JoeMama's Movie Reviews

The Report Starring Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Morrison Directed by Scott Burns I consider myself a "closeted political junkie," meaning I love politics and all the good and bad with it, but I pretty much refuse to talk about it with other people because I don't particularly like getting involved in pointless arguments that just result in people insulting other peoples' intelligence since they got no intellectual argument for their side.  "The Report" is one of those political thrillers I enjoy, but this one was a bit more dry than most - there was no real conflict, no sense of danger, and pretty much consisted of characters talking about the same things over and over, but still managed to be engaging due to a strong ensemble cast. The film centers around the real report issued by Senators Dianne Feinstein and John McCain about the torture (or "enhanced interrogation techniques") that the U.S. government authorized...

Bombshell Starring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, John Lithgow Directed by Jay Roach The Fox News Channel is best known for representing the conservative viewpoint, and their motto is "Fair and Balanced," although it's easy to disagree with that statement if you've ever watched it, yet the film gives a great definition of this motto through the eyes of newcomer Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie), who wants to be on camera: the network is fair in its coverage of the news during the day, and brings a balance at night with their conservative commentators against the more progressive voices on networks like CNN and MSNBC.  "Bombshell" is by no means fair and balanced, but it does shed light on the inner workings of the network, how the women were objectified, and the ultimate downfall of the network's reigning founder through a string of sexual harassment allegations that brought him down. The film focuses on the stories of three wom...

Little Starring Regina Hall, Issa Rae, Marsai Martin, Justin Hartley Directed by Tina Gordon Body-swapping and age-swapping films have existed for awhile, with titles like "17 Again," "13 Going on 30," "Like Father Like Son," and several versions of "Freaky Friday" immediately come to mind, but none compare to the granddaddy of age-swapping films, Tom Hanks' "Big."  Young "Black-ish" star Marsai Martin saw the film and wondered what it would be like to have this happen to someone of a different gender and race, and set out to pitch her idea for her film "Little."  The film got green-lit, and Martin became the youngest Executive Producer ever in Hollywood - a very extravagant feat even if her product is rather cookie-cutter, predictable, and rather devoid of any true humor. In this version, Jordan Sanders (Regina Hall) is a no-holds-barred mean boss of a successful software company, who became this wo...

Golden Globes 2020 Predictions It's that time of year again, the time where the best and brightest in film and television are celebrated and receive the recognition they deserve.  I love this time of year, and it kicks off tonight with the Golden Globe Awards. Here are my predictions on who will win each category, although I have no clue about the television categories because I don't watch too many shows.  It's the films I most look forward to. TELEVISION (Winner pick in bold) BEST TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA Big Little Lies The Crown Killing Eve The Morning Show Succession BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA Jennifer Aniston - The Morning Show Olivia Colman - The Crown Jodie Comer - Killing Eve Nicole Kidman - Big Little Lies Reese Witherspoon - The Morning Show BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA Brian Cox - Succession Kit Harington - Game of Thrones Rami Malek - Mr. Robot Tobias Menzi...

The Grudge Starring Andrea Riseborough, Demian Bichir, John Cho, Betty Gilpin Directed by Nicolas Pesce The 2000s saw an influx of American remakes of Japanese horror films (often known as J-Horror) with varying results.  Films like "The Ring" managed to exceed its "Ringu" counterpart, while others like "Dark Water," "Pulse," "The Eye," "Shutter," "The Echo," and "One Missed Call" fell short of expectations.  "The Grudge," based off the Japanese horror film "Ju-On," falls somewhere near the middle.  Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, the film centered on an American nurse working in Tokyo who runs afoul of a curse known as Ju-On: when someone dies in the grip of anger or sorrow, an evil curse is created, and whoever steps foot in the home will take the spirit home with them and haunt them forever.  The film managed to make over $187 million dollars worldwide, and spawned two sequ...

Worst2First:  My Personal Top 100 Films of the 2010s As the 2010s draw to a close, I take a retrospective look at the numerous amounts of films I saw in the last decade and compile them into my personal top 100 films of the decade.  I took my favorite ten films each year and ordered them together to make up my list, and if you've read my top lists from each year you might notice that they're in different ranks here, and that's because I either reconsidered them as better or worse than I originally thought, or with multiple viewings placed some higher than before. This list is compiled from the films I've watched, and you might notice some are omitted and that's either due to my personal preference, or because I didn't get the chance to see them, so how could I include them in my favorites if I've never seen them, no matter how many accolades they received?  **THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS** Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks are magical in ...