Saturday Night Inside Out is a simplistic quest towards the next drink or next joint. It’s living fairly in its moment and saving itself for the end. Yet, a movie like this could have used one more gear of energy akin to something like Swingers to raise the rooting interest and measurable excitement level for what the viewer feels could be coming. Review

Phoebe Dynevor, though, is the real find. Perfect for that prescribed mindset, Dynevor is unflinching to the task in just her third feature film. Keep an eye on her career. She’s going places. Review

This is a singular piece of original science fiction made for a manageable price with minority representation and solid world-building that is thankfully not interested in exhaustive sequels or franchises. Review

Even before it makes it to its “run through lightning with your dick out” metaphor, this pandemic time capsule stands tall as a sure-fire message movie for its time. Review

While the character evolution to lean on and bend stereotypes in Outlaw Johnny Black is admirable, that course saps the fun, satirical approach possible within Minns and White’s screenplay. Review

There’s not a second where this film’s heart is not in the right place, and this school teacher will take these submissions every chance he gets. Review

Any murder, at its garden variety face value, should be frightening enough, but A Haunting in Venice twists the knife further. Review

Matching Love and Mercy, Dreamin’ Wild celebrates private victories of redemption with a higher focus of importance than any adjacent public victories of fandom and popularity. Review

By walking past the more provocative potential tangents, The Pod Generation respectfully picks its intimate path and still melds a unifying empathy that only a new child can impose. Review