For James Mangold’s sterling sports film, take your thesaurus toolbox and dump out all the synonym wrenches for the word “hubris.” This is a thrilling race of…… Read more “New from Don Shanahan on 25YL: Ford V. Ferrari Brims With Hubris and the Will to Win”

I don’t know how the good screenwriters do it. They make magic from bullshit. Every casual moviegoer, at one time, has played the role of  “armchair” screenwriter…… Read more “New from Don Shanahan on 25YL: Safety Not Guaranteed Brilliantly Takes a Wild Pitch Beyond the Creative Limit”

Festival Centerpiece and Gala Presentation of the 55th Chicago International Film Festival In a film of perplexing puppetry like this, the most engrossing quality of Knives Out…… Read more “New from Don Shanahan on 25YL: ‘Knives Out’ Spins Subversion That Warps Any Perceived Predictability”

For warped reasons of splashy attention and an internal need to top themselves, the overfilled four-film 2019 slate of Disney re-imaginings have favored the gaudy, garish, and…… Read more “New from Don Shanahan on 25YL: Lady and the Tramp Remake Proves the Value of Quaint Simplicity”

Ever since innovators and filmmakers like Georges Melies took the first moviegoers into outer space with A Trip to the Moon in 1902 and the way of Jules…… Read more “New from Don Shanahan on 25YL: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is Visualized Imagination At Its Best”

For many viewers (including this writer for a long time), the majority of movie musicals, Broadway, Disney, or otherwise are often too often long, redundant, grating, poorly…… Read more “New from Don Shanahan on 25YL: The Last Five Years is a Movie Musical of Time Well Spent”

Upon the brief opening credits, the setting of The Lighthouse reveals itself in every sensory detail. A steaming dark steel keel is cutting through rough waters in a monochromatic…… Read more “New from Don Shanahan on 25YL: The Lighthouse is Anticipation and Atmosphere Without Astonishment”