Movie Review
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Waiting
Waiting made me question meals I've sent back at restaurants. After watching this movie, I am now questioning whether I want to eat at a restaurant ever again. Sure, the movie is funny, but it will also turn your stomach every chance it gets. This movie revels in its grossness, and digs around in many assorted vulgarities to entertain. The writers, no-doubt, spent much time working at restaurants just like the one portrayed in the movie, and that is what worries me. 3 Stars Out of 5
WaitressWaitress is the last film from the brilliant Adriene Shelly. She wrote, directed, and starred in it. She was killed in her own apartment by an illegal alien. After I watched Waitress I couldn't help but think, what a tragedy. Who knows how many more gems like this she would have given us? Waitress is a terrific film - brilliantly written, and with a fantastic performance from Keri Russell. I fell in love with this film, and that makes Shelly's loss all the more painful. But the film stands as a wonderful tribute to an amazing talent whose life was cut tragically short. 4 Stars Out of 5
Walk The Line
Walk The Line features some incredibly strong and surprising performances. Joaquin Phoenix is admirable as music legend Johnny Cash. He has captured the essence of his character while realizing there will only be one man in black. Phoenix is always good. But there are two surprises in this movie. The first is how good Reece Witherspoon is. She may very well earn an Oscar nomination for her performance. The other surprise is that Phoenix and Witherspoon both do their own singing, and they are good! The movie does sugar coat a few things, but I loved it. 4 Stars Out of 5
Walking Tall
The remake of Walking Tall isn't as good as its source material, but the update is fun. The Rock isn't doing much in the way of acting, but has a good time bashing the bad guys with that four by four. And after all, that is what audiences want to see.
3 Stars Out of 5
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is funny and wildly inventive. It took 5 years to make because of the time-consuming task with which the movie was made. That's a shame, because when this one ended, I wanted to see another edition right away. The kids will love it, and so will the adults as there are loads of jokes that go completely over the kid's heads.
4 Stars Out of 5
War
Action clichés abound in the unintentionally funny War. This retread features comically bad acting, blurred action scenes with so many quick cuts you can't tell what's going on, an incoherent plot, and an ending so stupid I'm still scratching my head wondering who thought this up? No doubt, some producer's plumber coming off a bender after watching too many Kung Fu and action movies! 1 Star Out of 5
Waste Deep
Waste Deep is a movie that didn't need to be made. It probably shouldn't have been made. Overflowing with bad acting from a cast that has little screen appeal, this is just more of the tired urban garbage that glorifies crime and criminals inspiring no one to do any better. Why Tyrese Gibson keeps getting starring roles baffles me. He scowls and calls it acting. The title, Waist Deep is just a little too long. Call it Waste, and that fits better. 1 Star Out of 5
We Own the Night - Sony - Rated R
With solid acting and an intense story, We Own the Night is a film that delivers. Joaquin Phoenix gives a superb multilayered performance that is the heart and soul of this excellent movie. 4 Stars Out of 5
The Weatherman
The Weatherman is the type of film that fans of Wes Anderson will adore. Anderson did The Royal Tennenbaums and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. But he didn't do this film. Gore Verbinski, who brought us Pirates of the Caribbean did. But it has that same feel. It is an understated, dry, dark black comedy. Nicolas Cage returns to the type of role we love him in. Both he and Michael Caine give tremendous performances. This film isn't for everyone. Its humor lies in the almost always gloomy outlook of the main character and the weather. Mostly cloudy skies with patches of sunshine prevail in The Weatherman - but that's a good thing. 4 Stars Out of 5
The Wedding Date
In The Wedding Date, Debra Messing proves she has a knack for romantic comedy in film. She reminds me of Sandra Bullock. That said, The Wedding Date follows the Chick-Flick formula exactly. This is a rehash of many films, all of them better than this. Yes, it will please most of the women in the audience, while the men may find a more interesting diversion on the inside of their eyelids.
3 Stars Out of 5
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins - Universal - Rated PG-13
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins is a tedious, laughless wonder packed with mean spirited, stupid slapstick humor resulting in nearly two hours of pure pain and torture. Someone should tell Martin Lawrence and the rest of the cast that making your eyes big and screaming does not a comedy make. There is very little to like in Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. Actually, I hated every second of it. So there is nothing to like.
1 Star Out of 5
Welcome to Mooseport
Welcome to Mooseport is a pleasant enough but very bland, vanilla comedy that caused me to smile a few times, but there were no real laughs. I wanted a comedy and I got….eh!
2 Stars Out of 5
Wes Craven Presents: They
This is the most fun I've had getting scared in a long time...There are loads of jumps and shrieks in this low budget but fairly well made scare fest.
4 Stars Out of 5
Whale Rider
Deeply moving and inspirational, Whale Rider is a extraordinary gem that finds vast treasure in an unexpected place. This little movie from New Zealand touches us at an unanticipated level and star Keisha Castle-Hughes is a rare find. She has never acted before, but commands the screen like a seasoned professional.5 Stars out of 5
What A Girl Wants
What A Girl Wants has some similarities to a few other movies, and follows the formula to a tee. Star Amanda Bynes is the best part of this pleasant and engaging, but rather vanilla comedy. This is a good movie for fathers to take their daughters to, and it has a really nice ending.
