Minisode 035: 2017 Year in Review

In this special SPOILER FREE “minisode,” we wrap up the year by discussing some of our favorite things about 2017. Instead of just a top ten list of favorite films, we talk about the moments and performances that really resonated with us personally. This is a super-sized bonus episode with a ton of content and we really hope you enjoy.

Favorite First-Time Viewings (non-2017) – 0:01:10

Favorite Performances – 0:27:36

Films that Most Exceeded Expectations – 0:52:19

Films that Were Biggest Disappointments – 0:57:56 

Favorite Episodes of the Year – 1:04:31

Our Feelin’ Five Films – 1:15:03

Most Anticipated Films of 2018 – 1:48:13

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What We Learned This Week: November 5-11

LESSON #1: SADNESS AND DISAPPOINTMENT SHOULD BE AMONG THE FIRST EMOTIONS EMERGING FROM UNEARTHED SECRETS— Let me just start this whirlwind week to state what will be my universal stance.   I choose to stand on a shorter and calmer soapbox than others on the topic of revealed allegations of sexual misconduct that are popping up all over.   I choose to speak to something different than the immediate damning outrage and knee-jerk reactions that are becoming the norm with these headlines.  When these headlines arrive, from Kevin Spacey to George Takei, my first emotions are not anger.  They are sadness and disappointment.  I am sad that a person whose talent I recognize and work I admire and respect is now being torn down by their potential mistakes.  Even larger than the sadness is my disappointment in common people and their uninformed hot-takes that pile on top of allegations and not facts.  More on that comes in Lesson #2.

LESSON #2: WHERE ARE THE LIMITS?— A great deal of Lesson #1 echoes a fantastic Facebook discussion thread started by Feelin’ Film co-founder Aaron White this week.  It asked the essential question: “…at what point do we require more than just an allegation to ruin someone’s life forever?”  I will always be an “innocent until proven guilty” believer.  I don’t condone the content of the claims, but I refuse to label people until the label is proven to be proper.  However, I fear we have a majority society that reverses it to “guilty until proven innocent” with no basis, conscience, or respect.  I’m beginning to hate that lack of empathy and patience in people, from the clickbait press on down to trolls on Twitter.  When someone is found to be innocent, how willing will a public be to move on and let that previous hate and disdain go?

LESSON #3: THERE MAY NOT BE A BOTTOM TO THIS PIT— This might sound overly obtuse, but sexual harassment and misconduct is nothing new.  Expect more names and confessions for years.  That’s how alarmingly pervasive the behaviors have been.  For example (forgive the Fox News link) actress Maureen O’Hara was brave enough 70 years ago to try and get her story and voice heard on potential crimes committed and it created career consequences.  If you talked, even in truth, you lost your standing.  What is new is the ability of the public to listen and the landscape becoming more progressive to seek the proper justice, and that remains a very good global change.  The guilty deserve the consequences coming to them, but, again, let’s establish that guilt first.

LESSON #4: RESPECT AND SEEK CONTRITION—  Circle back to Lesson #2 for a seed in this next lesson.  Is there ever a good way to admit or reveal these mistakes?  What would happen if an actor or actress came forward on their own and admitted past mistakes before a story of allegations broke?  How much of a career suicide would that be?  More importantly, would you respect such honesty?  That’s where my sadness and disappointment and patience for innocence becomes a heart that respects those that seek contrition.  I think that’s huge and a step to a level of forgiveness that other folks aren’t willing to seek while they tweet and judge. Of all people, Louis C.K.’s admissions this week were really something.  Again, I can’t condone the behavior he admits, but I can respect his honesty and attempt at contrition.  I call that more positive than most of the ways these stories are spiraling out of control and temperament.

LESSON #5: THE BOTTOM LINE STILL MATTERS MORE THAN IT SHOULD— Social media can have their flag-waving moments of championing this entire cause of stomping out the atmosphere where harassment and misconduct are no longer accepted.  But make no mistake, the studios and corporations care about that flag-waving unity a distant second to the almighty bottom line.  They can say replacing Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World is for the right reasons, but what they are really trying to do is save a costly project from getting a bloodbath haircut from box office protests.  They’re willing to spend millions in order to renew attention, save face, and, more selfishly important, save more millions.

