JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero Starring Logan Lerman, Helena Bonham Carter, Gerard Depardieu, Jim Pharr Directed by Richard Lanni The Story: In Connecticut in 1917, Stubby is a stray Boston Terrier who finds a master in Robert Conroy (Logan Lerman), a young man who's in training to be sent into the war effort during World War I.  While at Boot Camp, Stubby learns along with the cadets and even salutes, marches, and follows orders like the other recruits, drawing admiration from the commanding officers. When it's time to ship out, they leave Stubby behind, but he finds his way back to Robert and the company, and enters the front lines of war with his master.  Using his keen senses, he manages to alert the troops of incoming gas attacks, find missing soldiers who were buried after bombings, and catching a German spy.  He goes on to be the first dog to earn the title of Sergeant, and also becomes the most decorated dog in American history. The Synopsis: After...

The Miracle Season Starring Helen Hunt, William Hurt, Erin Moriarty, Danika Yarosh Directed by Sean McNamara The Story: In 2010, the West High Trojan girls volleyball team became national champions, due in large part to their energetic, overly-friendly captain Caroline "Line" Found (Danika Yarosh).  She leads the team to unity and strength through her bubbly personality and caring attitude, and her best friend Kelly (Erin Moriarty) is all the better for the friendship. As their senior year begins, the girls anticipate another win, and so does their no-nonsense coach, Kathy "Brez" Bresnahan (Helen Hunt).  It looks like the girls could do the impossible and win another championship back-to-back, until Line is tragically killed in a moped accident. The rest of the girls are so down and depressed they can't even pick up a volleyball, and they begin forfeiting matches.  Brez - all business on the outside, yet slowly breaking apart on the inside - turn...

Worst2First:  My Top Ten Foreign Films While the United States is well-known for producing some of the biggest blockbusters in cinema, around the world there's so many amazing pieces of film that goes far beyond the imagination of Western minds and deliver compelling, visually stunning work that demands to be seen - as long as you can suffer through subtitles. Here are my personal top ten foreign films, worst2first... **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** #10  Martyrs There's a new wave coming from France called the New French Extremity, showcasing the most visually haunting, stylistically profound horror movies to ever hit the big screen.  "Martyrs" is one of those films that focuses on the true depravity of man, all in the hopes of achieving enlightenment.  The film follows a young woman who was tortured as a child and is now haunted by ghosts of her past, and whether or not it's all in her head.  It's one of those films that you will nev...

Truth or Dare Starring Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Hayden Szeto Directed by Jeff Wadlow The Story: Friends Olivia (Lucy), Lucas (Tyler Posey), Markie (Violett Beane) and others head to Mexico for Spring Break, where Olivia meets the mysterious Carter (Landon Liboiron), who invite them to an abandoned mission for a game of truth or dare.  There he reveals to Lucy that the game is real, and if you don't play by the rules, you die. Soon, Olivia's friends begin to die, and she realizes the game is in fact real, and convinces her friends that they have to keep playing the game.  As dangerous truths are revealed and deadly dares are performed, they must also find a way to stop the game for good before it kills them all. The Summary: I generally do not include spoilers in my reviews, because I feel the whole point of a review is to give just enough information about a film to help the viewer decide whether or not this would be something they would want to ...

Rampage Starring Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman Directed by Brad Peyton The Story: Evil corporation Energyne, led by sister-and-brother team Claire (Malin Akerman) and Brett (Jake Lacy) have been conducting experiments in space regarding animals, causing in one animal to go wild and attack the crew.  As the debris fall, three canisters land in different parts of America.  One is eaten by a crocodile, and a wolf is subjected to another. Meanwhile, Primatologist Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson) is tending to a rare albino gorilla named George in the San Diego Zoo, when George comes into contact with a canister.  He grows larger and becomes more aggressive, and genetic engineer Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) arrives to tell Davis that George was subjected to Energyne's chemicals, and that she can find a cure for him. Claire devises a plan to bring her creations back to Chicago, and sends a call for her monsters to come home....

Isle of Dogs Starring Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Bill Murray Directed by Wes Anderson The Story: Twenty years in the future, a canine virus is sweeping Japan, leading Mayor Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura) to exile all dogs to an island known as Trash Island, including his own dog Spots (Liev Schreiber), who was brought on to protect Kobayashi's ward Atari (Koyu Rankin). Six months later, Atari hijacks a plane and crash lands on Trash Island, looking for his lost dog.  He's picked up by a pack of alpha dogs led by stray Chief (Bryan Cranston), who doesn't really care for the boy.  Yet the other members of his pack - Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Boss (Bill Murray), and Duke (Jeff Goldblum) convince him to help Atari find his lost dog. Meanwhile, on the mainland, Kobayashi is planning on putting down all the dogs on the island during the re-election, and American foreign exchange student Tracy Walker (Greta Gerwig) sets out to stop him be...

Blockers Starring Leslie Mann, John Cena, Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Newton Directed by Kay Cannon The Story: Lifelong friends Julie (Kathryn Newton), Kayla (Geraldine Viswanathan) and Sam (Gideon Adlon) are planning on loosing their virginity at prom, to the chagrin of their parents: Julie's overprotective single mother Lisa (Leslie Mann), Kayla's jock-yet-sensitive father Mitchell (John Cena), and Sam's mostly absentee father Hunter (Ike Barinholtz).  Together, the parents try to stop the kids from doing the deed with their respective boyfriends, leading to a night none of them will forget. The Synopsis: Judd Apatow (Leslie Mann's husband) is a very humorous director who's brought the likes of "Knocked Up" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," but he's also known for making comedies that are very, very, very...long.  A good comedy should be a scant under two hours at most, but his films tend to run the near-gambit of epics. Thankfully...