3 Stars Out of 5
What the Bleep Do We Know
What the Bleep Do We Know is a kind of hybrid film. Is it a documentary? Well, partly, partly drama, partly animation and all interesting! The film makers take us on a razzle dazzle trip through mind expanding ideas in quantum physics and the metaphysical. I liked it. It made me think.
4 Stars Out of 5
When a Stranger Calls
The scariest thing in When a Stranger Calls is when the high school friends of the babysitter are in an area with no cell phone service. Imagine that! NO CELL SERVICE! You can imagine how they must have felt! That's REALLY scary!!! The movie, a pale remake that has no real scares, is overall pretty dumb. There is no character development, and no explanation why the stranger is after the babysitter. 2 Stars Out of 5
Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? - Weinstein Company - Rated PG-13
In Morgan Spurlock's documentary Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? he once again focuses on himself, this time looking for the worlds most notorious terrorist. Funny and well made, he proves he is more than just a Michael Moore wannabe, but someone with real talent. While I disagree with some of the conclusions in the film, namely that terrorism is America's fault; it is, by and large entertaining. 3 Stars Out of 5
White Chicks
In White Chicks The makeup is so bad you never once fall for it. As a matter of fact every time I saw the Wayans brothers onscreen in their makeup, I was distracted by it. I kept thinking "that looks so fake, why can't the real people on the screen tell?" Some of the jokes are funny, but my son liked it much better than I did. This isn't the laugh-fest that previous Wayans brothers comedies are.
2 ½ Stars Out of 5
The White Countess
The White Countess takes a long time to get going. It's a movie you have to let happen. Be patient. You will be rewarded with very good performances by Natasha Richardson and Ralph Fiennes and what amounts to a very satisfying film. 3 Stars Out of 5
White Noise
Traditionally, January releases are studio leftovers and trash that need to be tossed out. Well, the first release of the new year is White Noise, a film that doesn't deserve to be released this month. White Noise is an interesting film. It's not without its problems, but it kept me interested. The gist of the film is that the dead can communicate with their loved ones through static or white noise in electronic devices like TV's, radios, and cordless phones. Michael Keaton does an admirable job keeping this film on an even keel, and makes this a better film. The script however, has some problems. We are led to believe that anyone can just tune in to static and receive messages from the dead. I don't know about you, but I've heard static for my whole life and have yet to hear a message from anyone I know. And what channel are we supposed to tune in? Ghost 98 FM? The Spirit Channel? There are some good jumps in the film, and a shiver or two. But just don't think too much…
3 Stars Out of 5
White Oleander
This features Oscar worthy performances by its female leads, and that makes this worth seeing. Michelle Pfeifer has never been better, and there are terrific performances by Alison Lohman, Rene Zellweger, and Robin Wright-Penn. The film appears to have been cut quite a bit though, leaving big plot holes, and leaves us wondering...4 Stars Out of 5
The Whole Ten Yards
The Whole Ten Yards is a bad sequel to a bad movie. This sorry excuse for a comedy is downright painful.
1 ½ Stars Out of 5
Who's Your Caddy
A great example of why most rappers shouldn't try to act, Who's Your Caddy is a racist and stereotypical cross between Soul Plane and Caddyshack. Completely devoid of any humor at all, it seems like it's just an excuse for the rappers to show us the 2 carat rocks they have in each ear. Don't quit your day job or you'll find those rocks at the pawn shop! 1 ½ Stars Out of 5
Why Did I Get Married? - Lionsgate - Rated PG-13
Only singer Jill Scott fares OK in Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? No Madea this time, but its got klunky dialogue and contrived plot gimmicks aplenty. Janet Jackson's had some more work done, and looked to me like she's going for the E.T. look. Oh, and she still can't act. Just about every character in this film is irritating, shrill, and screaming for most of the movie. At one point I thought I was watching role playing at a marriage seminar! This is Perry's worst yet! Why Did I Get Married?, No, the question is, why did I put myself through that? 1 ½ Stars Out of 5
Wicker Park
Wicker Park drags on at first. But after the first half there is a plot twist that makes this much more interesting. Then there are so many plot twists and turns it's almost cinematic whiplash! Obsession is the central theme in the movie, and while I don't want to give anything away, everyone seems obsessed with another. It's not great, but it is entertaining.
3 Stars Out of 5
Wilber Wants to Kill Himself
Wilber Wants to Kill Himself is a bittersweet film that is offbeat but touching. This is a character driven movie that sounds from the title like it would be something you'd rather not watch, but ends up being the kind of movie you do.