LESSON #6: DISNEY IS NOT AFRAID TO THROW MONEY AND CLOUT AROUND— Disney has spent billions in the past to buy the worlds of Marvel and LucasFilm and has banked even more billions because of those properties.  With an air of “if you can’t beat them, buy them,” Disney has engaged business talks to flat out buy the majority of 21st Century Fox.  Fanboys go straight the dream of seeing the worlds of X-Men and The Fantastic Four welcomed into the MCU.  They miss what could lead to the erasure of 80+ years of proud studio history.  Put caution with the coolness of this.

LESSON #7: IN ADDITION, DISNEY IS GREEDY— As mentioned in this column earlier this year, theater companies are reeling.  AMC is losing a fortune and Regal is desperate to raise prices to cover box office bombs.  Yet, here comes Disney with an unprecedented profit grab focused on securing their take of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  Read the details here.  Sure, Disney has the product everyone wants, but it’s the theaters that bring them in and sell the tickets.  This should be a partnership, not a dictatorship.

LESSON #8: DON’T F–K WITH JOURNALISTS— Speaking of studio bullying and big-wig hubris, even the supposedly unstoppable and untouchable Walt Disney Company can lose a staring contest with the First Amendment and public pressure.  After blacking out L.A. Weekly from screenings in retaliation to some previous bad press, several critics groups united to disqualify Disney properties from their upcoming year-end awards to back their fellow journalists.  The display of justified critical brotherhood drummed up the right public support.  Disney blinked and lifted its sanctions.  I guess like Midas, they can’t resist the urge for gold. Let that be a lesson to the big-wigs.  You can’t silence the newsmakers.

LESSON #9: DON’T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY ARE HATCHED— Universal Studios threw a whole of bunch of money and hullabaloo at their “Dark Universe.”  They secured high-end talent and made big plans, but forgot one thing we mentioned earlier: the almighty bottom line.  These plans and projects have to sell.  Tom Cruise’s The Mummy vehicle bombed at the box office and was ravaged with bad reviews.  Now, mutiple levels of sunk costs are lost and Universal has pulled the plug.  Studios, take your time and let connections grow organically.  Start small and pace yourself.

LESSON #10: LUCKILY, RIAN JOHNSON MADE OUR WEEK— This week has seen plenty of hate sent in Disney’s direction and endless scandal.  One really nice story of good news to come out of Disney, especially considering their recent string of disposable directors, was to hear that they are empowering Star War: The Last Jedi and Looper director Rian Johnson to create a new Star Wars series trilogy with original stories and characters away from the Skywalker/Solo universe.  In a day and age where many of us call out all of the sequels and remakes, something fresh applied to a big property is an exciting step.


DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson.  As an elementary educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical.  As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends.  Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, Medium, and Creators Media.

It’s Your Turn #1

This is the first of a new episode type that we will be releasing on alternating weeks from our main themed movie/board game conversations. The intent of “It’s Your Turn” is for us to offer you recommendations for both games and film, while also providing a place to have guests join us and to discuss relevant trends & topics in the worlds of board gaming and movies.

In this episode:

  • Herbaceous
  • Bring Out Yer Dead
  • Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle
  • Copycat
  • Patchwork
  • Uncharted: Lost Legacy
  • The Mummy/Kong: Skull Island

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Intro/Outro Music – “Do the Pump” by Mr. Juan

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What We Learned This Week: June 18-24

