JoeMama's Movie Reviews

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Starring Henry Cavill, Eiza Gonzalez, Alen Ritchson, Henry Golding Directed by Guy Ritchie World War I was known as The Great War, as no one ever experienced such a war on that grand scale. Then came World War II, and that war was one that changed the course of history - especially when it comes to cinema. There's very few movies centering around World War I ("1917," "War Horse," "The White Ribbon" to name some), but when it comes to World War II, there's an abundance of films about it. Some focus on the atrocities the Nazis committed against the Jews ("Schindler's List," "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"), while others focused on the war itself ("Flags of Our Fathers," "Defiance"), and others that are fictionalized stories centering around the war ("Inglourious Basterds"). "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" is one that sits in the center - a r

Abigail Starring Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, Kathryn Newton Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett Sometimes you go into a movie based on the trailer expecting exactly what the trailer delivers, and that's "Abigail" to a T. A group of kidnappers abduct a young girl in hopes of getting money from her wealthy father, and learn that said girl is a ballerina vampire, and blood and carnage ensues. By-the-numbers, rote, simplistic, and stereotypical are words to describe "Abigail," but you don't really mind because the duo known as Radio Silence delivered what they promised: a fun, light B-rated romp with a fantastic cast, copious amounts of blood, and a star-making role for the young Alisha Weir as the title character. One night a group of kidnappers abduct young ballerina Abigail (Alisha Weir) and take her to their safe house. Once there, their boss instructs them to use no real names, no back stories, and no cell phones so no one w

Civil War Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson Directed by Alex Garland "Civil War" is one of those films that almost demands you go into it expecting to find some highly political edge that'll echo the obvious tears and rifts in our own America today, where the two-party system is becoming more and more divisive and people are on their last nerve. You expect it to be an action-packed spectacle about a feuding America where the lines are cut-and-dry, and you'll easily choose one side over another. You'd expect it to be a film where everything is laid out plainly, with exposition to keep you in the know from the get-go. You'd be wrong on all counts, and that's the main beauty of this Alex Garland quiet masterpiece. In the near future America is divided between the loyalist states who remain loyal to the seemingly dictatorial President (Nick Offerman), and the seceded states including the Western Forces, Florida All

Late Night with the Devil Starring David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Ingrid Torelli Directed by Colin Cairnes & Cameron Cairnes Talk shows have devolved over the decades, where now they're watered-down, safe spaces for celebrities to come and promote their latest projects, or singers come to sing their latest hits. Back in the 70s, however, talk shows were a completely different entity entirely. Guests smoked, product placement was rampant, hosts were seedy charlatans, and they were more variety shows than straight-up interviews. Gimmicks and flights of fancy littered the late night landscape, and nothing was as important as Sweeps Week to keep them on the air - except, of course, for Johnny Carson, the undisputed king of late night talk show hosts. It's under this strain that "Late Night With the Devil" showcases its incredible slow-burn format - a film shot perfectly like it came out of the 70s, and keeping your eyes glued to the screen from the start

Monkey Man Starring Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma Directed by Dev Patel Passion projects in cinema are a rare breed, as more often than not films are made by greedy corporations who want to capitalize on an already known property and churn movie after movie knowing the masses will flock to them because of name recognition, not caring about the heart of the story they tell. That may be a jaded view of cinema, but after seeing the amount of movies I have, you pick up on these things. "Monkey Man," for its flaws, is no such thing. It's a pure passion project directed, written, produced and starring Dev Patel, famous for roles in "Slumdog Millionaire," "The Green Knight," and his Oscar-nominated turn in "Lion." Once destined for a Netflix original, the film was picked up by Jordan Peele's production company and given the big screen treatment, and we're all better for it - while this might be a sort of by-the-books acti

