PODCAST: Episode 39 of "The Cinephile Hissy Fit" Podcast

For our 39th episode and the first of a double-header week, 25YL film critics, fresh-faced dads, and vacationing school teachers Will Johnson and Don Shanahan are joined for one last spin by our special guest Rachel S. for the third and final retrospective discussion on big screen Spider-Man iterations. This closer covers the Tom Holland appearances across his solo and team-up movies on the road to Spider-Man: No Way Home. There's plenty of love and still some criticism in the room for Tony Jr.

Cinephile Hissy Fit, Podcast, 25YL, Media AppearanceDon ShanahanDecember 17, 2021Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man, Tom HollandComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Spider-Man: Far From Home

The overwhelming internal tone and external vibe of Spider-Man: Far From Home is attempting to answer the reactionary and optimistic question of where do we go from here. Inside the movie, Peter Parker’s world is reeling from the passage of irrecoverable time, losses of heroic inspiration, and relationship challenges fitting of his age. For audiences entering the aisles and seats, they come curious about the closure of this phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the possible opening of another arc, and where Sony can take this emerging classic character in the future. Jon Watts’ sequel answers those worries and wonders with soaring zest and jest.

Don ShanahanJune 29, 2019AMC River East 21Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Far From HomeComment

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Discussing July and the top films of 2017 on the "Reel Talker" podcast

Fellow CIFCC critic and director Jim Alexander of Reel Talker extended the invitation for me to co-host a new episode of his podcast. On this installment of the Reel Talker podcast, Jim and I discuss the July movie releases and which we consider hits or flops. Also, he and I disclose our Top 10 movie lists through the halfway point of 2017. Jim and I had very different picks, chock full of surprises!

MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on Eman's Movie Reviews audio podcast for "Spider-Man: Homecoming"

Friend-of-the-page Emmanuel Noisette of Eman's Movie Reviews invited me to record the beginnings of a new podcast for his brand. Because his YouTube reviews tend to be spoiler-free, these new chats will be spoiler-filled reactions and discussions. As always, we have a fun back-and-forth as two guys free of "fanlexia" to praise Spider-Man: Homecoming. Enjoy!

MOVIE CLASSROOM: Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man: Homecoming, starring Tom Holland as a true and proper teenage Spider-Man/Peter Parker, is a welcome and refreshing clean slate for the character. It's too bad it took three franchise attempts to get here. Filled to the brim with both easter eggs, supporting characters, swell touches of character, and zesty heart, this is the Spider-Man film you've always hoped for. Enjoy my full spoken review layered with an interactive whiteboard lesson for the latest "Movie Classroom" video review on this website's YouTube channel:

EDITORIAL: The Best of 2017 (so far)

I'm beginning to love making this annual halfway point list. For me, 2017 has been a year for immense volume. Since January, I've reviewed 64 films, 58 of which were 2017 releases and not carryovers from a late 2016 awards season. Thanks to some film festival and advance press access, you can add 16 short films and four more feature films pending the windows to publish reviews. True to my website's hook, I present each film with its best life lesson from my review.

10 Best, 2017, Best Films, Column, Editorial, LIST, SPECIALDon ShanahanJune 30, 20172017, 2017 films, Best of 2017, Best of 2017 (so far), checklist, list, Top 5, Top 5 list, Best lessons, Top 10 list, 10 Best, 10 Best Films of 2017, five-star reviews, four-star reviews, War for the Planet of the Apes, Lucky, Logan, My Egg Boy, Get Out, Baby Driver, The Blackcoat's Daughter, I Daniel Blake, The Hero, Beauty and the Beast, Alien: Covenant, Barry, Cars 3, Colossal, Dean, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, It Comes at Night, Julieta, Kong: Skull Island, The LEGO Batman Movie, Lost in Paris, Love Lies, Mr. Roosevelt, Score, Score: A Film Music Documentary, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Win It All, Wonder Woman, Worlds Apart, Your Name., Your Name, life lessons, Life lessons from movies, life lessons from film, life lessons from moviesComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man: Homecoming counts as a clean slate for Peter Parker’s web-slinger. Now nestled into the established Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tom Holland is a true teenage Spider-Man, one that was never successfully conveyed by two previous franchises and their over-aged actors. Aiming to please and bursting with effervescent zest at every flip, swing, and turn, John Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming succeeds as a brand new jumping off point for a character that badly needed course correction.

2017, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanJune 29, 2017AMC River East 212017, 2017 Summer Movies, Marvel Films, Marvel Comics, Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony Pictures, Sony Entertainment, Dolby, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Iron Man, Avengers, The Avengers, John Watts, Cop Car, Michael Keaton, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Kurt Russell, Batman, Beetlejuice, Donald Glover, Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green, Michael Chernus, Hannibal Buress, Martin Starr, Mac Gargan, Kenneth Choi, Michael Giacchino, Steve Ditko, Deadpool, John Hughes, Captain America, Captain America: Civil War, Marvel Studios, Christopher Ford, Horrible Bosses, Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, The LEGO Movie, Jacob Batalan, Tony Revolori, Zendaya, Laura Harrier, Aunt May, Vulture, Shocker, movie review, film review, movie commentary, film commentary, comic book movie, comic book films, Comic Book Guy, comic book movies, film franchises, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, life lessons, life lessons from movies, life lessons from film, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, Jon WattsComment

COLUMN: New Year's Resolutions for the Movie Industry in 2017

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 sixth edition, this is my absolute favorite editorial to write every year. I have fun taking the movie industry to task for things they need to change. I'm sarcastic, but I'm not the guy to take it to the false internet courage level of some Twitter troll. This will be as forward as I get all year.