JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Venom: The Last Dance Starring Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans Directed by Kelly Marcel The Sony Spider-Man Universe is, to say the least, not doing well. For a cinematic universe that has the title of the main character who hasn't appeared in any films thus far, it only adds to the lack of excitement these films carry. Essentially it's a Spider-Man Adjacent Cinematic Universe that features Spider-Man villains (or antiheroes) as opposed to the Web Slinger himself. The results haven't been generous, with the likes of "Morbius" and "Madam Web" getting eviscerated by critics and general movie-going audiences alike.  The only films that have somewhat escaped this dour fate is Tom Hardy's "Venom" series, but even they have things lacking (most notably "Venom: Let There be Carnage," which wastes one of Marvel's biggest, scariest villains in a PG-13 humdrum of a movie who's short runtime lacks any deep charac...

Wolfs Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams Directed by Jon Watts Sometimes you can hold the weight of a film solely on the performances, especially with actors who've worked so much together that they're best friends in the real world, and doesn't feel like acting anymore. Two of these actors are George Clooney and Brad Pitt, who've appeared together in seven films and are well-known buddies outside the movie set, and both are good natured pranksters who's rapport with each other is effortless and seamless. So when they come together for a generic, by-the-books caper movie, it elevates it beyond mediocrity due to their charismatic performances. When Manhattan District Attorney Margaret (Amy Ryan) brings a young man (Austin Abrams) to her hotel room, she's shocked when he accidentally dies. Not wanting to draw attention to the fact, she calls a mysterious number, and a Man (George Clooney) arrives to clean up the mess. He works alone, and p...

The Mouse Trap Starring Simon Phillips, Sophie McIntosh, Mackenzie Mills, Madeline Kelman Directed by Jamie Bailey Lately the beloved classics have entered the public domain, most notably Winnie the Pooh, meaning their characters can be used for free without paying royalties to the owner. The result, as everyone now knows, is turning our beloved childhood icons into killing machines, again most notably Winnie the Pooh in two horror movies, and being the center of the upcoming Poohniverse cinematic universe. Not wanting to be left out on the gory fun, Mickey Mouse has also become public domain (well, at least his Steamboat Willie iteration from 1928), and literally the day that happened the trailer for the then-titled "Mickey Mouse Trap" came out. Renaming it "The Mouse Trap," the film itself is a dull, uninspired mess of a movie with the worst acting possible, the most nonsensical story, and the lamest, tamest kills you could imagine. It's almost Alex's (Sop...

Woman of the Hour Starring Anna Kendrick, Daniel Zovatto, Nicolette Robinson, Tony Hale Directed by Anna Kendrick I'm a huge true crime fan, and I've heard the story of "The Dating Game Killer" Rodney Alcala, who went on the classic game show in 1978 despite already having murdered numerous women. He would go on to win that show and score a date with Cheryl Bradshaw, but fortunately for her she never followed through with their vacation, leading Rodney feeling rejected and continuing his murder spree until he was eventually caught and imprisoned for his crimes - even though he was only charged with eight confirmed deaths when he could've been responsible for up to 130. First-time director Anna Kendrick tackles the story in "Woman of the Hour," but also touches on misogyny both then and now, and how women aren't usually heard like they're supposed to. Throughout the 1970s, Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) went on a string of murders, killing women i...

Smile 2 Starring Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley Directed by Parker Finn I don't know what it is about "Smile" that people really enjoy. Even after reading reviews and such, it just boggles my mind, as the film itself is nothing more than a mix of "The Ring" and "It Follows" with more jump scares than actual plot. Sure, Sosie Bacon does a terrific job with the material she's been given, and the cinematography is sometimes decent, but overall the first film had my smile turned upside down. So with the sequel, I already had a preconceived notion as to how much I wouldn't like it, and by golly did it deliver on that aspect. Yet again this is nothing more than jump scare central with a great female lead and some decent cinematography, and yet again - for some odd reason - people are eating it up. Maybe I'm too cynical. Or maybe I've seen more messed up movies than most. Either way, the only smiles I had duri...

