 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Sure it's sweet, but much of it is uneven and even unfunny. Many of the characters are flat, under-developed and/or under-used. But somehow, when it all comes together toward the end, it seriously pulls at your heartstrings and you realize that this crazy family is one in which you enjoyed spending time with. Of course, I'm talking about the first My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a small little romantic comedy that shockingly took the world by storm when it became one of the highest grossing rom-coms of all-time, grossing over $350 million worldwide despite it's meager five million dollar budget. It even earned an Academy Award nomination for its star and screenwriter, Nia Vardalos, for Best Original Screenplay (it lost that year to Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her). So inevitably in an era where nostalgia and re-makes reign supreme, here comes My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (opening today), and it's more of what we would expect from the franchise...and that's a good thing.
0 Comments
 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
A few recent films have attempted tackling the moral implications of using drones for military use, but none have done so as effectively as the taut, suspenseful new film Eye in the Sky (opening today).  Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
There is no movie in history more primed to fail than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (opening Friday, this is an early review). This review contains mild spoilers, so you are invited to come back and read this after you've seen the film. If you haven't seen the film yet, you won't find any major spoilers here, as the film does contain a few shocking surprises. OK, you've been warned...proceeding to the review...  Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Sometimes a movie can sneak up on you, and there is no better example of this than "Hello, My Name is Doris" (opening today), a rare gem of a romantic comedy that is being released smack-dab in the middle of the Winter...a time that is usually reserved for throw-away films that the studios are wanting to dump and quickly bury before the thaw that comes with Spring and Summer blockbusters. But don't judge it by its release date: "Hello, My Name is Doris" and its star, Sally Field, have set the bar quite high, and right now, I can't imagine this film and her performance not landing somewhere on the year-end radar.  Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Fitting, that on a day where Sally Field releases a film in which she gives a career-performance (Hello, My Name is Doris) at age 70, veteran actor Christopher Plummer would do the same. There is no other film quite like Remember (opening today), or at least, none that I can recall, and Plummer is exceptional in this Jewish-fantasy, revenge thriller.  Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
To discuss 10 Cloverfield Lane (opening today) at any real length, is to spoil it. Is it a sequel to the 2008 found-footage, monster-thriller Cloverfield? Are any of the threats facing our young heroine real? Is there anything that people won't go see that has J.J. Abrams' name attached to it?  Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
To say that writer/director Terrence Malick is an acquired taste doesn't quite cover it. He's a famous auteur who doesn't play by any of Hollywood's rules, or any rules in general, including the accepted idea that most theatrically-released films will at least come with plot, purpose and reason. I imagine that if Malick was told that his film must have a story, or a defined character, that he may just lose interest, take all his toys and go home. He is much more interested in creating transcendent experiences...film's like To the Wonder, The Tree of Life, The New World and the The Thin Red Line are hit-and-miss examples of his poetic style. These four previously mentioned films precede his latest work, Knight of Cups (opening today), his third film in the past five years (after directing Badlands and Days of Heaven in the 70s, Malick's next film didn't drop until the late 90s). He clearly has something to say lately, something worth expressing. And good luck finding whatever that is in Knight of Cups. It's his most pretentious, off-the-mark effort of his career.  Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
There's probably some pretty good reasons why there aren't too many "war comedies." Of course, the genre does exist, usually played more in the zone of "laughs" than for any political purpose or grand-standing. The difficulty with mashing genres (see Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as a more recent example) is that way too often, the film isn't strong in either of them. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (opening today, and for you perceptive ones, this is military-speak for "WTF") is a film that falls with a loud thud in that purgatory between genres: It is not all that funny, and it is not a very effective war movie.  Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Disney has always been at the forefront of imagination, especially when it comes to the animated genre. Pixar Studios also deserves major credit, but Zootopia (opening today) is not a Pixar film, but a straight Disney release. Usually we chuckle (or in some cases, marvel) at how they conceptualize whole universes working in the craziest of places: The under-the-sea utopia of The Little Mermaid, the circle-of-life societal structure of The Lion King, the intricate detail of A Bug's Life, what goes on when we're not around with The Toy Story movies, or even more recently, how video game characters live and interact in Wreck-It Ralph. But very rarely is Disney's imagination matched with an even deeper metaphoric - or dare I say, adult - meaning. Zootopia is one of the more insightful and sharp films to come out of Disney in a long time, and perhaps maybe their most daring social commentary ever.  Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Stop me if you've heard this one: A reluctant hero, on the verge of retirement and with a baby on the way, is sucked into a major, catastrophic revenge plot by a Middle-Eastern villain, who had been thought to be dead. This hero is bullet-proof and invincible: Smarter, faster, stronger than any other man on the planet. This man might as well be America, or more accurately, he embodies what Americans think of themselves when in the global arena. Yes, London Has Fallen (opening today) is every action movie that ever was, and that ever will be. Is it any good? Does that even matter, if it serves to remind us just how bad-ass we are? |
Looking for a specific movie or review?
Search Below: Categories
All
Archives
March 2025
|
tom santilli movie reviews
Tom Santilli is a professional film critic, TV personality, host and
the Executive Producer of Movie Show Plus.
He also is the featured film critic appearing on WXYZ Channel 7 Action News in Detroit,
and appeared weekly on FOX-2 in Detroit from 2016-2020.
Feel free to use the "search" below to find your favorite titles.
TOM'S GRADING SCALE:
B- and above: Thumbs Up
C+ or below: Thumbs Down
RSS Feed
Currently Airing:Check Local Listings
|
For more information on Movie Show Plus, Email: |