LESSON #1: THE HAN SOLO MOVIE IS IN BIG TROUBLE— Any film where the director leaves the project six months into shooting (and triple that time in pre-production) is more than a shade problematic.  When that film is a nine-figure budgeted potential blockbuster under the Star Wars banner of the Disney label, that shockwave of s–t hitting the fan is even greater.  The firing of the 21 Jump Street and The LEGO Movie team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from the upcoming solo prequel Han Solo film starring Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover draws ire and head-scratching.  The more that we hear about it, the worse it sounds.  This far from the first time this has happened in Hollywood and several classics rose out of some of these situations, but the news this week is not a good sign in the slightest.  If this was 1997 after Apollo 13 and Ransom or 2007 after The Da Vinci Code and Cinderella Man, I’d feel a more excited about Ron Howard, but this is 2017 and his last decade (outside of Rush and Frost/Nixon has been rough. Go ahead and say it: “It’s a movie no one asked or anyway  #teamharrisonford.”  Maybe this becomes a lesson to Disney to keep the anthology films away from recasted prequels.

LESSON #2: FIND A WAY TO RETIRE AT THE TOP OF YOUR GAME— Reclusive-yet-renowned king of all cinematic thespians, Daniel Day-Lewis announced his retirement from acting this week.  Take the man at his word.  He is notoriously selective and has never chased a paycheck.  Can he be talked out of it with the right pitch in a few years?  Maybe, but if it sticks, the man retires at his peak as a living legend.  Lewis is the only man is history with three Oscars for Best Actor and is gunning for his fourth as a swan song with Paul Thomas Anderson’s as-yet-untitled new film coming this December.  It won’t take much for the deep industry respect for Lewis to start etching his name on that future statuette.

LESSON #3: THE EXCUSE OF “WE DIDN’T MAKE THIS FILM FOR CRITICS” AND ITS MANY ITERATIONS CARRY ZERO WEIGHT— Yes, as press credentialed film critic in Chicago, I find myself from time to time lumped into the hate volleyed at critics who have differing opinions than the box office results might show.  The Mummy director Alex Kurtzman is the latest film director to push back against poor reviews to cite more positive audience response.  I don’t know if foreign box office and a B- from Cinemascore audience ratings is anything to brag about.  News flash, Alex and all other directors and studio heads: Critics are fans too and an extremely small sample size.  We’re munching on the same popcorn and putting on the same pants.  I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again.  Want better results?  Make better movies.

LESSON #4: DIRECTOR COLIN TREVORROW DOESN’T GET IT AND WE DON’T GET HIM EITHER— I’m as big of supporter of the breakout indie film Safety Not Guaranteed as much as the next cinephile of discerning taste who has discovered it, but I don’t know if what has come to Colin Trevorrow and is coming to him in the future, i.e. Star Wars, are good things for audiences.  The reactions to his newest film, The Book of Henry, are polarizing, to say the least (I was fine with it, but I’m in the minority).  Veering uglier, Pajiba put together a nice and telling piece titled “The Upwards Falling of Colin Trevorrow and Why It Matters” recently examining his treatment of female characters and quotes on the state of female directors.  I buy what that column is selling.  This man is beginning to reek of tone-deafness and I don’t know if the critical main trilogy of Star Wars is the place for him.


DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson.  He is also one of the founders and the current directors of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle.  As an elementary educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical.  As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends.  Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, Medium, and Creators Media.

What We Learned This Week: June 4-10

LESSON #1: THE WONDER WOMAN EFFECT IS IN EFFECT— The groundswell of praise and celebration coming out of Wonder Woman is empowering, beautiful, and influential.  On the inspirational side, I absolutely love Heidi Stevens’ column in the Chicago Tribune about the wished future being laid for young girls thanks to Gal Gadot’s heroine.  Gorgeous piece and a must-read for new parents!  Best of all, word is new reshoots, three months worth overseen by Joss Whedon covering for Zack Snyder, are coming to Justice League before its November release.  Those begging DC/Warner Bros. to match Wonder Woman‘s virtuous tone might be getting their prayers answered.

LESSON #2: IS BILL MAHER OFF HIS ROCKER ABOUT SUPERHERO FILMS?— I get that superhero film fatigue is a real thing and that many claim the whole genre is exhausting and repetitively cookie-cutter.  However, is it a contributing cause to the state of America’s culture?  I love Bill Maher’s edge and I can understand the callouts for complacency within superhero films, but I think his “New Rule” rant dives too far.  These are films, and fantasy films at that.  I see people dressing in capes to have a good time.  I don’t see people dressing in capes to be lazy or callous to real-world problems.  Movies are escapes.  They can stay that way.

