LESSON #1: LIAM NEESON IS IN BIG TROUBLE NO MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT IT— And here I thought a few weeks ago in this column space, that John Lasseter was going to a big test for post-outrage career paths. Matching the pulling of the actor’s PR appearances for Cold Pursuit this week, his situation, stemming from his poorly-placed personal admissions and steps towards change in the years since, has two impacts: personal and professional. The forgiveness, recovery, and damage control are different for both worlds. He may be able to show his face and make appearances to continue the soul-baring conversation he started, but he may be radioactive on the business side for a while. I still say if Hugh Grant can be arrested for soliciting a prostitute two decades ago and be the Oscar-worthy villain of Paddington 2 years later, the zero laws broken by Liam Neeson can make redemption possible. It definitely going to take more than good kissing.
LESSON #2: INTERMISSIONS ARE A WORTHWHILE IDEA— Word around the internet campfire is that the latest edit of Avengers: Endgame is still a mammoth three hours and Disney is considering building in an intermission into film. I’m all for it. Trim no more. Pick a dynamite editing point for some exhaling and reflection. Give us a bathroom break and a rousing Alan Silvestri overture while we refocus. Nail that tone. If any film could pull it off, it’s this future juggernaut. Intermissions would extend running time and prevent as many turnstile turns and showings compared to some 90-minute hopscotch movie, but plenty of long films have scored at the box office. Avatar was 162 minutes. Titanic was 195. They made billions. Bottom lines will be fine.
LESSON #3: FINDING THE RIGHT TONE— Speaking of tone, one of the reasons Universal Pictures’ Dark Universe failed was that it wasn’t dark enough. The Mummy was a Tom Cruise vehicle, not a thriller. Even though the old Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi classics aren’t anywhere near hardcore horror by today’s tastes, these characters (and others) are still monsters. Give them some teeth and some edge, not sugary action fluff. Universal’s hiring of producer Jason Blum and Upgrade director Leigh Whannell for their Invisible Man remake is the right direction to go with smaller aims and horror expertise. That’s the tone you need here.
LESSON #4: STEVEN SODERBERGH IS THE SMARTEST GUY IN THE ROOM AND GETS NO CREDIT FOR IT— The Oceans series director recently did an interview with Deadline talking about his career path. One tangent delved into the underwhelming results of his last two films Logan Lucky and Unsane. Both were well-reviewed films that were lost to audiences. The grassroots and cost-minded Soderbergh saw marketing costs skyrocketing in the industry and considered it a threat to the success of true independent film working on small budgets. Fascinatingly, Soderbergh wanted to try spending less (no junkets, talk shows, and more) on those two recent films, going more the viral routes. He found that the silly and preening attention that comes from late-night couches and more gets more attention than social media. I wish he wasn’t wrong because the fluff is too much and too frivolously expensive. Fascinating interview from a guy with a heck of career arc.
LESSON #5: KNOW WHEN TO SAY WHEN— It looks like Vice Oscar nominee Christian Bale got The Matt Damon Diagnosis recently. Here at 45 years old, the toll of the “yo-yo dieting” going back and forth between dramatic weight losses for The Machinist and The Fighter and unhealthy weight gains to play American Hustle, Batman, and Dick Cheney has caught up to the actor. Citing his mortality, Bale says he won’t go through those swings again and let the makeup do the magic. Wise decision, Christian. We want you to hang around for as long as possible.
DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based and Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson and also on Medium.com for the MovieTime Guru publication. As an educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a new member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film now for over a year, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends while chipping in with guest spots and co-hosting duties, including the special “Connecting with Classics” podcast program. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium to follow his work.
Primo movie teasers have become an annual tradition connected to the Super Bowl. The championship game is typically the most-watched global television event of the calendar year and movie studios, just like other brands and companies, target maximum eyes on their valuable offerings. Back in the days before YouTube replays numbering the tens of millions in less than 24 hours, those coveted 30-second Super Bowl ads were shown ONCE. That was it. If you didn’t see it, POOF, it was gone. You missed out. Back then, the hype generated was real and the trailer-making marketers knew all it took to grab an audience was the right juicy single morsel. Less was more and we were hooked on a mere 30 seconds.
Today, three trends have whittled away the effect of a good Super Bowl teaser. First, in this marketing culture of scooping the competition, too many of these ads are available before the Big Game, sapping much of the surprise factor. Second, we’ve reached a day and age where trailers regularly give away far too much of film. Third and finally, there isn’t the dazzle of the one-time viewing anymore. Any hype is beaten to death by repeat views and the buzzy over-saturation of click bait editorials that overanalyze every second of the teasers of teasers let along the real teasers or full trailers themselves.
This all adds to unrealistic, messy, or improperly-fueled expectations that hang on a film all year. I long for a day when the repetitive spoiler blathering goes away, allowing patience to create real hype, not the over-marketed variety we have now, to create a higher form of anticipation. For the second year in a row on Feelin’ Film, I throw down the gauntlet!
THE SECOND YEAR CHALLENGE
Pick TWO films on your “most anticipated list” for 2019 and avoid the marketing for it from now until their releases. Last year, it was one movie. This year, pick two.