Special Review: "Midwest Sessions" Directed by Mario Ricciardi Independent filmmaking is a fascinating concept, wherein the director and everyone involved sets out to make something unique, different, and go against the traditional status quo of what's defined as a "blockbuster." These films aren't usually seen by the masses and won't be included in the top ten highest grossing movies of all time, but they offer something those films don't: a heart and commitment by the people involved to craft something wholly distinctive that tell a story in their own way. Such is "Midwest Sessions," a local film directed by Mario Ricciardi that centers on the city of Youngstown, Ohio, and the captivating people who live there. Told in different vignettes that seem distinct and different from one another but coming together as a whole in the end, it's an engrossing film that utilizes its shoestring budget and gives great performances, decent effects a...

Mr. Crocket Starring Jerrika Hinton, Ayden Gavin, Kristolyn Lloyd, Elvis Nolasco Directed by Brandon Epsy Everyone knows their names - Mr. Rogers, Pee Wee Herman - wholesome performers (well, at least Mr. Rogers) who graced our screens when we were children teaching us important lessons about life, love, and being a good person. Sometimes, these role models served as the only parents kids ever knew, since their own family lives were tumultuous and volatile, and the boob tube served as the perfect babysitter. "Mr. Crocket" takes this approach and turns it on its head, providing a horror film with impressive practical effects, an alluring villain, but ultimately a script that can't quite reach the credits. In 1994, Summer (Jerrika Hinton) has just lost her husband, and her only son Major (Ayden Gavin) is being a major thorn in her side. He's unruly and unresponsive, acting out on the daily and causing Summer all kinds of headaches, ultimately declaring that she's do...

Terrifier 3 Starring Lauren LaVera, David Howard Thornton, Elliott Fullam, Antonella Rose Directed by Damien Leone We all know the Mount Rushmore of horror icons: Freddy, Jason, Michael, Leatherface...icons that have withstood the test of time, as decades pass and people still don their costumes every Halloween. They're the ones who don't necessarily strike fear in our hearts, but ones we have an odd fondness for, villains we oftentimes root for against horny teenagers or unruly youth who invade their property - of course that's not always the case, but as you get older you start feeling more for these villains than their victims in most situations. Since Jigsaw in "Saw" there hasn't been an iconic villain of this caliber, until now. Now we get Art the Clown, this generation's prolific horror icon that's now slayed his way through three major motion pictures and a few shorts that has cemented his legacy in the pantheon of villains, all without saying a...

Piece by Piece Starring Pharrell Williams, Morgan Neville, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg Directed by Morgan Neville Musical biopics are bland, stale, and really don't tell anything more than what you can find from a Wikipedia search, and yet they keep churning them out for some inexplicable reason. 2024 alone has three of them - Bob Marley, Amy Winehouse, and now Pharrell Williams - but at least one of them is unique in a sense. Pharrell Williams' "Piece by Piece" is a blend of musical biopic and documentary and is shot using Legos instead of live action, which helps the visual aesthetic but fails to produce anything more than what you'd come to expect, and the medium itself is puzzling in finding its target audience. Chronicling his life from childhood to superstardom, Pharrell Williams shares his experiences from growing up in the ghetto of Virginia, finding faith in church, family, and friends, and exploring his many hobbies, especially music. He forms the group The...

  Never Let Go Starring Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV, Anthony B. Jenkins, Matthew Kevin Anderson Directed by Alexandre Aja Upon seeing the trailer for "Never Let Go," I got vibes from different movies like "A Quiet Place" and "Bird Box," and I was mostly right in that regard - it's got the same feel as those movies, but there's something different with "Never Let Go" that those other films didn't have, and that's a sense of continuity. It's a film that leaves too many questions open-ended, and throws away its own rules by the third act for reasons unknown, which is a shame because up to that point I was really invested in the story and the surprises along the way, but ultimately I was left with questions with no answers, no matter where I looked: and while some movies work that way, this one left me more annoyed than intrigued. Living in a shack in the middle of the woods, Momma (Halle Berry) and her twin sons Nolan (Percy Dagg...