LESSON #3: THE AMBITION OF UNIVERSAL’S “DARK UNIVERSE” WILL EXCEED ITS GRASP— I love what Universal Pictures is proposing on paper with its new “Dark Universe.”  Their classic movie monster characters are timeless and fresh updates could do wonders.  The talent assembled, while a tad past their primes, is still powerhouse enough to put butts in seats.  Mark the date and my prediction that this franchise startup will not survive to full fruition.  Its opening volley arrival of The Mummy is receiving scathing reviews following impatient twists.  If it tanks at the box office, I wonder how strong Universal’s hubris is going to be to keep pushing this along.  If it was me, I wouldn’t have started with The Mummy because it’s been done.  Bring something new to the forefront and let The Mummy come in after.  Where’s Brendan Fraser when you need him?  Probably still spazzing and clapping drunk at the Golden Globes…


DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson.  He is also one of the founders and the current directors of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle.  As an elementary educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical.  As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends.  Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, Medium, and Creators Media.

 

What We Learned This Week: May 21-27

LESSON #1: DON’T TEXT IN MOVIES, BE A BETTER DATE, AND BEING BUTTHURT NEVER EQUALS LITIGATION— A cockamamie story made headlines recently of a man suing his disinterested date for the price of his Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 movie tickets because she was texting nearly the entire film.  Several problems arise from this.  To the date doing the texting, put your f–king phone away.  Your besties and Snapchat followers will survive two hours without you.  Show some effort.  You feigned interest, said yes to the date, and likely didn’t speak up about not wanting to see a movie.  Swipe a different direction on whatever dating app you use next time.  To the litigious man, if your hot-to-trot date gives you the “I don’t care” or “whatever” treatment about going to a movie, don’t take her to a movie.  Go do something else and, you too, show some effort.  That’s your fault for being an uncreative date planner.  Most of all, what do you expect to get from suing?  Principle?  Better dates?  Your name is out there now, Brandon Vezmar.  You’re on blast as a sh-tty person and women aren’t going to let you forget it.  Good luck getting another date without a name change or Mission: Impossible level disguise.

LESSON #2: THERE IS BURIED TREASURE WAITING FOR YOU THIS SUMMER— Now that the summer movie season is in full swing, anyone ranting about sequelitis or blockbuster fatigue isn’t looking hard enough to satiate their supposedly discerning taste.  Indiewire posted a perfect little list of 19 indie and festival favorite films that are releasing this summer.  I can personally vouch for A Ghost Story coming July 7 after seeing it at the Chicago Critics Film Festival.  Scan a little further down the showtimes list, dive into VOD, or drive an extra mile for an arthouse theater.  If you get to the end of the summer movie season and say it sucks, then you didn’t use your summer very wisely.

LESSON #3: I WILL BELIEVE “TOP GUN 2” WHEN I SEE IT— Like many children of the 80s, Top Gun is near the top, if not resting at the peak, of my list of endearing action classics.  I’ve wanted the same sequel you all have wanted for 31 years and we’ve been hearing about one since 2010.  Director Tony Scott’s 2012 suicide derailed momentum and the 2014 “dream project” of The Jungle Book screenwriter Justin Marks never matriculated.  With nothing set in stone, here comes Tom Cruise on the PR tour for The Mummy saying the sequel will be shooting in 2018.  Sure, Tom.  When the thetans and your sequel show up, let me know.   However, if Cruise can tab (as rumoredOblivion and Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski to make it (and throw in a sick score from M83 or Daft Punk), I’ll be the first one you see standing in line.

