Total Number of Movies in Joel’s Collection: 1,338 Page Number: 24 / 27
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Waiting for Guffman

Director: Chrisopher Guest
Starring: Lewis Arquette, Bob Balaban, David Cross (II), Paul Dooley, Brian Doyle-Murray
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Turner Home Ent
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.4 (18,375 votes)
Release: Jan 1997
Summary: One of the funniest films in many a moon was hiding at art house theaters in 1998. Former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and Spinal Tap member Christopher Guest creates the ultimate parody of small-town dramatics, "Waiting for Guffman". Corky St. Claire (Guest), an overwhelming drama director hiding out in Blaine, Missouri, thinks he has found the vehicle to put him back on Broadway: the city's 150th anniversary play, "Red, White, and Blaine." As rehearsals start, we learn of the town's history ("the stool capital of the world") including a brush with a UFO. The mockumentary follows the various townsfolk wishing for stardom: Parker Posey as a Dairy Queen clerk, Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard as stage-struck travel agents, Matthew Keeslar as the town's bad boy, and Eugene Levy (who cowrote the film with Guest) as a dentist who dreams of glory on the stage. The film is a hoot from beginning to end, and be sure to watch the closing credits. Fans of Guest's deft dry humor should not miss his other parody of the entertainment world, "The Big Picture" (Kevin Bacon as a student filmmaker who goes to Hollywood). "--Doug Thomas"
 

Waitress

Director: Adrienne Shelly
Starring: Andy Griffith, Keri Russell, Adrienne Shelly, Jeremy Sisto, Sarah Hunley
Genre: Comedy
Studio: 20th Century Fox
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.1 (29,116 votes)
Release: Nov 2007
Summary: Much like the films of Hal Hartley, "Waitress" is funny in a deadpan sort of way, but a sadness lurks below the surface. After making a splash in Hartley's "The Unbelievable Truth" and "Trust", Adrienne Shelly turned to directing with "Sudden Manhattan" and "I'll Take You There". Set in a small Southern town, her third picture revolves around waitress Jenna ("Felicity"'s radiant Keri Russell), who works at Joe's Pie Diner (Joe is played by Andy Griffith). Jenna is the pastry genius who makes Joe's joint shine. Her co-workers include the forthright Becky (Cheryl Hines, "Curb Your Enthusiasm") and insecure Dawn (Shelly). All three have man trouble, but Jenna has it the worst. Her husband, Earl (Jeremy Sisto, "Six Feet Under"), treats her like a piece of property. When she finds out she's pregnant, Jenna fears she'll be stuck with him forever. Then, she develops a crush on her married obstetrician, Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion, "Serenity"). With the aid of her fanciful confections, like peachy keen tarts, their flirtation develops into a full-blown affair. It appears to be a no-win situation, but Shelly finds an empowering way to bring this bittersweet story to a close. If the candy-colored conclusion plays more like fantasy than reality, it's a fantasy worth embracing. Sadly, Shelly was murdered before "Waitress" ever saw the light of day (leaving behind a husband and child of her own). Fortunately, her final film is far more life-affirming than morose, although it does end with the word "goodbye." --"Kathleen C. Fennessy"
 

Wake in Fright

Director: Ted Kotcheff
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay, Jack Thompson
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Studio: Group W
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.6 (1,084 votes)
Release: Jul 1971
Summary: Wake in Fright is the story of John Grant, a bonded teacher who arrives in the rough outback mining town of Bundanyabba planning to stay overnight before catching the plane to Sydney. But his one night stretches to five and he plunges headlong toward his own destruction. When the alcohol-induced mist lifts, the educated John Grant is no more. Instead there is a self-loathing man in a desolate wasteland, dirty, red-eyed, sitting against a tree and looking at a rifle with one bullet left...
 

Walk the Line

Director: James Mangold
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Tyler Hilton, Johnathan Rice, Shooter Jennings, Waylon Payne, Dallas Roberts, Dan John Miller, Larry Bagby, Sandra Ellis Lafferty, Dan Beene, Lucas Till, Victoria Hester, Hailey Anne Nelson
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance
Studio: 20th Century Fox
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.8 (136,353 votes)
Release: Nov 2005
Summary: A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
 

