JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Golden Globes 2021 Predictions While 2020 was a terrible year for films, there were still several awards-worthy contenders that hit the big screen (although most of them debuted on the small screen thanks to Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and the like). The show must go on, and while it's almost two months after the normal airing, the Golden Globes will announce the best in television and movies on February 28th, and I'll give my predictions here. Television (Winners pick in bold) BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - MUSICAL OR COMEDY Don Cheadle - Black Monday Nicholas Hoult - The Great Eugene Levy - Shitt's Creek Jason Sudekis - Ted Lasso Ramy Youssef - Ramy BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - MUSICAL OR COMEDY Lily Collins - Emily in Paris Kaley Cuoco - The Flight Attendant Elle Fanning - The Great Jane Levy - Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist Catherine O'Hara - Schitt's Creek BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRA...

Palm Springs Starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons, Meredith Hagner Directed by Max Barbakow The romantic comedy subgenre has always been my least favorite, because it follows a highly predictable formula: two opposites meet, fight, find connection, fall in love, encounter a complication in the budding relationship that threatens their happily ever after, find a solution to the complication, and live happily ever after. There's been a very few romantic comedies that I've really enjoyed, so when I heard about "Palm Springs" last year, I put it on the back-burner, despite the fact that it received rave reviews and seemed really enjoyable. Since it received a few Golden Globe nominations, I figured it was time for me to suffer my way through it - and instead of it being a chore, I found myself totally immersed in the story, and it has become one of my favorite romantic comedies. Sarah Wilder (Cristin Milioti) is enduring her sister's wedding despite sh...

Pieces of a Woman Starring Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Ellen Burstyn, Molly Parker Directed by Kornel Mundruczo Grief is something that's not easily confined into a simple category. There's no real process in dealing with grief, as everyone deals with it differently. Some completely shut down, others bury themselves in work, while others still surround themselves with friends to try to take their mind off their grief - and everything else in between. Sometimes dealing with grief is self-destructive, such as delving into drugs, alcohol, cheating, and self-harm, among other things. "Pieces of a Woman" is a deeply reflective, personal tale of one woman's journey through one of the most unimaginable traumatic events a woman can ever go through - a film based off the life of the screenwriter and her husband, who directed the film. Martha Weiss (Vanessa Kirby) and her boyfriend Sean Carson (Shia LaBeouf) are expecting their first child, and Martha opts for giving birth...

I Care a Lot Starring Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza Gonzalez, Dianne Wiest Directed by J Blakeson Ever hear the saying, "but their heart was in the right place?" That's what I think of when I think about "I Care a Lot," because the film - as a whole - is wholly a mess. A film that pivots in many different directions without landing solidly on any one thing, where the protagonist is the most insufferable, terrible excuse for a human being ever, and the bad guys are so generic and bland its like someone plucked them out of the pages of a classic mobster novel and inserted them into the film without giving them life. Yet the premise of the film is an important one, and its the reason the director wrote the screenplay in the first place: to shed light on a scam that's been plaguing senior citizens and their loved ones for years - the scam of guardianship. Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) is a guardian of the elderly, a woman who puts senior citizens in nursin...

Shadow in the Cloud Starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Taylor John Smith, Beulah Koale, Nick Robinson Directed by Roseanne Liang There was a classic episode in "The Twilight Zone" called "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (which was based on a short story written by Richard Matheson).  It starred a then-unknown William Shatner as a man on an airplane who claims he sees a gremlin on the outside of the plane that threatens to bring it down, but no one believes him. It's the most famous of the episodes of the franchise and has been copied and parodied in different shows and films, but no one thought of the concept: "what if this takes place during World War II through the eyes of an objectified woman on a war plane full of men while under attack from Japanese forces?" until now. Maude Garrett (Chloe Grace Moretz) is a flight officer who's carrying an important package and is placed on a B-17 bomber with an entire crew of men, most of whom objectify her and place he...

