JoeMama's Movie Reviews

  That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie:  Tears of the Azure Sea Starring Miho Okasaki, Saori Onishi, Nao Kosaka, Kaho Fujishima Directed by Yashuhito Kikuchi Continuing my anime adventures with watching movies based on long-running franchises I've never seen, my buddy and I saw "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea." I've heard of the title before and wondered what it was about, and on the ride there I got a crash course on the first four seasons - a man is murdered and is reincarnated in another world as a slime with the ability to absorb the powers and appearances of other beings, in a nutshell. Fortunately, I didn't need a lot of background information for this movie, as the tale itself is one as old as cinema itself, brought to vivid life with astonishing animation, intense action, and compelling performances. Heading on vacation from an invite from Elmesia El-Ru Sarion, Rimuru Tempest (Miho Okasaki) and his co...

Hokum Starring Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh Directed by Damian McCarthy When you name your movie "Hokum," you're really asking for a lot from the audience. After all, the word "hokum" refers to nonsense, bunkum, or pretentious, insincere, or hackneyed material, particularly in movies, plays, or speeches designed to evoke a quick, easy, emotional response. Damian McCarthy has proven himself a true up-and-coming horror auteur with the excellent "Caviat" and especially 2024's "Oddity," but would he be able to maintain that momentum with his third one-title movie? Not only did he manage to do that, but he shows how he's perfected his craft with this third outing, featuring a fascinating, intense slow-burn murder mystery shrouded in supernatural horror. Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) is a struggling writer trying to find an ending to his famous  Conquistador trilogy when he's haunted by visions of his dead mother. T...

The Devil Wears Prada 2 Starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci Directed by David Frankel Releasing a movie twenty or more years after the original is a big gamble to make, and very rarely does it produce the same results. "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" was decent, but not necessary. "Tron: Ares" was a mess. "Blade Runner 2049" was exceptional but not seen by a lot of people. "Top Gun: Maverick" is the gold standard, earning over a billion dollars and a few Oscar nods. "The Devil Wears Prada 2" was a sequel no one thought would ever be made - most notably due to Meryl Streep not wanting to make sequels - but by the fashion gods it finally happened, and while it's not as magical as the original, it proves its existence, it was written, directed, and acted by people who have a passion for the project, and it was like seeing an old friend: no time seems to have passed. After losing her job as a reporter, Andy Sachs ...

Lee Cronin's The Mummy Starring Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace Directed by Lee Cronin Before 1999, when someone mentioned the Mummy, people would connect it with the Universal monsters of yore, the 1932 classic starring the legendary Boris Karloff as Imhotep, the titular Mummy. However, everything changed in 1999 with the release of "The Mummy" starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz that has remained a classic today - so much so that anyone who makes another Mummy movie has to distinguish itself from the trilogy, otherwise people will think Fraser is in it. That's what happened with "Evil Dead Rise" director Lee Cronin, who wrote and directed his own Mummy movie but couldn't call it "The Mummy" because people would think it was a sequel of Fraser's franchise. Released as "Lee Cronin's The Mummy," this film is vastly different from any Mummy movie that came before, and tells more like an "Evil Dead...

Michael Starring Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Miles Teller Directed by Antoine Fuqua Musical biopics. No two other words strike as much fear in the hearts of moviegoers than that, as the cinematic landscape is littered with the remains of musical biopics that are essentially zombies - not alive, but still moving. Very few times are there ones of note ("Straight Outta Compton" and "A Complete Unknown" being two of the best), while the others leave sour notes in the minds of audience members. Yet, in 2026, we saw the biggest musical biopic of all time, because it centered around who is arguably the best voice in music in history: Michael Jackson. Everyone knows his life, his struggles, his failings and, most importantly, his music, so we wondered if there was something more to his story that could be flushed out with his own biopic. "Training Day" and "The Equalizer" director Antoine Fuqua seemed perfect to bring the story to the big s...

You, Me & Tuscany Starring Halle Bailey, Rege-Jean Page, Lornzo de Moor, Mario Calvani Directed by Kat Coiro There was an episode of "American Dad!" where Roger the alien was put on trial under one of his personas for committing a crime, but it seemed he was going to get off because he was so charming to the jury - but Stan saw through it and forced the jury to convict him anyway. What's this have to do with "You, Me & Tuscany?" Two things: 1) I'd rather watch that episode again than see this again, and 2) it has a lot to do with the overall theme of this movie. Could you get away with telling a monumental lie simply due to the fact that you're just so darn cute and charming? Should one lie dictate your entire life? Will this movie revolutionize the tiresome rom-com?  Anna (Halle Bailey) is a woman with no purpose - she works as a housesitter but gets fired because she impersonates the homeowners because she's been stuck in her life since her...