Don’t say Captain Marvel with only a month to go. Don’t say Avengers: Endgame because that’s an easy automatic. Dig deep. Pick a real long-term challenge for 2019. Turn off the noise. Don’t watch the trailers. Don’t read the click bait and certainly don’t read reviews before finally seeing the film. Go to the hallway and refill your napkins and popcorn butter at the multiplex. Such willpower can be done. I promise you it’s worth it. Every twist and development becomes a surprise and the connections are made richer than ones pre-built by marketing hype.
My rationale is that if the film you pick is on your official or unofficial “most anticipated list” you already know enough about it and want to see it where you don’t need any more marketing. You’re already hooked. Knowing anymore about it only chips away at the final result.
The challenge is to let the film speak for itself and not speak for the marketing. Feel a different buildup. Feel the patience of old school hype. Leave something to the imagination. Let the Super Bowl be the last peek.
Try it for two films and help out your peers. Share your pick in the comments or in the Facebook discussion. We’re a support group as much as we are a discussion spot. Afterwards, evaluate that experience. Was the anticipation better or worse? Was the culminating film experience better or worse? Call me confident, but I know this is going to work for you!
LESSON #1: YOUNGER IS BETTER AND LONGER LASTING— Before you say “that’s what she said,” let me explain that I’m are talking about Batman. Word hit hard that Ben Affleck is retiring (i.e. passed over and forced out) from the role of the Caped Crusader, one he already entered while in his 40s (granted, they sought a veteran intentionally). Warner Bros. moves forward with the Matt Reeves-helmed The Batman for 2021and I’m begging they go younger. Don’t do another guy over 40 and don’t even do another actor in their mid-to-late 30s. Lock in a steady Batman in his prime and past his overly-told origin story in the starting age range of 25-29. Let that guy own the role for a decade instead of being interchangeable like bad underwear.
LESSON #2: THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS ARE LOOKING BETTER THAN THE OSCARS RIGHT NOW— Between the many harebrained decisions and non-decisions being made by the Academy and their show producers (awards during commercial breaks, go/no-go on song nominees) and their semi-questionable nominees, the Oscars are looking like a, pardon my French, a s–tshow right now. I look the day before the Oscars at the slate and schedule for the Independent Spirit Awards and I’m duly impressed. Those are true nominees of the best of film. That’s a red carpet and party I’d rather be at.
LESSON #3: NETFLIX KNOWS WHAT’S GOOD FOR THEM— Speaking of the Oscars, there has been an anti-Netflix sentiment for the last few years. This simmering industry stench of haters surrounds how Netflix’s streaming service does not commonly include theatrical distribution. One of the Academy’s rules for awards qualification is to have at least a soft theatrical release somewhere. Netflix has bent to that in small ways (Mudbound) and big ways (Roma). Well, their biggest bend of all dropped soon after Netflix snagged 15 total nominations when they agreed to join the MPAA. It’s an olive branch of commitment to make nice and do good by the industry that they are steadily part of reforming every year.
LESSON #4: NETFLIX KEEPS REMINDING US HOW AMBITIOUS THEY ARE— At the same time the streaming giant shows industry savvy, Netflix continues to stoke its hubris fires with the burning of subscription dollars (thanks, price increases!). Back at the end of December, Netflix announced its intentions of pacing to churn out 90 films a year with budgets as high as $200 million. That’s beyond huge. That’s bigger than Disney’s output. With every high profile acquisition, every word-of-mouth hit, and, more importantly, every influx of subscribers, Netflix becomes a bigger player. A critic like me or Aaron and Patch on Feelin’ Film could cover only Netflix films and fill a year’s worth of review quota.
YOU CAN’T BEAT FREE— Marvel is partnering with AMC Theatres to re-releaseBlack Panther for FREE at several locations during Black History Month. Folks, you won’t find a better price to see an Oscar nominee short of some library screening or summer kids club event at a daycare center. You get Ryan Coogler’s gem with all the bells and whistles of a real big screen. Go catch it again or for the first time.
DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based and Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson and also on Medium.com for the MovieTime Guru publication. As an educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a new member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film now for over a year, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends while chipping in with guest spots and co-hosting duties, including the special “Connecting with Classics” podcast program. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium to follow his work.
LESSON #1: THE OSCARS CAN SURVIVE WITH NO HOST— I couldn’t be more content with the fact that ABC and MPAAS cannot pin down a proper host for the 91st Academy Awards. Maybe this will mean fewer dumb monologues and bits. Maybe the whole dang thing will get done in under three hours. I can’t wait to see how this goes as a test case for no host and tighter schedule of things. Besides, how many Alfonso Cuaron acceptance speeches are we really going to hear (present answer: 3). Be ready for those Oscar nominations on Tuesday after the MLK holiday.
LESSON #2: JAMES WAN IS KILLING IT— Thanks the swimmingly sweet returns of Aquaman, director James Wan has become the second filmmaker after James Cameron to lead a pair of films to surpass $1 billion in global earnings. Cameron, of course, had Avatar and Titanic (two films north of $2 billion, mind you) and Aquaman adds with Wan’s Furious 7. There’s a good chance that young man (42 is a baby in this business) gets to sign his own blank checks moving forward. Studios would be lucky to acquire his services. He is currently without a new directorial effort on the horizon.