Nomadland Starring Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Swankie Directed by Chloe Zhao There are certain films out there that are so hard to unpack it's almost impossible, as you can easily talk for hours, or write complete volumes of work, based on that one film. "Nomadland" is one such film - a true masterpiece, a work of beautiful, glorious art that has so many different themes intertwined within its runtime, and yet somehow manages to really not tell a very "engaging" story in the eyes of most moviegoers. You won't find attractive models here, there's no room for loud explosions or gunfights, and don't expect an actual conclusion, because this film is about the open road, the joys of the simple things, and understanding the concept that there's a difference between a house and a home - and that's just scratching the surface, like offering a Cliffs Notes on a film that has to be seen to be fully appreciated and valued. Fern (Fra...

Veronica Starring Sandra Escacena, Bruna Gonzalez, Claudia Placer, Ivan Chavero Directed by Paco Plaza There's been several films in history that claim to be the "scariest movie ever made." Films like "The Exorcist," "Halloween," "Hereditary," and "The Conjuring" have all claimed to hold the title, and a scientific report was actually done on the subject, claiming the 2012 horror film "Sinister" is actually the scariest movie ever due to the heartbeat increase in the audience (personally, I disagree - while it's scary and thoughtfully done, it wasn't the scariest ever made). A few years ago, a small Spanish movie called "Veronica" debuted on Netflix with little fanfare, but soon word of mouth spread claiming the film was the scariest movie ever made, which led to a huge uptick in viewership, as well as an unjust criticism of the movie itself. It never made the claim to be the scariest movie ever made, it ...

Locked Down Starring Anne Hathaway, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Stephen Merchant, Lucy Boynton Directed by Doug Liman One of the subsequent negative aspects about the Coronavirus was the shutting down of society, as people were placed under lockdown for weeks at a time in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus.  It was also during this time that non-essential businesses had to close, including movie theaters, and even though for the most part of the world the lockdown has lifted, movie theaters especially have had a hard go at re-opening.  This is mostly due to film companies not wanting to release their big-budget films knowing that either most theaters aren't open yet, or those that are work to limited capacity, so they wouldn't make the profit that they were hoping for.  Yet despite this, there's still some films being made, and some that even take a look at modern day events in their main theme, which "Locked Down" does - but while it served as an interesting beginnin...

The Trial of the Chicago 7 Starring Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Rylance, Frank Langella Directed by Aaron Sorkin It's often a gamble to involve a load of A-list celebrities in one film, with the outcome usually siding on the disastrous side than the marvelous. Films like "Movie 43," "Rock of Ages," "Valentine's Day," "New Year's Eve," and "Mother's Day" were filled to the brim with actors and actresses who are world renown, but the final product was, simply, atrocious. Yet there's other films like all the "Avengers" films, "The Lord of the Rings," "Spotlight," "Knives Out," and many others that were hugely successful and acclaimed due to the indelible talents on screen (and the precise artistry off-screen). When it comes to a true-life story, throwing in a vast, talented cast sounds like a good idea, and with "The Trial of the Chicago 7," was indeed just t...

Judas and the Black Messiah Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback Directed by Shaka King Even those who aren't devoutly religious knows about the story of Judas. He was one of Jesus's twelve disciples who followed the man for three years as he traveled from city to city preaching about the glory of God, a man who was in the inner circle of Christ's most trusted allies - and he ends up selling him out for thirty silver pieces to the priests of the temple who have Jesus arrested for blasphemy after he claimed he was the Son of God. Judas famously sealed Jesus's fate with a kiss, marking him as the one to arrest, and Judas's life afterward was tumultuous to say the least - resulting in him committing suicide by hanging, having betrayed the Son of God. In this respect, "Judas and the Black Messiah" is an all-true fitting title for this film, as once again a man within the inner sanctum of a traveling preacher betrays his...

