 Netflix, 2021. Zack Snyder has worked his way into the hearts of millions and is one of the most talked-about directors of the past year. The "Zack Snyder Cut" of "Justice League" that was recently released was well-received and dreamed into fruition by his fervent fan-base. But long before he ever took on The Caped Crusader and his Super-Friends, Snyder cut his teeth on a zombie movie...a George Romero zombie movie no less...the 2004 remake of "Dawn of the Dead." It was Snyder's first feature-film and he returns to world of the undead with his own original zombie tale, "Army of the Dead."
Yes, it's way too long (it is a Zack Snyder film after all), and it never quite lives up to its outstanding opening sequence. But sometimes it's nice to just rest one's brain, and that particular muscle is not at all needed to enjoy this one. "Army of the Dead" definitely pays tribute to the zombie genre, in that mindlessness is not only welcome, it's the main dish. If only it didn't take itself so seriously.
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 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.
 Focus Features, 2020. "Come Play" continues a long-standing Hollywood tradition of releasing dumb, disposable (re: cheaply made) horror films on or around Halloween weekend. Even within a genre that often asks the viewer to suspend their disbelief near the point of exhaustion, "Come Play," stands out as a special kind of ridiculousness.
 It's a horror film, no doubt. The worst, most effective form of horror, in that it doesn't feature bogeymen or faceless, raging killers. The monsters in "Antebellum" are real. Disappointingly for a film tackling such important, timely issues such as racial inequality and injustice, its gimmicks undercut its efforts, leaving the viewers to pick up the messy, disconnected pieces where they fall. By the end, you realize the puzzle wasn't even worth putting together, and that the filmmakers - while well-intentioned - don't seem to know the most effective way to handle the material.
 Netflix, 2020. Charlie Kaufman may very well be better and smarter than us, but man is it annoying when he rubs our faces in his self-proclaimed brilliance. In adapting the 2016 novel by Ian Reed, his "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" is inaccessible, gloriously bland and shamefully pretentious at only a level that Kaufman could ever possibly reach.
 IFC Films, 2020. Other than the spooky background music, the first two-thirds of the new thriller, "The Rental," plays like a soap opera. But it's an intriguing film that will make you think twice before ever renting out your next AirBnB.
 IFC Films, 2020. It's horrifying growing old, but time does not fly by quickly in the new film, "Relic."
 A horror-film re-make hitting theaters in late February? Nothing about this movie demands that you should go in with elevated expectations, but "The Invisible Man" surprisingly has more meat on its bones than you'd ever imagine. In fact, it's 2020's first, dare I say, great film.
 Orion Pictures, 2020. By Pedro Schwarzenegger
The newest ongoing contributor to Movie Show Plus. Pedro Schwarzenegger is a true Northman. A savage man in a savage place and time. His taste in cinema? Savage. And yet he does all his writing on an iPhone, like some kind of candy-ass millennial. PedroSchwarzenegger@cinemabuse.com  20th Century Fox, 2020. There are actually a few things to like about "Underwater," but unfortunately, there are just too many holes to keep this ship afloat.
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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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