LESSON #3: AMERICANS DON’T TRANSLATE FRENCH VERY WELL— More than the year-long-plus delay caused by the fallout of The Weinstein Company, The Upside had been doomed for a while. Dumping it in January was but one more sign. The domestic filmmakers took what was a huge international hit of big time empathy (The Intouchables) and scrambled it with American gags and personalities. Sure enough, it butchers the original and has tanked audiences and critics. The Ringer recently did solid article looking back at Hollywood’s shoddy track record with French comedies. Improvement is needed where filmmakers need to do better or audience just need to find and enjoy the original things, subtitles and all.
LESSON #4: EDDIE MURPHY NEEDS A COMEBACK— At 57, Eddie Murphy is too good and still too young of a celebrated entertainer to be forgotten and relegated to the sidelines. I have long said he needs to put away the family films and go back to his hard-R roots. The announced long-distance sequel for Coming to America could be the springboard for a resurgence. Hustle and Flow director Craig Brewer is an ideal fit to squeeze a little more pulp from the low-hanging fruit. While we’re here, go ahead and get Arsenio Hall back to work next to him. With the pair, it’s only half of a good idea.
LESSON #5: TREAT YOURSELF TO A GOOD SOUNDTRACK— Finally, we’re in Oscar season, so I advise you to soak in the good stuff available this time of year and not the defrosted junk that are called “January wide releases.” Both The Film Stage and First Showing featured articles listing the best scores and soundtracks from 2018 films. Of the year’s releases, I highly recommend If Beale Street Could Talk, Hearts Beat Loud, Mandy, Eighth Grade, Aquaman, A Star is Born, and Creed II. The Film Stage article even imbeds some full Spotify playlists for easy sampling. Make a few clicks and put the earbuds in at work or on the move. Enjoy the Mozart effect!
DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based and Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson and also on Medium.com for the MovieTime Guru publication. As an educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a new member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film now for over a year, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends while chipping in with guest spots and co-hosting duties, including the special “Connecting with Classics” podcast program. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium to follow his work.
The edition is an extended look at how one new industry move sets off some big questions for the business landscape.
LESSON #1: JOHN LASSETER IS A TEST FOR CAREERS MOVING BEYOND THE #METOO MOVEMENT— I came on this column space a little over a year ago with my first “Soapbox Special” to address the uneven career assassinations that have occurred both before and after our present #MeToo landscape. I shared my stances where I separate the person (their personal life) from the persona (their careers) and never boycott anyone. Likewise, my consistent emotional response to cases like Kevin Spacey or Bill Cosby is one of patience and sadness. I refuse to jump the gun with outrage and boycott on mere “allegations” and “claims” These folks are innocent until proven guilty in my eyes, which seems to fly against the court of public opinion that immediately sinks people on the first click bait headline before we even know if they deserve it. A year later, with former Pixar czar John Lasseter being hired by Skydance to lead their animation division, we have reached the decision points of who and what “gets to,” more or less, move on from #MeToo. Lasseter comes to Skydance after a self-imposed leave of absence from Pixar amid claims of sexual harassment he deemed as “missteps.” His resurrection hiring has been met with a great deal of adamant outrage from some sectors.
LESSON #2: IT’S TIME FOR CONSUMERS TO BE REFLECTIVE AND FAIR— From John Lasseter all the way to Kevin Spacey and anyone else in between, people need to table the court of public opinion and get a better look at the whole situations beyond the outrage and headlines. Here are the reflection questions that I think folks need to consider at this point:
1) What’s the proper waiting period between allegations and actual guilt? MY ANSWER: When it gets its day in court and no less that that. Go ahead and hate the convicted Bill Cosby. The evidence came and the ruling has come down. Cool your jets on all the unproven stuff elsewhere. Save your crucifixion nails until the gavel hits the block. Until then, call it quarantine or something and be the discerning consumer you want to be with that right. Reserve judgment because it’s not even your place to judge.
2) What amount of contrition or correction is necessary in order for people to continue their careers? MY ANSWER: That’s up to each case and each consumer, but the amount can’t be zero. I’m a proponent of giving people chances to correct their wrongs. Some stars have handled that better than others (Louis CK, Kevin Spacey). This is just me, but I will gladly acknowledge and appreciate those who legitimately try to seek forgiveness and personal improvement. I wish more viewers and fans could do the same.
3) What are these people allowed to do with their rest of their careers? MY ANSWER: Anything they want or anything a boss wants to hire to run their business. This might have to circle back to old adage of the punishment fitting the crime. If the person(s) in question come out of Question #1 with unfounded innocence and have completed the mea culpas of Question #2, they should be able to return to their field of profession. Similarly, if the person(s) doesn’t get through Question #1 clearly yet have served their time or sentence of meted and legal punishment (think Michael Vick from the NFL), then they should be able to return to their field of profession. That’s not to say all people are going to support either of those wishes. Once again, folks can be whatever discerning consumer they want, but those returning people should be allowed the chances to try and correct their mistakes.