One Night in Miami Starring Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr. Directed by Regina King There's an old saying: "oh, to be a fly on the wall."  It's usually used by people who wish to hear a conversation that happened away from earshot, because you know that conversation is something important or memorable.  On February 25, 1964, four of the most influential and powerful Black men in America met in a motel room in Miami, Florida, and the result was nothing short of mesmerizing, and indeed everyone wishes to be the fly on the wall in that room, for the conversation that took place shed light on the oppression of the Black community and the cultural upheaval of the 1960s as discussed by these four influential men. Having just defeated Sonny Liston to become the world heavyweight champion, Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) agrees to a party hosted by his friend Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), with whom he recently confided in that he's becoming a member o...

Earwig and the Witch Starring Taylor Paige Henderson, Vanessa Marshall, Richard E. Grant, Dan Stevens Directed by Goro Miyazaki Studio Ghibli was one of those rare production companies that could do no wrong, producing such beautiful, artistic, vividly lively storytelling epics like "Spirited Away," "Castle in the Sky," "Grave of the Fireflies," "Kiki's Delivery Service," and on and on and literally on into pretty much eternity - but unfortunately I started out this sentence with the word "was," as in the past tense. Studio Ghibli never produced a dud, a film that was so bad it falls into the sad category of "absolutely unequivocally worthless" until now. "Earwig and the Witch" is the first real dud for the production company, and it wasn't a light dud - it fell like a five-thousand pound anvil falling out of the sky, creating an unmistakable crater for all the world to see as a permanent blemish on an other...

The Ultimate Playlist of Noise Starring Keean Johnson, Madeline Brewer, Rya Kihlstedt, Ian Gomez Directed by Bennett Lasseter Last year's "Sound of Metal" was on my top five favorite films of the year, and focused on a heavy metal drummer who was struggling with loosing his hearing - and main source of income and life - and how he handled the situation.  It was a compelling, thought-provoking, powerful film led by Riz Ahmed and his tremendous acting ability, and resulted in a stellar effort.  In 2021, the issue of going deaf hits the screen again with "The Ultimate Playlist of Noise," but its more geared for a younger audience than "Sound of Metal," and the journey is more jovial than earth-shattering, but still packs a powerful punch by introducing unique shocking twists and a swelling dramatic conclusion that'll easily bring a tear or two to your eye. Marcus (Keean Johnson) is a high school senior who's obsessed with music.  He makes differen...

The Little Things Starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Chris Bauer Directed by John Lee Hancock The crime noir genre has been flooded in recent decades since the success of films like "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven," with films like "Along Came a Spider," "Alex Cross," "Kiss the Girls," and "The Bone Collector" saturating the big screen with a similar style, and pretty much all of them wound up unmemorable and forgotten. "The Little Things" is a film that unfortunately falls under that category, a film that boasts a strong cast, a compelling story, but one that's easily comparable to others and leaves a very unsatisfactory ending. Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington) is a former L.A. cop who was haunted by a case he couldn't solve, resulting in a failed marriage, a triple bypass, and alienation from his fellow comrades. His replacement, young upstart Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), is investigating a...

The Hills Have Eyes Starring Aaron Stanford, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw, Emilie de Ravin Directed by Alexandre Aja There's very few times where a remake either parallels or exceeds the original, and Alexandre Aja's "The Hills Have Eyes" remake is one of those films.  While it doesn't exceed Wes Craven's classic 1977 film, it still manages to offer a lot of grotesque gore and a frightfully good time for the viewers - the hapless victims, not so much. Decades after the government concluded nuclear testing in a small New Mexico town, the citizens who remained were horribly mutated and deformed, and left them hiding in the caves and abandoned homes of the town.  They get their jollies by luring unsuspecting people to the middle of nowhere of the desert, where they kill and feed on their carcasses.  When an unsuspecting family finds themselves stranded, they also find themselves at the mercy of these cannibals, and using their wits they hope to survive their o...