LESSON #4: REAL LIFE IS BIGGER THAN ANY MOVIE— Much like acidic standup comedian Anthony Jeselnik, I’m not a “thoughts and prayers” kind of guy.  I think there are better ways to support tragedy than showy and self-serving social media posts.  That said, Zack Snyder’s decision this week to step away from post-production on Justice League to heal and handle a family tragedy deserves extraordinary commendation.  For a man that has unjustly garnered an army of haters, I hope people can gain pause, reevaluate stances, and separate entertainment from life.  Zack Snyder is a person first, a father second, and a husband third.  “Filmmaker” is down the list and “ruiner of childhoods and dreams” should never even be on any list.  I hope his loud haters step back and realize there are more important things in this world than getting wound up for some movie.  Man to man, husband to husband, father to father, I applaud Zack’s strength and hope he finds peace going forward.  I cannot imagine what he’s going through and hope I am never in his shoes.


DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson.  He is also one of the founders and the current directors of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle.  As an elementary educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical.  As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends.  Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, Medium, and Creators Media.

 

Minisode 19: Summer Movie Challenge (2017)

It’s that time again to make box office predictions for the Summer Movie Challenge. This yearly competition involves us choosing what we think will be the highest grossing films between May and Labor Day. This year we are joined by our Feelin’ Film contributors – Don and Steve. Who will emerge victorious? Listen to hear our picks and find out how you can play along!

2017 Summer Movie Challenge Rules

The rules for the game come from TimeTravelReview’s Summer Movie Pool:

The object is to pick the films that you think will be the top-ten grossing films of the summer, in order of box-office performance. As I’ve said, that means only films released from May 1st 2017 to the Labor Day weekend, counting only the money those films make domestically (US and Canada) in that period. In other words films from March or April might still be making money after May 1st, but they don’t count; films released from May on could start racking up foreign B.O., but that doesn’t count; films released from May on could still be making money into September, but that doesn’t count either. Box Office numbers are generally available late Monday or Tuesday after the weekend closes. For the last seven or so years, I have been using box office numbers from Yahoo Box Office which gets their numbers in turn from Box Office Mojo. So what you will be doing is figuring out what 10 films will make the most money, and putting them in order of what you think they will gross at the box office. BUT, in addition to your top 10, you get to pick 3 “Dark Horses”- films you think *might* make it, but that you are not confident enough about to put into the top 10 proper.

2017 Summer Movie Challenge Scoring:

To see how we are doing check out the official SMC Scoreboard:

  • Getting number 1 or number 10 dead-on gets you 13 points (each).

The rest of the scoring goes like this:

  • 10 points for numbers 2-9 dead-on
  • 7 points if your pick was only one spot away from where it ended up
  • 5 points if it was two spots away
  • 3 points if your pick is anywhere in the Top 10
  • 1 point for each dark horse that makes it into the Top 10

The scoring is tabulated so that you get the SINGLE HIGHEST point value for each pick- that is, if you get number ten right, you don’t get 13+3, you only get 13.

Aaron

1. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
2. Despicable Me 3
3. Transformers: The Last Knight
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
5. Spider-Man: Homecoming
6. Cars 3
7. Wonder Woman
8. War for the Planet of the Apes
9. Alien: Covenant
10. Baywatch
DH: The Mummy, Dunkirk, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Patrick
1. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
2. Spider-Man: Homecoming
3. Alien: Covenant
4. Despicable Me 3
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
6. War for the Planet of the Apes
7. Wonder Woman
8. Cars 3
9. The Mummy
10. Baywatch
DH: Dunkirk, Transformers: The Last Knight, Baby Driver
Don
1. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
2. Despicable Me 3
3. Spider-Man: Homecoming
4. Wonder Woman
5. Transformers: The Last Knight
6. Cars 3
7. War for the Planet of the Apes
8. Baywatch
9. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
10. Dunkirk

DH: Alien: Covenant, Captain Underpants, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Steve
1. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
2. Spider-Man: Homecoming
3. Despicable Me 3
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Transformers: The Last Knight
6. Cars 3
7. Wonder Woman
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
9. The Mummy
10. Captain Underpants
DH: Alien: Covenant, The Dark Tower, Baywatch

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