JoeMama's Movie Reviews

The Croods: A New Age Starring Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Peter Dinklage Directed by Joel Crawford "The Croods" was a surprise hit for DreamWorks back in 2013, earning over $187 million dollars domestically and green-lighting a sequel almost immediately.  Then the years passed and rumors of a sequel kept sprouting up, but disappearing almost as soon as it was uttered, until no one expect it to come to fruition.  Then the Coronavirus pandemic occurred, and it was during this time that "The Croods: A New Age" was birthed, being released nationally in theaters on Thanksgiving Day - being one of the few actual blockbusters to do so - resulting in the film having the biggest box-office opening during the pandemic.  While the story seemed to be regurgitated from the original, it was still a fun, funny, action-packed animated film with lively animations and exceptional voice talent that easily takes you away from the fears of the real world. The Crood clan - ...

Monster Hunter Starring Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, T.I. Harris, Meagan Good Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson Film adaptations of video games are known to not be very good, mostly because it's nearly impossible to fully articulate the concept of a video game to a live action film, and if you don't believe me, the most profitable and acclaimed video game film was "Sonic the Hedgehog" - so that's not a very high bar to cross.  "Monster Hunter" - a film directed by "Resident Evil" director Paul W.S. Anderson - continues the tradition of barely so-so video game-to-film adaptations with an incredibly loose, thin script and lack of character development, but at least the monster designs were cool. Captain Natalie Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her military team investigate the disappearance of another team in the desert when they come across a humongous sand/thunder storm that teleports them to another world populated by gigantic monsters that hunt them do...

Wonder Woman 1984 Starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal Directed by Patty Jenkins There was an episode of "Bob's Burgers" where a food critic reviewed Bob's burgers, and gave it a scathing review, calling the food "overdone and dry."  Teddy - a regular at the burger joint and Bob's best friend - then eats a burger that he's eaten time and time again with no complaint, but this time sets it down and says it's rather "overdone and dry."  Bob then erupts at Teddy saying he's just regurgitating what the food critic said, and Teddy replied with "now I have words to put to my tastes."  Generally I try not to allow reviews to skew my thoughts on a film, but going into "Wonder Woman 1984" I couldn't help but hear the negative reviews from both professional critics and friends to warp my thinking going into it, and the result might be a more pessimistic view than going into it blind - but I doubt ...

Promising Young Woman Starring Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Connie Britton Directed by Emerald Fennell On January 18, 2015, at Stanford University, Brock Turner sexually assaulted a woman who was unconscious on campus, and was subsequently arrested.  He received five charges including rape, felonious assault, and attempted rape, and was found guilty of three charges of felonious sexual assault and sentenced to six months in jail with three years probation, but was released after only serving three months, as many people still said he was a "promising young man."  The outrage of this case - along with the likes of Harvey Weinstein - led to the founding of the #MeToo movement, and the title some people gave Turner as a "promising young man" led first-time writer/director Emerald Fennell to title her revenge film "Promising Young Woman" to show the strength that a woman has to combat not just the men who wronged her, but the injustice system that ...

Soul Starring Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett Directed by Pete Docter & Kemp Powers While attending college at a Christian university, I learned the definitions of dichotomy and trichotomy.  Dichotomy is the belief that a person is made up of two essences: body and soul.  Trichotomists believe that people are made up of three essences: body, soul, and spirit.  Basically I'm just showing off my knowledge here and obviously "Soul" is a dichotomist belief, as the film centers around a person and his soul, and yet it's also very theological in the belief that the soul harnesses the real essence of a person - their memories, values, beliefs, emotions, and consciousness, while the body just houses it.  As it is with most other Pixar films, "Soul" benefits both the child and adult, offering a wide array of lavish animations and jokes to entertain the children while providing insanely deep, thoughtful themes that adults will mull over long...