I know if it were any one of us instead of them, we would want those same minimums and grace. That’s how you find any possible empathy in these situations. Try some of this reflection before pissing and moaning all over social media. You’ll be a calmer and better person for it.
DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based and Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson and also on Medium.com for the MovieTime Guru publication. As an educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a new member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film now for over a year, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends while chipping in with guest spots and co-hosting duties, including the special “Connecting with Classics” podcast program. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium to follow his work.
Image by Muharrem Aner for Getty via The Daily Beast
Plenty of regular everyday people make New Year’s Resolutions, but I think bigger entities, namely movie makers and movie moguls, need to make them too. Annually, including this eighth edition, have fun taking the movie industry to task for things they need to change, even if I get to do it every week in a different ranting way on “What We Learned This Week.” My cadence hasn’t changed. I have no false internet courage to be a Twitter troll. As always, some resolutions come true while others get mentioned and reiterated every year. A great deal of last year’s list is still relevant. Enjoy this year’s hopes and dreams.
#1: Don’t stop supporting minority voices.
2018 has been a banner year for indie film featuring themes, stars, and filmmakers of gender and racial diversity. This list is impressive: Searching, If Beale Street Could Talk, Blindspotting, The Hate U Give, Sorry to Bother You, Roma, The Rider, Revenge, Crazy Rich Asians, Madeline’s Madeline,BlacKkKlansman, Burning, Roxanne Roxanne, Nappily Ever After, We the Animals, Private Life, Widows, You Were Never Really Here, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Border, Support the Girls, Minding the Gap, Shoplifters, Destroyer, RBG, Hearts Beat Loud, Boy Erased, The Favourite, Bohemian Rhapsody, Collette, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Love Simon, Disobedience, Blockers, and many many more. Upvote your favorite films directed by women in 2018 on this Ranker. Hollywood, keep these doors opening. Don’t just do this for tokenism. The audiences will come.
#2: Disney, take your time with Fox properties you bought from Marvel.
A recent Kevin Feige interview became click bait when he said that Fox’s Marvel properties, mostly the Fantastic Four and X-Men universes, could be in their control within six months. Everyone (well, expect me) got out their abacuses and calendars to calculate how fast those new incarnations would arrive. My advice and resolution preached patience. Don’t just make these films because you can. Take your time and get them right. Fantastic Four has had two failed attempts. X-Men has had its soft reboot too and is already slipping. I have no doubt those characters are in the right place, but Marvel needs to hold off.
#3: Speaking of Disney, slow down with your own releases.
Have you seen the Disney release calendar for 2019? It’s insane. Their dominance, as if we already didn’t know, is unquestioned and it shows. I think it’s too much. When big releases are on top of each other like this, they feel more run-of-the-mill instead of special. I remember a time when there was only animated Disney film a year. It was huge, important, and it mattered. It’s hard to multiply care when there are a half-dozen or more between Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and their own house brand choices. Space them out. Build them up. Make them matter because they don’t come around all that often.
#4: Don’t show us another second of Avengers: Endgame
Those of you who follow my weekly column and the “soapbox specials” know that I’ve sworn off of trailers and have been encouraging people like a cinematic cult leader to do the same. I’ve simply seen too many and oversell their products and create unreasonable expectations which create the butthurt fans we have come to hate. Avengers: Endgame would be the perfect trailblazer. That movie doesn’t need a second of marketing to get our money. How awesome would it be if they stopped cold right now after the first trailer? Our frenzy of anticipation off of the small sample would create more buzz than any new footage. At the same time, the studio could pad their bottom with the reduced need to throw money into marketing, as well as merchandise too. Don’t even release an action figure until after the screaming and parent-tugging kids see the movie in April. Don’t hope for a frenzy. Create one.
#5: Vet your hosts and spokespeople
In the Twitter meltdown wake of James Gunn, Louis CK, Kevin Hart and more this past year, studio heads and showrunners need to do a better job background checking their hires. It shouldn’t matter as much as it turns out, but we’re seeing it does. Big outfits and corporations have too many PR employees and interns at their disposal to miss the large problems they have this year. When those flags come up, talk it out and have a plan before making final decisions and public comments.
#6: If you’re a celebrity, it’s time to get off Twitter
I think we’ve reached a point where we have to ask what the gain is from Twitter. Sure, it’s fun to see trends and maybe catch breaking news, but that’s for us anonymous people of the general public. If you’re a big star, do you really need the scrutiny just for a small PR and promotional bump that comes from social media accessibility? I don’t see the value if you’re an established celebrity or brand.
