JoeMama's Movie Reviews

 Worst2First: My Most Anticipated Films of Spring 2025 Leading up to what cinemas consider summer (which runs from May to August as opposed to June to August), theaters are going to be popping during the two spring months of March and April! From sequels to war films and some exciting original content, there's something for everyone to see on the big screen in March and April. So here are the ten films I'm most excited to see in March and April of 2025... **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** **DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE** #10 Ash March 21 Sci-fi isn't my particularly favorite genre, but I can still appreciate what it has to offer, especially in the horror community. "Alien" is still the standard of sci-fi horror films, and "Ash" looks like an "Alien" type film - a woman alone in the vastness of space after her entire crew is killed, trying to understand what happened when she's rescued by someone that she may or may not be able to trust. Eiza...

The Monkey Starring Theo James, Christian Convery, Tatiana Maslany, Colin O'Brien Directed by Osgood Perkins Death comes for us all, and there's nothing we can do to stop it. It's interesting to consider how death affects people from different cultures, as many in the East see death as a natural transition, a cycle of life, death, and rebirth, and is something that's often celebrated. In Western cultures, especially in America, death is seen as something to be feared and avoided as much as possible. We mourn, grieve, and our lives are forever changed in negative ways due to death. Yet death is inevitable, and nothing we can do can change that - it's something that we need to accept. So why not laugh about it? Why not make death have a sense of humor? It's going to happen anyway, might as well laugh about it. That's the overarching theme to Osgood Perkins' "The Monkey," but it's not the only theme, and for a film that's equal parts horri...

  Paddington in Peru Starring Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Antonio Banderas Directed by Dougal Wilson When you have a movie that holds a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes that's listed by many as the "worst in the franchise," then you've got yourself a great problem, because when the worst is still hailed as a fantastic film, you're in for a triple-threat treat. The "Paddington" franchise is a unique one, in that none of them are particularly strong when you consider some of the greatest films ever made, yet each one has made a lasting impact on the cinematic and popular zeitgeist that even Nicholas Cage mentions its eternal presence in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent." The exploits of the lovable Peruvian bear who travels to England and dons an old red hat, battered suitcase, duffel coat and love of marmalade sandwiches have touched the hearts of children from 1-92 (and even older), and while none of the films hold any ex...

Brave the Dark Starring Jared Harris, Nicholas Hamilton, Jamie Harris, Sasha Bhasin Directed by Damian Harris Angel Studios is best known for their Christian-based films that hammer the Bible into your head and pretty much exists for Evangelical Christians to enjoy, while others who are dragged to them groan in displeasure. "Brave the Dark" is an outlier, a film that doesn't even mention God nor takes place in a church, but whose message is as powerful as anything written in the red letters. Even if it's generic and feels like a lesser version of classic student/teacher relationship movies, "Brave the Dark" still has enough charm to eke through what could've been a crash-and-burn sentimental film and gives some flashes of brilliance, no matter how brief they were. In Pennsylvania in the late 80s, Nate (Nicholas Hamilton) is a high school student secretly living out of his car since his parents have died, and he has a big chip on his shoulder. Although an...

Captain America: Brave New World Starring Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Harrison Ford Directed by Julius Onah To maintain a franchise is no easy task, and there's bound to be some duds along the way. For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Captain America: Brave New World" is the 35th film in the franchise, and while it's nowhere near the worst of the series, it's not the best either - it's a fine middle-of-the-road film in this long-running franchise, one that brings back the roots of Captain America and thankfully doesn't fall into the trappings other MCU films have had post-"Endgame." Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has taken on the mantle of Captain America and is working with the government to show a peace between superheroes and the government after the Sokovia Accords, which were drafted by a then-General Ross. Now President, Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) enlists Sam's help to find stolen metal taken from Celestial Island, and Sam...

Companion Starring Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri Directed by Drew Hancock Horror comedies have to balance a fine line, otherwise it'll be either too horrific to be funny, or too funny to be horrific. It's difficult to maintain such a tightrope walk, but "Companion" is one of those films that pulls it off like Philippe Petit, offering viewers some truly horrific moments that are both gory and also deeply personal hell, as well as supplying laugh-out-loud moments that feel organic to the script. This is one of those movies as well where you should go in as blind as possible, and only see this trailer above as opposed to the second one that gives away the film's major twist which, I guess (although I saw the other trailer so I knew what was coming), was pretty well articulated from the start, but I honestly wouldn't know because I already knew the twist beforehand. Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and her boyfriend Josh (Jack Quaid) are heading to a r...

