JoeMama's Movie Reviews

The Favourite Starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos The Story: While Britain is at war with France in 1708, Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) is more concerned with the care of her rabbits than getting personally involved, leaving decisions to her longtime friend Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz), who favors war with no surrender.  Although receiving negative feedback from Earl of Oxford Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult), Sarah presses on with the war effort. Meanwhile, Sarah's cousin Abigail Hill (Emma Stone) arrives seeking employment, and after tending to the Queen's gout, finds favor with both the Queen and Sarah, earning the title of Sarah's lady-in-waiting.  While at first she's content with being nice and honest, Abigail soon begins thirsting power, and after uncovering a secret affair between Anne and Sarah, sets out to become the Queen's favourite, leading to an intense pow...

Mary Poppins Returns Starring Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer Directed by Rob Marshall The Story: In 1930s London, things are looking bleak for the Banks family.  Michael (Ben Whishaw) is about to loose his home after loosing his wife, and even with the help of his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer), they can't seem to scrape the funds together.  Then they learn that their father had shares in the bank that could be enough to save their home, but they can't seem to find it. Meanwhile, Michael's children - Annabel (Pixie Davies), John (Nathanael Saleh), and Georgie (Joel Dawson) are in the park when Georgie finds Michael's old kite that he threw away, and is almost taken up in the sky during a wind storm.  Lamplighter Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) arrives to keep Georgie on the ground as Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) emerges from the sky.  She's returned to take care of the Banks children again (including the little ones), and show that ...

Aquaman Starring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson Directed by James Wan The Story: Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) is half-human, half-Atlantean, the offspring of human father Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison) and Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman).  Growing up, he's trained under Vulko (Willem Dafoe) to eventually take his rightful place as King of Atlantis, but Arthur is a reluctant king - he'd much rather kick bad guys and drink than rule a nation.  When word reaches him from Mera (Amber Heard) that his half-brother King Orm (Patrick Wilson) desires to declare war on the surface, he's still hesitant to take part, until Orm almost kills his father. After an encounter with Orm, Arthur and Mera go in search of the fabled Trident of Atlan, which would solidify Arthur's place as the rightful king, while Orm travels to the other oceanic realms to draw support for his eventual war with the surface.  Meanwhile, Arthur and Mera are hunted by Black Manta (Y...

Bird Box Starring Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson Directed by Susanne Bier The Story: Malorie Hayes (Sandra Bullock) is an expectant single mother who's unsure whether or not she can actually love her child, and as she goes to the doctor with her sister Jessica (Sarah Paulson), they hear word overseas about an event that causes people to kill themselves. Before leaving the hospital, Malorie witnesses a woman trying to kill herself, and realizes that whatever happened overseas is happening there now, and the two sisters try to escape whatever is happening.  Taking refuge in a house with other survivors, Malorie struggles with her pregnancy in a now post-apocalyptic world, where no one can go outside otherwise they'll fall victim to whatever terror is out there. Five years later, Malorie is now with Boy (Julian Edwards) and Girl (Vivien Lyra Blair) as they traverse a river in search of a possible safe haven, but they all must remain ...

Vice Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell Directed by Adam McKay The Story: Chronicling the lengthy political life of Dick Cheney (Christian Bale), Vice travels from Cheney's internship in the White House under Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) as he slowly rose the ranks to become the Vice President under George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell).  Throughout his journey, his intelligent wife Lynne (Amy Adams) stayed by his side, as the two ruthlessly dominated the political landscape from the shadows, shaping the government the way it is today. The Synopsis: Sometimes the lines between satire and reality become blurred, where you can't really tell what is real and what isn't, because a person's life is so outlandish and mysterious that you can't differentiate between fact and fiction.  Such is the man that is Dick Cheney, the most mysterious Vice President the United States has ever had.  He's completely cut off from the world, rarel...

Worst2First:  The Breakout Film Stars of 2018 2018 has been an important year for the inclusion of minorities in cinema, providing some of the best performances of the entire year.  There's been several outstanding performances by first-time film actors (they might already be known for their roles in television and theater, or music), and here are my personal favorites - those to look out for in the future. Here are my personal top ten Breakout Film Stars of 2018, worst2first (not based off their overall talent, but on their performances this year). **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** #10 Zazie Beetz  It's no small feat to go toe-to-toe against both Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin and still maintain a strong screen presence, but that's exactly what "Atlanta" star Zazie Beetz did in this year's big-budget hit "Deadpool 2."  As the fierce femme fatale Domino (whose superpower is luck, no matter what Deadpool says), Beetz dominated the...

