Movie Review Archive - W

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Waking Life (R) 
Someone (I think it was either Plato or Orville Reddenbacker) once said that "the unexamined life is not worth living." So many movies are mind-numbingly dumb these days. In director Richard Linklater's (Dazed And Confused, Slacker) new film Waking Life, mankind's existence gets a thorough going over. "Dreams are reality" we are told. Waking Life has been widely acclaimed by critics and opened to raves at The Sundance Film Festival. Wiley Wiggans stars as a young man who is not sure whether he is dreaming or really experiencing a day in his life. Interviews, monologues, scenes and conversations were filmed and then painstakingly turned into surreal state-of-the-art animation. Deep philosophical questions that we can never truly know the answers to such as free will, religion, re-incarnation and the nature of existence are discussed endlessly. The result is mentally and visually exciting at first but ultimately exhausting. I'm not kidding, there were people sleeping all around me. This is a perfect film for blow-hard pseudo-intellectuals to watch and then discuss while sipping lattes at a trendy bistro. Yes, this movie makes you think but then it bores and ultimately infuriates (with the exception of the scene with the monkey and the movie projector). I couldn't wait for it to end. The overexamined life is not worth living either. I coined that one many years ago. Also starring Ethan Hawke. 101 minutes.

Walk On Water (R)
A hit-man for Israel's Mossad is assigned to kill an ex-Nazi officer, now in his nineties. He befriends the Nazi's German grandson by posing as an Israeli tour guide. Their travels become a (caution: cliche ahead) journey of self-discovery as both the German and Israeli must come to terms with their past before they can move ahead. Go see this unusual film rather than the putrid Mr. And Mrs. Smith. 104 minutes.

Walk The Line (PG13)
Very good Hollywood biopic. Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter were both involved in the film's development but passed away in 2003. A bit long, somewhat overly dramatic but moving glimpse at the pill popping, beer guzzling, songwriting guitar-slinger in his early years. As the young Man in Black is shown peering into Sun Studio observing Elvis recording "Milk Cow Blues", I was struck by the fact that I didn't think that Elvis was using a drummer at that early point in his career. However, when I realized that T-Bone Burnette was in charge of Walk The Line's music, I figured that Burnette would know. Did you ever notice that Americans love people with names like T-Bone, Spike, Mickey and Woody? I must admit that it was a bit eerie having met several of the real-life characters (Rosanne Cash, Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana) when I lived in Nashville. Having recorded "Folsom Prison Blues" and written a check to Mr. Cash in 2002, I really feel that if they ever make a film about the second half of his life, I will have a good shot at being a character in it. I'm thinking Brad Pitt should play me. He would only have to dye his hair, fix his nose and work with a dialogue coach for a few weeks. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon and Ginnifer Goodwin (whose parents were obviously bad spellers). 136 minutes.

A Walk To Remember (PG13)
Teen singing sensation Mandy Moore stars as Jamie, a free spirited social outcast and Shane West co-stars as Landon, a popular classmate in A Walk To Remember. Much like 1985's Pretty In Pink, the boy must choose between his "friends" and the girl he loves. Unlike Pink, this movie is pretty serious business. Moore and West do good work but unfortunately the film disintegrates into a medical melodrama. I like these kind of films and this is a decent one. Also starring Peter Coyote. 100 minutes.

War Of The Worlds (PG13)
Effective sci-fi thriller about an alien attack on Earth. There are some plot weaknesses. Exactly who are these aliens? They look ridiculous. They've stashed thousands of "giant killer tripods" underground for centuries. How was one never found? Aren't the tripods ill-designed for such an advanced race? They tip over rather easily! These problems aside, this cross between Titanic, Independence Day, Star Wars and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind is so compelling that it is impossible to dismiss or ignore. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. 118 minutes.

The Wash (R)
A Los Angeles car wash is the setting for the Black urban comedy The Wash. Snoop Dogg grimaces and smokes blunts throughout while his buddy Dr. Dre is preoccupied with finding women. There is a shred of a story (the owner of the car wash gets kidnapped) but this film is mostly a chance for rapper DJ Pooh (who directs and appears) to party with his friends. This is not a great film. This isn't even a good film but I must confess that I sort of enjoyed it and felt very guilty for having done so. With cameos by Pauley Shore, Eminem, Tommy Chong and Shaquille O'Neal.

We Were Soldiers (R)
By the time Mel Gibson retires, he my well have fought in every major war in human history. The year is 1965. Most Americans don't know where Viet Nam is or that American troops have been sent there. This is the true story of 400 GIs who fought a battle against 2000 North Vietnamese soldiers in the very early days of the war. Unlike films such as Apocolypse Now and Full Metal Jacket, We Were Soldiers has a more simple, patriotic feel. There's no Jimi Hendrix soundtrack, no pot smoking, no surfing and no "Why are we here man?" It's a lot like the WWII movies they used to make in the 50's except that the enemy is shown in a somewhat more sympathetic light and the realism is mind-blowing. Bloody, gripping and emotional, We Were Soldiers is an exceptional war film. Anyone who doesn't think so is a dope. Also starring Barry Pepper, Sam Elliott, Madeleine Stowe and Greg Kinnear. 138 minutes.

The Weather Man (R)
Dave Spritz (Nicolas Cage), a Chicago television weather reporter, trudges through a privileged existence that he can't make sense of and doesn't really enjoy. Dave is his own worst enemy. If you like depressing subplots full of ironic situations, this film's for you. Also starring Hope Davis and Michael Caine who brandishes an embarrassingly shoddy American accent. Fair to partly crappy. 102 minutes.

