Movie reviews of Don Shanahan

Everyone’s clearly having fun but the “because I’m fun” lines aren’t enough this time. Once again, we’ve seen these “think before you act” and “don’t get carried away” manchild pleadings too much outside of superhero costumes to be duped into enjoying them just because they’re now clad in muscular leather and special effects. Review

In The Tunnel, there is a little bit of the “everything will go wrong” telegraphing going on that audiences will see coming. Equally so, overcompensating acts of heroism as a result do teeter close to melodrama. However, a fair balance is present. At the human level, the nerves and fears are equally shared by all, from the people in the thick of it to the sympathetic and hopeful bystanders who understand the gravity. Review

All of the shallow personality quirks, flimsy character motivations, and painfully absurd side plots spill all over and push away the majority of what people are coming to see. Once again, get out of the way and “let them fight.”... Review

In between fights, Odenkirk’s graveled voice and line delivery pushes the severity of his morals and mindset to match his fists and trigger finger. He’s simply awesome and owns this movie. Review

Better outlines are everywhere and transitions are smoothed throughout this new cut. Review

By the time you reach the conclusion of Cherry and the sum of its parts, the swerving redundancies are copious. Review

The edge of the comedic machete harvesting all the low-hanging fruit planted by the six writers sharing story and screenwriter credit on this sequel is regrettably dulled from the R-rated coarseness of 1988 and its different time and temperament. But zingers still zing, thanks to the likable performers and characters. Review

What shores up the thematic exuberance is the virtuous pride taken in the movie’s creation. Review

The Ulbricht story is a dynamite premise scrambled to bits by Silk Road with too much wasted talent. Review

The ending driven by Pudi’s light villain gets a little too zany, but the core before it is sound. Review

Folks will call The Map of Tiny Perfect Things convenient and contrived and shamefully miss the core thankfulness. Review

Director Shaka King and his co-writer Will Berson have penned and lensed an appropriately audacious feature film debut that deserves reverence and reaction. Review

The Mauritanian presents a compelling case in the opposite direction to all those oorah roars. Shedding cinematic light on a staunch case of injustice tangential to those fateful 2001 events, this film has the unenviable task of proving its story’s importance in spite of the egregious systemic flaws it chronicles and exposes. Review

Compelling catharsis coming from exposed pain like this is nothing short of impressive. Somewhere, above all the hateful words, all the flaws, and all the tension, love still sears the nerves. Review

That’s when the jovial becomes moving in this lovely little movie. Review

Justin Timberlake accounts himself with precisely the admirable effort matching his character. Dark places bring out a true strength in the actor instead of a bad-boy edge. Such credibility and candor build honesty rather than showy magic. Review

Despite trying to bring gravitas into those lines and moments, the results are far too genteel and, frankly, boring. That shouldn’t happen with the immense talent present. Review

Where it lacks in agreeable romance, The Dig mildly makes up for it with intriguing musings on existentialism. Review

In a few tidy and compelling minutes, Barrett and Fallon’s scripted short film challenges so many little social media-charged vices. Review

Johnson and Brewer carry on with pleasant chemistry and bright talent. Rightfully so, the soundscape is the treat. Review

The gulf between how good Anthony Mackie looks and everyone else in Outside the Wire is as wide as the Mississippi River delta the New Orleans-born actor hails from. Review

If Not Now, When? is an admirable collaboration for this collection of steady TV talents stepping up to a larger canvas. Review

Nearly every artistic element of Pieces of a Woman holds a fixation with its lead Vanessa Kirby and rightfully so. Review

Between a soap opera-level subplot and plenty of ignored physics, oodles of Shadow in the Cloud are as preposterous as the beasties themselves, but that’s the entertaining intention laid on thick. Review