JoeMama's Movie Reviews

April X Starring Connor Storrie, Lilly Krug, Tudor Chirila, Serban Pavlu Directed by Michel K. Parandi Very rare does a movie appear in cinemas that I've never heard of, and "April X" is one such film. Despite the countless times I've been to the movies and seen countless more trailers, I never saw one for this movie. After about ten minutes in, I understood why - no one wanted to waste money advertising a film this epically lackluster. The only reason anyone would watch this movie would be to see "Heated Rivalry" standout Connor Storrie as the leading role, but for his first leading role he's proven that he is indeed just a pretty face and no discernible acting talent. In the future, brother and sister Baxter (Connor Storrie) and April (Lilly Krug) are surviving by doing shady work - Baxter as a black market grifter and April as someone who records her dreams and sells them to a local gangster. When April goes missing, Baxter relies on April's dream...

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom Starring Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Nina Sosanya, Kate Harbour Directed by Steve Cox & Matthew Walker I've never seen a "Shaun the Sheep" movie or show, or its parent series "Wallace & Grombit," but I know they've been highly praised for their humor, animation, and stories that touch young and old alike. So when Shaun returned to the big screen in a Halloween-themed movie just in time for the holidays, I decided it was about time to see what the fuss was all about. While the pacing was a bit off, I found myself very much enjoying the movie and its respect to the classic Universal monsters, delivered with the fantastic slapstick comedy Britain is known for. After their hidden pumpkin patch gets accidentally destroyed by the Farmer (John Sparkes), Shaun (Justin Fletcher) the Sheep finds a science book and concocts a creation that'll make new pumpkins instantaneously, while the Farmer struggles with his...

Verity Starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett, Ismael Cruz Cordova Directed by Michael Showalter It's very interesting in one week two movies come out: "Verity" and "Digger," where one debuted at number one with an impressive worldwide gross, and the other barely made a dent, all due to preconceived notions. "Digger" was lambasted by critics because they found the satirical work too pretentious, while audiences went in droves to see the new Colleen Hoover-adapted movie "Verity." Personally, they got things mixed up - "Digger" wasn't pretentious, but "Verity" literally bled pretentiousness from the first scene on, culminating in such a convoluted ending it felt like Hoover herself was patting herself on the back for such a unique twist that, indeed, isn't unique at all. Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) is a successful novelist best known for her series where the main character is the villain, giving a ...

Digger Starring Tom Cruise, John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Sandra Huller Directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu Satire is extremely hard to pull off successfully, essentially being the figurative tight rope walker. Coined by Nathan Poe in 2005, Poe's Law states that "without a clear indicator of intent, a parodic or sarcastic expression of extreme views is easily mistaken for a sincere expression of those views," and thus is the issue: satire is hard to perform and convey because it relies on a delicate gap between reality and absurdity. Stray too far one way or another, and it comes off either as just lazy comedy or actually siding with what they're making the satire about, and thus becoming more pretentious than it was originally meant. While Oscar-winning director Alexandro G. Inarritu managed to produce some great work in the past, "Digger" is his most divisive - and least successful - of his career, due to the fact that the movie is a satirist look at greed, globa...

The Invite Starring Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz, Edward Norton Directed by Olivia Wilde You have to have a whole lot of trust in your actors to place them in one small, isolated setting throughout the entirety of the film and still be able to make fireworks. It's been done before, but also failed as well, and for third-time director Olivia Wilde, casting herself and three of the best actors in the business together definitely produced the fireworks desired. No explosive set pieces, no wild out-of-the-box performances, just four actors doing what they do best with the best material they've been given in decades. Joe (Seth Rogen) is a washed up musician teaching at a small school while his wife Angela (Olivia Wilde) stays at home and tends to their twelve-year-old daughter. They live in a luxurious apartment that belonged to Joe's parents and the two are clearly at odds - he comes home to find out she's planning a get-together with their upstairs neighbors, an...

  The Influencer Project Starring Chiara King, Mike Nybroe, Luca Storm, Alexandr Willaume Directed by Mike Nybroe I'm very glad I'm not a teenager in today's world, where popularity is determined by how many friends and views you get on online platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Where you feel like your self worth comes from complete strangers, and nameless trolls online can severely damage your mental state. Where if you get less than one thousand followers you're seen as a failure, and your whole world revolves around what you film with your phone as opposed to seeing the world for what it is. Chiara King is a real-life "influencer" who's been gifted with trips, gifts, and cash due to her high following, but it also has a dark side as well - in real life, she endured a stalker, and now "The Influencer Project" looks at a fictionalized version of those events with King playing a fictionalized version of herself. While this could be the chance t...