#7: Repackage the Oscars a better way
Speaking if Kevin Hart, the embarrassing panhandling for a new host and poor attempts to shoehorn new and silly categories creates the need for this resolution. I say don’t do even have a host at this point. Reduce the bits and focus on the awards. Here’s some perfect and generous math even with a host. Give the 24 categories 5 minutes each (3 to introduce it gracefully with deeper montages than mere quick mentions and 2 full minutes for each winner’s speeches) and that’s 120 minutes. Tack on 5 minutes to open with a welcoming monologue, 5 minutes to close with a thankful prologue, 3 minutes for the annual dead people roll call, and 30 minutes for required commercials to pay the bills. Easy peasy! You’re well under three hours, the awards are given rich room to operate, and nothing is forgotten except another hare-brained skit. As far as categories go, Best Casting and Best Stunt Work deserve inclusion. If you want to trade those for some technical awards being moved to the separate Science awards night, so be it, but don’t even try to devalue the whole show with a dumb and patronizing Popular Film award. Leave those awards for MTV.
#8: Respect Netflix
Speaking of the Oscars, much is being talked about on a perceived bias and beef the Academy has with Netflix films. They need to put it aside with tolerance for a new and viable distribution outlet that isn’t going away, especially if they keep landing high pedigree films like Roma and The Irishman. Movie moguls need to arrive at the learning curve television and their Emmy Awards have already put behind them where cable and streaming shows have equal footing and respect as network shows. Welcome the new guy better than you are.
#9: Netflix, please choose quality over quantity
Speaking of Netflix, you might need the same resolution as the one Disney got earlier. We get it. You have money and are spending it. You can freely drop films and splash any and every pot with them. The trouble is you have more bombs than winners. For every Roma and Bird Box, you have a dozen that never get attention because there are too many choices. I know, right? Who would have ever thought too many choices was a bad thing. Netflix, I see your strengths. You are revitalizing the midrange budget film market studios haven’t been making since the 1990s. You give indie films wider and better chances for visibility than they would at the shrinking number of arthouse screens. You have long championed documentaries. Do all that with a discerning eye and refined taste.
#10: Keep repackaging Adam Sandler
Speaking of quality over quantity, if you don’t count his voice work in Hotel Transylvania 3, 2018 was the first year in a long time without a theatrical release from Adam Sandler. That alone made 2018 a glorious year answering one of this column’s longest repeating annual resolutions to stop that man’s redundantly bad career. I say that while still being happy Adam Sandler’s recent unbound and R-rated Netflix comedy special has done so well. Give us that grown-up Adam Sandler. Bury the man child. Since Netflix is writing him checks, it’s up to them to remake Adam Sandler. Someday, we’ll be glad he’s back in the spotlight as a new man. The fear will always be him slipping back to the boorish slacker type that made him rich.
#11: Price point will always be the greatest trigger and hurdle simultaneously
This goes for all of the current streaming services out there and all of the ones still coming, especially Disney+. Each streaming service’s standalone price makes it highly affordable compared to the price of theater tickets for the whole family year-round or a bloated cable TV subscription. The devices like AppleTV, Roku, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire, and more are all wonderfully affordable too. The hard part is if/when you feel like you need to have 4-5 streaming services in addition to the steadily increasing costs of high speed internet to make it all work. Then that number balloons. At some point, the overabundance of services and higher prices will break a common person’s budget. The services have to make sure they don’t reach that point.
DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based and Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson and also on Medium.com for the MovieTime Guru publication. As an educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a new member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film now for over a year, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends while chipping in with guest spots and co-hosting duties, including the special “Connecting with Classics” podcast program. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium to follow his work.
My apologies for the December sabbatical. Work, holidays, and the awards season are spare time killers…
LESSON #1: WE’VE LOST KEVIN SPACEY— Wow. Just wow. How weird was that “Let Me Be Frank” video this past week? How miscalculated was it, especially on top of the newest charges against him? Contrition instead of glamor would have went a long way. I don’t see how he comes back from this any time soon. Man, I’m going to miss Kevin Spacey. He was one if the best. Now if we could just lose Johnny Depp next, that would be super. He’s already off the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I’d call that a start.
LESSON #2: STOP MANUFACTURING CONFLICT WHERE IT DOESN’T EXIST— Dramatic license is necessary to make a marketable and entertaining film, but it should be used carefully and even as a last resort. Every time that card is cashed, it chips away at the story’s core and truths. Do that too much and it’s either manipulation or disservice. What was nearly done in On the Basis of Sex is a disconcerting example of forcing strife just to have strife. It’s unnecessary and could have turned things negative. I’ll never understand how “good for goodness sake” can’t sell on its own.
LESSON #3: EVEN BIG STARS DON’T KNOW HOW TO USE IMDB— To read this recent story of actor Seth Rogen’s (and his famous peers) monumental “discovery” that that gangster film, Angels with Filthy Souls, in Home Alone was a fake movie and not a real one makes me miss Jay Leno’s “Jay-Walking” segments on his old late night talk shows where this kind of lack of reasonable intelligence lives and breathes. It’s title is likely a homage to the Michael Curtiz’s James Cagney vehicle Angels with Dirty Faces. Sure, I get how small and inconsequential of a detail it is, but it’s a straight facepalm for me when tools of knowledge are readily available. It doesn’t take a genius to go on IMDb and see Ralph Foody and Michael Guido’s name in the cast playing Johnny and Snakes. Home Alone came out in 1990, the same year IMDb began though the noted database didn’t hit the web until 1993. That’s only really three years of head-scratching, but I guess it’s 28 years of haze and missed problem-solving synapses for Rogen and company. Alas, this counts as hot topic clickbait in 2018. Any time a celebrity farts with sprinkles, it gets a column and 400 words.