Hard Truths Starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber, Tuwaine Barrett Directed by Mike Leigh You've heard it said, "it doesn't cost anything to be nice," and "don't judge someone you see, put yourself in their shoes first." Yet anyone who's worked with the public knows that's not an easy feat. "Karen" is in our vernacular because of that, signifying someone (usually female) who's extremely difficult and rude to employees in particular, and people in general. It's hard to associate with them or feel compassion for them, even though they could be going through the worst in life, because how they lash out because of it. "Hard Truths" is one of those stories, centering on a "Karen"-like character, and asks us to feel compassion and mercy for her because we see what she goes through on a daily basis. It's a harrowing task indeed. Pansy Deacon (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) lives with her husband...

Inheritance Starring Phoebe Dynevor, Rhys Ifans, Ciara Baxendale, Kersti Bryan Directed by Neil Burger When you're an acclaimed filmmaker, you can sometimes do something out of the box because you know it won't really damage your reputation. Steven Soderbergh did this twice, by filming both "Unsane" and "High Flying Bird" entirely on iPhones, resulting in a unique perspective that worked. Now, it's "Limitless" and "The Illusionist" director Neil Burger's turn to tackle a film shot entirely on an iPhone, but unlike "Unsane"'s one-location setting, he goes worldwide with "Inheritance" - a by-the-books spy film that, at 101 minutes, makes you feel like you're trudging through "The Brutalist" in length, challenging your patience and motion sickness. Maya (Phoebe Dynevor) is a free-spirited woman who doesn't have a job, and who goes day-to-day with an uncaring attitude, but when her mother sudd...

The Room Next Door Starring Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Alessandro Nivola Directed by Pedro Almodovar What does it mean to be a friend? Does it mean we hang out here and there, go out for coffee or dinner, maybe help move in times of need? What if a friendship goes beyond that, to a moment that seems almost impossible to consider? Would you be that friend to help someone end their suffering, even though it means not just losing them forever, but facing possible legal implications because of it? Ingrid (Julianne Moore) is a successful author who has an apprehension for death, writing books on the subject, and during a book signing she meets a friend who tells her that her estranged friend Martha (Tilda Swinton) is facing cancer, and Ingrid sets out to reconnect. When they do, its like no time has passed, and Martha tells Ingrid her stories as a war journalist and her estranged daughter. Although it seems Martha is getting better, it's the opposite, and things are j...

  The Brutalist Starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn Directed by Brady Corbet When you hear a movie is well over three hours long, you think it's something that'll be difficult to sit through, because in today's world we're given our entertainment in thirty second segments from TikTok and YouTube, and consider sitting through a three-and-a-half hour epic as...well...brutal. One would wonder why a director wouldn't cut his film down to a more audience-approved length, and many would think that the director is pretentious in providing such an elongated cinematic film, thinking the director is too high on his own supply to cut even a second of a film he considers his masterpiece. While pretentious has a negative connotation to it, sometimes we need cinematic thinkers to be pretentious, to provide something they think is worthy of viewing in its lengthy entirety, to butt against the norms and go against the grain in order to provide something mon...

The Damned Starring Odessa Young, Joe Cole, Rory McCann, Siobhan Finneran Directed by Thordur Palsson Iceland is a place of beauty but also unforgiving cold, and "The Damned" showcases that parallel perfectly: the scenery is breathtaking, but the isolation and the cold chills you to the bone. Much like "The Thing," this film centers on a group of people isolated from society with no hope of rescue, where they turn on one another out of fear and desperation, being hunted by an entity bent on their destruction. In the 19th century, Eva (Odessa Young) has inherited a fishing outpost after the death of her husband, and the workers are suffering. There's little to no food, the winter conditions become harsh, and it's a three-day mountain journey to the nearest town. One day they spot a ship wreck among "The Teeth" - a group of jagged rocks - but Eva and her crew choose not to save them because they're already low on food and supplies. That night the...

Presence Starring Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Eddy Maday Directed by Steven Soderbergh Back in 2017, the movie "A Ghost Story" was released, and by the title alone you'd expect it to be a full-on horror movie about a ghost haunting a house. Instead, it's a deep, philosophical, emotionally resonant drama that spans literal eons and is seen through the eyes of a ghost that's literally a sheet with eyes cut out. It's one of those subtly profound movies that have stuck with me for years since seeing it, and now "Presence" will sit alongside it. Although pegged and marketed as a horror movie, it's actually a family drama with a mystery surrounding them, seen through the perspective of the spirit living in the house. As the presence watches outside its house, a new family moves in. Mother Rebecca (Lucy Liu) is  successful at her job but doesn't seem to give as much care to her family, except her son Tyler (Eddy Maday), a cocky, egotist...