3 Stars Out of 5
The Wild
The Wild is almost a carbon copy of Madagascar as far as the plot is concerned, but it has much better animation, better characters, and better jokes. This was actually conceived first, but took longer to get to the screen. The kids will love it, and there's plenty for adults too. 3 Stars Out of 5
Wild Hogs
Wild Hogs really looked bad to me in the trailers, but is an adult comedy that is much better than I thought it would be. It's adult because it's about four middle aged men, and some of the subject matter is not appropriate for younger kids. All of the stars get their moments to shine, but believe it or not, William H. Macy gets most of the laughs. It's really a very funny audience pleaser, and one that I didn't want to end! 3 ½ Stars Out of 5
Willard
Poor direction and a worse script hobble Willard, a herky-jerky, uneven muddle. There is casting genius present with Crispin Glover in the lead, but his talent is squandered, and is not in good hands here. The director should be flogged for allowing some of Glovers more over the top scenes to remain with seemingly no purpose. The character of Willard is not allowed to develop and the other characters are for the most part, one dimensional and irrelevant. This feels like large chunks of the film were cut out. It has some of the right ingredients, like Bruce Davison's portrait as Willard's late Dad (he played Willard in the original.) but too many other ingredients are missing to make this worth more than a time-filler when there isn't a better infomercial on.
2 Stars Out of 5
Wimbledon
Wimbledon is a cliché-ridden "Rocky" wannabe but set in the world of tennis. The best part of this film is the great chemistry between Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany. This movie has been done before many times with different sports. It's only the leads that lift this movie above average.
3 ½ Stars Out of 5
Win A Date With Tad Hamilton
Win A Date With Tad Hamilton is not nearly as bad as I expected. The young cast is very refreshing and the story, while a bit improbable, is entertaining in a cotton candy sweet sort of way. One thing I just couldn't take was seeing the supposed superstar Tad Hamilton travel around alone with no posse! Too ridiculous to believe.
3 Stars Out of 5
WindTalkers
An unusual war movie. Since it is a John Woo movie, you expect a lot of action. You get that in bucketfuls. It is extreme, and not for the faint of heart. But this does seem to lose the story in the middle of all that action. This is supposed to be about the Navaho code-talkers who helped to win the war in the Pacific. It ends up being about dismemberments and blood spurts with a little melodramatic Navajo stuff sprinkled throughout. And some of the effects are not so great. But Nicolas Cage does a fine job as the reluctant hero. I was also impressed with Christian Slater and Adam Beach.3 Stars Out of 5
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
The Wind that Shakes the Barley is extremely political, it follows the story of the founding of the Irish Republican Army in the 1920's. It is a heartwrenching and troubling, but sometimes hard to understand and hard to follow film. 3 Stars Out of 5
Witless Protection - Lionsgate - Rated PG-13
Take everything that you like about Larry the Cable Guy, leave it out of a movie, and you've got Witless Protection. It is extremely low brow bodily-function humor in buckets but without laughs. Witless…yep. Brainless, unlikable and humorless too. And if they ever invented protection for movies, this is the one you'd need it for. 1 ½ Stars Out of 5
Wolf Creek
The first 50 minutes of Wolf Creek are extremely tame. We get to meet the young stars of the film and start to feel a connection to them. It borders on boring. But then all of the sudden we are besieged with a conclusion of unrelenting brutality. This movie takes a long time to grab you, but when it does, it does so with gleeful, sadistic abandon. It genuinely got to me. And that's not easy to do.
4 Stars Out of 5
The Woodsman
I think Kevin Bacon is under-appreciated as an actor. The Woodsman proves it. He is superb in this very difficult and intense movie. This isn't an exploitative movie, but a examination into a character that has deep flaws. Kyra Sedgewick is equally impressive in her role. This isn't an easy film to watch, but it is certainly fascinating.
4 ½ Stars Out of 5
Wooly Boys
Great performances and a great story highlight Wooly Boys. The film tries a little bit too hard to be quirky and likeable at first, but then it settles down and lets the story unfold revealing rich characterizations and a good underlying message. In the end, it completely won me over. Hats off to the entire cast, especially Peter Fonda and Kris Kristofferson for some memorable performances.
4 Stars Out of 5
The World's Fastest Indian
The smile seldom left my face during The Worlds Fastest Indian. Anthony Hopkins sparkles with his performance in an inspirational true story about a man and his motorcycle who broke records that still stand. This is a terrific film. 4 ½ Stars Out of 5
World Trade Center
With terrific performances and a story that is sensitive and truly riveting, World Trade Center is a powerful, moving, important film that makes you feel like you are there. Nicolas Cage is wonderful, and Michael Pena turns in an Oscar worthy performance. Everyone should see this film...and remember.
4 ½ Stars Out of 5
Wristcutters: A Love Story - After Dark Films - Rated R
In Wristcutters: A Love Story, those who commit suicide inhabit a world populated by others who have "offed" themselves, who can't smile, and all of the colors are bleached. The main characters travel in a car with a literal black hole under the passenger seat. Yep, it's wildly imaginative and weird, but kind of fun. 3 Stars Out of 5
Wrong Turn
Wrong Turn is a slightly better than average teen slasher movie. That really isn't saying much. This sticks closely to the same old formula, but manages to work up some squirm-in-your-seat tension. That's where the positives about this movie end. This time the killers are inbred-backwoods-hick-mutants. And don't ask too many questions…like why they kill. Or how dozens of people have disappeared in the area and searches never turned anything up but the teens find the location of these grisly murders with relative ease.
2 ½ Stars Out of 5