Transformers One Starring Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree-Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key Directed by Josh Cooley As a child of the 80s "Transformers" was one of my favorite cartoon shows, and the original animated movie is still highly regarded in my opinion (with the best soundtrack ever), and through my adult years Michael Bay has systematically tried to kill my love for the franchise with his abysmal live-action films (fortunately "Bumblebee" righted many of those wrongs). So when I heard they were making an animated prequel movie that essentially came across as a buddy adventure comedy, I was highly skeptical - and while the film itself didn't move me to tears or make me want to see it again, I could appreciate the message it told and found myself entertained by it all. On Cybertron, there's two classes of robots - ones that have a cog and are able to transform, and ones without, who cannot transform and are relegated to the mines to dig up E...

Salem's Lot Starring Lewis Pullman, Mackenzie Leigh, Alfre Woodard, Bill Camp Directed by Gary Dauberman Honestly, I've read only a few novels by the great Stephen King, and have relegated my knowledge of the prolific writer to the films they make from his work. Obviously, something always gets lost in the translation, and there's more bad adaptations than good, but there was a lot of anticipation for "Salem's Lot," based on King's 1975 novel that was once an acclaimed miniseries in 1979 and again in 2004, along with a theatrical sequel. Since 2022 there was rumors of the film being made, but no one knew when - or, considering it's Warner Bros. - if it would be released, but finally the film was set to stream on Max, and it managed to suck all the fun out of it. Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) is an author who returns to his hometown of Jerusalem, Maine, to research for a new book he's writing when he meets secretary Susan Norton (Mackenzie Leigh), and t...

Joker: Folie a Deux Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener Directed by Todd Phillips 2019's "Joker" was a revolutionary vision for the iconic Batman villain, a role played so perfectly by Joaquin Phoenix that it earned him the Oscar for the performance, one of the only times in Oscar history that the same character has won an Oscar more than once (Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker in "The Dark Knight" also earned an Oscar win). The film was grounded in reality, making Arthur Fleck into the Joker due to society's influence on him and how he was always looked down upon and seen as lesser because of it. It was a deep, dark character study that blended reality and fantasy in ways where you didn't know what was real and what wasn't. The conclusion had me literally on the edge of my seat, not sure where things were going, but knowing it wasn't going to be good - in a good way. The film was perfection, a one-off...

Oddity Starring Carolyn Bracken, Gwilym Lee, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton Directed by Damien McCarthy Something I tend to hate in horror films is jump scares, because all too often they're used in place of something really terrifying, something that replaces the exciting for the quick fix, because instinctively you're bound to jump when you hear a screeching noise coming out of nowhere. Yet there's times where jump scares add to the overall unease of a film, and serve as the icing on the cake. "Oddity" is one such film, a claustrophobic blend of murder mystery, supernatural horror and home invasion blended together with the intense jump scares to serve as the denouement. One year after her twin sister Dani (Carolyn Bracken) was murdered in her isolated home, blind clairvoyant Darcy (Carolyn Bracken) travels to Dani's home where her widowed husband Ted (Gwilym Lee) lives with his new girlfriend Yana (Caroline Menton). She brings with her a family heirloom - a ...

Megalopolis Starring Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Films generally exist to tell a story, to have a cohesive beginning, middle, and end. Something that the viewer can say, "Oh, I understood that." "Megalopolis" isn't such a film, but rather a visionary wonder wrapped in a story that - on the surface - actually does make sense, but the way it's told, and the paths it takes, leaves the viewers wondering what the heck is going on, and what the central message is. You can sense the passion behind the project, but what you see is literally visuals that look like they were vomited on the screen with no sense of reason: beautiful to look at, but utterly confusing in its execution. It leaves a weird taste in your mouth after watching it, like it's supposed to be this grand fable epic, but the story zigzags so much you don't know what the main point of it is. In the fictional American city of...

  The Substance Starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Gore Abrams Directed by Coralie Fargeat It's a rare treat that I get to go into a movie completely blind - never seeing a trailer, never reading a review, and knowing absolutely nothing about it. "The Substance" is one such film (as is another film I recently saw, "The Shade," to less excited results), a movie that I only heard about being gory, disturbing, and intense. While I take that as a grain of salt (considering many people who say these things think "Saw" is the most gory film ever, without even considering foreign horror films that I've seen that makes "Saw" look like a Disney movie), I was intrigued and managed to see "The Substance." While it's not personally as intense as others say it was, what it was is so much more - a rich, beautifully acted and produced film that unashamedly points the lens to one of Hollywood's most destructive behavio...