JoeMama's Movie Reviews

The Friday Five: Gerard Butler Gerard Butler has starred in some of today's biggest action blockbusters, but can also muster up some decent romantic comedies, dramas, and even belt out a solid tune here and there.  With the third film in his "Fallen" trilogy coming out called "Angel Has Fallen," I take a look at my five personal favorite Gerard Butler films. **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** #5  Machine Gun Preacher Based off the true story of Sam Childers, a former biker who finds God and heads to Africa to help repair homes ravaged by a civil war, "Machine Gun Preacher" finds Butler in his wheelhouse as a man who must resort to violence to save a group of children who were kidnapped by a rebel tribe as well as try to maintain the peace as he establishes an orphanage in the middle of a literal war zone.  The action is explosive, but Butler also gives a solid dramatic performance as a man who sets out to care for the least for...

Angel Has Fallen Starring Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Danny Huston, Nick Nolte Directed by Ric Roman Waugh The Story: Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) still serves as a member of the Secret Service, now protecting the new President, Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman).  The years have caught up with him, and he now suffers from migraines and insomnia, but he hides it so he can go for the job of the Secret Service Director.  While protecting the President on a fishing trip, they're attacked by a flock of drones that kill all the other protectors, puts Trumbull in a coma, and sets Banning up as the fall guy. Banning is placed under arrest by FBI Agent Helen Thompson (Jada Pinkett Smith), but is broken free by the same men who framed him.  Banning escapes them and heads to visit his father Clay (Nick Nolte), who's become a recluse and finds himself far away from civilization.  As he pieces together who's framing him, Banning finds himself under attack not just ...

The Art of Racing in the Rain Starring Milo Ventimiglia, Amanda Seyfried, Kevin Costner, Ryan Kiera Armstrong Directed by Simon Curtis The Story: Racecar driver Denny (Milo Ventimiglia) picks up a young puppy from a local couple and names him Enzo (Kevin Costner).  Enzo and Denny grow up together watching racing and Enzo accompanies Denny on some of his races, and develops a fondness for the sport.  He thinks it's just the two of them, until Denny meets and falls in love with Eve (Amanda Seyfried). At first Enzo is distrusting of Eve and jealous that Denny's affections are now for the both of them, but he warms up to her after they get married and give birth to young Zoe (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), whom Enzo immediately takes a liking to and sets out to protect her.  As the years go on, tragedy continuously strikes the family, but Enzo stays by Denny's side as he weathers the rain of life as well as racing, and learns important lessons about life, love, and fami...

Stuber Starring Kumail Nanjiani, Dave Bautista, Iko Uwais, Natalie Morales Directed by Michael Dowse The Story: Six months ago, LAPD detective Vic Manning (Dave Baustista) and his partner were hot on the heels of drug trafficker Oka Tedjo (Iko Uwais), but he ends up getting away.  Six months later, Vic is still on the hunt, but also suffers from eye problems, so he undergoes Lasik surgery - but it leaves him unable to really see, especially during his estranged daughter Nicole's (Natalie Morales) art exhibition.  She installs Uber on his phone, which he uses when he discovers a tip that Tedjo is planning a major deal, and hopes to bring him down for good. The Uber he picks is Stu Prasad (Kumail Nanjiani), who is pretty much a loser on every level - he's constantly friend-zoned by the woman he loves, he has a dead end job, and no one gives him five stars for his driving, despite going above and beyond for his passengers.  He picks up Vic, who takes him thro...

Overcomer Starring Alex Kendrick, Shari Rigby, Aryn Wright-Thompson, Cameron Arnett Directed by Alex Kendrick The Story: In a small rural town, John Harrison (Alex Kendrick) teaches history at the local Christian school, but his main passion is coaching basketball.  When the local plant closes and relocates, the town suffers as many of its citizens move due to the fact that most of them work at the plant, threatening John's basketball dream team.  With many of the other coaches leaving the school, John is enlisted to coach cross country, much to his chagrin because he hates running and doesn't consider it a sport. John holds tryouts for the team, but only one girl is interested - Hannah (Aryn Wright-Thompson), a transfer student with a chip on her shoulder, who also has asthma.  John is adamantly against coaching her, but with the prodding of his wife Amy (Shari Rigby) and the school's principal (Priscilla C. Shirer), he begrudgingly agrees to help her....

