Splat C |
W. (2008) |
"After eight years of daily hyper-analysis by the 24-hour media, compounded by the endless chewing and regurgitation of yesterday's news by bloggers, I'd have been shocked if Stone had come up with anything original." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C |
The Wackness (2008) |
"We've seen this nexus of teen drug dealer/disreputable shrink before (Charlie Bartlett). We've even seen Brian Cox ("Running With Scissors") chew more scenery (is that possible?) than Sir Ben in what is essentially the same role." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Waiting... (2005) |
"While Waiting has value as a cautionary document, it's only intermittently funny." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B |
Waitress (2007) |
"Waitress has a sneaky way of sorting this all out. It also has an undeniably good heart, and it's hard to dislike a movie that makes room for a neglected American original like Andy Griffith." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Waking Life (2001) |
"Although Waking Life is likely to be described as a hallucinogenic, free associative 'trip,' its secret is a very tight structure, and a series of deliberate choices." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Walk the Line (2005) |
"Phoenix is a little gloomy for my taste, but his approximation of Cash's singing is strangely good -- not an imitation, but a musically acceptable re-creation that comes organically from his performance. And Witherspoon is simply terrific." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
A Walk to Remember (2002) |
"Many a parent and their teen (or preteen) kid could bond while watching A Walk To Remember. So could young romantics out on a date." |
Jonathan Takiff |
Tomato |
Walking Tall (2004) |
"Walking Tall is nothing great. It's also not bad -- fast-moving, efficient, with plenty of surface energy, if you don't care about The Rock's Ashcroftian disregard for the rights of evildoers." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato A- |
WALL-E (2008) |
"WALL-E is probably the sweetest movie ever made about humans destroying the earth." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) |
"The pleasures of The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, though, derive mostly from its wonderful simplicity, the fun of watching the contortions of figures modeled in clay." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B |
Wanted (2008) |
"Fans of the Nightwatch series will recognize the curiously sour nature of the father-son storyline. Coupled with the blood and body count, it makes for a strangely bleak summer movie, but a welcome, offbeat 'B' for the strong of stomach." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
War of the Worlds (2005) |
"It's on the road that War of the Worlds makes the jump from thrilling to frequently unpleasant, as Spielberg burdens the movie with Holocaust imagery and commentary about terrorism and wars of occupation." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
The War Tapes (2006) |
"Runs blessedly counter to the trend in contemporary documentary, increasingly built around the subjective point of view of the director, who is often a physical presence in the film." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C |
Watchmen (2009) |
"Snyder handles all of this lucidly and reverently; the vignettes propel the story, but they won't bring the uninitiated any closer to this dispiriting material." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B |
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007) |
"A capable British cast brings life to the characters, and the movie's computer animators do a good job with the monster, from playful 'pup' to formidable adult." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
The Waterboy (1998) |
"Charming!" |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
The Way of the Gun (2000) |
"If Ryan Phillippe had the lead in Erin Brockovich or Godzilla 2000, he couldn't be more miscast than he is in The Way of the Gun." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C |
We Own The Night (2007) |
"When the bodies are sorted out, though, Gray wants us to feel the sting of loss, and it's just not there." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
We Were Soldiers (2002) |
"... Wallace is smart to vary the pitch of his movie, balancing deafening battle scenes with quieter domestic scenes of women back home receiving War Department telegrams." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
The Weather Man (2005) |
"The movie also makes a glib connection between Spritz'a weightless celebrity and his failings as a husband and father, and further asserts that this is all somehow 'American.'" |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B+ |
Wedding Crashers (2005) |
"The thing that elevates it above the level of smirking gag-fest that Vaughn/Wilson have sometimes made in the past, is the critical eye that Crashers ultimately casts on these characters and their methods." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
The Wedding Planner (2001) |
"The Wedding Planner features a new, 'softer' look for Jennifer Lopez, and it doesn't suit her at all." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
The Weight of Water (2002) |
