JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Disclosure Day Starring Josh O'Connor, Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson Directed by Steven Spielberg Growing up I always had a fascination with the supernatural - ghosts, aliens, cryptids, and so on to the point where I wouldn't sleep upstairs because I thought aliens would come through the window and abduct me. Then during my late teen years I became a Christian and went to Bible college to study scripture, but never lost my wonder in the supernatural - even though I was told that there were no such things as ghosts or aliens, and if they existed they were purely demonic creatures. Much like with science, there always appeared to be a disconnect between supernatural and religion, as well as science and religion, with most religious experts claiming you can't believe in science (or the supernatural) and God - but what if it's not supposed to be separate, but the supernatural and the science answers the "why" of religion? "Disclosure Day" doesn...

Scary Movie Starring Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris, Regina Hall Directed by Michael Tiddes Back in 2000, The Wayans Brothers brought "Scary Movie" to the big screens focusing on parodying iconic horror films such as "Scream," and it was a huge success - so much so it spawned numerous not-so-great imitators like "Dance Movie," "Date Movie," "Epic Movie," and the like. They followed up their original hit with another banger in 2001's "Scary Movie 2," but then the Wayans left the franchise for the PG-13 friendly "Scary Movie 3" and "Scary Movie 4" in 2003 and 2006 respectively. Then the franchise took its seemingly death knell with 2013's abysmal, unfunny, all-around horrible "Scary Movie 5," and with that the parody subgenre essentially came to an end. Then 2025's "The Naked Gun" re-vitalized the subgenre, and then the Wayans Brothers returned (along with Anna Faris a...

Masters of the Universe Starring Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Idris Elba, Jared Leto Directed by Travis Knight Growing up in the 80s was an amazing time. "Transformers," "G.I. Joe," "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Thundercats," "Voltron," "He-Man" and many other animated shows filled my young mind with wander and excitement, and the toys gave me countless hours of entertainment before the age of technology. In recent times, some of these iconic hits have tried to make their way into modern society with mixed results, to say the least. Michael Bay's "Transformers" series was just an excuse for him to create CGI robots to smack each other. His "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchise turned them into grotesque CGI abominations. The live-action "G.I. Joe" franchise never really got its footing after the acceptable first movie. The one amazing movie that came out of this was director Travis...

Backrooms Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett Directed by Kane Parsons Back in 2023, YouTube creator Kyle Edward Ball spent $15,000 and created the film "Skinamarink" based on some of his viewers' nightmares. The result was a unique film to say the least, centering on two young children who find their parents missing, and soon discover that other items in their house - including doors, windows, and even the toilet - also go missing. It's shot in grainy footage where it's really hard to discern what's happening, resulting in a more jarring experience for the audience: or they just found it boring because nothing happens for long lengths of time. The film's love was divided between those who admired the work done, and others who found it boring, again, because nothing happens for lengths of time. Now, YouTube star Kane Parsons brings to cinematic life his series of YouTube shorts called "Backrooms" which has gained...

The Breadwinner Starring Nate Bargatze, Mandy Moore, Will Forte, Kumail Nanjiani Directed by Eric Appel There's a reason I find comedies the least enjoyable of the genres - it has no originality, no vibrancy, and seems stuck in the past, with only rare exceptions stepping out of the mold. "The Breadwinner," sadly, doesn't break that mold but instead settles nicely into a plot that's reminiscent of the Michael Keaton-led 1983 film "Mr. Mom" where the husband and wife switches roles where the husband goes from a successful businessman to a stay-at-home dad and the mother goes from her mommy duties to the corporate world. Comedian Nate Bargatze obviously took liberties from this classic for this film that's based on his more wholesome stand-up comedy routine (kudos to him for being actually funny on stage without resorting to crude humor), but as always, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery as Oscar Wilde said, but no one mentions the second half...

GOAT Starring Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, Aaron Pierre, David Harbour Directed by Tyree Dillihay Being not a big fan of sports, even I know what it means to be the G.O.A.T. - the Greatest Of All Time. There's been a lot of debate especially in the basketball world over who is the true G.O.A.T. - Michael Jordan or LeBron James - and I absolutely have no opinion on it. Getting back to the movie, it could be titled either GOAT or G.O.A.T. since it has two different characters who embody those terms: a literal goat, and a panther wishing to be the G.O.A.T. in an animal-like version of basketball. While the animation is top notch, and the characters are expertly voiced, it's still a basic story of an underdog team rising the ranks to become the best. Ever since he was young, Will Harris (Caleb McLaughlin), an American Pygmy goat, wishes to join the Vineland Thorns roarball team, and become the G.O.A.T. after idolizing longtime player and all-star Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Unio...