WALL-E

Director: Andrew Stanton
Starring: Ben Burtt, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, Elissa Knight, John Ratzenberger
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family
Studio: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
My Rating:
Rated: G
Rating: 8.5 (385,787 votes)
Release: Jun 2008
Summary: In a distant, but not so unrealistic, future where mankind has abandoned earth because it has become covered with trash from products sold by the powerful multi-national Buy N Large corporation, WALL-E, a garbage collecting robot has been left to clean up the mess. Mesmerized with trinkets of Earth's history and show tunes, WALL-E is alone on Earth except for a sprightly pet cockroach. One day, EVE, a sleek (and dangerous) reconnaissance robot, is sent to Earth to find proof that life is once again sustainable. WALL-E falls in love with EVE. WALL-E rescues EVE from a dust storm and shows her a living plant he found amongst the rubble. Consistent with her "directive", EVE takes the plant and automatically enters a deactivated state except for a blinking green beacon. WALL-E, doesn't understand what has happened to his new friend, but, true to his love, he protects her from wind, rain, and lightning, even as she is unresponsive. One day a massive ship comes to reclaim EVE, but WALL-E, out of love or loneliness, hitches a ride on the outside of the ship to rescue EVE. The ship arrives back at a large space cruise ship, which is carrying all of the humans who evacuated Earth 700 years earlier. The people of Earth ride around this space resort on hovering chairs which give them a constant feed of TV and video chatting. They drink all of their meals through a straw out of laziness and/or bone loss, and are all so fat that they can barely move. When the auto-pilot computer, acting on hastily-given instructions sent many centuries before, tries to prevent the people of Earth from returning by stealing the plant, WALL-E, EVE, the portly captain, and a band of broken robots stage a mutiny.
 

Wanderlust

Director: David Wain
Starring: Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux, Alan Alda, Malin Akerman
Genre: Comedy
Studio: A Hot Dog
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 5.6 (39,267 votes)
Release: Feb 2012
Summary: After George is downsized from his financial firm and Linda's depressing documentary is cancelled, they can no longer afford their overpriced 'micro-loft' in New York. They find themselves with just one option - to pack up their lives and head south to move in with George's brother and his wife. George and Linda stumble upon Elysium, an idyllic community where the only rule is to be yourself.
 

Wanted

Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: James Mcavoy, Angelina Jolie
Genre: Thrillers
Studio: Universal Studios
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.7 (204,157 votes)
Release: Dec 2008
Summary: As the impresario behind gravity-defying Russian blockbuster "Night Watch", it's inevitable that Hollywood would come calling for Timur Bekmambetov. With a studio budget and an international cast, including two Oscar winners, Timur cooks up a Hong Kong-styled actioner bursting with fast cars and big guns. Our unlikely hero is mild-mannered Chicago accountant Wesley Gibson ("Atonement's" James McAvoy), whose father died when he was a tot. Wesley never learned to stand up for himself, and his girlfriend, boss, and best buddy all take advantage until the seductive Fox (Angelina Jolie) rescues him from a sharpshooter named Cross ("The Pianist’s" Thomas Kretschmann). After which, she whisks him away to a mansion on the edge of town to meet the other members of the Fraternity, where leader Sloan (Morgan Freeman) informs Wesley that Cross, a rogue agent, executed his father. Sloan believes Wesley has the goods to take him out, so he undergoes the Fraternity's brutal training regimen (Marc Warren and Common dish up some of the abuse). When he's ready, Sloan sends him out to fulfill his duty, but matters become complicated when Wesley finds out someone isn't telling the truth, leading our former milquetoast to exact an elaborate revenge. For those who've been following McAvoy's career to date, Wanted will surely come as a surprise. In adapting Mark Millar's comic series, Timur offers buckets of blood and a smidgen of depth, but fans of "The Matrix" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" will want to give this one a look. --"Kathleen C. Fennessy"
 

War Horse

Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis
Genre: Drama, History, War
Studio: DreamWorks SKG
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.2 (71,378 votes)
Release: Dec 2011
Summary: 'War Horse' volgt een jongeman genaamd Albert (Jeremy Irvine) en zijn paard Joey. Hun band wordt verbroken wanneer Joey verkocht wordt aan het leger en meegenomen wordt voor het gebruik in de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Ondanks dat Albert nog te jong is om zich in te schrijven voor het leger, besluit hij toch naar Frankrijk te gaan om zijn vriend te redden.
 

Warm Bodies

Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Analeigh Tipton, Dave Franco, John Malkovich, Rob Corddry, Cory Hardrict, Justin Bradley, Ayisha Issa, Patrick Sabongui
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Romance
Studio: Summit Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.2 (36,728 votes)
Release: Feb 2013
Summary: After a zombie becomes involved with the girlfriend of one of his victims, their romance sets in motion a sequence of events that might transform the entire lifeless world.
 

Warrior

Director: Gavin O'Connor
Starring: Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton
Genre: Drama, Sports
Studio: Lionsgate
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 8.2 (166,533 votes)
Release: Sep 2011
Summary: Two brothers face the fight of a lifetime - and the wreckage of their broken family - within the brutal, high-stakes world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting in Lionsgate's action/drama, WARRIOR. An ex-Marine haunted by a tragic past, Tommy Riordan returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father, a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan, a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family. Even though years have passed, recriminations and past betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father. But when Brendan's unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, winner-takes-all battle of their lives
 