LESSON #4: ROMA IS GOING TO KEEP WINNING— Shine up the “Critical Darling” plaque and start printing the t-shirts. Alfonso Cuaron’s 1970s domestic drama from his home country of Mexico is winning all of the shiny things that say Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography on them. My website’s Awards Tracker shows it running away and hiding in this categories during this main stretch of regional critics groups handing out their annual awards. Sometimes, especially for a foreign film, it is hard to project all of this critical love into audience success and Oscar glory. It’s not too often the regular, ordinary domestic viewing audience will drop an audible “Huh?” at Best Picture winners. This may be one of those years. The test will be the Golden Globes. Let’s see if Netflix can do its job and give Roma a wider audience, which is its own testy saga to read about.
LESSON #5: YOU KNOW YOUR FILM IS CRAP WHEN EVEN NETFLIX SAYS NO— The newest Will Ferrell-John C. Reilly teamup Holmes & Watson had bomb written all over it from the start. First, the marketing didn’t help the effort, looking like one of those struggling comedies where all of the good jokes are in the trailer and not in the two-hour movie. Once Sony decided not to screen the film for critics, that should have been the real warning. In a damning second warning, Netflix, which prides itself as the service that will take anything and spend frivolously, actually turned down buyingHolmes & Watson from Sony. Gosh, that’s when you know it’s bad. That’s like a baseball team trying to trade a pair of pitchers for a bag of balls and getting turned down for even balls. Good Lord, that’s a bad movie.
LESSON #6: LOOK AHEAD TO SUNDANCE TO THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL— Robert Redford’s baby turns Park City, Utah into Mecca. We may be looking at the 2019 Oscars, but, without fail, at least one or more future contenders for 2020 will debut there. Here’s the full lineup. From the competition films, keep an eye on Native Son and The Farewell. Of the bigger-named gala premieres watch for Jake Gyllenhaal’s Velvet Buzzsaw (a new collaboration with his Nightcrawler director Dan Gilroy), Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams in After the Wedding from Moore’s husband Bart Freundlich, and The Report with Adam Driver and Jon Hamm from Soderbergh writing partner-turned-director Scott Z. Burns. You’ll sound cool if you can say you’ve heard of these films next year.
DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based and Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson and also on Medium.com for the MovieTime Guru publication. As an educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a new member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film now for over a year, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends while chipping in with guest spots and co-hosting duties, including the special “Connecting with Classics” podcast program. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium to follow his work.
LESSON #1: SOME FILMS DO NOT REQUIRE A REBOOT— Last week, the lesson was “Some films don’t require a sequel.” This time, we have to clap that lesson back and trade the word “sequel” for “reboot.” News spun across Variety this week that DreamWorks is planning to restart its Shrek and Puss in Boots franchises. First, you need a true generational gap and eight years since its last chapter, Shrek Forever After, isn’t long enough, even for the rapid aging of its core audience demographic. More importantly, I have to ask what I consider to be a necessary qualifying question when it comes to remakes and reboots. Have the originals aged to the degree where they are obsolete? Sure, Shrek was corny and dated as soon as the SmashMouth song comes on, but have the narrative fairy tale angles changed or the artistic technology that made the movie? I say they haven’t and a new one will just retread over familiar ground and not be unique or worthwhile artistically. I say let some films stay what they are as benchmarks and time capsules for their eras. The ’00s have their Shrek the way the ’10s have their Despicable Me/Minions. Let them stay there. I’m at looking at you too, The Grinch.
LESSON #2: SAY HELLO TO DISNEY+ AND GET YOUR CREDIT CARD READY— After months of little here-and-there clues and rumored plans, Disney finally and formally announced the details for its vaunted new streaming service, Disney+, coming late next year. Housing its entire artistic arsenal from Pixar to National Geographic with all of the heroic adventure in between, the lineup depth, including original films, is undeniably impressive. The thing I’ve been waiting to hear this entire time is price point. While that number isn’t defined exactly yet, the linked article references a $8-14 monthly price tag. The closer that is to $8, the more successful it’s going to be. Disney+ will be the test to see if a la carte single-studio entity services can work because the selling point of its Netflix and Hulu competitors is the ease of variety under one service roof. If Disney+ succeeds, it will be like dedicated cable networks for single teams or schools like the New York Yankees. Watch everything splinter because each studio will want to create and keep their own money.
LESSON #3: PARENTS NEED TO RESPECT AND FOLLOW FILM RATINGS— For fifty years now, the MPAA has championed the film rating system to warn, screen, and catalog film content for consumers. They are proper and they have evolved to do their job better. Whenever there is a breakdown of outrage over a film’s rating, like this recent story of content from A Star is Born triggering troubling reactions in New Zealand, it’s not the rating’s fault. R is R for a reason and it was labeled correctly so. The perceived outrage is the consumer’s fault. They either didn’t listen to the rating or didn’t commit to the due diligence to properly screen or research a film before subjecting it to younger viewers. The loopholes of the MPAA are few and far between, whereas careless parenting is rampant. This critic and school teacher implores all parents to see any questionable film for themselves before sharing it with their impressionable children. That’s the bare minimum. If you don’t do it, let some solid website like Common Sense and ScreenIt do it for you.
