JoeMama's Movie Reviews

  The Banshees of Inisherin Starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan Directed by Martin McDonagh When you think about it, friendship is a strange thing. You find a stranger that you never knew your entire life, and you realize you got some things in common, and all of a sudden you're hanging out with each other all the time and opening your home and life to them without a thought. You become vulnerable and open almost naturally, and there's hardly a better feeling in the world than knowing there's someone out there who not only has your back, but you have theirs as well - which makes it all the more tragic when a friendship ends. Sometimes it ends when one friend does something to offend the other, or a betrayal that goes far beyond a happenstance inconsequential error. But then there's friendships that end...just because. There's no falling out due to hurt feelings, no heartbreak after a shattering revelation - a friendship that dies jus...

Worst2First: My Most Anticipated Films of Winter 2022-2023 2022 will soon come to a close and usher in 2023, and along with it comes a slew of eagerly-awaited films from critically acclaimed darlings to long-awaited sequels and everything in-between. Spanning from December 2022 to February 2023, here are my personal top ten films I'm most anticipated to see this winter. **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** **DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE** #10 Violent Night December 2 December brings the lovely Christmas season, full of yuletide greetings and that lovable fat man known as Santa Claus. However, what if Santa wasn't as holly and jolly as you might think, but rather an avenging angel who utilizes everything in his bag of goodies to take down heartless mercenaries who threaten a family? "Stranger Things" star David Harbour stars as Santa in "Dead Snow" director Tommy Wirkola's "Violent Night," which finds Santa coming to the aid of a family besieged by r...

The Menu Starring Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau Directed by Mark Mylod I've never been someone with a refined palate when it comes to dining, as pretty much everywhere I go I always get the same thing. My tastes are very specific and I'm not willing to try new things, and I never understood why people would pay literally hundreds of dollars for a plate the size of your palm that houses a few oyster eggs or whatever - just give me a nice, greasy burger and I'm all set. So "The Menu" is one of those films that's equally out of my element but also one that I can totally agree with, as its main protagonist is the voice for me, the Everyman - why are we paying $1,250 a head for a dinner? The answer is much more complex than originally thought, and provides a biting sarcastic wit toward the culturally elite foodies who have a pretentious outlook on what goes in their mouths. World renowned celebrity chef Julia Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) runs ...

Strange World Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union Directed by Don Hall & Qui Nguyen In the 2000s Disney animation took several risks by venturing out from their normal tried-and-true methods of storytelling and introducing fantastical aspects of their films with movies like "Treasure Planet" and "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" that were met with extremely lackluster returns despite a resurgence of their popularity today. "Strange World" is akin to such films, but it tried to blend the epic outer-world explorer adventure with their bread-and-butter family struggle storytelling, and while it's not bad in essence, it's probably not one that'll be remembered years...or even days...from now. Searcher Clade (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the son of famous explorer Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid), who wants him to follow in his adventurous footsteps - but Searcher is more interested in science and nature than exploring, and...

She Said Starring Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher Directed by Maria Schrader Telling the truth is oftentimes a death sentence for the person brave enough to do so, whether it be a business death sentence or a literal one, it's extremely difficult to tell the truth when it comes to a massive cover-up that's existed for decades. Whistleblowers are exposed and dealt with harshly by the liars who's voices are always louder, and women who come forward after being brutally sexually assaulted are equally vilified by those voices, resulting in the classic "he said/she said" argument where generally the "he" in that statement would get the benefit of the doubt. So when two determined New York Times reporters decided to expose the biggest sexual assault cover-up in film history, it doesn't come easy - but something worth of value never does come easy. Hot off the heels of attempting to expose Donald Trump for his numerous sexual a...

Armageddon Time Staring Banks Repeta, Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Anthony Hopkins Directed by James Gray While the title seems rather nihilistic, "Armageddon Time" seems an almost appropriate title for such a coming-of-age film. When we're young we often see the world through rose-colored glasses, where everything is sunshine and lollipops, and life is fair. Only when we get older do we realize that life isn't fair, and we ride an emotional roller coaster of emotions and events - both good and bad - that shape us into the adults we end up being. While it's not necessarily the end of the world, it's the end of innocence but still offering glimmers of hope set against an almost hopeless world. In 1980 Queens, Jewish-American kid Paul Graff (Banks Repeta) is living a comfortable life with his mother Esther (Anne Hathaway), father Irving (Jeremy Strong), and especially his grandfather and Holocaust survivor Aaron (Anthony Hopkins). He is a rambunctious youth who...

