JoeMama's Movie Reviews

God is a Bullet Starring Nikolai Coster-Waldau, Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman, Jamie Foxx Directed by Nick Cassaventes Back in the olden days when I saw movies for the sheer enjoyment of them, I saw one called "Alexander" starring Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie. I ended up walking out before it ended because I couldn't stand it. That was the one and only movie I ever walked out on. "God is a Bullet" got me to my feet, a few steps down from the seat I was sitting in, and if it wasn't for the fact that I was the only one in the entire theater and I could entertain myself with TikTok videos while occasionally glancing up at the screen, this would've been the second film I walked out on. Detective Bob Hightower (Nikolai Coster-Waldau) is investigating the murder of his wife and abduction of his daughter by a gang of religious cultists led by the demented Cyrus (Karl Glusman), but he doesn't find a lot of leads - until he meets Case Hardin (Maika Monroe), ...

Bird Box Barcelona Starring Mario Casas, Alejandra Howard, Georgina Campbell, Naila Schuberth Directed by Alex Pastor & David Pastor Back in 2018, a horror film called "Bird Box" exploded on Netflix, making it one of the streaming service's most viewed original movies and served as a plethora of different memes that flooded the Internet. The film followed Sandra Bullock as she traversed the post-apocalyptic landscape searching for sanctuary from creatures that cause you to kill yourself if you see them. The film was intense and full of continual fear and dread, led by Bullock's more-than-capable performance. No one wanted, nor thought of, a sequel being made, but now there's "Bird Box Barcelona," which is more like an expansion pack of a main game that exists on its own but centers around the same issue - but without Bullock and without any sense of terror, it falls short of its parentage. Sebastian (Mario Casas) and his daughter Anna (Alejandra Howa...

Talk to Me Starring Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji Directed by Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou The concept of the living's desire to speak to the dead has been a thing for as long as existence, as history has given us not just magical stories about magicians moving between the living and the dead, but the use of Ouija boards, seances, and psychic readings all try to rip that veil between the here and the afterlife. Everyone who's lost someone would give anything to get a chance to talk to their departed again, or just know what's on the other side, and there's been countless movies that touch on this subject. "Talk to Me" is one such film - a movie that obviously takes its concept from films like "Flatliners" - and gives it a modern twist by introducing the social media aspect: a film that makes communicating with the dead like a drug; something you can get addicted to, and something that could ultimately kill you. It...

Oppenheimer Starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr. Directed by Christopher Nolan There's few directors out there who've hit every film they've directed out of the park. Directors who consistently deliver top-notch films that are essentially beyond reproach, movies that people remember, and whose names will go on in cinematic history. Christopher Nolan is one such director, who's lesser works ("The Dark Knight Rises," "Tenet") are still heads and shoulders above some of the best films of other directors. Nolan's unique style of filmmaking focuses on muted colors, heavily dialogue-driven speeches, a unique film-noir style, and takes place in natural settings and real locations as opposed to CGI greenscreen. "Oppenheimer" highlights the best of Nolan's style, a three-hour epic telling of the live of the American Prometheus J. Robert Oppenheimer, who's invention not only ended World War II, but eventuall...

Barbie Starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell Directed by Greta Gerwig 2023 has been the year where cinema has taken big risks and received big rewards for them. It started in February when Elizabeth Banks gave us a film about a bear who's strung out on cocaine. Then "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" blew away even the loftiest of expectations, leaving the bomb that was the live-action version in the dust and making it a billion dollar hit. And now we got "Barbie,"a  film that's been in development hell since 2009, and was a film that seemingly could never had been made. How could a story work? Who would you get to play such iconic roles? It was a monumental task, and it eventually fell into the hands of Oscar-nominated director Greta Gerwig, and the result is nothing short of Barbie magic. Before 1959, girls played with dolls that taught them to be housewives and invisible, but then Barbie came along and revolutionized the toy indus...

Sound of Freedom Starring Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, Bill Camp, Eduardo Verastegui Directed by Alejandro Monteverde Faith based films often cater to those who are, well, faith based. These underutilized people rally around the worst possible movies (i.e. anything with Kirk Cameron in it) and flood social media calling such-and-such a film "the best film they've ever seen" and "one that can't be missed." They zealously purchase tickets en-masse and distribute them like updated religious tracks, claiming the film will change lives and bring people closer to God. I can appreciate their zeal - and as a former Christian I used to be like that - but nothing really compares to actually showing the love of God in our words and actions. Anyway, "Sound of Freedom" is one such film, but not really. While Christians claim it's as good as the Second Coming of Jesus, it's actually not a faith-based film, just distributed by a faith-based company after i...

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One Starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg Directed by Christopher McQuarrie Your mission,  if you choose to accept it, is to re-invigorate a popular spy television series from 1966 (and rebooted in 1988) that will reach a younger audience and will retain the heart, mind, and soul of the original with intense action sequences, top-notch storytelling, and a dedicated cast and crew. Back in 1996 Tom Cruise accepted this mission with gusto, and for twenty-seven years he's become Ethan Hunt for a new generation, churning out seven "Mission: Impossible" films for the big screen and earning a whopping $1 billion dollars worldwide and counting. None of the films in the series have been duds, and that in and of itself is a cinematic miracle - with his final outing, "Dead Reckoning," split into two films, his final mission was to overcome the curse of a final film in a franchise being split up and somehow bei...