The Friday Five:  Cate Blanchett Cate Blanchett has this ethereal beauty about her, an actress that hearkens back to the classic age of cinema and whose talent is undeniable and impeccable.  With her recent release "Where'd You Go, Bernadette," I take a look at my five personal favorite Cate Blanchett films. **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** #5 Thor: Ragnarok The first two "Thor" films have been widely regarded as some of the MCU's worst, but "Thor: Ragnarok" managed to elevate the God of Thunder and produced an excellent film that's filled with your typical Marvel action with fantastic humor.  Cate Blanchett makes her MCU debut as Hela, the Goddess of Death, who seeks to put an end to Asgard and Thor in particular.  She's one of the MCU's best villains, a character who relishes in her evil and who gives a deeper performance than just a typical Big Bad. #4  The Aviator In Martin Scorsese's...

47 Meters Down: Uncaged Starring Sophie Nelisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju, Sistine Stallone Directed by Johannes Roberts The Story: Living in Mexico with her scuba-diving father, Mia (Sophie Nelisse) is picked on by the other girls at her school, and her step-sister Sasha (Corinne Foxx) doesn't do anything to help, and the two couldn't be any more separate.  Her father plans for them to connect by sending them to a glass-bottom boat ride, but Sasha's friends Alexa (Brianne Tju) and Nicole (Sistine Stallone) have different ideas, and the four girls travel to a remote hidden lake far away from tourists. Alexa discovers scuba gear and decide to show the girls the underwater city that Mia's father has been investigating, and they descend into the murky waters.  When they accidentally get trapped, they have to take the long way out - and combat a group of blind great white sharks that've lived in the underwater city for centuries and haven't experienc...

Blinded by the Light Starring Viveik Kalra, Hayley Atwell, Kulvinder Ghir, Nell Williams Directed by Gurinder Chadha The Story: In 1987, Javed Khan (Viveik Kalra) is living in Luton England, and desperately wants to get out.  He's the only son of Pakistani parents Malik (Kulvinder Ghir) and Noor (Meera Ganatra), and is ridiculed and mocked for his religion and race in a white nationalist England.  Javed's father finds himself out of a job, and his mother works extra hard at her sewing to provide for the family, and Javed is held to a high standard by his overbearing father when all he wants to do is write. At school, his talent is picked up by Ms. Clay (Hayley Atwell), who encourages him to write and pursue his passion.  Javed then meets Roops (Aaron Phagura), who introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, and it seems to Javed that the music was made specifically for him.  He begins to emerge out of his shell, begins to write more, finds a gir...

Good Boys Starring Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon, Keith L. Williams, Molly Gordon Directed by Gene Stupnitsky The Story: Tween best friends Max (Jacob Tremblay), Thor (Brady Noon), and Lucas (Keith L. Williams) are social outcasts at their school, but Max gets an invite by one of the popular kids to attend a party he's throwing - where there'll be kissing.  Max convinces him to include his friends, and they realize they don't know how to kiss, and Max desperately wants to impress his crush Brixlee (Millie Davis). Max decides to use his dad's drone to spy on neighbor Hannah (Molly Gordon) and her friend Lily (Midori Francis), but they end up confiscating the drone and threatening to not return it, and Max fears his father will find out and ground him.  The boys go on a desperate search for a new drone, as well as learning how to kiss and encountering several hilarious missteps along the way that both tighten their bonds and also threaten to pull them apart fo...

