JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Mortal Kombat Starring Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano Directed by Simon McQuoid Films based off video games have, shall we say, not had a great track record. Or even a decent track record. Or even a good track record. Basically if it was a runner, the video game films would just be sitting at the start of the track and never move forward. Even those who say they're good will admit that, in the grand pantheon of cinema, they're really not that good, and two films that most people cite as the worst are the 90s "Mortal Kombat" films. The video game has been a worldwide success for thirty years now, and has received scrutiny by grown ups who feel that it's way too violent for little kids, with the idea of "fatalities" resulting in characters literally getting their spines pulled out of their backs, among other things. The 90s "Mortal Kombat" films threw away the game's most legendary concept and resorted to a family-fri...

93rd Academy Awards Predictions Every year I make my Oscar predictions, and mostly every year I get most wrong (mostly the ones I don't know much about).  This year I was able to see all the pictures nominated for the biggest categories, so we'll see if I fare any better this year.   Best Animated Short Film: Burrow Genius Loci If Anything Happens I Love You Opera Yes-People The only one of these I saw was "If Anything Happens I Love You," and even if I saw the others I would go with this one because it's got the timely message about school shootings and the Academy loves to honor such films. Best Live-Action Short Film: Feeling Through The Letter Room The Present Two Distant Strangers White Eye I never saw any of these but I heard "Two Distant Strangers" is about police brutality against an African American man, and since, again, the Academy loves to praise such films, I'm going with this one. Best Documentary Feature: Collective Crip Camp The Mo...

The Father Starring Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Rufus Sewell, Imogen Poots Directed by Florian Zeller Sometimes it's the smallest films that make the biggest impact, and "The Father" is one such film. Centering on the issue of dementia and how it affects not only the person afflicted with it, but with the loving caretakers as well, the film delivers a powerful punch that keeps you on your toes, and interestingly immerses yourself in the disease as well, where not even the viewer understands what is real, what isn't, and what's in the middle. Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) is an 80-year-old Londoner living in his flat and seemingly is enjoying his elder years, until his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) comes to visit to tell him that she's moving to Paris to be with her new boyfriend, which sends Anthony into an angry tirade followed with an emotional plea to not leave, and we then understand that Anthony is living with dementia, and Anne is taking care of him. Ant...

Minari Starring Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, Youn Yuh-jung Directed by Lee Isaac Chung The concept of America being the land of opportunity has served as a beacon of light to the rest of the world for decades, a country where you can come to and fulfill your dreams and desires. Immigrants flock to this country with the desire to live out their own "American dream," and while many fail to accomplish their dreams, others manage to not just achieve them, but go beyond. While this "dream" has been tainted in recent years, in the 1980s, it was ripe for immigrants to arrive and thrive, which is what makes "Minari" such an impactful film - although its set in the past, its values and themes resonate today. The Yi family - patriarch Jacob (Steven Yeun), matriarch Monica (Han Ye-ri), and their two young children David (Alan Kim) and Anne (Noel Kate Cho) have been living in California since the two kids were born, but Jacob had a dream the whole time to start h...

The Dark and the Wicked Starring Martin Ireland, Michael Abbott Jr., Julie Oliver-Touchstone, Michael Zagst Directed by Bryan Bertino "Hereditary" was one of those rare horror films that worked on a visceral, deep level that propelled it to something more of a piece of art rather than a typical "trashy" horror. The story of a family plagued by unseen forces went beyond the normal jump scares and tropes of the genre and produced a heightened family drama that tackled the very real issues of grief, death, and one's desire to communicate with lost loved ones. Since then there's been copies, but as with a copy, it's never as good as the original. "The Dark and the Wicked" is one such copy, a film that deserves praise for its tight storytelling and limited budget, but ultimately fails to invoke the same sense of wonder, especially with its abrupt ending. On a small secluded farm, elderly couple Father (Michael Zagst) and Mother (Julie Oliver-Touchst...

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run Starring Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown Directed by Tim Hill Growing up in the 80s I was treated to some of the best animated shows and toys a kid could ask for - "G.I. Joe," "Thundercats," and the beginnings of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" heralded a bright time to be a kid. Most notably was the "Transformers" franchise, which graced both the small and big screens in the 80s and dominated the childhood landscape that still continues to this day. In 1986 - in between the second and third seasons of the series - the "Transformers Movie" was released, and while it was a box office bomb at the time, it's achieved cult status since then - and with good reason. The film was marketed to kids, but it was incredibly deep and even frightening (I still remember having a nightmare about it, and I was six at the time) due to the deaths of several of my most beloved Autobots,...

Bad Trip Starring Eric Andre, Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish, Michaela Conlin Directed by Kitao Sakurai Films like "Jackass" (along with the hit TV series), "Borat," and "Bad Grandpa" managed to provide audiences with a new type of subgenre film: the hidden camera comedy. Secretly filming real peoples' reactions to outlandish antics by its actors resulted in several gut-busting, laugh-out-loud moments that really defined the genre and made household names of stars like Johnny Knoxville, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Bam Margera. Recently, the hit television series "Impractical Jokers" re-ignited this subgenre featuring four lifelong friends who challenge one another to perform far-out assignments, often in the view of unsuspecting average citizens, and it was only a matter of time before this subgenre found its way back to the big screen - in a sense. "Bad Trip" was supposed to be released nationwide in 2020, but as we all know, the cinem...

Godzilla vs. Kong Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Kaylee Hottle Directed by Adam Wingard Holyfield vs. Tyson. Ali vs. Frazier. De La Hoya vs. Mayweather. The boxing world has been filled with epic fights that have resonated throughout time - but that's boxing. In the world of cinema, there's not as many epic rivalries that have withstood the test of time, but there's one that's stood out since their first meeting back in 1962: Godzilla and King Kong. Ever since these two kaiju met, there's been hostility between the two due to both of them serving as apex predators who vie for complete control over their environment, and they don't like to share. Ever since Hollywood acquired the rights to Godzilla from Toho back in 2014, every film has led to this titanic moment: the true clash of the titans, and the seven year wait is well worth it. "Godzilla vs. Kong" is the first real epic blockbuster since the pandemic, and its ever...

Zack Snyder's Justice League Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa Directed by Zack Snyder In the world of golf - a world I am entirely not at all familiar with - there is the concept known as a "mulligan," where a golfer gets another shot at swinging his golf club at the ball when his first attempt failed miserably; a do-over, if you will. Cinema doesn't often adhere to the aspect of a complete do-over for a movie that performed miserably in theaters, except in the case of home entertainment, where they release a different cut of the film, often known as an "Extended Edition," "Uncut Version," or "Director's Cut" affixed to the main title. In 2017, Warner Bros hurried out "Justice League" to theaters, resulting in a box office bomb, a film that was supposed to be the Warner Bros/DC equivalent to the Disney/Marvel film "The Avengers," but failed at every level. For years later, the DC fandom pl...