Just in Time For Christmas Starring Eloise Mumford, Michael Stahl-David, Christopher Lloyd, William Shatner Directed by Sean McNamara The Hallmark Channel is where former big stars go to die a slow, agonizing, tinsel-covered death.  Candace Cameron-Bure, Adrian Grenier, Brandon Routh, Keri Russell, Chad Michael Murray, and Lacey Chabert have found a new home on the Hallmark Channel, and will be eternally stuck in the Christmas loop that the network has trapped them in.  "Just in Time For Christmas" is one of those rare Hallmark Christmas films that has withstood the test of time (since 2015 to be exact) to be one of the network's best, and that has to do in large part to a surprisingly well-known cast that offers something a bit different than you'd expect to find on the perpetual Christmas network. Lindsay Rogers (Eloise Mumford) is a successful psychology professor with hopes of getting her own work published, and is in love with goofy local coffee shop owner Jason ...

A Timeless Christmas Starring Erin Cahill, Ryan Paevey, Brandi Alexander, Zahf Paroo Directed by Ron Oliver Remember what life was like in the early 1900s?  Probably not because I doubt there's anyone still alive now if they were then, and even if they were born literally in the year 1900, they'd be 120 years old by now (I'm sure there's someone in some country that's that age, so good for them).  Apparently the 1900s was quite the boring time.  People never joked, there was never any excitement or passion, and everyone dressed in the same type of costumes you'd find at your typical church attic that they bring down every Christmas holiday.  Or at least that's what director Ron Oliver thought of the 1900s, as in his Hallmark Channel "A Timeless Christmas," where the main character's stoic, unsurprising demeanor never waivers despite learning of events that would send anyone else into a tailspin. In 1903, Charles Whitley (Ryan Paevey) is a wealt...

The Witches Starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Jahzir Kadeem Bruno Directed by Robert Zemeckis Robert Zemeckis was one of the most memorable directors of the 80s and 90s, bringing to life such iconic works as the "Back to the Future" trilogy, "Romancing the Stone," "Death Becomes Her," and "Forrest Gump" (for which he earned an Oscar for).  The 2010s saw the director fumbling a bit in his work such as the so-so "Welcome to Marwen" and "The Walk," and it seemed that his directing talent was waning, at least in terms of film choices he picked.  Then 2020 came, and he chose to do a re-imagining of the Roald Dahl classic kid's book "The Witches" - a film that is itself a re-imagining of the 1990 classic starring Anjelica Huston - and the result is a mixed bag to say the least.  While the visuals, the effects (mostly), costume designs, set pieces, and Anne Hathaway were wonderful, the actual stor...

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Starring Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo Directed by George C. Wolfe The visionary playwright August Wilson was known as the "theater's poet of Black America," and there's no surprise why.  His exemplary work has centered on the injustices African Americans have faced, but also offers hope and a future for them, as well as offering seemingly mundane looks into ordinary lives of African Americans throughout history, in a ten-piece work known collectively as the "Century Cycle."   His work has recently received the big-screen treatment in 2016's "Fences," directed by Denzel Washington and starring Washington and Viola Davis, which earned four Oscar nominations including Best Picture, and a win for Davis for Best Supporting Actress.  Washington has recently inked a deal where he'll produce the remaining Wilson plays for the big and small screen, and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom...

The Assistant Starring Julia Garner, Matthew Macfadyen, Kirstine Froseth, Makenzie Leigh Directed by Kitty Green Ever since the Harvey Weinstein scandal finally was brought to light, the importance and power of the #MeToo movement has revolutionized the entertainment industry and allowed the once-forgotten and silent female voice to finally be heard, recognized, and valued.  While "The Assistant" isn't a direct film about the scandal, you can clearly infer its source material in every frame, as we witness in parallel both a mundane day in the life of an embattled assistant as well as the guttural, desperate cry to be heard in a world that's still all-too-male dominated and controlled. Jane (Julia Garner) is an assistant to a powerful film producer in New York City, and we witness one ordinary day in her life.  She goes through the typical assistant jobs: ordering lunch, making reservations, handling travel arrangements, greeting visitors, and the like - all the while ...