Waste Land

Director: Lucy Walker
Starring: Vik Muniz
Genre: Documentary
Studio: NEW VIDEO GROUP
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 7.7 (4,837 votes)
Release: Mar 2011
Summary: Brazilian artist Vik Muniz combines visual beauty with social awareness. "Waste Land"--a documentary about Muniz collaborating with the trash pickers in a staggeringly huge landfill--achieves the same fusion. Muniz, a remarkably upbeat and earnest fellow, is almost just an excuse for the movie to investigate the lives of the trash pickers, who are amazing people living on the fringes of a highly polarized society. The documentarians capture startlingly open and complex interviews with a handful of men and women striving to maintain some hope and personal dignity in some of the worst circumstances imaginable. Their vibrance and vitality will make you want to live your own life more fully. The tricky ethical issues around the entire project get a substantial discussion; Muniz is aware of the potential for exploitation and capsizing these delicately balanced lives, but proceeds with fervor. The glimpses into his artistic process (and his ability to genuinely collaborate with his subjects) provide a striking mirror to the collective effort of the trash pickers as they fight to form a political association to better their existence. "Waste Land" will truly make you examine your own life and may well inspire you to live better. "--Bret Fetzer"
 

Watchmen

Director: Eric Matthies, Jake Strider Hughes, Zack Snyder
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup
Genre: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Studio: Warner Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.6 (252,088 votes)
Release: Nov 2009
Summary: In a gritty and alternate 1985 the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown, but after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so discover a deeper and far more diabolical plot.
 

The Way Back

Director: Peter Weir
Starring: Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Mark Strong
Genre: Thrillers
Studio: IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.3 (55,013 votes)
Release: Apr 2011
Summary: The title "The Way Back" takes on an epic grandeur when you consider that the "way" stretches from a Soviet prison camp somewhere deep in World War II Siberia all the way across the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas to India. This is the route walked by a group of escapees in Peter Weir's utterly gripping movie, which joins the list of cinema's great tales of incredible endurance across inhospitable places. The movie is drawn from a book by Slavomir Rawicz, which was originally released as nonfiction but has subsequently had its veracity substantially debunked (Weir proceeded with the film as a dramatized story because of an account that three people really had survived a similar trek during the war). The escapees include a Polish political prisoner (Jim Sturgess, "Across the Universe"), a Russian criminal (Colin Farrell), and an American (Ed Harris) who was caught working in Moscow when war broke out. Along with a few others, they break out of the gulag into a blizzard--it will cover their tracks in the snow--and along the 4,000-mile odyssey pick up a teenage girl (Saoirse Ronan) who also has reasons to flee the Soviet Union. This material was made for Peter Weir: the director's measured pace and near-physical sense of landscape gives the film an inexorable forward motion, yet nothing is rushed. And, whether crossing desert or dense forest, the film's purpose is to test how individual humanity might survive in extremity--in other words, despite the large canvas, the tiniest issues are very much in the foreground. And that, too, makes it a film by Peter Weir. "--Robert Horton"
 

The Way of the Gun

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Nicky Katt, Dylan Kussman, Geoffrey Lewis, Juliette Lewis
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Lions Gate
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.6 (22,156 votes)
Release: Nov 2009
Summary: Two petty if violent criminals kidnap a girl being paid $1m to be a surrogate mother. As the baby is for a gangster the pair's demand for money sees several henchmen and assorted other ruthless characters head after them to Mexico. Bullets rather than talking are always going to settle this one.
 

The Way, Way Back

Director: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Starring: Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Liam James, Toni Collette, Amanda Peet, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Rob Corddry, Zoe Levin, River Alexander
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Studio: Sycamore Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Release: Jul 2013
Summary: Over the course of his summer break, a teenager comes into his own thanks in part to the friendship he strikes up with one of the park's managers.
 

We Are What We Are

Director: Jim Mickle
Starring: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis, Nick Damici, Jack Gore, Kassie DePaiva
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
My Rating:
Rated: R
Release: Sep 2013
Summary: When the patriarch of the family passes away, the teenage children must take responsibility for the family chores: the preparation of the rituals, the hunting and putting the all-important meat on the table. These newfound responsibilities are even more daunting, however, when you live in the city and happen to be a family of cannibals.
 

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell, Rock Duer
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Studio: BBC Films
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.8 (4,912 votes)
Release: May 2012
Summary: The mother of a teenage boy who went on a high-school killing spree tries to deal with her grief - and feelings of responsibility for her child's actions.
 

