JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Ouija: Origin of Evil Starring Annalise Basso, Elizabeth Reaser, Lulu Wilson, Henry Thomas Directed by Mike Flanagan The Story: In 1967 Los Angeles, widow Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser) conducts seances for family members who wish to talk to their deceased loved ones.  While it all seems on the up-and-up, it's really a scam run by her, her daughter Lina (Annalise Basso) and younger daughter Doris (Lulu Wilson).  While she claims she's doing it to give people closure and peace, she's still not above asking for money to do so. When Lina sneaks off to a party and partakes in a Ouija board game, Alice gets the idea to use it as a prop for her seances.  Doris uses the board and communicates with what she thinks is her deceased father, but is in actuality a decades old demon that inhabits the young girl.  Lina starts suspecting something is wrong, even though Alice refuses to believe it because she feels Doris has a deep connection with her deceased father, ...

The Walking Dead  The Cell Season 7 Episode 3 Review **SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW, EPISODE AND COMICS FOLLOW, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK** Daryl Dixon is America's most lovable hillbilly redneck zombie apocalypse survivor.  He's been through the ringer in seven seasons, having to deal with the death of his brother Merle (and having to kill his zombified corpse), the death of Beth whom he saw as a younger sister, and having to face adversary after adversary.  At the end of last season it all came to a head when he tried to help Dwight and ended up losing his motorcycle and crossbow, only to have it reappear with Dwight on the road, after Dwight used it to send an arrow through Denise's skull.  Daryl felt responsible for Denise's death because he didn't kill Dwight, so he set out to do it himself, only to have Rosita, Glenn and Michonne follow him.  All four of them were captured and brought before Negan, and after Daryl rushed to Rosita's defense by punching N...

Doctor Strange Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams Directed by Scott Derrickson The Story: Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a world-renowned neurosurgeon who's rich, famous and haughty who doesn't care much for people, even his fellow surgeon and former lover Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams).  After getting involved in a high-speed car crash, he looses the use of his hands, and delves into a depression as he tries in vain to find any way to regain control of his hands. He finds a man who was once paralyzed but is now able to walk again, and the man leads him to Kathmandu, Nepal, to find the temple Kamar-Taj.  Before he arrived, the Kamar-Taj was attacked by former student and sorcerer Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), who stole pages from a book he's planning on using to summon the Dark Dimensional demon known as Dormammu.  After he arrives, Strange meets the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and her most trusted ...

Hacksaw Ridge Starring Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Teresa Palmer Directed by Mel Gibson The Story: In the Norman Rockwell-infused Virginia hill country, Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), a Seventh Day Adventist, grew up among a drunken former World War I soldier (Hugo Weaving) beating on him, his brother and his mother, and struggling to maintain his strong Christian beliefs.  When World War II began, he decided to enlist, but not to kill anyone, but rather save them as a medic. In basic training, Doss is ridiculed and beaten by his fellow soldiers and Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) and Captain Glover (Sam Worthington), who want him to quit because he refuses to carry a weapon.  Still, despite facing a Court Marshall and prison time for insubordination, Doss held to his religious beliefs and was finally granted the ability to serve as a medic on the front lines - all without carrying a weapon. When his platoon landed on Hacksaw Ridge, they com...

The Walking Dead  The Well Season 7 Episode 2 Review **SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW, EPISODE AND COMICS FOLLOW, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK** At the end of season six, Carol (Melissa McBride) has abandoned Alexandria because she's been able to relax and think about the atrocities she's committed, and realized she cannot stay there anymore and kill, even to protect herself and her friends.  On the road, she runs afoul of a group of Saviors and ends up killing all but one, who goes in search for revenge.  She imposes a self-exile, but Morgan (Lenny James) doesn't let her go.  He tracks her down outside Alexandria much to her dismay, and she finds a way to sneak away from him. Then she runs into the Savior she left alive, and he shoots her twice.  She tells him she's ready to die, but before he can complete the deed Morgan steps in and breaks his code of never killing by taking out the Savior in order to protect Carol.  After this, two men in military unif...

Major Theatrical Releases November 2016 November looks to be a promising month for movies.  Marvel returns, as does a few war films, some horror, some Oscar-worthy dramas, Disney, and of course a certain "fantastic" movie many people are eagerly anticipating. Here are the major theatrical movies being released in November 2016. (Dates are subject to change) November 4 Doctor Strange The Sorcerer Supreme gets the Marvel Cinematic Universe treatment with the arrival of "Doctor Strange," which already looks like it will be something totally different from other Marvel movies, mostly because it centers around alternate worlds, magic, and the supernatural arts.  The previews make it look like "Inception," and that's probably an apt comparison because it will most likely be the most cerebral Marvel story of them all.  Benedict Cumberbatch exudes Dr. Stephen Strange and there's no better actor for the role, and when you have an Os...

Inferno Starring Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Omar Sy, Ben Foster Directed by Ron Howard The Story: Harvard University professor and world-renowned symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) wakes up in an Italian hospital with no recollection how he got there, but he's plagued by nightmarish visions of death, blood and horribly deformed people.  Dr. Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) tells him that he was brought to the hospital with a wound to the head, and then they're both attacked by a female assassin. They make their way to Sienna's apartment, where Robert remembers being given a vial that contains a Faraday pointer, which shows an image of hell as depicted in Dante Alighierti's "Inferno."  They also learn that madman billionaire geneticist Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster) - who killed himself three days prior - plans on unleashing a plague known as Inferno to the world in order to help decrease the human population before it reaches critical mass.  Lan...