On the Rocks Starring Rashida Jones, Bill Murray, Marlon Wayans, Jenny Slate Directed by Sofia Coppola There are famous collaborations that have occurred throughout several movies between certain actors and directors.  Johnny Depp and Tim Burton.  Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese.  The Coen Brothers and Frances McDormand and George Clooney.  Then there's the duo of director Sofia Coppola and Bill Murray, whose previous collaborations included the television special "A Very Murray Christmas" and "Lost in Translation," which won Coppola an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay as well as nominations for Best Picture, Director, and Actor for Murray.  Now the two have teamed up again for "On the Rocks," which has a similar feel to "Lost" in its style and filming, but is much more personal and deals with an issue that faces countless married couples all over the world. Laura (Rashida Jones) had a very rough childhood, as her father Felix (Bill M...

Sound of Metal Starring Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff Directed by Darius Marder For most people, "Sound of Metal" is a spellbinding drama about a heavy metal drummer dealing with the loss of his hearing.  For heavy metal drummers out there, this is an absolute horror movie.  Imagine if you're a painter who suddenly lost the use of your hands.  Or a chef who lost his sense of taste.  Or a singer who lost their voice.  To lose the one thing that really defines who you are is absolutely terrifying, and the repercussions of such an event transcends one moment and changes the trajectory of your life. Ruben Stone (Riz Ahmed) and his girlfriend of four years Lou (Olivia Cooke) are the only members of a heavy metal band - she sings and plays guitar while he plays drums - and they've been playing small gigs all over the country.  One day Ruben starts feeling his hearing going, but he keeps pressing on thinking it's something that'll go away, unt...

The Devil All the Time Starring Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgard, Sebastian Stan Directed by Antonio Campos More often than not, a huge ensemble film becomes so grandiose and overstuffed that it's difficult to follow the different storylines, or each big name actor demands more time than others and it becomes uneven and discombobulated.  However, there's certain times where a huge ensemble film can produce something magical, and in the case of "The Devil All the Time," that magic comes in the form of two hours and eighteen minutes of pure evil on the screen - in all its bloody goodness. The film takes place in the rural towns of Coal Creek, West Virginia and Meade, Ohio from 1950 to 1965, and centers on a variety of different characters.  Willard Russell (Bill Skarsgard) returns home after World War II suffering from severe PTSD, and falls in love with waitress Charlotte Russell (Haley Bennett).  They marry and have a son named Arvin, and Willard becomes ...

Archive Starring Theo James, Stacy Martin, Rhona Mitra, Peter Ferdinando Directed by Gavin Rothery The concepts of creating something and giving it life, and bringing back the dead, has existed for as long as human history.  Everyone would love for a chance to reconnect with long lost loved ones, and inside most of us there's a god-like complex that wants to create a new life.  Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is a more modern-day blueprint of these ideas, but it's far from an isolated idea.  "Archive" takes this idea and propels it into the future (2038, to be exact), a film that touches on the subjects of life after death, resurrecting the dead, and crafting an artificial intelligence capable enough to house a human soul no longer on this earth. George Almore (Theo James) is a scientist who lives in isolation in a white-walled palatial factory where he's been tasked to craft an artificial intelligence for his boss Simone (Rhona Mitra), but secretly he...

Fatman Starring Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Chance Hurstfield Directed by Eshom Nelms & Ian Nelms Original film ideas are a rarity in Hollywood, so once something original comes along, it should be celebrated for the sheer fact that it's not another cash-grab dive into the sequel/remake/adaptation pool.  However, there's some original films that still can't be applauded for being original if the substance to it is incredibly wasted, a shell of what something great should've been, an idea not fully brought to fruition due to circumstances that lie only within the filmmaker's minds.  "Fatman" is such a film - one with promise to be something extraordinary, but doesn't even live up to ordinary...it's just absolutely bland. Chris Cringle (Mel Gibson) has been providing toys for the good girls and boys for centuries, but lately the good ones are hard to come by, and his company isn't making as much toys anymore, resulting...