We Were Soldiers

Director: Randall Wallace
Starring: Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott, Chris Klein
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Paramount
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.0 (67,798 votes)
Release: Aug 2002
Summary: Based on the book by Lt. Col. Harold Moore (ret.) and journalist Joseph Galloway, "We Were Soldiers" offers a dignified reminder that the Vietnam War yielded its own crop of American heroes. Departing from Hollywood's typically cynical treatment of the war, writer-director Randall Wallace focuses on the first engagement of American soldiers with the North Vietnamese enemy in November 1965. Moore (played with colorful nuance by Mel Gibson) and nearly 400 inexperienced troopers from the U.S. Air Cavalry were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers, and the film re-creates this brutal firefight with graphic authenticity, while telling the parallel story of grieving army wives back home. While UPI reporter Galloway (Barry Pepper) risks his life to chronicle the battle, Wallace offers a balanced (though somewhat fictionalized) perspective while eliciting laudable performances from an excellent cast. Like the best World War II dramas of the 1940s, "We Were Soldiers" pays tribute to brave men while avoiding the pitfalls of propaganda. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

We're the Millers

Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, Ed Helms, Nick Offerman, Thomas Lennon, Kathryn Hahn, Will Poulter, Mark L. Young, Matthew Willig, Tomer Sisley, Laura-Leigh, Ken Marino, Molly C. Quinn, Luis Guzmán, Jason Sudeikis
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Studio: BenderSpink
My Rating:
Rated: R
Release: Aug 2013
Summary: After being robbed of a week's take, small-time pot dealer David is forced by his boss to go to Mexico to pick up a load of marijuana. In order to improve his odds of making it past the border, David asks the broke stripper Rose and two local teenagers to join him and pretend they're on a family holiday.
 

Wedding Crashers

Director: David Dobkin
Starring: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Christopher Walken, Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Jane Seymour, Bradley Cooper, Henry Gibson, Keir O'Donnell, David Conrad, Ron Canada, Ellen Albertini Dow, Dwight Yoakam, Rebecca De Mornay, Jennifer Alden, Kathryn Joosten, Will Ferrell, Diora Baird
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Studio: New Line
My Rating:
Rated: NR
Rating: 7.0 (187,193 votes)
Release: Jul 2005
Summary: John and his buddy Jeremy are emotional criminals who know how to use a woman's hopes and dreams for their own carnal gain. And their modus operandi? Crashing weddings. Normally, they meet guests who want to toast the romantic day with a random hook-up. But when John meets Claire, he discovers what true love -- and heartache -- feels like.
 

The Wedding Singer

Director: Frank Coraci
Starring: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Christine Taylor, Allen Covert, Matthew Glave
Genre: Comedy
Studio: New Line Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.8 (76,766 votes)
Release: Aug 1998
Summary: You're better off having been born after, say, 1965, if you really want to enjoy this corny romantic comedy and its abundant references to the MTV culture of the mid-1980s--and even then the odds are only 50-50 that you'll have a shamelessly good time. But a lot of people beat those odds, because "The Wedding Singer" was a surprise box-office hit when released in early 1998, and it resulted in "Saturday Night Live" graduate Adam Sandler's salary going ridiculously sky-high. It's a schizophrenic film about a seemingly schizophrenic wedding singer (Sandler) who's charmingly sweet to some people but a tongue-lashing maniac to others, probably out of frustration over his fading ambition as a wannabe rock star (not to mention Sandler's penchant for loud-mouthed lunacy). When he meets an admiring young waitress (delightfully played by Drew Barrymore), it's love at first sight, complicated by their pending marriages to "much" less appealing fiancés. The plot then contorts itself to accommodate this contrived will-they-or-won't-they? scenario, so you're better off ignoring the love story and focusing on the comedy, which is sporadic but occasionally hilarious. This is also a lighter, friendlier Sandler than moviegoers had seen before, which probably accounts for the movie's success. Toss in a fine supporting cast--including a show-stopping drunk act by indie-movie stalwart Steve Buscemi--and you've got the ingredients for a no-brainer that's ultimately more fun than it is annoying. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

Weird Science

Director: John Hughes
Starring: Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock, Bill Paxton, Suzanne Snyder
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Universal Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.4 (38,062 votes)
Release: Apr 1998
Summary: Yes, that is Bill Paxton as Ilan Mitchell-Smith's militaristic big brother. And that's Robert Downey Jr. as one of the in-crowd jerks who makes nerds Mitchell-Smith and Hall's lives miserable. Fortunately, this is a John Hughes comedy and our smart nerds create the perfect woman, Lisa (Kelly LeBrock), using a computer and voodoo. Lisa is a willing sex toy, has magical powers, and just wants to help the boys get even and meet nice babes. She even cleans up. The fantasy ebullience of Hughes is given full rein here and that's good and bad (mostly good). It's all aimed at a certain kind of hormone-addled, 16-year-old sensibility; but who doesn't have a little bit of that in them? "--Keith Simanton"
 

Welcome to the Jungle

Director: Rob Meltzer
Starring: Adam Brody, Megan Boone, Kristen Schaal, Rob Huebel, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Aaron Takahashi, Bianca Bree, Eric Edelstein, Robert Peters
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Pimienta
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 5.5 (1,841 votes)
Release: Apr 2013
Summary: A company retreat on a tropical island goes terribly awry.
 

Welcome to the Punch

Director: Eran Creevy
Starring: James McAvoy, Mark Strong, David Morrissey, Peter Mullan, Daniel Mays, Andrea Riseborough, Daniel Kaluuya, Elyes Gabel, Jason Maza, Johnny Harris, Steve Oram
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime
Studio: Worldview Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: R
Release: Mar 2013
Summary: When notorious criminal Jacob Sternwood is forced to return to London, it gives detective Max Lewinsky one last chance to take down the man he's always been after.
 