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss Directed by Eric Appel While I enjoy musical biopics, I've had the same criticism for them all: they're almost exactly the same. Seeing their rough childhood with parents who never believed in their dreams, setting out to not just prove their parents wrong but also make them proud, their big start in the music business by playing small venues, getting recognized by a high-profile manager, having their first hit, their meteoric rise to popularity and wealth, struggling with drugs and alcohol, allowing the popularity to get to their head and tossing aside those who were with them at the beginning, their eventual downward spiral and path to redemption, and offering a Wikipedia-style format of their life with the focus on their one signature song. Literally every musical biopic followed that same formula with few deviations, and it's really hard to differentiate between them. Thank...

Tar Starring Cate Blanchett, Noemie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Sophie Kauer Directed by Todd Field There's numerous times people talk about meeting their favorite celebrities and they turn out to be major D-bags, thinking they have the whole world in their hands due to how rich and famous they are. Then when you see these former celebrities fall from grace, you get a smug sense of satisfaction knowing that their own hubris brought them down to the "commoner" level once again, finding some sort of cosmic justice through it all. Yet there's others who made names for themselves and are actually good people, but those are few and far between - what is it about celebrity and wealth that turns someone into a narcissist? Is it the outer influences or were they always inherently that way, but now they're given a bigger bullhorn to announce it? Lydia Tar (Cate Blanchett) is a world famous composer and conductor, who's accomplishments could fill an encyclopedia. She is a true ...

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Starring Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Tenoch Huerta Mejia Directed by Ryan Coogler In 2018, director Ryan Coogler brought forth the film "Black Panther" centering on the titular hero and king of the African nation of Wakanda, acted to perfection by Chadwick Boseman. The film became revolutionary especially for African Americans who finally got to see someone they can relate to as a superhero, and the story was extremely well-written and performed. The film earned over $1 billion worldwide and was nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture, winning three golden statuettes. To say the film was a phenomenon is an understatement, and everyone was anticipating what Boseman would bring to the Black Panther title in the future - and then he passed away in 2020 after a silent battle with cancer, and the fate of the Black Panther was up in the air. Needing to completely revamp the sequel, Coogler had a lot on his shoulders ...

Spirited Starring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer, Sunita Mani Directed by Sean Anders On December 19, 1843, Christmas history was made when Charles Dickens published his work A Christmas Carol , a tale about an irredeemable old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge who's visited by three ghosts of Christmas (Past, Present, and Yet to Come) who convince him to change his ways and become an upstanding citizen of the community. It's been used as a cautionary tale ever since, and the work has been done to death in films, novels, plays, and television specials that air during the yuletide season. By now everyone young and old knows the story, and it's almost impossible to make it fresh - but leave it up to director Sean Anders to give it the old college try with "Spirited," which turns A Christmas Carol into a modern-day musical that turns the story on its head - and it would've worked if he had cast actors who could actually sing. Every Christmas Eve, a com...

  Paul's Promise Starring Ryan O'Quinn, Linda Purl, Shari Rigby, Josef Cannon Directed by Matthew Reithmayr The world of Christian cinema is littered with cheesy, over-the-top, as subtle as a sledgehammer preachy films that focus on someone getting saved and accepting Jesus Christ in their heart by any means necessary. The majority of these films focus on some loved one who's a devout Christian (a mother, a spouse, a child, etc.) who fervently prays and who's complete dialogue is about turning their "unsaved" loved one to the light of God. This person slowly undergoes a metamorphosis where they were once far away from God but after a bunch of seemingly random events hit them from left and right, they realize they have nowhere else to turn to but God. "Paul's Promise" is one such film, an overly preachy, overly manipulative film that tells the supposed true story of Paul Holderfield, who goes from an unbelieving fireman living in the segregated so...

Prey for the Devil Starring Jacqueline Byers, Posy Taylor, Colin Salmon, Virginia Madsen Directed by Daniel Stamm The idea of exorcism has existed for centuries, dating back to the Biblical times when Jesus walked the earth and cast demons out of innocent people practically on the daily, and clergy has been exercising demons out of victims ever since. While the idea of exorcism is as old as Biblical times, the execution of them has changed throughout the centuries. Back in the long, long ago, people had "demons" cast out of them when in reality they suffered from mental disorders or just issues that went against the general populous (such as homosexuality, promiscuous behaviors, etc.), but for some reason it seems that in recent times the claims of demon possessed people has only escalated. The church now works in tandem with the scientific community, taking each case under supervision and clinical study before they go in Bibles blazing, and still the cases continue to skyroc...