JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Major Theatrical Releases April 2017 March was an amazing time in the theaters.  "Logan," "Kong: Skull Island," "Ghost in the Shell," "Life," "Power Rangers" and especially "Beauty and the Beast" made the month seem almost like a summer month of blockbusters.  Unfortunately, it's looking like April will be a bit thin when it comes to highly anticipated movies, with only one in particular coming to mind. Here are the major theatrical releases for April 2017 (dates subject to change). April 7 Going in Style "Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, three lifelong pals risk it all by embarking on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money." - imdb.com. Basically "Going in Style" seems to be "Hell or High Water" but only more lighthearted.  A group of geriatric Robin Hoods plan the ultimate heist in order to provide for th...

The Walking Dead Something They Need Season 7 Episode 15 Review **SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW, EPISODE AND COMICS FOLLOW,  READ AT YOUR OWN RISK** We are nearing the end of another season of "The Walking Dead," and with a whole lot of events still to occur, they amped up the episode by centering on three stories leading up to next week's explosive finale. One story centers around Maggie at the Hilltop, where she is teaching Eduardo how to farm, while Gregory listens in angrily, as Maggie seems to be garnering the love and admiration of the Hilltop citizens.  She goes out beyond the gates to pull some plants when Gregory goes out to meet her, urging her to trust him.  She says she will as long as he keeps watch, and he draws a knife, and contemplates killing her.  Then a lone Walker emerges from the woods, and Gregory is too scared to do anything, leaving Maggie to take care of it.  Suddenly another Walker appears and tackles Gregory, while he cries...

Power Rangers Starring Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Banks Directed by Dean Israelite The Story: Back during the age of the dinosaurs, the Power Rangers, under the leadership of Red Ranger Zordon (Bryan Cranston), attempts to stop rogue Green Ranger Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks) from stealing the Zeo Crystal and destroying the world.  Rita gains the upper hand on the Rangers, and before he dies Zordon orders Alpha 5 (Bill Hader) to strike the earth with a meteor, sending Rita to the depths of the ocean. In modern day Angel Grove, life is as ordinary as it seems for five teenagers.  Quarterback Jason Scott (Dacre Montgomery) throws his football career away after a string of vicious pranks that lands him in detention, cheerleader Kimberly Hart (Naomi Scott) finds herself in the center of some severe cyber bullying and also lands in detention, quiet autistic Billy Cranston (RJ Cyler), who is also dealing with his father's death, also find...

Life Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Arivon Bakare Directed by Daniel Espinosa The Story: A six-member crew aboard the International Space Station has rescued a damaged space probe from Mars, and scientist Hugh Derry (Arivon Bakare) finds microbial life form: the first sign of life outside Earth.  Understandably the crew is delighted, especially renegade act-before-you-think Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds), the lead commander Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson), sullen medical officer David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), mission commander Ekaterina Golovkina (Olga Dihovichnaya), and pilot Sho Murakami (Hiyouki Sanada). Hugh discovers that "Calvin" (the organism that was named by a group of school children on earth) is something very unique: it is, in simplest terms, all muscle, all brain, and all eye.  It retreats into an almost comatose state, and when Hugh tries to shock it awake, it becomes violent and attacks him, and soon it escapes and grows ...

Beauty and the Beast Starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad Directed by Bill Condon The Story: There once was a handsome Prince who threw the most lavish balls for the most beautiful people.  When an unseemly older woman seeks refuge at his castle and offers a rose in payment, the Prince scoffs her and throws her out.  She reveals herself to be an enchantress, and places a curse on the Prince, turning him into a Beast and his servants into furniture, erasing them from the town's memories, and leaving the Prince with one last rose.  If he can love - and find someone to love him - as a Beast, then everything will be restored, but if fails to do so by the time the last petal falls, he will remain a Beast forever, and his servants will turn into ordinary furniture. Some time later, in the small town of Villeneuve, young Belle (Emma Watson) is the most beautiful girl in the town, but also the most unique, as she doesn't need a man and also forges...

The Belko Experiment Starring John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley Directed by Greg McLean The Story: In Bogota, there's an American company known as Belko Industries, where the employees have been for over a year.  They all have implants in their heads that are supposed to be used if they're kidnapped in order to be rescued.  Employee Mike (John Gallagher Jr.) notices that there's a new security team who turns away the local employees (since they don't have chips in their heads), and after a few minutes or normal working, the building goes into lockdown. A voice comes over the intercom telling the employees that they need to kill two co-workers, or those in charge will do it.  At first, they think it's a game, but then people start dying when their implants go off, causing their heads to explode from the inside. Now in a panic, they're instructed that they need to kill thirty co-workers, or sixty of them will die at r...

