JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Major Theatrical Releases  February 2019 February looks like a mixed bag of possibly great and possibly dull films, and only time will tell where these films will fall. Here are the major theatrical releases coming out February 2019... **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** **ALSO DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE** Miss Bala February 1 Gina Rodriguez stars as Gloria, a woman from Los Angeles who visits her friend in Mexico, only to have her kidnapped and she becomes entangled in a drug cartel as well as working undercover for the DEA in order to save herself and her friend.  Basically this looks like the run-of-the-mill action adventure where they'll be many "close calls" and tension until the final blood-less (since it's PG-13) soaked conclusion.  Gina Rodriguez is trying to branch out more than her typecast comedic role in "Jane the Virgin," but this forgettable action film isn't a good start (or continuation, as she did appear i...

Green Book Starring Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Dimitar Marinov Directed by Peter Farrelly The Story: In 1962, while being laid off while the night club he works at undergoes maintenance, Frank Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) takes the job as a driver for famed musician Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), who plans on an eight-week tour of the deep south - a problematic tour considering racism runs rampant down there.  At first seeing it simply as a job to better himself, his wife Dolores (Linda Cardellini) and their children, Frank slowly warms up to Don, and vice versa, leading to a lifelong friendship between two polar opposite people. The Synopsis: When you think of Peter Farrelly, you think of one-half of the brother directing duo who's brought classic comedies like "Dumb and Dumber," "Kingpin," and "There's Something About Mary."  You don't necessarily think of him as a serious dramatic director, but he sh...

The Kid Who Would Be King Starring Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Tom Taylor, Dean Chaumoo, Rhianna Doris Directed by Joe Cornish The Story: Young Alexander (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) is a valiant young man who comes to the aid of his bullied friend Bedders (Dean Chaumoo) against bullies Lance (Tom Taylor) and Kaye (Rhianna Doris), even though he doesn't have an ounce of strength in him, and gets picked on as well.  His mother worries that he stands up for the little man even though he's little himself, and after another encounter with the bullies, finds himself at an abandoned building site where he finds a sword stuck in a stone.  He pulls the sword out, and is visited by a strange new student named Merlin (Angus Imrie), who tells him that the sword was indeed Excalibur, and he's been tasked with saving the world from the evil Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson), who plans to attack the surface during the next eclipse.  Bedders joins his quest, and he also brings in Lance and...

A Dog's Way Home Starring Jonah Hauer-King, Ashley Judd, Alexandra Shipp, Bryce Dallas Howard Directed by Charles Martin Smith The Story: Young Bella (voiced by Bryce Dallas Howard) grew up underneath an abandoned building with a bunch of cats and her mother dog, until one day men come and take her mother away.  She is raised by the cats until she's found by Lucas (Jonah Hauer-King) and Olivia (Alexandra Shipp), who are animal lovers trying to protect the strays under the building.  Bella is drawn to Lucas, and he takes her home to his war veteran mother Terri (Ashley Judd), who suffers from depression.  As the years go on, Bella and Lucas form an undying bond, but when animal control seeks to put Bella away for being a pit bull, Lucas sends Bella to friends in New Mexico - 400 miles away. Bella doesn't understand why she's so far from home, and decides to find her way back to her human.  Along the way she encounters dangers, friends, and lessons that h...

The Friday Five:  Anne Hathaway Anne Hathaway has been a major star since her breakout performance in 2001, and has consistently found top-notch work in films that've received critical acclaim and has always been a major box office draw.  With "Serenity" getting released this week, I focused my Friday Five on my top five favorite Anne Hathaway films. **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** #5 Ocean's Eight Although not a major player in this all-female take on the "Ocean's Eleven" franchise, Anne Hathaway delivers a scene stealing performance as the wealthy, famous Daphne Kluger, who plays the mark for Sandra Bullock's crew.  She plays the ditzy, dim-witted actress wonderfully, and is even given more to work with than some of the other actresses in the film. #4  Rachel Getting Married Although she did some more serious roles before 2008's "Rachel Getting Married," it's this film that firmly set Anne...

Glass Starring James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson Directed by M. Night Shaymalan The Story: While on the hunt for the Beast (James McAvoy), David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and his son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) manage to track him down at an abandoned building where he's holding four girls captive.  During the struggle they're apprehended by Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson), who puts them in a mental asylum where she's been keeping a comatose Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson).  She plans to prove to them that superheroes don't exist, and that their supposed powers can be explained logically, but as the day develops, they all become pawns in Elijah's - a.k.a. Mr. Glass - scheme that will expose them to the world and prove without a doubt that there are people with special powers out there. The Synopsis: There's something about disagreements that I really like - probably because it's always interesting to hear a differing poi...

Ben is Back Starring Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges, Kathryn Newton, Courtney B. Vance Directed by Peter Hedges The Story: Things are looking joyous for Holly Burns (Julia Roberts) and her family on Christmas Eve.  They're planning on attending Christmas Eve mass to see her daughter Ivy (Kathryn Newton) and her two younger children in a Christmas play, and everyone is full of laughs and merriment.  That is until they arrive home from practice and her older son Ben (Lucas Hedges) is waiting out front.  While Holly seems overjoyed to see him, Ivy is worried and angry, and calls her stepfather Neal (Courtney B. Vance) to come home. Ben had been in a drug addiction facility, but decided to come home for the holiday, despite it being a landmine of triggers for him.  Holly is happy, but still cautious as she's dealt with Ben's dealings before, and sets out to make him feel at home yet also hiding her jewelry and medicine.  As the day unfolds, Ben and Holly ...

