JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Tarot Starring Harriet Slater, Jacob Batalon, Avantika, Adain Bradley Directed by Spenser Cohen & Anna Halberg "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got - I'm still, I'm still Jenny from the block." Jennifer Lopez's famous song tells her story that although she's rich and famous now, she's still just Jenny from the block (which, by the way, no one believes). You'd think a song so personal would've been written by Lopez herself, but instead the song was written by Lopez, Troy Oliver, Mr. Deyo, Samuel Barnes and Jean Claude Olivier. What does this have to do with "Tarot?" Well, at the end of this by-the-numbers, totally bland, non-scary, jump-scare riddled, stereotypical character trait film, I literally gasped out loud finding that it was written by TWO people...TWO people actually needed to put their brains together to craft a film that could've been done by a monkey randomly drawing cards with generic scenarios on them. Peter

The Fall Guy Starring Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham Directed by David Leitch The Academy Awards honors actors, films, directors, producers, cinematographers, costume designers, makeup artists, musicians and sound designers, but there's a group of people who, without them, would prove disastrous for the film industry: stunt performers. They're the unsung heroes, the ones who get little to no recognition as they literally risk their lives to pull off the outstanding stunts that we get to witness on screen. They're a unique breed, fearless and bold, and they deserve as much recognition and respect as anyone else in the industry. Harry O'Connor, Art Scholl, Paolo Rigon, Kun Liu, Chris Lamon and numerous other stunt performers have died while performing their stunts, and unlike those who grace the big screen that we know, they get little to no coverage. It's a sad state of affairs, and director David Leitch knows this all too well - a

Witch Starring Russell Shaw, Ryan Spong, Sarah Alexandra Marks, Fabrizio Santino Directed by Craig Hinde & Marc Zammit Movies about witches are about a dime a dozen, and follow the same formula: typically set in a time period long ago (since now, fortunately, the stigma of witches has been lessened and the religious fervor has diminished), in a small Puritanical town, a girl is accused of witchcraft which spirals the town into a frenzy filled with suspicion, doubt, and murder until the witch is put to religious justice. While that's not necessarily a bad formula (Robert Eggers' "The VVitch" and Mario Bava's "Black Sunday" immediately come to mind), most films fall by the wayside. "Witch" is a small film that, at first glance, seems to follow the mold before completely shattering it in a second act twist that's daring, provocative, and works in a lot of levels, but could've been more pronounced if given a bigger budget. In the small

Worst2First: My Most Anticipated Films of Summer 2024  Summertime brings the big budget blockbusters to the big screen, and is the time of the year where cinemas see their highest profits. These ten films look to have audiences' butts in theater seats from May through August, and these are the ones I'm most excited to see. **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** **DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE** #10 A Quiet Place: Day One June 28 John Krasinski shocked audiences with 2018's "A Quiet Place" which he directed, starred, and co-wrote the screenplay for. Earning a whopping $341 million dollars, the film was an instant hit and its sequel did equally as well. Now the "Quiet Place" universe is expanding with "A Quiet Place: Day One," which will be the most daring outing yet, as it's not directed by Krasinski and doesn't star him, his real-life wife Emily Blunt, or their children in the film. Instead it focuses on the beginning of the alien invasion thro

Boy Kills World Starring Bill Skarsgard, H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Rothe, Famke Janssen Directed by Moritz Mohr There are some genres that pretty much demand some amazing twist, some nuanced storytelling, or compelling characters that undergo an extreme metamorphosis through their journey. Action is not one of them, although they can include those elements - action films are a genre all their own, focusing more on intense violence and stylistic action sequences rather than compelling narratives, and generally rally around the theme of revenge. Earlier this year, "Monkey Man" was an action movie about a man getting vengeance for his dead mother and his people. "John Wick" is vengeance against the killing of a dog. "The Beekeeper" is vengeance against a friend's suicide after she gets swindled out of all her finances. You get the idea. Now it's "Boy Kills World," a simplistic action film about a man's vengeance for the murders of his mot

Challengers Starring Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, Mike Faist, Darnell Appling Directed by Luca Guadagnino Director Luca Guadagnino is best known for directing films that feature obsession, and obsession taken to the extreme. "Call Me By Your Name" is a young man's obsession with an older man, who's summer fling ends with a melancholy longing. His remake of "Suspiria" is a young woman's obsession with being the best ballerina dancer set amongst a near-literal pack of wolves. "Bones and All" is a young couple's obsession with their cannibalistic natures. Now with "Challengers" we get more than one obsession: first there's the obsession of tennis, but there's a deeper obsession that lies underneath everything - and that obsession is never really actuated in the sense that we know everyone's motives, objectives and plans, but just enough to know that there's something more crawling underneath the surface of their action