Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Movie Trivia News Showtimes

      Every Movie Has a Lesson

      Every Movie Has a Lesson is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Don Shanahan.

      Prev Next
      Rating Title | Year Author Quote
      4/5
      		88 (2022) Don Shanahan While intellectually satisfying to a degree, headiness cannot be its sole peak of moral damage. For peril’s sake, you have to let a little, or even a substantial, bit of your mounting suspense go ahead and detonate.
      Posted Feb 16, 2023
      3/5
      		Alice, Darling (2022) Don Shanahan With enduring courage, "Alice, Darling" is unafraid of its percolating host of difficult triggers.
      Posted Jan 17, 2023
      3/5
      		Babylon (2022) Don Shanahan Deploying the "Whiplash" and "La La Land" filmmaker’s phenomenal creative passions, "Babylon" overflows from every cinematic orifice with bouncy music, flamboyant production value, and vivacious performances.
      Posted Dec 16, 2022
      3/5
      		The Whale (2022) Don Shanahan For better or worse, the "Black Swan" and "Requiem for a Dream" auteur cannot help himself with his edgy preferences. A humane story like "The Whale," even with its own grimness, doesn’t need Aronofsky’s heavy darkness to be effective.
      Posted Dec 15, 2022
      2/5
      		Empire of Light (2022) Don Shanahan The private and civil issues present in this film cannot be fixed and are not fixed by silver screen sorcery. Sorry, but it’s going to take more than Hal Ashby’s "Being There."
      Posted Dec 08, 2022
      4/5
      		Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022) Don Shanahan This 2022 edition is arguably the classiest and most sumptuous adaptation to date of Lawrence’s literary masterpiece.
      Posted Dec 01, 2022
      4/5
      		The Fabelmans (2022) Don Shanahan Like anyone with or without a camera, Spielberg chose his vantage points to either look down upon or look up toward formative memories. Those choices declare the favorable or the regretful reverence of those moments.
      Posted Nov 22, 2022
      2/5
      		Armageddon Time (2022) Don Shanahan If "Armageddon Time" is the sum total of James Gray’s regret, then it is a weak indictment that comes off little better than someone saying “I had a Black friend once.”
      Posted Nov 04, 2022
      4/5
      		The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) Don Shanahan For better or worse, "The Banshees of Inisherin" is an unrelenting emotional tussle of stubbornness among men. Your tolerance level for such behavior will undoubtedly mix feelings and inform your experience.
      Posted Oct 26, 2022
      3/5
      		The Class (2022) Don Shanahan There’s a limit reached in "The Class" where even the issues have their issues, but the effort is commendable.
      Posted Oct 25, 2022
      3/5
      		Ticket to Paradise (2022) Don Shanahan For a while, there is a sizzling and infectious comedic burn to their verbal clashes and invasions of personal space that wanes with time.
      Posted Oct 21, 2022
      2/5
      		The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022) Don Shanahan "The Greatest Beer Run Ever" makes Donahue’s quest and the entire Tet Offensive look like a dangerous Spring Break weekend bender of dumb luck successes and heroic conveniences.
      Posted Sep 30, 2022
      5/5
      		Blonde (2022) Don Shanahan The audiences’ applause of adoration is replaced by cries of anguish and pain often unseen by anyone. It is those tears that paint this film. For better or worse, those tears are what you now remember more than the smiles when it comes to Marilyn Monroe. 
      Posted Sep 24, 2022
      4/5
      		Don't Worry Darling (2022) Don Shanahan Soften the scalpels of credulity with "Don’t Worry Darling." You’re not going to get told everything, and, honestly, you shouldn’t be. Know that you are entering pure mindf--k territory.
      Posted Sep 20, 2022
      4/5
      		The Woman King (2022) Don Shanahan Seeing these women in front of and behind the camera seize this opportunity to tell a little-known history of deep heroics is beyond valuable.
      Posted Sep 17, 2022
      4/5
      		Confess, Fletch (2022) Don Shanahan Plenty handsome and exuding the right level of slick affluence, Hamm has the sharp wit, quick comedic timing, and the ability to drop both with a straight face to be this notorious and hilarious laconic character.
      Posted Sep 13, 2022
      2/5
      		Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) Don Shanahan Don't get me wrong, movies are allowed to sugarcoat tragedy, but any happy ending can't devalue the original loss.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		Ex Machina (2014) Don Shanahan Ex Machina" has much more good than bad and much more surprise than contrivance when it comes to traversing the mine field that can be the science fiction topic of artificial intelligence, especially with a potentially damning title like that.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      2/5
      		The Expendables 3 (2014) Don Shanahan It’s not a pretty one, but the third film, for the most part, departs from the hearty rerun missions of the first two films.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      3/5
      		The Expendables 2 (2012) Don Shanahan Give us guns, violence, and babes and you might as well bottle it as male Kryptonite or Viagra
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      3/5
      		The Expendables (2010) Don Shanahan Give us guns, violence, and babes and you might as well bottle it as male Kryptonite.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		Everybody Wants Some!! (2016) Don Shanahan Outside of very brief dashes of existential reflection on team-building and proper courtship, we simply watch these guys operate and clown around during an endless schedule of soirees for two hours, and that easy breeze is just fine.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      3/5
      		Everest (2015) Don Shanahan Marketed like a thrilling disaster film yet playing like a respectful drama, "Everest" still carries the sheen of every other Hollywood mountain climbing movie while offering enough of an eulogistic history lesson to be respectful of its true story.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      5/5
