JoeMama's Movie Reviews

The Bob's Burgers Movie Starring H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal Directed by Loren Bouchard & Bernard Derriman When a beloved television series makes a big-budget blockbuster film, it's certain to bring in lovers of the franchise, but can it also introduce a new audience to a long-running series? It's usually difficult for a television series to make it big on the big screen, but it's been done before, most notably in the animated category. "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" was met with rave reviews by both critics and audiences, and even earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. After a very long wait, "The Simpsons Movie" finally hit the big screen as well, transferring the beloved Simpsons family to the big screen which again was met with critical and audience acclaim, and even introduced a self-defecating joke at the beginning of the film: While the Simpson family is watching "Itchy & Sctatchy: ...

Men Starring Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Paapa Essiedu, Gayle Rankin Directed by Alex Garland Alex Garland is a master at both writing and directing, providing two of the most unique, powerful, and unforgettable films in recent memory: "Ex Machina" and "Annihilation," both of which are mind-bending thrillers that has the audiences questioning reality and awestruck at the wonderful way Garland not only tells the story, but the way he shows it as well. "Men" is the first time he dabbles in the truly horrific, and it's got all his earmarks plain and simple, but this time it'll leave audiences divided in how he chose to approach the material. What seemed very cut-and-dry from the onset is turned on its head in the utterly insane (and utterly unforgettable) final forty minutes where the main character - and the audience - are thrust into an unflinching hell that's deeply disturbing, but also darkly humorous as well. Harper Marlowe (Jessie Buckley)...

  Hotel Transylvania: Transformania Starring Brian Hull, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kathryn Hahn Directed by Derek Drymon & Jennifer Kluska After seeing the rather lackluster "Hotel Transylvania 3," I figured that this franchise about monsters had finally met its demise - but like any good monster movie, that wasn't meant to be. When it was announced that "Hotel Transylvania: Transformania" would be coming out, I groaned on the in and outside, figuring this was just another cheap cash grab to get kids to the theater. I groaned even louder when I found out that it would be the first to not be directed by Gennedy Tartakovsky or star Kevin James as Frankenstein and, most surprisingly, Adam Sandler as the film's main star, Dracula. A fourth film in a franchise that died out after two films, without its director or lead star, and never seeing a theatrical release due to the pandemic and being sold to Amazon? Nothing about this boded well for the film, and so...

  Downton Abbey: A New Era Starring Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton Directed by Simon Curtis Normally when a television show makes a big-budget cinematic film, it's done in order to draw viewers to the show itself and also as a soulless cash-grab to draw in people who remember the series fondly, and see how the story progresses. "Downton Abbey" is a rare exception, as the series ended back in 2015 after six amazing seasons and mutiple Emmys and other accolades, so everyone thought that the adventures of those who lived in the lavish Downton Abbey would end then - but in 2019 they made a feature-length film that served more like an epilogue to the story, and found a way to re-ignite the magic that the series held over people (disclaimer: I've never seen an episode of the show). Wondering if lightning could strike twice, another "Downton Abbey" film came out in 2022 - "A New Era" - and instead of serving as an epilogu...

KIMI Starring Zoe Kravitz, Byron Bowers, Rita Wilson, India de Beaufort Directed by Steven Soderbergh There's a meme I remember seeing talking about how we would never want the government spying on us, and in the second panel a woman is laughing and Alexa laughs as well. There's other countless memes of how the FBI is monitoring our Internet usage, and we just accept it as humorous fact. Gone are the days of any sort of privacy, as even in your own home you're being monitored by multiple different devices that come off as harmless but in the wrong hands could be very detrimental to your own sanity and well-being. "KIMI" is a film that looks at this connection, a modern-day "Rear Window" for the COVID generation, a tight, 90-minute thriller that doesn't skimp on the story or the thrills, keeping its taunt runtime as engaging as it possibly could be. Angela Childs (Zoe Kravitz) works for Amygdala, a tech corporation that just released KIMI - a smart sp...

  Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Starring John Mulaney, Andy Samberg, KiKi Layne, Will Arnett Directed by Akiva Schaffer The idea of a "reboot" is akin to a swear word nowadays, as it seems that everything nostalgic is getting a modern-day reboot in order to draw in the crowds who remembered the original show as well as newer viewers with the promise of something unique and fresh mixed in with the nostalgia, and more often than not is just a soul-less cash-grab by higher ups who notice that new intellectual properties aren't garnering a huge fanbase anymore. Reboots not just affect terrible movies (such as "Charlie's Angels," "The Mummy," and the like), but television as well, with shows like "Murphy Brown," "Charmed," "Charlie's Angels" (I see a pattern), "Uncle Buck," "90210," and "Melrose Place," who tried to bring back the old audiences and mix it with newer themes, but all fell ...

