JoeMama's Movie Reviews

Three Identical Strangers Directed by Tim Wardle The Story: Born on July 12, 1961, triplets David, Eddie, and Bobby were given up for adoption, and were each adopted by a different family, without knowing the others exist.  By sheer chance in 1980, Bobby learned about Eddie, and after their surprise reunion hit the newspapers, David learned that he was the third brother, and the three became inseparable.  Only later did they begin learning the more devastating truths to their adoptions, and faced the dire consequences that followed. The Synopsis: When it comes to documentaries, they mostly follow a certain pattern, offering cold hard facts and not really providing anything more.  "Three Identical Strangers" deviates from that mold in that it offers something I wasn't expecting - a thrilling mystery that, as many people in the documentary said, seemed so outrageous it could hardly be believed. The film opens with the heartwarming tale that most everybody kn...

A Simple Favor Starring Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells Directed by Paul Feig The Story: Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) is a widowed single mother who hosts a vlog about parenting and cooking, and is overly active in her son's life.  She's the first to volunteer for everything, making the other parents look bad in comparison, but she does it out of sincerity and humility. Then she meets Emily Nelson (Blake Lively), the mother of her son's friend, and the two women couldn't be more different.  While Stephanie shops at Target, speaks nicely, and dresses modestly, Emily is a fashionista who lives in a rich house and curses like a sailor.  The two unlikely women become fast friends, and for both it seems that this is their only friendship. Then one day Emily asks Stephanie to pick up her son from school, and she's not heard from again.  Emily's husband Sean (Henry Golding) and Stephanie hold a desperate search for Emi...

Bohemian Rhapsody Starring Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy Directed by Bryan Singer The Story: In 1970, Farrokh Bulsara (Rami Malek) attends a small concert at a club where he meets the band afterward, who tell him that their lead singer just quit.  Farrokh is a songwriter who wants to join the band, and becomes their lead singer.  Soon he changes his name to Freddy Mercury, falls in love with Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton), and manages to get a recording deal for his band. Creating their own unique style, Queen managed to overcome the stereotypes of what bands should be by releasing a six-minute song that no one - especially their recording studio executive (Mike Myers) - thought would be a hit.  Blending their own unique style with incredible vocals, Queen established themselves as one of the most influential bands in music history. As the band continues to rise, Mercury faces the pitfalls of celebrity and struggling with his own sexual ide...

Worst2First:  My Top Ten Films Where Characters Were Recast Much like television series, film series often go through changes in actors.  As a film franchise grows, sometimes the actors don't remain with it due to different time restraints, clashes with ideals, or unfortunate circumstances. This list will not include films where roles were recast due to age differences (such as the "X-Men" films that focused on the younger cast) or differing film universes (such as the different Batman characters through different iterations, or Jokers, and so on). Here are my personal top ten films where the characters were recast, worst2first... **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** #10 Rachel Weisz in "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns"  to Maria Bello in "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" Before Tom Cruise tarnished the classic Universal monster, Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz acted in two decent "Mummy" films before Wei...

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms Starring Mackenzie Foy, Jayden Fowora-Knight, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren Directed by Lasse Hallstrom & Joe Johnston The Story: After her mother's death, young Clara (Mackenzie Foy) receives a gift from her on Christmas Eve - a porcelain egg that has a keyhole, but no key.  At a Christmas party thrown by her godfather (Morgan Freeman), he offers the key to her, but it lies in a hidden realm that her mother created. Arriving in this new world, she's befriended by Nutcracker Captain Philip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), and the key is taken by a mouse to the evil Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren).  Clara meets the leaders of the other three realms - the Sugar Plum Fairy (Keira Knightley) who rules the Land of Sweets, Hawthorne (Eugenio Derbez), who rules the Land of Flowers, and Shiver (Richard E. Grant), who rules the Land of Snowflakes.  The Sugar Plum Fairy tells Clara that Mother Ginger ruled the Land of Amusements, but tried...

Searching Starring John Cho, Debra Messing, Michelle La, Sara Sohn Directed by Aneesh Chaganty The Story: David Kim (John Cho) is a devoted single father to teenager Margot (Michelle La), especially after the death of her mother a few years ago.  The two share a connected relationship - at least David thought - until Margot goes missing.  He begins searching through her social media, and slowly learns that he doesn't really know his own daughter.  With the help of Detective Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing), David follows Margot's social media pattern in hopes of finding out what happened to his daughter. The Synopsis: Gimmicky films often have the problem of not rising above their shtick.  Films like "Unfriended" have already given us the concept of showing a film entirely from the point of view of a computer screen, and often that idea hinders the plot from becoming fully actuated, due to the restrictiveness of the idea.  "Searching" takes a di...

Assassination Nation Starring Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Abra Directed by Sam Levinson The Story: In the small town of Salem, friends Lily (Odessa Young), Sarah (Suki Waterhouse), Bex (Hari Nef), and Em (Abra) are enjoying their senior year of high school, doing the typical things high schoolers do - sexting, hanging with their boyfriends, smoking pot, and so on.  When a hacker unleashes the hidden files of the mayor (who's anti-gay but has lots of pictures of him in dress), the town is sent into an uproar, with Lily and her friends finding it funny. Then their principal gets hacked, and the townspeople are angered to see he has seemingly inappropriate pictures of his young daughter, and go on the rampage.  Soon more and more people of the town get hacked, and Lily gets blamed.  The town demands her blood, and Lily and her friends arm themselves in order to survive the oncoming mob. The Synopsis: When I first saw the trailer to this film, I...