JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Nebraska Starring Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk Directed by Alexander Payne In Billings, Montana, Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is attempting to get to Lincoln, Nebraska, because he believes he's won a million dollars.  His son David (Will Forte) and his wife Kate (June Squibb) keep telling Woody he didn't win anything, and that it's a big scam, but he doesn't want to hear it. In order to appease his father, and spend some quality time, David decides to play to Woody's delusion and drives him to Nebraska, where they run into old family members and friends of Woody whose true colors show when they hear Woody is a millionaire. What follows is a moving tale of an ordinary family and how the most important thing in life can't be bought with money. "Nebraska" has been nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor (Bruce Dern), Best Supporting Actress (June Squibb), Director, Cinematography, and Origina...

I, Frankenstein Starring Aaron Eckhart, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto, Bill Nighy Directed by Stuart Beaitte The creature Frankenstein (Aaron Eckhart) is created by Victor Frankenstein and abandoned by him, so he kills his wife and Victor goes in search of him, ending in his own life due to frostbite.  As Frankenstein buries him, he's accosted by demons, and is protected by gargoyles. Taken to the gargoyle fortress, Frankenstein meets their leader, Leonore (Miranda Otto), who tells Adam (as she names him) that there's been a holy war between the righteous gargoyles and the evil demons, led by head demon Naberius (Bill Nighy).  The demons want Adam because he's a soulless creature created by man, and desires to bring their fellow demons back to life through dead bodies. As the war wages between the two supernatural forces, Adam finds himself caught in the middle, hunted down by both factions and no one he can really trust, except for scientist Terra (Yvon...

Last Vegas Starring Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline Directed by Jon Turteltaub Lifelong friends Billy (Michael Douglas), Paddy (Robert De Niro), Archie (Morgan Freeman) and Sam (Kevin Kline) have grown apart as the years progressed.  Paddy lost his wife, whom was also friends with the other guys.  Archie was in the military and retired and suffered a small stroke.  Sam has a dysfunctional marriage, and Billy is about to get married to a girl in her thirties. He invites the guys to Las Vegas for the wedding, and the guys plan a special bachelor party for Billy, except for Paddy, who still holds deep resentment for Billy.  During their stay they run into bar singer Diana (Mary Steenburgen), who causes Billy to second guess his own relationship.  As the bachelor party begins, old secrets come to the surface that could tear the friendship forever. "Last Vegas" had its truly hilarious moments as well as surprisingly touc...

47 Ronin Starring Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Kou Shibasaki, Rinko Kikuchi Directed by Carl Rinsch In feudal Japan, a half-Japanese, half-British man named Kai (Keanu Reeves) is found in a mysterious woods as a boy, and raised among the Ako, where he falls in love with the ruler's daughter, Mika (Kou Shibasaki). Years later, the village is visited by Lord Kira (Tadanobu Asano) and his witch Mizuki (Rinko Kikuchi), who entrance the Ako leader into a spell causing him to almost kill Kira, which results in the ruler's suicide through seppuku, and Kira earning the Ako land, and Mika as his wife, in one year. Kai is sent to slavery, and the leader of the Ronin, Oishi (Hiyoyuki Sanada) is banished to a pit.  Nearly a year later, he is released and goes in search of Kai and the other banished Ako soldiers in an attempt to avenge their leaders' death, even though they were forbidden to seek revenge, and Kai returns to rescue Mika from an upcoming wedding she do...

Lone Survivor Starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster Directed by Peter Berg A plan is devised - known as Operation Red Wings - to take down a Taliban leader.  Four members of Seal Team 10 - Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and Matthew Axelson (Ben Foster) - are sent to investigate. Things go downhill when some villagers come upon them, and they decide to let them go.  They tell the Taliban and what ensues is an unforgettable firefight where only one of the Seal Team members survive. Some critics said this was the best war film since "Saving Private Ryan."  I was skeptical of that claim, until I saw the film.  Coming out of it, I tend to highly agree with that statement.  Rarely does a movie instill real emotions in me, but I found myself being totally heartbroken by what was happening on screen (especially at the end), and at moments I even found myself cheering...

