JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Is God Is Starring Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Sterling K. Brown, Vivica A. Fox Directed by Aleshea Harris There's no more classic tale than a revenge tale. It's something that comes to mind when we've been wronged by someone, no matter how passive we might be - all peace and love go out the window when we're hurt in a tremendous way by someone else. What matters is how you get that revenge, and whether or not it changes you on the inside. That's the dilemma facing twin sisters as they embark on a "mission from God" to get the revenge they've been denied, but also something that could tear them apart. After their father (Sterling K. Brown) burns their mother (Vivica A. Fox) and themselves at a young age, now-adult twins Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) receive a letter from their long-forgotten mother. Having been disfigured by the fire themselves (especially Anaia, who wears the scars on her face), the sisters visit their dying mother ...

Obsession Starring Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless Directed by Curry Baker If you had one wish, what would it be? The answer is different for each person, and for anyone who's seen any movie that has this as a topic, you'd know that said wish comes with unintended consequences. Want a billion dollars? Your closest loved one left that much in their will and died suddenly. Want world peace? An apocalyptic event occurs that wipes out humanity. Yet one of the most common "wishes" people have is for their unrequited love to feel the same for them - and as you know, wishes like that can be quite dangerous. For YouTube star Curry Baker, his second feature film "Obsession" focuses on that wish and the unintended consequences of it - but does so in a way that is fresh, new, and hip for today's generation.  Bear (Michael Johnston) is a shy, timid man who's had a crush on his longtime friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) for awhile,...

In the Grey Starring Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza Gonzalez, Carlos Bardem Directed by Guy Ritchie There was a time where Guy Ritchie was one of the most sought-after action directors in Hollywood. With hits like "Snatch," "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels," and especially "Sherlock Holmes." His style is uniquely his: relentless editing, exquisite locations, fashion to the nines, self-mocking machismo and a character's verbal summary of a plan intercut with scenes of the actions being performed. Maybe it became too generic, but with the exception of his live-action remake of "Aladdin" (which doesn't include much of his original style), recent Ritchie films have been met with shrugs rather than shouts. "Fountain of Youth," "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare," "The Covenant," "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" and the like are churned out by the year with no fanfare, and fade into obsc...

Over Your Dead Body Starring Jason Segel, Samara Weaving, Timothy Olyphant, Juliette Lewis Directed by Jorma Taccone Movies are great when you expect the unexpected, when twists and turns keep you on your toes and are left wondering what wacky thing will happen next. "Over Your Dead Body" is, at its core, a simple story - a couple who've fallen out of love go to an isolated family home in order to secretly kill one another, and if that was the entire story, it would've felt like it dragged. Yet, both for good and bad, there's a few twists thrown in that does keep things entertaining, even if it kills the pacing and tone, and occurs far too soon. Dan Burton (Jason Segel) is a former movie director-turned commercial director and doesn't have a lot of money because he foolishly spends it, while his wife Lisa (Samara Weaving) is a community actor who has aspirations to become an actress but is constantly belittled by Dan. They decide to take a trip to Dan's fa...

: Faces of Death Starring Barbie Ferreira, Dacre Montgomery, Josie Totah, Aaron Holliday Directed by Daniel Goldhaber The year was 1978. The term "viral" then only referred to a sickness that people got, not something that would permeate society almost fifty years later. A movie called "Faces of Death" seemed to predict the future of viral media, as the movie itself was banned in several countries for apparently being a snuff film - it centered around a doctor intrigued by death and shows what seems to be real deaths of people. While most of it was fake, the movie did incorporate actual news programs of the day, along with real autopsies and other real death scenes, but the most shocking ones were made up for the film. The movie has become a cult classic, and the 2026 "Faces of Death" asks the question: what would happen if someone today wanted to remake it, but make it real? Would people know the difference, or would they even care? After a tragic acciden...

  Mortal Kombat II Starring Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Martyn Ford Directed by Simon McQuoid There's a reason why most video games don't adapt well to movies, and that's because there's no story to be told. "Mortal Kombat" has been an iconic fighting game since 1992, and while many of them have razor-thin lines of story, they just exist for players to rapidly tap a button to skip it and get to what made the gaming series so great: the over-the-top gore when it comes to the "finishing move." Two movies in the 90s were notoriously bad (although now have gained cult followings), and the 2021 reboot was a bit too serious for its own good. Now with "Mortal Kombat II," director Simon McQuoid seemed to finally get it: people don't go to a "Mortal Kombat" movie for rich dialogue, cerebral storylines or multi-layered characters: they come for the fights. To that end, he more than delivers, as this sequel ...