The Walking Dead The Other Side Season 7 Episode 14 Review **SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW, EPISODE AND COMICS FOLLOW,  READ AT YOUR OWN RISK** With only three episodes to go, it's looking more and more like they're going to stretch the all out war until the next season, because after an explosive, amazing episode last week were Carol and Morgan both decide to fight, we're given a rather slow, drawn out episode that still has some emotional moments, but with only a few episodes left I expected something as amazing as last week. The episode begins with a music montage of events at the Hilltop - Enid, Maggie and Sasha are training the Hilltop citizens to fight, Gregory is easily losing power, Rosita arrives and Daryl won't look Maggie in the eyes.  Maggie and Jesus have a heart-to-heart, where Jesus tells her that he finally has found some people to really open up to (meaning herself, Sasha and Enid) and that he's spent most of his time out on his own scav...

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind Starring Alison Lohman, Patrick Stewart, Shia LaBeouf, Uma Thurman Directed by Hayao Miyazaki The Story: One thousand years after the Seven Days of Fire, humankind is on the brink of extinction due to the Toxic Jungle that the war produced, including untold number of mutant insects.  Princess Nausicaa (Alison Lohman) communes with these insects and other animals of the wild in hopes of somehow finding a way to heal the land once again and unite the people with the nature that they had nearly destroyed decades earlier. One night a fighter plane crashes in her land, known as the Valley of the Wind, and inside is an embryo of a Giant Warrior, one of the vicious creatures that caused the Seven Days of Fire.  Before they can get rid of it, the Tolmekia - a band of warriors led by the ruthless Yoshiko Sakakibara (Uma Thurman) - arrive in town and holds the townspeople captive.  Nausicaa learns that the Tokmekia are the least of h...

Hell or High Water Starring Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, Gil Birmingham Directed by David Mackenzie The Story: Brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) are robbing Texas Midland banks, but only taking what's in the till and not the big bucks, so as to not attract the attention of the FBI.  They're doing this because Texas Midland has a reverse mortgage on their home, and it will be foreclosed upon in a few days. Even though the FBI doesn't get involved, their antics draw the ire of soon-to-be-retired Ranger Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) and his partner Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham), who slowly unravel the clues to the brothers' antics, mostly due to Tanner's reckless behavior as opposed to Toby's calm, collected, thought-out planning.  As the brothers plan one final score to get their justice, the Rangers are hot in pursuit, which culminates in an epic showdown reminiscent of western films of yore. The Synopsis: Frontier Ju...

The Walking Dead Bury Me Here Season 7 Episode 13 Review **SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW, EPISODE AND COMICS FOLLOW,  READ AT YOUR OWN RISK** Ever since the second half of the season began, it's focused on Rick gathering other communities to go to war against Negan and the Saviors.  Alexandria, The Hilltop and the Dumpster Crew are all on board, but it's been King Ezekiel's the Kingdom that has restrained from entering the war, even though they're also under Negan's ruling thumb.  That all changes today, as at the end of the episode, Ezekiel says he's ready for war.  What happened that led up to this dramatic one eighty? At the beginning of the episode, we see several members of the Kingdom delicately laying a cantaloupe on the back of a truck, handing it with the utmost of care.  There's no hint as to why they're doing this, but I'm sure they'll reveal it later in the episode. Carol is having nightmares, and wakes up in the morning a...

Kong: Skull Island Starring Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts The Story: In 1973, a team of scientists led by Bill Randa (John Goodman) and Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) leads an expedition to an uncharted island known as Skull Island in search of possible unknown life.  They're escorted by the Sky Devils, a helicopter squadron led by Lieutenant Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson), and accompanying them is tracker James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) and photo journalist Mason Weaver (Brie Larson). When they arrive on the island, they're attacked by a hulking ape-like creature who decimates the Devils and leaves the survivors scattered around the island.  James, Mason and some others come into contact with an indigenous tribe and Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly), who crash landed on the island back in World War II.  He tells the team the story of Kong, how he is seen as a deity who keeps the peace on the isla...