Snack Shack Starring Conor Sherry, Gabriel LaBelle, Mika Adballa, Nick Robinson Directed by Adam Carter Rehmeier The coming-of-age subgenre. Is there any other subgenre that brings back those nostalgic feelings of your first summer job, hanging out all the time with your best friend, doing rowdy things that'd make your parents blush, and falling in love for the first time? Well, that's the point. That's exactly what the coming-of-age subgenre is, and it's rare that it delivers something completely new and exciting - something that'll last long through the decades and become one of those fond memories itself. "Snack Shack" is not one such film. It's by the books, generic, and its tone goes all over the place, along with the pacing. AJ (Conor Sherry) and Moose (Gabriel LaBelle) are best friends living in Nebraska City in the summer of 1991, and want to get rich - so they brew their own beer. That fizzles out, and AJ's parents make him get a summer jo

Wicked Little Letters Starring Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Malachi Kirby Directed by Thea Sharrock In Littlehampton, England in 1920, there was a scandal running among the town. A series of lewd letters were written to several women in the town, most notably the religiously pious Edith Swan. The loud, shrewd, outspoken Rose Gooding was charged with writing the letters, although she maintained her innocence. When the true culprit was caught, it sent the town into a tizzy and for such a seemingly benign event became historical memory. The Studio Canal film "Wicked Little Letters" sheds light on this moment in history, a film that also touches on lack of female representation in the 1920s delivered by amazing performances and a truly laugh-out-loud story. Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) is a middle-aged spinster living in Littlehampton in 1920 with her father Edward (Timothy Spall) and mother Victoria (Gemma Jones) and she lives a very devout Christian life - she rea

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Starring Rebecca Hall, Bryan Tyree Henry, Dan Stephens, Kaylee Hottle Directed by Adam Wingard Godzilla and King Kong have been frenemies since 1962, either fighting one another or joining together to fight a similar foe, and as the decades went forward technology made them even larger, grandiose, and intimidating. No more figures shambling on the screen, now we're treated with the best CGI and motion capture has to offer, giving both Godzilla and Kong a more fascinating look than ever before. Godzilla himself is now an Oscar-winning franchise having won Best Visual Effects for the glorious "Godzilla: Minus One" last year (that has nothing to do with this cinematic universe, but by far is the best film with "Godzilla" in the title). This time around, Godzilla and Kong join forces against an evil ape uprising that could spell doom for the world. After their last epic fight, King Kong returns to Hollow Earth while Godzilla remains o

Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey II Starring Scott Chambers, Tallulah Evans, Ryan Oliva, Teresa Banham Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield Do you remember when the first live-action "Sonic the Hedgehog" trailer came out, and everyone despised the Sonic design so much that the company spent millions of dollars to make it more appropriate, resulting in a colossal cinematic hit? That's a sign that sometimes companies really want to put out quality content not to get money but because they care about the audience and their product. Last year, "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey" was released due to the original rights of Winnie and company (sans Tigger) became public domain, so of course these beloved children's icons would be turned into ravenous killers. The result is nothing short of terrible: the film was boring, Pooh and Piglet looked like people wearing cheap plastic masks from the Halloween store, the story didn't make a lick of sense, and it seemed that

Immaculate Starring Sydney Sweeney, Alvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Dora Romano Directed by Michael Mohan There was a comedy movie that came out in 2004 called "Saved!" about a group of Christian school teens trying to balance faith and free will, and it was a downright hoot that I still laugh out loud to today. When one of the girls in the school gets pregnant, she's watching a play about the birth of Jesus and wonders..."I know this is wrong, but do you ever wonder if she just made the whole thing up? I mean, it's a pretty good one. It's not like anyone can ever use virgin birth as an excuse again. if Mary made the whole thing up." Well, director Michael Mohan must have seen that movie too and thought, "hold my beer" as he in fact made a movie where the main character is seemingly impregnated as a virgin. While not as funny, "Immaculate" does have some intentional (and non-intentional) humor thrown in, while proving Sydney Sw

