JoeMama's Movie Reviews

The Upside Starring Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, Nicole Kidman, Genevieve Angelson Directed by Neil Burger The Story: Having left prison, Dell Scott (Kevin Hart) needs to find a job in order to maintain his freedom, and reluctantly goes to a high rise apartment complex thinking he's applying for a janitorial position.  There he meets uptight Yvonne (Nicole Kidman) and her boss Phillip (Bryan Cranston), who's a paraplegic.  Phillip offers the job to Dell despite him being very unqualified, and Dell accepts in hopes it will provide for his son who's living with his estranged girlfriend Jenny (Genevieve Angelson). While Yvonne watches with a skeptical eye, Dell learns to tend to Phillip's every need, but discovers that he was hired because he was so unqualified that Phillip felt Dell would just let him die, since he has nothing to live for after his wife's death.  Dell helps show Phillip that life is still worth living, while Phillip exposes Dell to the mo...

Cold Pursuit Starring Liam Neeson, Tom Bateman, William Forsythe, Laura Dern Directed by Hans Petter Moland The Story: Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) is a mild-mannered snowplow worker who allows the city of Kehoe to be available during the snowy winter months, and is awarded with the town's Citizen of the Year award.  Not long after, he discovers his only child was found dead, a victim of an apparent overdose.  Believing his son wasn't a drug user, he infiltrates the drug cartel in Denver led by psychopath Trevor "Viking" Calcote (Tom Bateman), and dispatches some of his drug dealers closest involved in his son's murder.  As his thirst for revenge strengthens, he inadvertently causes a turf war between Viking and the Ute drug lord White Bull (Tom Jackson), leading small-town cops Kim Dash (Emmy Rossum) and Gip Gipsky (John Dorman) to investigate. The Synopsis: "Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go."  This quote from O...

The Friday Five:  Chloe Grace Moretz Chloe Grace Moretz is one of today's more underrated actresses, who's appeared in raunchy comedies as well as heavily dramatic pieces, and everything in between.  She's due to star in the upcoming psychological thriller "Greta" with Oscar nominee Isabelle Hubbert, and in honor of that I chose my five favorite Chloe Grace Moretz films. **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** #5 Hugo Chloe stars as Isabelle, a young friend of Asa Butterfield's Hugo who helps him on a soaring adventure to find a missing key to his late father's automaton, and finding the secrets that lie within.  Directed by the famous Martin Scorsese, the film earned eleven Academy Award nominations and also features Ben Kingsley, Sasha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law, and Christopher Lee. #4  The Equalizer Tackling a more adult role, Chloe stars as Alina, a young prostitute who's befriended by Denzel Washington...

Major Theatrical Releases  March 2019 As winter comes to a close, a slew of exciting films will come to theaters.  There's something for everyone in March, and it looks to be a very exciting month at the movies. Here are the major theatrical releases for March 2019. **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** **DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE** A Madea Family Funeral March 1 Tyler Perry first created the character of Madea for his play "I Can Do Bad All By Myself" in 1999, and since then she's erupted onto the big screen in eleven films, and has become an icon all of her own making.  Even though her appeal has waned thin as of late (and earning Perry several Razzie nominations), she remains a beloved character to many.  With "A Madea Family Funeral," Tyler Perry has stated that this will be Madea's final outing on the big screen, and looks to be about as what you'd expect from a Madea movie. Greta March 1 Taking ...

Alita: Battle Angel Starring Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson, Mahershala Ali Directed by Robert Rodriguez The Story: In 2563, Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz) fixes cyborgs with spare parts that fall from the levitating city of Zalem, and one day finds a disembodied female cyborg with a working human brain, and uses the cyborg body he kept for his recently-deceased daughter to create a new being.  Naming her Alita (Rosa Salazar), he acts like her protective father, as she slowly comes into her own despite having no memories of her past life. She embarks on a normal teenage path including disobeying her surrogate father and falling for teenager Hugo (Keean Johnson), who introduces her to the sport of Motorball.  Meanwhile, Vector (Mahershala Ali) and his assistant Dr. Chiren (Jennifer Connelly) seek out parts to create the ultimate warrior for Motorball, and learn of Alita's prowess.  As she begins to have memories of her past, she exhibits amazing figh...

Worst2First:  My Most Anticipated Films of Spring 2019 Usually the months of March and April are times where films are released that will be easily forgotten during the heightened summer season, but this year there's a decent crop of films that have been highly anticipated, and looks to be two exciting months at the theater. Here are my personal top ten most anticipated films of spring 2019, worst2first... **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** **DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE** #10  The Curse of La Llorona April 19 The legend of La Llorona comes from Latin American folklore, and focuses on a woman who lost her children and became a weeping spirit, who continually searches for her lost children and takes living children as her own.  Unfortunately, the legend sounds more intriguing than what this film will deliver, but I'm always up for a good ghost story. #9  Missing Link April 12 Laika has always been known for releasing qua...

91st Academy Awards Predictions Generally the theme of the Academy Awards tends to be "expect the unexpected" for many of the categories, and I typically don't fare too well in my own predictions when it comes to the "lesser known" categories.  We'll see if I can do better this year. VISUAL EFFECTS Avengers: Infinity War Christopher Robin First Man Ready Player One Solo: A Star Wars Story There was a lot of standout visual effects films last year, and while I personally would love for "Avengers" to win, I feel the Academy will honor a film that's more dramatic, which is why I'm picking "First Man."  COSTUME DESIGN The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Black Panther The Favourite Mary Poppins Returns Mary Queen of Scots I'm a sucker for period pieces, and the costumes for "The Favourite" and "Mary Queen of Scots" were exceptional, but I'm going with the film that rec...