JoeMama's Movie Reviews

: 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 ...

Deep Water Starring Aaron Eckhart, Molly Belle Wright, Angus Sampson, Ben Kingsley Directed by Renny Harlin I've never been a fan of flying, and it's been over twenty years since I've set foot on a plane, and I have no intentions to ever do so again. While everyone says it's the safest way of travel, I hate not being in control, and also not trusting a piece of metal between myself and 30,000 feet of air. This is why plane films often give me the willies because I can't help but imagine myself in that situation, so "Deep Water" was a film I was sure would give me those same feelings. The only feeling I had, however, was boredom - while this is a decent film to turn your mind off to, I simply couldn't do it, and somehow, someway, this movie not only managed to make air crashes boring, but shark attacks as well. While on a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai, a fire breaks out in the cargo hold which causes pilots Rich (Ben Kingsley) and Ben (Aaron Eckha...

  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 ...