LESSON #4: TREAT YOURSELF TO “NOIR-VEMBER”— If you want to expand your film palette to one of the most interesting and entertaining film genres under the sun, scroll your way into some film noir. Often imitated and rarely duplicated since its hey-day, experiencing film noir is essential understanding the full scope of the cinematic art form. That and its comprised of simple damn good movies that can still put modern thrillers to shame. Start with this list of ten essential noirs from the journal spot Oh Not They Didn’t. They’re all gold bathed in stark black-and-white.
DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based and Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson and also on Medium.com for the MovieTime Guru publication. As an educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a new member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film now for over a year, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends while chipping in with guest spots and co-hosting duties, including the special “Connecting with Classics” podcast program. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium to follow his work.
LESSON #1: NOVEMBER IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE MONTH OF THE MOVIEGOING YEAR— Three consumer stars align during this month that trigger the Futurama “take my money” GIF. The first is the quality slate of films trying to peak for awards season and the holidays. October started things early and more excellent films are on the way. The second is Black Friday, where this lover of physical media adores the DVD/Blu-ray deals that stream across Best Buy, Amazon, Target, and more. Yes, Best Buy, I will dive into your $2 bin covered in double-sided tape and buy everything that sticks to me. Scope out the ads in advance as they leak. Finally, for the refined cinephiles in the room, November is the month for the half-priced Criterion sale at Barnes & Noble. Folks, it’s time to rack up that credit card debt before the actual holidays.
LESSON #2: SOME FILMS DO NOT REQUIRE A SEQUEL— Way back in 2012, I wrote an editorial on Every Movie Has a Lesson about the “most desired and long-awaited” sequels, a few of which have actually become reality in the six years since. One movie that wasn’t on the list was Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. It would have made the sub-list of “unnecessary” sequels, right there with The Shawshank Redemption and other movies that ended on perfect notes. Lo and behold, Ridley Scott and his Paramount producers can’t seem to help themselves, because details have been updated on a future story being drafted by Top Gun: Maverick and The Town screenwriter Peter Craig. I trust and enjoy Ridley’s talent work as much as the next fan, but has no serious chance of matching or topping the Oscar-winning original. It’s only going to tarnish a legacy or two. Add Bad Boys 3to that same list.
LESSON #3: CAN PARALLEL EDITIONS OF FILMS BECOME A NEW TREND?–Notice I didn’t say “will” in that lesson. That’s assuming success that is already present. Sure, the DVD era opened the storefront door for director’s cuts, unrated editions, and more of varying rating adjustments. However, outside of something like Blade Runner (and maybe, to a milder degree, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice), it’s hard to say many new post-theatrical cuts of films have go on to become definitive new standards. They feel more like novelties for the sake of selling special features. That’s what I see when I hear about the PG-13 cut coming for Deadpool 2. It can brag about being a different experience with newly created scenes to be more “parallel” than “alternate,” but how many hardcore Deadpool fans or true completists are going to pay for a tamer second take?
LESSON #4: TREAT YOURSELF TO A FOREIGN FILM— Feelin’ Film contributor Jacob Neff dropped the confessional challenge in our Facebook discussion group to ask how many of the BBC’s “100 Greatest Foreign Language Films” we have seen. We had to fess up and some of us (myself including) got an Animal House-level GPA score from our lack of exposure, experience, or completion. I recommend following Jacob’s “You Should Be Watching” column to see what titles from the list are available, especially with one month left of Filmstruck. I recommend the huge depth of foreign films available on the Kanopy service connected to your everyday local library card. In any case, don’t let Reverend Neff chastise you again. If you need a shorter list, here are Martin Scorsese’s top 39 foreign language films. Start there. Get cracking, update the prescription of your glasses for the subtitles, and indulge in some of the classic and good stuff that world cinema has to offer.
DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based and Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson and also on Medium.com for the MovieTime Guru publication. As an educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a new member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film now for over a year, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends while chipping in with guest spots and co-hosting duties, including the special “Connecting with Classics” podcast program. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium to follow his work.
LESSON #1: SUPPORT PHYSICAL MEDIA AND FILM PRESERVATION— The Friday announcement that the Filmstruck streaming service will close at the end of November is a blow to classic, international, and documentary films. The vast Criterion Collection was previously occupying a shingle of Hulu Plus before Filmstruck can do be, and I’m sure that winning content will find a new home, likely something from its Warner Bros. parent looking to compete with Disney and Netflix. Still, this is the equivalent of a museum loosing its walls boarding up its treasures. Let this be a reminder call to support physical media, even if those Criterion discs are pricey. I get that streaming is portable and convenient, but a top-shelf disc is worth every penny sometimes. If discerning cinephiles should also look to local libraries for access to hard-to-find films. I’ll echo fellow FF contributor Jacob Neff to promote the absolutely free Kanopy app that is connected to most library cards. You can’t pass up free and make sure to follow Jacob’s “You Should Be Watching” column for recommended buried treasures. If you need a checklist bigger than that, borrow Martin Scorsese’s.