West of Memphis

Director: Amy Berg
Starring: Jason Baldwin, Julie Ann Doan, Damien Wayne Echols, Pam Hobbs, Jessie Misskelley, Lorri Davis
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Disarming Films
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.7 (1,998 votes)
Release: Dec 2012
Summary: West of Memphis is an examination of a failure of justice in Arkansas. The documentary tells the hitherto unknown story behind an extraordinary and desperate fight to bring the truth to light. Told and made by those who lived it, the filmmakers' unprecedented access to the inner workings of the defense, allows the film to show the investigation, research and appeals process in a way that has never been seen before; revealing shocking and disturbing new information about a case that still haunts the American South.
 

What Maisie Knew

Director: David Siegel, Scott McGehee
Starring: Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan, Alexander Skarsgård, Joanna Vanderham, Onata Aprile
Genre: Drama
Studio: Red Crown Productions
My Rating:
Rated: R
Release: May 2013
Summary: What Maisie Knew is a contemporary New York City revisioning of the Henry James novel by the same name. It revolves around unwitting 7-year-old Maisie, caught in the middle of a custody battle between her mother Susanna, an aging rock star, and her father, Beale, a major art dealer.
 

Whip It

Director: Drew Barrymore
Starring: Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Wiig, Sarah Habel, Shannon Eagen
Genre: Drama, Sports
Studio: 20th Century Fox
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.9 (38,350 votes)
Release: Jan 2010
Summary: Drew Barrymore makes her bow as a director with this Roller Derby coming-of-age number, which shares the spirit of so many of Barrymore's movies: it's loosey-goosey, cheerful, and buoyant in waving its "Girls Rule!" flag. On screen, Barrymore relegates herself to a slapstick supporting role, handing the lead to Juno gal Ellen Page. Page plays a Texas teen with a yen to join Austin's Roller Derby squad, complete with new professional moniker Babe Ruthless, but she'll have to keep the side career secret from her beauty-pageant-obsessed Mom (Marcia Gay Harden) and football-watchin' Dad (Daniel Stern). A coming-of-age tale emerges between bouts of skating on the RD track (Jimmy Fallon plays the goofy Derby announcer), with a dash of romance added in the form of a generic Dude in a Band. Kristen Wiig does surrogate-mom duty as a teammate, Juliette Lewis is appropriately out-there as a track rival, and Andrew Wilson (bro of Owen and Luke) gets some hilariously poker-faced lines in as the team's coach. All the pleasant stuff makes you almost overlook how ramshackle the movie is, and how standard-issue the parental tensions (even if Harden is a total pro, as always). Ellen Page doesn't offer the innate audience-friendly cuddliness of Barrymore herself--thus her apt casting as Juno's brittle heroine--but her rapt focus is something to behold. "Babe Ruthless" indeed. --Robert Horton
Stills from Whip It (Click for larger image)



 
 

White Material

Director: Claire Denis
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Christopher Lambert, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Isaach De Bankole, William Nadylam
Genre: Drama, War
Studio: Criterion Collection
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 6.9 (2,831 votes)
Release: Apr 2011
Summary: In White Material, the great contemporary French filmmaker Claire Denis ("Chocolat", "Beau travail"), known for her restless, intimate dramas, introduces an unforgettably crazed character. Played ferociously by Isabelle Huppert ("Story of Women", "The Piano Teacher"), Maria is an entitled white woman living in Africa, desperately unwilling to give up her family’s crumbling coffee plantation despite the civil war closing in on her. Created with Denis’ signature full-throttle visual style, which places the viewer in the center of the maelstrom, "White Material" is a gripping evocation of the death throes of European colonialism and a fascinating look at a woman lost in her own mind.
 

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer, Stubby Kaye
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Crime
Studio: Disney Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 7.7 (88,894 votes)
Release: Jun 1988
Summary: This zany, eye-popping, knee-slapping landmark in combining animation with live-action ingeniously makes that uneasy combination itself (and the history of Hollywood) its subject. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is based on classic L.A. private-eye movies (and, specifically, "Chinatown"), with detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) investigating a case involving adultery, blackmail, murder, and a fiendish plot to replace Los Angeles's once-famous Red Car public transportation system with the automobiles and freeways that would later make it the nation's smog capital. Of course, his sleuthing takes him back to the place he dreads: Toontown, the ghetto for cartoons that abuts Hollywood and that was the site of a tragic incident in Eddie's past. In addition to intermingling cartoon characters with live actors and locations, "Roger Rabbit" also brings together the greatest array of cartoon stars in the history of motion pictures, from a variety of studios (Disney, Warner Bros., MGM, Fleischer, Universal, and elsewhere): Betty Boop, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Woody Woodpecker, Droopy Dog, and more! And, of course, there's Maroon Cartoon's greatest star, Roger Rabbit (voice by Charles Fleischer), who suspects his ultracurvaceous wife, Jessica Rabbit (voice by Kathleen Turner: "I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way"), of infidelity. Directed by Robert Zemeckis ("Back to the Future", "Forrest Gump", "Contact"), not since the early Looney Tunes' "You Oughtta Be in Pictures" has there been anything like "Roger Rabbit". "--Jim Emerson"
 