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Starring Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby Directed by David Leitch The Story: MI6 agent Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby) finds a virus that can lead to the death of mankind, but is also tracked by super soldier Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), who frames Hattie for the deaths of her fellow MI6 agents and for going rogue.  Meanwhile, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is assigned a task to find the virus and Hattie and bring her to justice, while Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) is told the same thing, except the fact that Hattie is his sister. The men refuse to work together, and Brixton uses that to his advantage to get the upper hand on the two men as he tries to capture Hattie so he can extract the virus, but they put aside their differences and work together with Hattie to find a way to contain the virus and stop Brixton from unleashing a worldwide pandemic. The Synopsis: The "Fast and the Furious" franchi...

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Starring Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Abrams Directed by Andre Ovredal The Story: School outcasts Stella Nicholls (Zoe Colletti), Auggie (Gabriel Rush), and Chuck (Austin Zajur) are planning on celebrating one final Halloween night together by pranking local bully Tommy (Austin Abrams), resulting in Tommy and his friends chasing after them.  They hide at a drive-in in a car belonging to Ramon (Michael Garza), who's passing through the small Pennsylvania town in the late 60s. After the treat leaves, Ramon talks to the teens and takes a shine to Stella, who invite him to go to the local haunted house - the house of the Bellows, who founded the town and had a secret daughter named Sarah who was kept in isolation and removed from all family photos, and whom local kids visited to hear her tell stories - to which after those kids mysteriously died.  Stella finds the secret book of stories Sarah wrote, and they le...

The Friday Five:  Jacob Tremblay Jacob Tremblay is one of today's most sought-after child actors, a young man whose talent is way beyond his young years, and who has a long, successful career in Hollywood.  He's branching out with the upcoming release of the raunchy not-child-friendly "Good Boys," and I decided to pick my five personal favorite Jacob Tremblay films. **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** #5  Shut In In this psychological thriller, Jacob Tremblay plays Tom, a young deaf boy who lost his mother and whom Naomi Watts' character Mary takes in.  After he disappears in the middle of a snowstorm, everyone believes he's dead - and Mary begins seeing Tom in the house.  Tremblay gives a terrifying performance, all without saying a word. #4 The Predator In a rather odd casting choice, Jacob Tremblay stars in this terrifying continuation to the "Predator" franchise as Rory, a young boy who has Autism, and w...

Them That Follow Starring Alice Englert, Walton Goggins, Olivia Colman, Kaitlyn Dever Directed by Britt Poulton & Dan Madison Savage The Story: In a small Appalachian town, young Mara Childs (Alice Englert) is a devout snake-handling Pentecostal, under her father Pastor Lemuel Childs (Walton Goggins).  Lemuel holds a very tight reign over his congregation, and everyone is heavily indoctrinated in the process, especially Hope Slaughter (Olivia Colman) and her husband Zeke (Jim Gaffigan), but not their son Augie (Thomas Mann). Mara and Thomas begin a relationship despite knowing it could lead to her being ostracized by the church, and Mara discovers she's pregnant.  She hides the pregnancy and turns back to the church, and even agrees to marry fellow church member Garret (Lewis Pullman), despite having strong feelings for Augie.  As she struggles to keep her secret, it also threatens to divide the town and spiral everyone into a downward spiral of depr...

The Kitchen Starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson Directed by Andrea Berloff The Story: In Hell's Kitchen in the late 70s, mobster wives Kathy (Melissa McCarthy), Ruby (Tiffany Haddish) and Claire (Elisabeth Moss) find their lives thrown into turmoil when their husbands are arrested and sentenced to three years in prison.  Although the mob promises to provide for them, they don't give them enough money to live on, but when the women learn of different businesses pay the mafia for protection and get nothing, decide to muscle in on the racket and start an empire of their own. As their stock begins to rise, the women find themselves under constant threat from rival mobs and the FBI, led by agent Gary Silvers (Common), who was the one that busted their husbands in the first place.  Kathy finds herself at odds against Ruby's more ruthless nature, while Claire finds strength with new lover Gabriel (Domhnall Gleeson) and, afte...