 Rating: 2 out of 5 starsGenre: Drama, Comedy
Run Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes, Rated R Starring: Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Joaquim de Almeida, Ann Dowd, Scoot McNairy, Zoe Kazan, Reynaldo Pacheco Screenplay by Peter Straughan (Frank, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Debt) Directed by David Gordon Green (Joe, Prince Avalanche, The Sitter, Your Highness, Pineapple Express) Our Brand Is Crisis (opening today) is a political satire, a fictionalized version of the events chronicled in the 2005 documentary-film of the same name. Politics - specifically politicians - are corrupt, and there are forces at work behind-the-scenes that drive popular opinion, sway votes, and influence governments. None of this is really new information, but it is served up to us such anyways in this well-intentioned, but poorly executed political misfire.
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 Rating: 5 out of 5 starsGenre: Drama
Run Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes, Rated R Starring: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, Sean Bridgers, William H. Macy, Tom McCamus Based on the novel by Emma Donoghue Screenplay by Emma Donoghue Directed by Lenny Abrahamson (Frank, What Richard Did, Garage, Adam & Paul) Books have long provided a bottomless source of material for the movies, an eternal spring-well of stories, ideas and characters. Lately, a growing trend in Hollywood is to hire a book's author to adapt the screenplay of their work...who other than the novel's creator knows the story better than the author? Room (opening today), is based on the 2010 best-seller for author Emma Donoghue, who was then tapped to adapt the film-version. The result is a harrowing, faithful adaptation that is at the same time extremely difficult to watch, yet is an absolute must-see. And while the movie is generating loads of Oscar buzz surrounding the phenomenal Brie Larson, there is a truly Oscar-worthy performance by 9-year-old actor Jacob Tremblay, who not only carries the movie, but turns in one of the best child performances in the history of movies.  Rating: 4 out of 5 starsGenre: Drama
Run Time: 2 hours, Not Rated Starring: Richard Gere, Jena Malone, Ben Vereen, Kyra Sedgwick, Steve Buscemi Written and directed by Oren Moverman (Rampart, The Messenger) If there's one thing that Oren Moverman's films can be called up to this point, it's haunting. On the heels of The Messenger and Rampart comes Time Out of Mind (opening today), a mesmerizing and brutally realistic examination of another lost soul.  Rating: 3 out of 5 starsGenre: Drama, Biography, History
Run Time: 2 hours, 22 minutes, Rated PG-13 Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Domenick Lombardozzi, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan Written by Matt Charman and Ethan & Joel Coen Directed by Steven Spielberg (Lincoln, War Horse, Munich, Minority Report, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones Trilogy, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws) Legendary director Steven Spielberg takes on the Cold War in the espionage thriller, Bridge of Spies (opening today). He re-teams with Tom Hanks, who also starred in Spielberg's The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can and Saving Private Ryan, in which he took home the Best Actor Oscar in 1999. But although this latest film is based on a true story, its biggest problem is overcoming several plot contrivances and moments that just ring false. All over this script by Matt Charman and the Coen Brothers, fact is blurred with fiction, resulting in a well-made, well-acted spy movie that doesn't quite reach the level of intrigue in which it's aiming.  Rating: 3 out of 5 starsGenre: Drama
Run Time: 1 hour, 52 minutes, Rated R Starring: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern, Noah Lomax Written and Directed by Ramin Bahrani (At Any Price, Goodbye Solo, Chop Shop, Strangers) Set against the backdrop of the housing crisis just a few years ago, 99 Homes (opening today) is a strong film that reveals much of what went on in the real estate market following the economic crash. But it can also be considered fantasy, as too many elements of its story are left to chance, coincidence, or dare I say, manipulation.  Rating: 3 out of 5 starsGenre: Drama
Run Time: 1 hour, 48 minutes, Rated R Starring: Ben Mendelsohn, Yvonne Landry, Anthony Howard, Ryan Reynolds, Jayson Warner Smith, Alfre Woodard Written and Directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (It's Kind of a Funny Story, Sugar) Mississippi Grind (opening today) is the sort of gritty, character-driven film made for long-time character-actor, Ben Mendelsohn. He's been a leading man in Australia for several years, known mostly to American audiences as a guy you know you've seen before in several movies but probably couldn't name. Mississippi Grind exists in grimy, smoky, dimly-lit bars and poker rooms and it tells the story of one man's addiction, a topic too-often tackled in movies. But here, it's made interesting by Mendelsohn and his on-screen partner, Ryan Reynolds, who sheds his comic-book hero persona and who gives a career-best performance.  Rating: 5 out of 5 starsRating: 5 out of 5 stars
Read it on: https://www.axs.com/movie-review-sicario-life-is-not-beautiful-99732  Rating: 4 out of 5 starsGenre: Action, Adventure, Science-Fiction
Run Time: 2 hours, 21 minutes, Rated PG-13 Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sebastian Stan Based on the book by Andy Weir Written by Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods, World War Z, Cloverfield) Directed by Ridley Scott (Exodus: Gods and Kings, Prometheus, American Gangster, Black Hawk Down, Gladiator, Thelma & Louise, Blade Runner, Alien) For as long as we've known about its existence, mankind has dreamed about what life would be like on Mars. In The Martian (opening today), we finally get to find out.  Rating: 2 out of 5 starsGenre: Comedy
Run Time: 1 hours, 41 minutes, Rated R Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Jordan Carlos, Jason Mantzoukas, Amanda Peet, Adam Scott, Natasha Lyonne Written and Directed by Leslie Headland (Bachelorette) Jake (Jason Sudeikis) is called a womanizer. Lainey (Alison Brie) is called a whore. The two of them meet and fall deep into...something...and that's the premise of the only-average, mildly funny rom-com, Sleeping With Other People (opening today). |
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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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