The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia

Director: Julien Nitzberg
Starring: Jesco White
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Tribeca Film in Association with American Express
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 7.0 (1,878 votes)
Release: May 2010
Summary: Shoot-outs, robberies, gas-huffing , drug dealing, pill popping, murders, and tap dancing - what do these all have in common? These are just a few of the parts of being a member of the Wild and Wonderful White Family. The legendary family is as known for their wild, excessive criminal ways as they are for their famous mountain dancing members, including Jesco White, the star of the cult classic documentary "Dancing Outlaw." Exploring both the comic and tragic sides of life on the other side of the law, this stylish, fast-paced family portrait exposes the powerful forces of corruption, poverty, and West Virginia's environmentally and culturally devastating coal mining culture that helped shape the White family, a dying breed of outlaws preserving a dying form of dance.
 

Win Win

Director: Tom McCarthy
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Melanie Lynskey, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, Alex Shaffer, Bobby Cannavale
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Sport
Studio: Fox Searchlight
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.2 (32,878 votes)
Release: Aug 2011
Summary: When down-on-his-luck part-time high school wrestling coach Mike agrees to become legal guardian to an elderly man, his ward's troubled grandson turns out to be a star grappler, sparking dreams of a big win -- until the boy's mother retrieves him.
 

Winnie The Pooh: The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh

Director: Wolfgang Reitherman, John Lounsbery
Starring: Sebastian Cabot, Sterling Holloway, Junius Matthews, Barbara Luddy, Howard Morris, John Fiedler, Ralph Wright, Hal Smith, Clint Howard, Bruce Reitherman, Jon Walmsley, Timothy Turner, Dori Whitaker, Paul Winchell
Genre: Animation, Family
Studio: Walt Disney Video
My Rating:
Rated: G
Release: Mar 1977
Summary: Join dear friends Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Rabbit, Tigger and Christopher Robin as they enjoy their days together and sing their way through escapades that include honey, bees, bouncing, balloons, floods, Pooh sticks and more. This collection of classic Disney shorts based on A.A. Milne's characters includes "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree," "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!"
 

Winter's Bone

Director: Debra Granik
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Studio: Lionsgate
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 5.3 (7 votes)
Release: Oct 2010
Summary: Family loyalty and self-reliance take on whole new meanings in this dark story of one family's desperate struggle to survive in the Ozark woods of southern Missouri. Day-to-day life is tough in the economically depressed, unforgiving harsh rural landscape that's home to the extended Dolly clan, but it's made much tougher thanks to their history of cooking crank and deep involvement in the local drug culture. For Jessup Dolly and the other men of the family, looking out for oneself has become the first priority. Seventeen-year-old Ree (Jennifer Lawrence) has been caring for her mentally ill mother and her two younger siblings while her father runs from the law. Ree has been managing OK, but when the sheriff shows up with news that her father has put the house up as bond collateral and is unlikely to show for his court date, things get desperate. Ree is well aware of the family code of silence, but desperation forces her to confront her relatives in search of her father, regardless of the personal consequences. One by one, Ree's relatives refuse to help, protecting themselves even at the cost of one of their own. This is a dark, often violent film that doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of the manic drug culture permeating some rural areas of the South. It is intense, emotional, and extremely effective: it is at times simultaneously uncomfortable to watch and paradoxically riveting. Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, and Dale Dickey deliver phenomenally powerful performances and are completely believable in their respective roles. While this official selection in the dramatic film competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival doesn't align well with many of the details in the Daniel Woodrell novel on which it's based, what is absolutely faithfully rendered is the overwhelming sense of resolute self-reliance, complete desperation, and intense, yet distorted family loyalty. "--Tami Horiuchi"
 

Wither

Director: Sonny Laguna, Tommy Wiklund
Starring: Patrik Almkvist, Lisa Henni, Patrick Saxe, Johannes Brost, Amanda Renberg
Genre: Horror
Studio: Stockholm Syndrome Film
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 5.2 (506 votes)
Release: Sep 2012
Summary: Ida and Albin are a happy couple. They set off to a cabin in the vast Swedish woodlands to have a fun holiday with their friends. But under the floorboards waits an evil from Sweden's dark past.
 