Passenger Starring Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell, Melissa Leo, Joseph Lopez Directed by Andre Ovredal Back in the day when gas was under $2 a gallon, my friends and I would drive around in my van in the middle of the night just to drive. I remember one night I stopped in the middle of a dark, deserted road filled with trees and no lamps and turned off the lights, and the ambiance was very creepy and eerie. There's nothing more terrifying than driving down a dark road alone, because you feel like someone is watching you. "Passenger" offers that sense of dread but proves someone - or something - actually  is  watching you, and if you don't obey the rules of the road you'll find yourself another victim of the road's unyielding power. Tyler (Jacob Scipio) and his girlfriend Maddie (Lou Llobell) decide to give up the big city living and spend time roaming the backroads of America in their souped up van that doubles as a mobile home. At first they're both excited at...

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Starring Pedo Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Blum Directed by Jon Favreau  I've never been a huge "Star Wars" fan, having seen Episodes I-III before I saw the original trilogy. Then I saw the three Disney-led trilogy along with "Rogue One" and "Solo," and then I never saw any of the shows on Disney+ because it seemed like an extremely tedious task: "The Mandalorian," "The Book of Boba Fett," "Obi-Wan Kenobi," "Andor," "Ahsoka," "The Acolyte" and "Skeleton Crew" (not to mention the even more numerous animated shows) weighed down the franchise and made something that was once a spectacle into a shrug and "well, it's a Friday." That's the nature going into "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu," which is essentially a new season of "The Mandalorian" set to the big screen and with the same amo...

Is God Is Starring Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Sterling K. Brown, Vivica A. Fox Directed by Aleshea Harris There's no more classic tale than a revenge tale. It's something that comes to mind when we've been wronged by someone, no matter how passive we might be - all peace and love go out the window when we're hurt in a tremendous way by someone else. What matters is how you get that revenge, and whether or not it changes you on the inside. That's the dilemma facing twin sisters as they embark on a "mission from God" to get the revenge they've been denied, but also something that could tear them apart. After their father (Sterling K. Brown) burns their mother (Vivica A. Fox) and themselves at a young age, now-adult twins Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) receive a letter from their long-forgotten mother. Having been disfigured by the fire themselves (especially Anaia, who wears the scars on her face), the sisters visit their dying mother ...

Obsession Starring Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless Directed by Curry Baker If you had one wish, what would it be? The answer is different for each person, and for anyone who's seen any movie that has this as a topic, you'd know that said wish comes with unintended consequences. Want a billion dollars? Your closest loved one left that much in their will and died suddenly. Want world peace? An apocalyptic event occurs that wipes out humanity. Yet one of the most common "wishes" people have is for their unrequited love to feel the same for them - and as you know, wishes like that can be quite dangerous. For YouTube star Curry Baker, his second feature film "Obsession" focuses on that wish and the unintended consequences of it - but does so in a way that is fresh, new, and hip for today's generation.  Bear (Michael Johnston) is a shy, timid man who's had a crush on his longtime friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) for awhile,...

In the Grey Starring Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza Gonzalez, Carlos Bardem Directed by Guy Ritchie There was a time where Guy Ritchie was one of the most sought-after action directors in Hollywood. With hits like "Snatch," "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels," and especially "Sherlock Holmes." His style is uniquely his: relentless editing, exquisite locations, fashion to the nines, self-mocking machismo and a character's verbal summary of a plan intercut with scenes of the actions being performed. Maybe it became too generic, but with the exception of his live-action remake of "Aladdin" (which doesn't include much of his original style), recent Ritchie films have been met with shrugs rather than shouts. "Fountain of Youth," "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare," "The Covenant," "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" and the like are churned out by the year with no fanfare, and fade into obsc...

Over Your Dead Body Starring Jason Segel, Samara Weaving, Timothy Olyphant, Juliette Lewis Directed by Jorma Taccone Movies are great when you expect the unexpected, when twists and turns keep you on your toes and are left wondering what wacky thing will happen next. "Over Your Dead Body" is, at its core, a simple story - a couple who've fallen out of love go to an isolated family home in order to secretly kill one another, and if that was the entire story, it would've felt like it dragged. Yet, both for good and bad, there's a few twists thrown in that does keep things entertaining, even if it kills the pacing and tone, and occurs far too soon. Dan Burton (Jason Segel) is a former movie director-turned commercial director and doesn't have a lot of money because he foolishly spends it, while his wife Lisa (Samara Weaving) is a community actor who has aspirations to become an actress but is constantly belittled by Dan. They decide to take a trip to Dan's fa...

: 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...