Anna and the Apocalypse Starring Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux Directed by John McPhail The Story: Senior Anna (Ella Hunt) is preparing for her future, including spending a year traveling the world to the dismay of her father Tony (Mark Benton).  She seemingly has a great life with her best friend John (Malcolm Cumming), and her other friends Chris (Christopher Leveaux) and Lisa (Marli Siu), and things couldn't be better.  Then one morning Anna wakes up, and discovers that the world has turned into chaos, with zombies being unleashed.  Together with her friends along with social outcast Steph (Sarah Swire), Anna plans to get to the school where her father is, and hopes that he's still alive. The Synopsis: There's two different subgenres that I thoroughly enjoy: musicals, and zombie films.  Never did I think I would find a film that would encompass both of those genres perfectly, and along came the independent low-budget f...

Bumblebee Starring Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Ortiz Directed by Travis Knight The Story: As the War on Cybertron seems to turn in favor of the evil Decepticons, Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) orders an evacuation, and sends his most loyal soldier B-127 (Dylan O'Brien) to Earth to set up a base there, as it's out of the way and the Decepticons don't know its existence.  After arriving on Earth, B-127 encounters the military, led by Jack Burns (John Cena), who sees him as a hostile alien.  After he's attacked by a Decepticon who followed him to Earth, his vocal box is removed and his memory bank is severely damaged, and transforms into a Volkswagen Beetle before going offline. Meanwhile, Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) is still brooding over the death of her father, and doesn't seem too happy about anything in life - especially since she's turning eighteen and doesn't have a car.  She finds an abandoned Beetle at the s...

The Mule Starring Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, Dianne Wiest, Michael Pena Directed by Clint Eastwood The Story: Earl Stone (Clint Eastwood) is a Korean War vet who works as a horticulturist, a man who spent decades taking care of flowers while neglecting his wife Mary (Dianne Wiest) and daughter Iris (Alison Eastwood).  Twelve years after no-showing at his daughter's wedding, his flower company is bankrupt, his house is foreclosed, and he's essentially homeless.  He goes to his granddaughter Ginny's (Taissa Farmiga) engagement party, and a man there offers him a seemingly simple job - just drive.  He begins driving packages for a drug cartel back and forth, and as he maintains his job, he draws the appreciation of drug lord Laton (Andy Garcia). Earl is making more and more money, and using it to buy a new car, re-purchase his house, and help out other people in need.  Meanwhile, DEA Agent Colin Bates (Bradley Cooper) is trying to bring down the carte...

Mortal Engines Starring Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving, Jihae Directed by Christian Rivers The Story: Decades after the Ancients destroyed the world in sixty minutes, civilization now lives on moving cities, and roam the countryside looking to devour other cities for their resources.  The biggest of these predator cities is London, under the direction of Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving), who wishes to collect enough ancient items to create a weapon of mass destruction. Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) is a girl with a chip on her shoulder, bent on killing Valentine for killing her mother when she was eight years old, and finally finds her shot, but is stopped by London resident Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), who thinks Valentine is a good guy.  After she escapes, Valentine pushes Tom over a ledge because he heard that he had killed Hester's mother, and the two become allies as they try to find a way back to London to stop Valentine.  Along the way th...

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Starring Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Liev Schreiber Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, & Rodney Rothman The Story: Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is an ordinary teenager, going to school and being supported by his loving parents and uncle, who also enjoys graffiti.  One day he goes with his Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali) to an abandoned subway station so he can draw, and he's bit by a radioactive spider.  He soon experiencing strange happenings to his body, and when he encounters Spider-Man (Chris Pine), they share a connection and he knows that he too is a Spider-Man. Miles learns that the evil Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) is building a super-collider to bring an alternate universe version of his family to his universe, and threatens to send New York into a black hole.  When the collider turns on, several universes of Spider-Men travel through the portal to Miles' world.  Included is an older, j...

Worst2First:  My Top Ten Modern Christmas Films From 2000-2018, there's been several Christmas films that've entertained audiences and captured the hearts of millions, instilling the true meaning of Christmas and giving us all a chance to relax and enjoy the holiday season. Here are my personal top ten modern Christmas films, worst2first... **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** #10  Four Christmases Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn star as a couple who don't want to celebrate the holidays with their relatives, but when their relatives see them on a news broadcast, they have no choice but to celebrate with all four families - since both sets of their parents are divorced.  The result is a humorous, and even heartfelt, film filled with great performances and a stellar supporting cast. #9  Fred Claus Vince Vaughn makes the list again as Fred Claus, the ne'er-do-well brother of the saintly Nicholas Claus (played by Paul Giamatt...