The Wolf of Wall Street (screener)

Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Jon Bernthal, Jon Favreau, Cristin Milioti, Kyle Chandler, Ethan Suplee, Spike Jonze, Rob Reiner, Jean Dujardin, Margot Robbie, Shea Whigham, Spike Jonze, Madison McKinley, Joanna Lumley, Katarina Cas, Ashley Blankenship, Christine Ebersole, Nicole Rutigliano, Kenneth Choi, P.J. Byrne, Jake Hoffman, Chris Riggi
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Studio: Red Granite Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Release: Dec 2013
Summary: In The Wolf of Wall Street DiCaprio plays Belfort, a Long Island penny stockbroker who served 20 months in prison for defrauding investors in a massive 1990s securities scheme that involved widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including shoe designer Steve Madden.
 

The Wolverine

Director: James Mangold
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Brian Tee, Will Yun Lee, Tao Okamoto, Hal Yamanouchi, Rila Fukushima, Famke Janssen, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ken Yamamura, Shinji Ikefuji, Qyoko Kudo, Conrad Coleby
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.9 (121,619 votes)
Release: Jul 2013
Summary: In modern day Japan, Wolverine is out of his depth in an unknown world as he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.
 

The Woman

Director: Lucky McKee
Starring: Carlee Baker, Shana Barry, Marcia Bennett, Angela Bettis, Sean Bridgers
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Studio: Modernciné
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.1 (9,982 votes)
Release: Jan 2012
Summary: When a successful country lawyer captures and attempts to "civilize" the last remaining member of a violent clan that has roamed the Northeast coast for decades, he puts the lives of his family in jeopardy.
 

Wonder Woman

Director: Lauren Montgomery
Starring: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson, Virginia Madsen, Marg Helgenberger, Oliver Platt, Skye Arens, John Di Maggio, Julianne Grossman, Vicki Lewis, David McCallum, Tara Strong, Jason Miller
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
Studio: Warner Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Release: Mar 2009
Summary: On the mystical island of Themyscira, a proud and fierce warrior race of Amazons have raised a daughter of untold beauty, grace and strength: Princess Diana. When an Army fighter pilot, Steve Trevor, crash-lands on the island, the rebellious and headstrong Diana defies Amazonian law by accompanying Trevor back to civilization.
 

The Woodsman

Director: Nicole Kassell
Starring: Kevin Bacon, David Alan Grier, Eve (II), Kyra Sedgwick, Benjamin Bratt
Genre: Drama
Studio: Sony Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.2 (21,528 votes)
Release: Apr 2005
Summary: Kevin Bacon gives one of the best, most nuanced performances of his career in "The Woodsman", a daring and thought-provoking drama he co-produced with his wife, Kyra Sedgwick. In portraying a convicted pedophile named Walter, recently released from prison and struggling to rebuild his life, Bacon and writer-director Nicole Kassell (making her feature-film debut) do a remarkable job of exploring all facets of this troubling yet very human character, from his continuing criminal impulses to the despair he feels over having to conceal his horrible past. Sedgwick costars as the one woman who appears willing to accept Walter, secrets and all, and while "The Woodsman" takes a few regrettable shortcuts in illustrating Walter's quest for the good man he can be, the film deserves to be seen and discussed as a provocative yet admirably humane study of an individual whom society may too quickly label a "monster." The film allows for different interpretations, and that complexity--along with Bacon's performance--makes it worthy of a wide and hopefully understanding audience. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

World Trade Center

Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Maria Bello, Connor Paolo, Anthony Piccininni, Alexa Gerasimovich
Genre: Drama
Studio: Paramount
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 3.5 (120 votes)
Release: Dec 2006
Summary: Regardless of whether it was "too early" in 2006 to dramatize the events of September 11th, 2001, "World Trade Center" succeeds as a tribute to the courage and sacrifice of those who served at "ground zero" in the wake of terrorist attacks on the WTC's twin towers in New York City. Removed from the politics of war and terrorism (yet still, like all films, inherently political in expressing its point of view), Oliver Stone's potent drama focuses on the nightmarish ordeal, and subsequent rescue, of Port Authority policemen John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Peña), who were buried deeply within the rubble of the WTC after the twin towers collapsed. Granted, it's only the film's historical context that distinguishes it from any other dramatic rescue story, but in focusing on the goodness of humanity in response to the evil of terrorists who remain unnamed and off-screen, Stone and first-time screenwriter Andrea Berloff create an emotional context as powerful as anything Stone has directed since "Platoon". Even as he resorts to some questionable tactics typically lacking in subtlety, Stone refrains from much of the blunt-force filmmaking that has made him a critical punching bag, rising to this challenging occasion with a heartfelt and deeply American portrait of unity - personal, familial, and national. Flaws and all, "World Trade Center" serves an honorable purpose, reminding us all that for those fleeting days in September 2001, America showed its best face to a sympathetic world. --"Jeff Shannon"
 

World War Z

Director: Marc Forster
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Elyes Gabel, David Andrews, Abigail Hargrove, Daniella Kertesz, Ludi Boeken, Matthew Fox, Fana Mokoena, David Morse, Peter Capaldi, Moritz Bleibtreu, Fabrizio Zacharee Guido, Ruth Negga
Genre: Action, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Studio: Plan B Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Release: Jun 2013
Summary: United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.
 

