 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
You simply won't find another film quite like The Lobster (opening today). It's one of the strangest, most eccentric films of this or any year, and its first-half is deliciously entrancing. But the more tale that is served, the less satiating it becomes.
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 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Director Brian Singer is back at the helm of X-Men: Apocalypse (opening Friday, May 27), the sixth X-Men film overall and his fourth (he directed the first two X-Men films, and 2014's installment, X-Men: Days of Future Past). Despite what you might have read up to this point (the studio uncharacteristically lifted the "no-review" embargo on this latest film, allowing early reviews to post several weeks ago), X-Men: Apocalypse is a worthy entry into the saga, and is by far the best comic book film thus far in 2016. It's also far from perfect, and is maybe the least-balanced of all of Singer's X-Men films. And "Best Comic Book Film" of the year so far should be taken with a grain of salt, given the critically-hated but actually just below average Batman v. Superman and the critically-adored and horribly over- rated Captain America: Civil War. Still, Apocalypse is by far more enjoyable than either of these two films.  Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
The whole gang is back in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (opening today), which means that you can expect more of the same. It's a follow-up to the hard-R-rated raunch-fest Neighbors, which grossed over 150-million back in 2014. The good news is that not only are stars Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Ike Barinholtz, Zac Efron and Dave Franco back for more shenanigans (as are several other bit actors from the first film), but the same creative team is behind this sequel: Writers Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O'Brien, and director Nicholas Stoller. The bad news? This new film lacks the heart and purpose of the first film, and gets trapped by trying to stay within the same structural boundaries and premises of the original.  Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Films like A Bigger Splash (opening today) remind us of just how stuffy American filmmaking can be. Although the characters in this movie speak English, this is really a European film, set in Italy, directed by an Italian director. But there is a sense of freedom here, a confidence that is not all that commonly found in state-side releases. Characters are allowed to breathe, there are no car chases, no explosions. Women and men are comfortable in their sexuality and sensuality and nudity never gets in the way of a good story. And other than needing a pool (it plays a big part in the movie), A Bigger Splash could have taken place on the stage. It is thoroughly a movie about people, and what juicy roles for those involved in the ensemble. Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts) and his lover Marianne (Tilda Swinton) are on holiday in a luxurious Italian getaway. Barely a word is spoken between the two, and not just because Marianne - a very successful pop star - has lost her voice. They lay in the sun, go into town, take a leisurely walk and soak in the excess of extravagance. They have sex whenever and wherever they like. It seems a relaxing vacation.  Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
Angry Birds was (and still is?) everyone's favorite obsession, and don't even act like you haven't heard of it. This popular strategy game has the user flinging a variety of different birds - all with unique abilities - trying to destroy level after level to recover their nest eggs, stolen by an evil green-pig empire. It's one of the most popular mobile games ever created, so naturally, Hollywood wanted to cash in. The end result is The Angry Birds Movie (opening today), and it is as shallow and vapid as you might expect from a movie based on a simple video game.  Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
It doesn't get any more "A-List" than George Clooney and Julia Roberts, but their latest film, Money Monster (opening today) is a complete dog.  Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
And you thought your family was dysfunctional. In The Family Fang (opening today), Jason Bateman stars in and directs one of the strangest films you might ever see, centering on a family that is unlike anything ever put to screen. But the oddities of the Fang family never materialize into anything worth caring about, in this fascinating yet dull movie.  Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
There is a big problem in the Marvel Universe, and I'm not talking about the latest clash that pits many of the Avengers against one another. In Captain America: Civil War (opening today) the building friction between two of the top Avengers - Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) - finally comes to a head, but this is more than a civil war...it's another over-stuffed comic book movie that is more interested in setting up future chapters than it is in telling an exciting, cohesive story. Because for all of the panache and energy that this film has - and it has it's fair share of both - Captain America: Civil War ends up just being a loud, hollow excuse to throw several of our favorite super-heroes - old and new - on the screen at the same time. It succeeds in being excessive, but wouldn't it be great if it felt important? |
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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.
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