"[Two] fairly dull -- contrasting and interlocking stories about miserable Scandinavian settlers in 18th-century Canada, and yuppie sailboaters in the here and now." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Welcome to Mooseport (2004) |
"Welcome to Mooseport makes ill use of Ray Romano, carelessly dismissing the comic persona he's spent years crafting on TV and the stand-up circuit." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C |
Wendy and Lucy (2008) |
"Relentlessly solemn movies like Wendy and Lucy are why recession-plagued Americans paid $33 million last week to see Paul Blart, Mall Cop." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat D |
What Happens in Vegas (2008) |
"What Happens In Vegas can be forwarded directly to the nominating committee of the Golden Raspberry Foundation." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C |
What Just Happened (2008) |
"Hollywood movies about Hollywood are by definition self-absorbed, but there's something especially trivial about What Just Happened?" |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
What Women Want (2000) |
"Demonstrates that it has a pretty good idea what women want." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
What's The Worst That Could Happen? (2001) |
"Just about all of this potential is squandered by script and direction that look for easy sitcom laughs at every turn." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C- |
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? (2008) |
"A documentary just as childish as the title suggests." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B |
Where the Wild Things Are (2009) |
"Jonze takes great pains to make Wild Things a freewheeling, naive-primitive work." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato B |
Whip It (2009) |
"Barrymore's movie is as bubbly as she is, and its best feature is the atmosphere of all-girl camaraderie that she creates and captures." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Whipped (2000) |
"The posture is meant to be modern and liberal-minded, but it's probably just another way of patronizing women." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
White Chicks (2004) |
"The makeup job meant to establish the Wayans' as white women is one of the least convincing since Meryl Streep's rabbi in Angels in America." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
White Noise (2005) |
"Take every ghost-in-the-machine movie you've ever seen -- Poltergeist, Frequency, The Mothman Prophecies, Dragonfly -- distill the worst parts, reassemble them, and you've got Noise." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat D |
Whiteout (2009) |
"The screenplay is unusually lazy -- additional investigators (Gabriel Macht, purportedly a U.N. detective) appear literally out of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Who Killed The Electric Car? (2006) |
"Tries to fathom why GM created and nurtured a terrific battery-powered car, then strangled its own baby in its crib." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
The Whole Ten Yards (2004) |
"There's nothing in this sequel that needs to be experienced in the theater, unless you have a particular desire to see Matthew Perry smash his face into doors, cupboards and a floor or two." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Why We Fight (2006) |
"Taken as a whole, Why We Fight is the work of someone who started with a conclusion and made sure he got there." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C- |
The Wild (2006) |
"Watching this uninspired rehash of other movies, one realizes that Disney's move to install Pixar's John Lasseter as its new head of animation has not come a moment to soon." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Wild Hogs (2007) |
"The movie ends with an ode to Easy Rider, but without the satisfaction of seeing any of the characters gunned down by hicks." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Willard (2003) |
"The whole thing becomes a grind, and an opportunity for a darkly funny, effective exploitation picture is squandered." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (2004) |
"Pacino's fiercely vivid performance keeps Shylock's half of the play alive at all times." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
Wimbledon (2004) |
"Predictable, harmless and bounces along on the charm of its two stars." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004) |
"Win a Date takes this simple idea and screws it up." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Windtalkers (2002) |
"Done in mostly by a weak script that can't support the epic treatment." |
Gary Thompson |
Tomato |
With a Friend Like Harry (2001) |
"Something everyone should see before deciding to attend a college reunion." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Without A Paddle (2004) |
"Without a Paddle gives us the contemporary comedy's lazy substitute for a real gag -- the celebrity cameo." |
Gary Thompson |
Splat |
Wolf Creek (2005) |
"What is the point, other than to show up the director's technical skill at presenting mutilation?" |
Gary Thompson |
Splat C |
The Women (2008) |
"This is a brave but futile endeavor." |
Gary Thompson |
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