The World's End

Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Rosamund Pike, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Martin Freeman, David Bradley, Bill Nighy, Thomas Law, Zachary Bailess, Jasper Levine, James Tarpey, Luke Bromley, Sophie Evans, Samantha White, Rose Reynolds, Richard Hadfield, Flora Slorach, Francesca Reidie, Charlotte Reidie, Michael Smiley, Pierce Brosnan
Genre: Comedy, Action, Sci-Fi
Studio: Big Talk Productions
My Rating:
Rated: R
Release: Jul 2013
Summary: 20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hell bent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King, a 40-year old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their home town and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub, The World's End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind's. Reaching The World's End is the least of their worries.
 

Would You Rather

Director: David Guy Levy
Starring: Brittany Snow, Jeffrey Combs, Sasha Grey, June Squibb
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Studio: IFC Films
My Rating:
Rated: NR
Rating: 5.8 (2,311 votes)
Release: Oct 2012
Summary: Desperate to help her ailing brother, a young woman unknowingly agrees to compete in a deadly game of "Would You Rather," hosted by a sadistic aristocrat.
 

Wrath of the Titans

Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Édgar Ramírez, Toby Kebbell
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 5.9 (37,457 votes)
Release: Mar 2013
Summary: A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken, Perseus-the demigod son of Zeus-is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans. Dangerously weakened by humanity's lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. The triumvirate had overthrown their powerful father long ago, leaving him to rot in the gloomy abyss of Tartarus, a dungeon that lies deep within the cavernous underworld. Perseus cannot ignore his true calling when Hades, along with Zeus' godly son, Ares (Edgar Ramírez), switch loyalty and make a deal with Kronos to capture Zeus. The Titans' strength grows stronger as Zeus' remaining godly powers are siphoned...
 

Wreck-It Ralph

Director: Rich Moore
Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch
Genre: Animation
Studio: Buena Vista
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 7.9 (103,633 votes)
Release: Mar 2013
Summary: "Wreck-It Ralph" is a very funny film about an arcade game "bad guy" (John C. Reilly) who's tired of being overshadowed by "good guy" Fix-It Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer) and goes game jumping while the arcade is closed in an attempt to reinvent himself. Felix heads out to drag the oversize Ralph back to their own game, and the pair travels through a time warp of arcade games from the past 30 years that's absolutely hilarious and will cause you to never look at an electrical outlet or surge protector in the same way again. Ralph first lands in the action game "Hero's Duty," where he gets to live his dream and fight the bad guys--he even gets his hands on a hero's medal. Ralph's next stop in "Sugar Rush" yields some unexpected pitfalls that include quicksand that consists of a familiar chocolaty drink mix and a glitch called Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) who has the potential to change everything--both in her game and in Ralph's future. Little does Ralph know that he's unwittingly carried and released a cybug from the world of Hero's Duty into the Sugar Rush landscape, where it will soon multiply and threaten to take down every game in the arcade. Luckily Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch), with the newly besotted Felix close at hand, is in pursuit with a plan to eradicate the pesky bugs. What makes this film so hilarious is the avalanche of subtle, and not-so-subtle references to past arcade games (think Pac-Man and Q*bert) and the clever comic exaggeration of everything from teaching someone to drive a stick shift to creating a volcanic eruption with Mentos and diet cola. The animation is great, the humor abundant, and the lessons that everybody's got a job to do and it's important to love yourself aren't bad either. (Ages 5 and older) "--Tami Horiuchi"
 

Wristcutters: A Love Story

Director: Goran Dukic
Starring: Shannyn Sossamon, Tom Waits, Patrick Fugit
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Lions Gate
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.3 (32,127 votes)
Release: Mar 2008
Summary: Trapped in an alternate world populated by suicide victims, a band of souls tries to find an escape route in Goran Dukic's quirky fantasy. Although he took his own life, Zia (Patrick Fugit) isn't ready for such a grim hereafter, particularly when he learns that his ex-girlfriend also killed herself. On a quest to find her, he befriends a jaded hitchhiker and a Russian rocker, and together, they set out in search of a more appealing afterlife.
 

Wrong

Director: Quentin Dupieux
Starring: Jack Plotnick, Eric Judor, Alexis Dziena, Steve Little, Bob Jennings, William Fichtner, Regan Burns, Mark Burnham, Arden Myrin, Maile Flanagan
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Studio: Realitism Films
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 6.4 (1,513 votes)
Release: Mar 2013
Summary: Dolph Springer wakes up one morning to realize he has lost the love of his life, his dog, Paul. During his quest to get Paul (and his life) back, Dolph radically changes the lives of others: a pizza-delivering nymphomaniac, a jogging-addict neighbor in search of completeness, an opportunistic French-Mexican gardener, and an off-kilter pet detective. In his journey to find Paul, Dolph may lose something even more vital: his mind.