      		E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Don Shanahan The film has more heart, finesse, performance, and magic in single scenes than some movies have in their entire running time, and does it with an animatronic special effect as a main character.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      2/5
      		Equals (2015) Don Shanahan In a film centered on characters being overwhelmed by stirring emotions, that reaction does not transfer successfully to the audience.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		The Equalizer 2 (2018) Don Shanahan This twisty sequel takes the temperature and weight of the cold lead hammer that is Denzel and heats it with anger and stakes to match the hot lead being shot around him.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		The Equalizer (2014) Don Shanahan The subtle shades and suggestions are handsomely successful at preserving the lead character's mystique and the film's higher plane of purpose.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		Enough Said (2013) Don Shanahan "Enough Said" is a smart and mature romantic comedy for the over-40 crowd that's a breath of fresh air when compared to younger and dumber entries in the genre.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      3/5
      		Ender's Game (2013) Don Shanahan The film does its best from the source novel to occupy Ender's psyche, between the jubilation of success to the hard decisions of a soldier.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		On the Seventh Day (2017) Don Shanahan McKay's outstanding film gives undocumented Mexican immigrants a vibrant voice and stirring course to seek that bundled American goal.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		Emerald City (2016) Don Shanahan "Emerald City" is a working man’s drama spiked with humor and artistic longing.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      3/5
      		Elysium (2013) Don Shanahan Dynamically designed and well paced, the film offers very good, albeit predictable, entertainment.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		Elvis & Nixon (2016) Don Shanahan There is a better-than-good chance that not a lick of "Elvis & Nixon" is true, but that doesn't ruin the fun of examining a documented moment of star-crossed brevity.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      3/5
      		Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014) Don Shanahan Sometimes, the best documentaries are about losers, accidental stardom, hubris, and horrible people.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      5/5
      		Eighth Grade (2018) Don Shanahan "Eighth Grade" endeavors to tell the ponderous plight of this current connected generation and nails it with astonishing honesty and freshness.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		Edge of Tomorrow (2014) Don Shanahan There's a certain unexpected humor coming out of "Edge of Tomorrow" that boosts its doom-and-gloom alien invasion setup.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		Easy A (2010) Don Shanahan "Easy A" pays homage to Hughes while creating a modern and endlessly-connected high school setting for the Facebook and Twitter generation that we didn't see coming a generation ago.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      5/5
      		East of Eden (1955) Don Shanahan True to what made Dean the iconic symbol of that era's youth, his troubling and intricate performance as Cal Trask is ripe with the disaffected emotions that made him controversial to the old guard and beloved by the younger generation of his day.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      3/5
      		That Awkward Moment (2014) Don Shanahan Compliment the film for having the balls to call out the similarities and differences within a new, modern landscape of dating and relationships.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      		Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Don Shanahan Raising the stakes and swinging for the fences like a good film sequel should, Joss Whedon pays off the Phase 2 initiative with both a new level of groundbreaking effort and a continued dedication to the master blueprint of a grander big picture.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      5/5
      		Marvel's the Avengers (2012) Don Shanahan Go back a rewrite the definitions for "unprecedented," "groundbreaking," and those other buzz words.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      3/5
      		Atomic Blonde (2017) Don Shanahan Leitch’s film lacks zip, zilch, and zero in the style department.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      2/5
      		The Assassin (2015) Don Shanahan The high volume of posturing and portending weighs down "The Assassin" and will test your patience.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      5/5
      		The Artist (2011) Don Shanahan "The Artist" calls back to the when the beauty and power of single looks and precise movements driven by beautiful film scores meant something before they became filler.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		Arrival (2016) Don Shanahan The trippy events unfolding out of Heisserer’s screenplay tangle the puppeteer’s strings and play with narrative and filmmaking forces few are daring enough, and smart enough, to wield.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      5/5
      		Argo (2012) Don Shanahan Argo is an extremely impressive and well-crafted political thriller that would carry a resonance even without the timely present happenings.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      3/5
      		Arbitrage (2012) Don Shanahan It offers timely questions and enough entertaining mystery to play off of our tough economic times.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      3/5
      		The Apparel (2016) Don Shanahan “The Apparel” skews far more to a situational drama that prefers the static to the kinetic.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      3/5
      		Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018) Don Shanahan Heart and humor remain the best powers on display in this sequel and momentary palette cleanser.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      4/5
      		Ant-Man (2015) Don Shanahan "Ant-Man" is packed with a plentiful amount of humor, spirit, and surprises that trump both the bad PR and overindulgent marketing.
      Posted Aug 14, 2022
      Prev Next