Red 2 Starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Anthony Hopkins  Directed by Dean Parisot Retired, Extremely Dangerous...that's what Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) and his friend Marvin (John Malkovich) are labeled by the government.  While Frank is trying to lead a normal life with his girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), Marvin fears people are still after them. He turns out to be right, as several players are out to kill Moses and Marvin over a mission called Nightshade, in which a nuclear bomb was smuggled into Russia piece-by-piece - and ended up missing.  Several governments want to find the bomb, including MI6, who enlists Frank's friend Victoria (Helen Mirren) to kill him, and the Americans, who hire Frank's old enemy Han (Lee Byung-hun) to also kill him. Frank, Marvin and Sarah head to Russia to find the bomb, and come into contact with Frank's old flame Katya (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who makes Sarah immediately jealous.  As t...

Lee Daniels' The Butler Starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Terrence Howard Directed by Lee Daniels "Lee Daniels' The Butler" tells the story of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), who was raised as a slave on a plantation and worked his way up to becoming a butler that served eight different Presidents at the White House (Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Regan).  All the while he tried to maintain peace and order in his family with his alcoholic wife Gloria (Oprah Winfrey), his rebellious son Louis (David Oyelowo), and his other son Charlie (Elijah Kelley) who enlisted for Vietnam. As the years progress the Gaines family come into personal contact with the segregation and racism in America, especially affecting Louis, who eventually joins the Black Panther movement and is repeatedly arrested for his rebellion against the government.  Meanwhile, Cecil maintains his job at the White House while fighting his o...

Saving Mr. Banks Starring Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti Directed by John Lee Hancock In London in 1961, Pamela Travers (Emma Thompson) is broke and finally willing to consider selling her most treasured possession - the rights to the book series centering around Mary Poppins - to Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) to make a movie. She flies to Los Angeles to talk to Disney, and uses her stern tone to assert her dominance in the conversation, saying she has to be a part of every aspect of the making of the film, and if something isn't to her liking, or they do something against her wishes, she will not sign over the rights to Poppins. As the collaborative process infuriates and exasperates her cohorts, Pamela travels back to her childhood days with her loving, although highly alcoholic, father (Colin Farrell), showing how her stories concerning Mary Poppins and the family have a very close personal relationship to the author, and shows why she's v...

No One Lives Starring Luke Evans, Adelaide Clemens, Lee Tergesen, Derek Magyar Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura Young heiress Emma (Adelaide Clemens) is kidnapped, and a young couple (Luke Evans and Laura Ramsey) are moving on from their old town to start a new life.  Meanwhile, Hoag (Lee Tergesen) and his team of lowlife thugs are robbing a wealthy family's home, and an error caused by Flynn (Derek Magyar) results in the deaths of the family, and he incurs Hoag's wrath. To get back on Hoag's good graces, Flynn decides to kidnap the young couple, thinking they're wealthy, in hopes of bringing in a big haul.  What he gets, however, is far more deadly than he - or anyone else - would expect. While on the outside it seems that "No One Lives" is another kidnapping torture movie, director Kitamura turns it on its head and asks a question that's rarely asked in torture porn cinema - what would happen if a bunch of low-life criminals unknowingly kidnap...

Ender's Game Starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis Directed by Gavin Hood In 2086, earth is attacked by an alien species, but were defeated by a rogue commander.  Ever since that attack, earth has raised up young people to help defend it from what they fear will be a future attack. Fifty years after the attack, Ender Wiggins (Asa Butterfield) is viewed by Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) as someone to watch out for, due to his tactical abilities and natural born leadership potential.  After mercilessly beating up a bully at the school, Ender is sent to Battle School because of his fighting abilities. While there he is seen by Graff as the best of the best, which at first infuriates the other cadets, but as Ender proves his tactical prowess, he begins to earn their respect. As Graff fears retaliation from the alien species, Ender desires to try to understand them and wonder why it's been over fifty years since they attacked,...

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 Starring Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Will Forte, Andy Samberg Directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) and his friends just saved their island from Flint's invention, which threatened to destroy the island with a deadly food storm.  Inventor Chester V (Will Forte), Flint's childhood hero, arrives shortly after and re-locates the inhabitants of the island to San Franjose, California so they can clean up the island, and Flint goes to work for his hero. All is not as it seems, as Chester V has evil intentions for Flint's invention, which is hidden somewhere on the island.  He uses Flint's naivete to travel to the island to retrieve it, under the guise that his invention is now creating deadly food creatures who are trying to swim to shore.  Flint brings along his friends, much to Chester's chagrin, to retrieve the machine. What I enjoy about most sequels is that there's not a lot of story,...