LESSON #2: FILMS MAY AGE, BUT THE MEMORIES AND IMPACT THEY CREATE WILL NOT— RogerEbert.com and New York magazine film critic extraordinaire Matt Zoller Seitz had a recent interview with The Last Picture Show filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich and the topic of superhero movies came up. The respected armchair historian asserted that superhero movies (with few exceptions) are going to “date very badly.” I think the guy enjoying the way-back machine can’t drive the way-forward machine with the same level of understanding. It is almost a certainty, like every genre hey-day that has come before now, that comic book films cannot maintain their current market saturation level forever, but not before adding to the game-changing level of impact and entertainment that they have earned and enjoyed. We’re going on 40 years since Superman: The Movie and nearly 20 years since their early-00s renaissance. In that time, superhero movies have the fan following numbers that have already created multi-generational reach. That’s bigger than a phase or a fad. They have become too big to fade into forgotten nothingness. Like western or noir, they will simply evolve with their times because even with tastes changing, we’re still making westerns and noirs too.
LESSON #3: THE FILM MEDIUM’S MIDDLE CLASS CONTINUES TO FADE— Speaking of blockbusters, tentpole films never used to be so big. There was a time that a $100 million budget was seen as an excessive risk that could sink a studio. Now, we’re talking about $200+ million films being too big to fail or overinflated comedies (like Adam Sandler flicks from a decade ago) that cost $80 million to make when they used to cost a tenth of that. Many of the popular hits of the 1980s and 1990s that came before the gigantic budget price tags of today were these middle-budgeted studio programmers that cost between $25-$75 million. They represented an entire economy of smart money staple. They always had one or two big stars attached that ensured a loyal and steady audience across most any genre, from cop thrillers to romantic comedies. Today, especially after the announced shuttering of Annapurna Pictures (excellent editorial piece from Next Best Picture), the “middle class” film nearly doesn’t exist. Things are either huge or relegated or dismissed to indie fare. For some parallel examples, Die Hard had a $28 million budget and Pretty Woman‘s was $14 million. Today, one would be a Dwayne Johnson film with quadruple the sticker price and the other would be a low-level indie like The Big Sick with a scant budget of $5 million that has to beg for funding and distribution. Like our own national economy, if you want a healthier marketplace and industry, boost the middle class. Bring back the middle-budgeted programmers.
LESSON #4: TAYLOR SHERIDAN HAS EARNED THE CRED TO MAKE ANYTHING HE WANTS— Taylor Sheridan is one hell of a writer and emerging as a one hell of a filmmaker too. He had me at Sicario‘s script. If he didn’t impress you by the Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water, you’re dead to me. Wind River spread his wings to director’s chair and now he’s preparing his follow-up under the Warner Bros. big top. His thriller Fast, with franchise potential, is coming and it’s attracting the attention of Chris Pratt. Make it happen, WB. Make it happen.
LESSON #5: NO ONE IS GOING TO MISS A BOBA FETT MOVIE— LucasFilm producer Kathleen Kennedy declared Friday that James Mangold’s Boba Fett was dead in favor of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian TV series that will help open Disney’s exclusive streaming service. I’ll be the guy that says it. I never understood the fascination with the admittedly good-looking character after about four lines and faint presence in the original trilogy. Fan fiction has made Boba Fett into a cult figure, but Solo shows that even legends can’t guaranteed a successful or profitable film. The bounty hunter didn’t stand a chance on the biggest stage and James Mangold dodged a bullet.
LESSON #6: TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT THE FILMS THEY WATCH— Notable semi-“granola” parent and actress Kristen Bell shared in an interview with Parent magazine that she’s not fully comfortable with some Disney animated classics. She called out Snow White and the Seven Dwarves as one poor example, citing the failing to avoid taking food from strangers and, more astutely, the notion of consent when it comes to princes and their kisses to sleeping maidens. Shrug all you want and dismiss Snow White and others as a harmless kids movies, but Bell is handling it right. Bell shared in the interview how she makes sure to have discussions with her children after the movies they watch. This school teacher over here writing this column highly approves of that parenting measure. Engaging in those talks elevates the experience from being time-killing entertainment into rich “teachable moments,” and they help correct misconceptions we might not even know kids had or picked up along the way. The children will see your interpersonal example of the beginnings of critical thinking. Make movies shared episodes of such enrichment and quality time.
DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based and Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson and also on Medium.com for the MovieTime Guru publication. As an educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a new member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film now for over a year, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends while chipping in with guest spots and co-hosting duties, including the special “Connecting with Classics” podcast program. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium to follow his work.
DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based and Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson and also on Medium.com for the MovieTime Guru publication. As an educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a new member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film now for over a year, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends while chipping in with guest spots and co-hosting duties, including the special “Connecting with Classics” podcast program. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium to follow his work.
