 Focus Features, 2020. Say hello to Carey Mulligan, your 2020 Best Actress, for her unpredictable, deliciously wild role in the ambitious crime-drama, "Promising Young Woman."
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 Pixar/Disney, 2020. The audience has come to expect more from Pixar than your average animated movie. And once again, Pixar delivers.
 Shout! Studios, 2020. Released earlier in 2020 and lost in the shuffle created by the pandemic, "Standing Up, Falling Down" is a great film to stumble across (it can be found on Amazon Prime, Starz, or Hulu Premium). It features a sharp, funny script (first-time feature-film screenwriter, Peter Hoare) and a deeply touching, surprisingly effective performance by none other than Billy Crystal.
 Netflix, 2020. There's no denying that "The Prom" is fun, bright and colorful. But while the celebration is in full-swing, one too many missteps leave this dance falling flat.
 HBO Max, 2020. The beauty of "Let Them All Talk" is in its simplicity. Shot on a real cruise ship over a period of two weeks, the envelope-pushing director Steven Soderbergh set sail with some great actors at his disposal. Meryl Streep. Dianne Wiest. Candice Bergen. Lucas Heges. Gemma Chan. There was only an outline of a script, and most of the dialogue was completely improvised. Only natural light was used. There was a sound guy, and Soderbergh with his camera. "Let Them All Talk" was not just the name of the movie they were making, it was their mantra.
In lesser hands, this could have been a Titanic-sized disaster. But Soderbergh, with Streep as his fearless captain, steers this ship safely into port. ("Let Them All Talk" is available exclusively on HBO Max beginning 12/11). Disney+ Review: 'Godmothered' not your grandma's version of a fairy-tale, and that's a good thing12/3/2020  Disney+, 2020. Synonymous with the phrase "coming to Disney+" is the idea that the film will be family-friendly. With few exceptions for new films, it also has been synonymous with mediocrity. "Godmothered" is no different, a film that just barely gets a passing grade despite the often-clever spin it gives to traditional "fairy-tale" expectations.
 Hulu, 2020. One of the greatest things about film is the ability to learn and grow through the experiences of others not like yourself...stories told by people or points of view that you might not have otherwise experienced. In the mainstream, for example, we have rarely seen REAL stories about LGBTQ love and family life, let alone in a Christmas movie. Several minorities and groups - like the LGBTQ community - haven't had fair representation on film, to put things mildly.
With "Happiest Season," we get a bona fide lesbian Christmas comedy, one that is really funny, super-relatable to all and also full of heart. Maybe one future Christmas years from now, "Happiest Season" will be known as one of the better Christmas movies period, and not just that it's an LGBTQ Christmas movie.  Universal Pictures, 2020. The "Freaky Friday" body-switch gimmick is given a gory, R-rated twist in "Freaky," a deliciously cheesy horror-comedy hitting theaters this Friday.
 Sony Pictures Classics, 2020. You can tell that "The Climb" started as a short-film. When extended into a full feature, "The Climb" begins to feel like an uphill struggle, despite some clever and sometimes hilarious detours along the way.
Review: Mel Gibson has a bloody good time as Santa Claus in the outrageous yet effective 'Fatman'11/10/2020  Saban Films, 2020. Ho Ho Holy Shit...is that Mel Gibson playing Santa Claus? If you're already offended at the notion of Gibson as Cringle, then "Fatman" is definitely not for you. However, in its own deliberate gonzo sort of way, "Fatman" is perhaps one of the freshest - and bloodiest - takes on a holiday film in quite a long time.
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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 film critic for WXYZ Channel 7 Action News in Detroit,
and appeared weekly on FOX-2 in Detroit from 2016-2020.
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