  Petite Maman Starring Josephine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Nina Meurisse, Stephane Varupenne Directed by Celine Sciamma There's always something inherently innocent about how a child sees the world, even the bad that unfolds around them. They don't usually understand what's happening to its fullness, and at times they may be frightened or concerned about tragic events with a lack of understanding, but during the joyful times they're over the moon for the most simplest things, including building a fort in the woods. When I was a child, I remember the carefree moments of youth going out with my friends, riding our bikes through town, exploring the woods, splashing in the creek, and just enjoying the slow descent of time - until we grow up, and time speeds up exponentially, and our carefree youth is replaced by insurmountable amounts of worry, concern, doubt, fear, and mistrust. "Petite Maman" is an expertly written, directed, and performed film focusing on grief, r...

  Blacklight Starring Liam Neeson, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Taylor John Smith, Aidan Quinn Directed by Mark Williams It wouldn't be a year without Liam Neeson playing an aged action hero who operates under a particular set of skills, most of which involves him talking in gruff voices about his family and involving himself in epic explosions, car chases, and gunfights. "Taken" was a groundbreaking piece of work for the veteran actor, one that re-vitalized his career and spearheaded a new subgenre of film: the "Neeson-Taken-Skillset" (I just made that up, and I must admit it's pretty awful, but I feel like I put more thought into that than the writers did for this film). Ever since "Taken," Neeson has played the same type of character with varying success: from the rather decent ("Non-Stop," "The Commuter") to the so-so ("Cold Pursuit," "A Walk Among the Tombstones"), to the downright silly and stupid ("The Ice...

  Memory Starring Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci, Harold Torres Directed by Martin Campbell Ever since "Taken" became a box-office smash and turned Liam Neeson into an unlikely action hero, it seems that he's been perpetually stuck in those kinds of roles, and with very diminishing results. The man who once had a particular set of skills seems now to only know those skills and nothing else, appearing time and time again in low-budget actioneers that last a week or two in the theater before getting dumped on Hulu or Tubi, where they probably should've been the entire time. Neeson's been doing this gig for so long that even his own character doesn't remember anymore, which is the basis for "Memory" - a film that once again brings Neeson's set of skills to the forefront, even if he (and the bored audience) doesn't remember it. Alex Lewis (Liam Neeson) is a skilled hitman and assassin who plans to retire after finding out he's exper...

The Bad Guys Starring Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson Directed by Pierre Perifel When you think of the worst animals in the animal kingdom, certain ones spring to mind instantly: sharks, spiders, snakes, piranhas, wolves. Of course, being animals, they have no way to defend themselves or prove themselves otherwise, and I doubt they really care about what people think about them - except when they're hunted down for their preconceived notions of evil (no matter what, though, I'll always consider spiders evil and will either kill them or have someone else kill them at a moment's notice). While we often compare these creatures to being evil, we also tend to associate certain people with being evil as well, strictly due to their appearance. Who would you rather run into in a dark alley: an elderly old woman, or a tatted-up muscle man? Based on appearances, you'd probably want to run into the elderly woman because there's a better chance that she'...

Firestarter Starring Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Zac Efron, Michael Greyeyes, Gloria Reuben Directed by Keith Thomas Lately there's two production companies that churn out horror films on the regular, and that's A24 and Blumhouse Productions. While A24's horror has been described as "elevated" (including the critically acclaimed films "Hereditary," "Midsommar," "The Lighthouse" and "X"), Blumhouse has had a less than stellar go at producing horror films (some of their hits include their continual work with Jordan Peele) including "Truth or Dare" and remakes of "Fantasy Island," "The Invisible Man," and "Black Christmas." "Firestarter" is another one of Blumhouse's remakes that no one asked for, a film that doesn't hold a match to the original source material, and even the much-maligned Drew Barrymore original film holds up better than this wannabe made-for-TV fizzle. Andy (...

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez Directed by Sam Raimi Leave it to iconic director Sam Raimi to not just provide a thrilling, unrelenting, mind-boggling superhero spectacle film, but also a terrifyingly horrific one to boot - splashed throughout with his own unique blend of dark humor. The director - best known for his emergence with the memorable "Evil Dead" and its wonderful sequels - re-emerges to once again showcase his talent in both the superhero world (since, after all, he did direct one of the best superhero films before the MCU became a thing: "Spider-Man 2") as well as the frightening world that resides in his special mind. Much akin to the idea of "Doctor Strange 2" (which is much easier than calling it by its long title), Raimi turns it into a Frankenstein's Monster all its own - combining pieces of other MCU properties into a unique vessel in which, whi...

  Worst2First: Bad Moms and Good Moms in Horror When you think of horror cinema, the issue of family values probably doesn't strike at the top of your list - but throughout horror history the concept of family is often intertwined with its themes of murder, mayhem, and carnage. In honor of Mother's Day, I take a look at my five best "bad moms" in horror cinema, as well as my five best "good moms" in horror cinema as well. **THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!** BAD MOMS #5 Braindead Vera Cosgrove Before "Lord of the Rings," Peter Jackson was known for his off-the-wall bloody gory horror/comedy "Braindead" (also known as "Dead Alive"). The film featured a shy, reclusive man named Lionel Cosgrove who lived with his elderly, overbearing mother Vera, and she held a vice-like grip on every aspect of his life. So when he starts dating Paquita, Vera does everything she can to prevent him from being happy - resulting in her getting bit by a Sumari...