Road House Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Conor McGregor, Daniela Melchior, Billy Magnussen Directed by Doug Liman There's a meme featuring Lisa Simpson of "The Simpsons" standing in front of a screen with the words: "Instead of remaking great movies, they should remake bad movies that were based on good stories but did not meet expectations." I wholeheartedly agree with this statement, as in when they remake the classics it hardly ever turns out as good as the original, while bad movies that have good concepts can only get better - right? Take "Road House," a 1989 film starring Patrick Swayze that wasn't necessarily bad, but not one people remember fondly. In fact, pretty much anyone nowadays who remember it remembers it due to the "Family Guy" spoof when Peter Griffin says, "Road House." It wasn't a bad movie, but one that no one would've imagined getting a remake because it was a cult classic and not a well-known one. Yet

Cabrini Starring Cristiana Dell'Anna, David Morse, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Federico Ielapi Directed by Alejandro Monteverde Whereas I'm not traditionally a huge fan of musical biopics because they mostly gloss over every aspect of the singer's life and gives a Wikipedia-infused story, general biopics of ordinary people who've done the extraordinary are a guilty pleasure of mine. Seeing ordinary people who endured hardship after hardship to make a lasting change in the word - many of whom have names lost to history - are some of the strongest people in the world. They didn't change the world to become famous, they did it because it was the right thing to do. It gives us a challenge ourselves: would we do the same thing, or would we cave under the insurmountable odds stacked against us? For Francesca Cabrini, she not only endured the hardships - she embraced them, and her work led to lasting change not just in America but throughout the world, making her the patron s

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Starring Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, McKenna Grace, Fynn Wolfhard Directed by Gil Kenan 1984's "Ghostbusters" was a huge hit and became a cultural phenomenon, not just supplying a sequel but successful video games and a Saturday morning cartoon series, and generations now know the hit theme song and can easily answer the question: "who you gonna call?" The series got a reboot of sorts with "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" in 2021 and was a modest hit, accumulating $203 million worldwide. The film brought back the legacy characters Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson while honoring the late Harold Ramis by incorporating his on-screen family as the next generation of Ghostbusters. The film was a great blend of classic and modern with humor, heart, and emotion - so did "Frozen Empire" live up to its predecessor or was it more a cash grab to take advantage of a re-awakened juggernaut? In New York City, the new Ghostbusters

Imaginary Starring DeWanda Wise, Tom Payne, Pyper Braun, Taegen Burns Directed by Jeff Wadlow 2024 is the year for imaginary friends, with the upcoming John Krasinski-directed Ryan Reynolds-starring comedy "IF" as well as this forgettable Blumhouse production "Imaginary." Sure, it's only two films, but since imaginary friends haven't had prominence in entertainment since the amazing "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" ended in 2009, and hopefully "IF" fares better than "Imaginary," a film that'll make you wish it was just a faded childhood memory - because honestly you probably won't remember it anyway. Jessica (DeWanda Wise) is the new wife to rocker Max (Tom Payne) and a stepmother to his two daughters - teenager Taylor (Taegen Burns) and young Alice (Pyper Braun). Taylor doesn't like Jessica while Alice likes her for the most part, and after moving back into Jessica's childhood home Alice finds an abando

Love Lies Bleeding Starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O'Brian, Ed Harris, Dave Franco Directed by Rose Glass Director Rose Glass is a visionary, a female director who beats to her own drum, and who offers unique, powerful films - and this is just her second outing. She excels at the theme of obsession, as in her debut feature "Saint Maud" the main character's obsession is religion, while "Love Lies Bleeding" centers around a more opaque obsession: what makes someone powerful. Guns, muscles, lies, even love...whatever gets you the upper hand is what the characters here obsess over and lust after, creating unique portrayals of a once-male dominated subgenre of the noir sexy thriller and tells it through a female lens that transforms the characters from caricatures into fully three-dimensional beings who will live rent-free in your head long after the credits end. In a small New Mexico town in 1989, Lou (Kristen Stewart) is a reclusive gym manager who's father