Your Name. Starring Ryunosuke Kamiki/Michael Sinterniklaas, Mone Kamishiraishi/Stephanie Sheh, Masami Nagasawa/Laura Post, Etsuko Ichihara/Glynis Ellis Directed by Makato Shinkai The Story: In a small mountain town in Japan, Mitsuha Miyamizu (Mone Kamishiraishi/Stephanie Sheh) longs to live in the big city of Tokyo, getting away from her normal mundane life.  Meanwhile in Tokyo, Taki Tachibana (Ryunosuke Kamiki/Michael Sinterniklaas) is living a hectic life, juggling school and work.  One day, Mitsuha wakes up in Taki's body, and he does the same in hers, and after a few times of this happening, they learn they've been switching bodies while they sleep. Although having never met, they set out to help the others' lives, as Mitsuha helps get Taki a date with a girl he likes, while Taki makes Mitsuha more popular in school.  Things are going well for the two, and Taki decides that he wants to meet her, but suddenly the body switching stops, leading to an advent...

The Friday Five:  James McAvoy With the highly-anticipated release of "Glass," I take a look at my five personal favorite James McAvoy films... **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** #5 Wanted Easily McAvoy's most action-packed film, "Wanted" is a stylized action adventure featuring the actor as Joe Everybody who discovers he's in the bloodline of the best assassins in the world, and must decide whether to follow his destiny or remain ordinary.  Featuring Angelina Jolie, Common, and Morgan Freeman, "Wanted" has everything you need for a fun-filled adventure. #4  X-Men: Days of Future Past Taking on the mantle of Professor Xavier from the illustrious Patrick Stewart is no easy task, but James McAvoy has proven a very capable successor (or, precursor) to Stewart, and personally I feel his best performance in the "X-Men" franchise is in "Days of Future Past" where he is called upon by a time-travel...

Smallfoot Starring Channing Tatum, James Corden, Zendaya, Common Directed by Karey Kirkpatrick & Jason Reisig The Story: High in the Himalayas, the Yeti live believing that their mountain is actually an island, surrounded by clouds and held up by animals to keep them from sinking into an abyss.  They believe this because it's told in sacred stones that tell their story, and the Stonekeeper (Common) keeps them close and tells everyone if they have any questions to just push them away. For Migo (Channing Tatum), ignorance is bliss, as he gleefully enjoys his days as he awaits his future job of being the gong ringer who ushers the arrival of the sun snail everyday - a job held by his father Dorgle (Danny DeVito).  One day he encounters a plane crash and meets a Smallfoot - which he believed never existed - and when he tries to convince the townspeople, he's met with disbelief, except for those who believe in Smallfoot and hold that there's more to the world t...

On the Basis of Sex Starring Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Kathy Bates Directed by Mimi Leder The Story: Six years after Harvard began accepting females to its law program, Ruth Bader Ginsberg (Felicity Jones) decides to enroll after her husband Martin (Armie Hammer) has been there two years, and is immediately met with opposition and segregation simply due to her sex. After graduating the top of her class, she can't find a job in New York City, and decides to teach at a university instead.  During this time, Martin discovers a case where a single caregiver is denied a tax deduction simply because he was a male, and the law specified it was only for women.  Taking the case, Ruth Bader Ginsberg decides to revolutionize the law and make it equal for both genders, and begins an uphill fight for equality. The Synopsis: During the most recent Presidential election, there was a lot of talk about breaking the glass ceiling when Hillary Clinton receive...

Replicas Starring Keanu Reeves, Alice Eve, Thomas Middleditch, John Ortiz Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff The Story: William Foster (Keanu Reeves) is a research neuroscientist who's trying to implant a dead person's consciousness into a robot, but so far has failed to do so, while his boss Jones (John Ortiz) demands results.  While on a weekend getaway with his wife Mona (Alice Eve) and their children Sophie (Emily Alyn Lind), Matt (Emjay Anthony), and Zoe (Aria Leabu), they get involved in a car accident that kills them all except William.  Instead of calling the police, he calls fellow researcher Ed (Thomas Middleditch), and plans to recreate his family's consciousness into human replicas by breeding them in his home until they're fully matured and ready for the consciousness transplant.  Not only do they have to do this in secrecy, but there's only three pods in which they can be re-created, meaning William will have to let one of his loved ones go for...

If Beale Street Could Talk Starring KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Colman Domingo Directed by Barry Jenkins The Story: In Harlem in the early 1970s, Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James) are childhood friends who've discovered they truly love one another, and want to spend the rest of their lives together.  Things go terribly wrong when Fonny is falsely accused of rape and put in jail, where he finds out that Tish is pregnant.  As Tish, her mother Sharon (Regina King), and the rest of their family try to find a way to free Fonny, Tish relives the encounters they once shared, in hopes of holding her love in her arms again. The Synopsis: "Every black person born in America was born on Beale Street, whether in Jackson, Mississippi, or in Harlem, New York.  Beale Street is our legacy." Author James Baldwin wrote "If Beale Street Could Talk" in 1974, and although it's been 44 years, the message it portrays still rings true.  Giving...