Wedding Crashers (R)
Two friends (Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn) spend their free time showing up at stranger's weddings and receptions. Because they are so smart, handsome, witty, charming, clever and charismatic, they instantly become the life of every party and of course get their choice of sexy women to bed down. Packed with There's Something About Mary type gross-outs; some of them genuinely funny. I kept wishing that they would both catch some type of horrible sexually transmitted disease and be taken by boat to a remote island where beautiful exotic birds would pluck out their eyeballs. Also starring Christopher Walken and Rachel McAdams. 119 minutes.

The Wedding Date (PG13)
An attractive woman (Debra Messing) hires a handsome male whore (Dermot Mulroney) to escort her to her sister's wedding in England. Will her family figure it out? Will her ex-fianc� be jealous? Will they fall in love? Will I throw up on the girl sitting in front of me? The wedding was more like an a-hole convention. I found myself wanting most of the characters to die horrible deaths. Did I mention that I didn't care for this film? 90 minutes.

The White Countess (PG13)
Mr. Jackson (Ralph Fiennes), a blind former US Diplomat now working in the private sector and living in Shanghai in 1936, opens a nightclub called The White Countess. Jackson hires Sofia (Natasha Richardson), a former Russian Countess now living in exile with her family, to be the social centerpiece of his club. The club is a haven for it's many regulars. A place for folks to get away from their everyday troubles such as the impending Japanese invasion! This lush Merchant/Ivory film is intentionally anachronistic. It was made as if it were filmed and released in the 1940's and it wants us to believe it's another important work such as Casablanca or Gone With The Wind. Unfortunately though it just seems a bit silly. The characters and situations seemed so old-fashioned and stiff that I laughed out loud several times. The fact that it shows an American flag with fifty stars (there were only forty eight states in 1936) doesn't help either. Ralph Fiennes is very handsome and dashing in his many bow ties though. The bow tie is making a comeback you know. With people like Irving R. Levine, Dahani Jones, Mathew Lesco, Orville Redenbacher, Louis Farrakhan, Pee Wee Herman, Mr. Peanut and Mr. Clean wearing them, how could they not be back in style? 138 minutes.

White Noise (PG13)
A man's (Michael Keaton) recently deceased wife seems to be trying to contact him through scratchy radio and video messages. Some of the adjectives that come to mind are: shallow, depressing, pointless and boring. Too many minutes.

White Oleander (PG13)
A pretty teen (Alison Lohman) passes through several foster homes and state facilities after her mother (Michele Pfeiffer) is convicted of murder in White Oleander. This engrossing film focuses on the close but unhealthy relationship between mother and daughter. Based on a best-selling novel, Oleander is a bit melodramatic but features many fine performances. A good chick-flick. Also starring Robin Wright Penn (pick TWO names honey), Rene Zellweger and Noah Wyle. 110 minutes.

Who Killed The Electric Car? (PG)
A companion piece to the recent An Inconvenient Truth. This is a sobering documentary about the development and the sudden mysterious demise of electric cars. America's dependence on Middle Eastern oil is costing us huge amounts of money and wasting young soldiers lives trying to keep the pipelines flowing. The electric cars were clean, quiet, quick and could be easily recharged at home and at work. They were abandoned and eventually shredded as a result of pressure from the federal government, oil companies and the car manufacturers themselves, who were only building them to comply to a new California state law which was eventually repealed. These cars were both beautiful and practical. The folks who leased them weren't even allowed to buy them after their lease expired. Widespread use of them could have made the air cleaner, slowed down global warming, saved consumers money on fuel and maintenance and let us leave The Middle East alone to drown in their obsolete oil fields. This film will really piss you off. As I left the theater, I vowed to get involved. We'll see. Several celebrities appear, including a pre anti-Semitic meltdown Mel Gibson. 91 minutes.

The Wild Parrots Of Telegraph Hill (G)
Mark Bittner, a San Francisco street person, befriended a flock of non-indigenous birds. They soon become his one and only passion and Bittner a minor celebrity. Because the red and green parrots and the city are so strikingly beautiful and her human subject so odd, renowned film maker Judy Irving really only needed to keep her cameras balanced for white, focused and running. 83 minutes.

The Woodsman (R)
A recently paroled child molester (Kevin Bacon) attempts a difficult transition back into society. Reluctant to work in a project together, Bacon and his co-star wife (Kyra Sedgwick) reportedly completely ignored each other on the set during filming in order to stay in character. Their dedication shows. A very good film that I can not recommend to anyone except hardcore movie buffs. Also starring Benjamin Bratt ("Law And Order"). 87 minutes.

Wordplay (PG)
A surprisingly entertaining documentary focusing on the world of crossword puzzles. Wordplay begins by examining Will Shortz, The New York Times puzzle editor and NPR host and then branches down and across to include creators of the puzzles and their many intellectual enthusiasts. The film climaxes with the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament which was won in 2005 by an RPI undergrad. Also starring Bill Clinton, Mike Mussina, Jon Stewart, Ken Burns, Bob Dole and Jason Bateman. In Swahili with subtitles. 94 minutes.

An eleven letter word beginning with the letter "r"- To have put forward something with approval as being suitable for a particular purpose or role; to have advised or suggested.

The World's Fastest Indian (PG13)
Heartwarming story about Burt Munro (Anthony Hopkins), an eccentric New Zealand senior citizen who has had a lifelong dream of racing his 1920 Indian motorcycle in America. Much like Crocodile Dundee, Munro's Down Under wit and wisdom serve him well in The USA. This film has gotten zero publicity and that's too bad because it's one of the best films that I have seen this year. 127 minutes.

World Trade Center (PG13)
Directed by Oliver Stone although you would never know it. Stone opts for a straightforward telling of the horrific events of 9/11 in New York City's financial district without any conspiracy theories or political undercurrents whatsoever. WTC focuses on two Port Authority cops (Nicholas Cage and Michael Pena) who are trapped under the rubble and struggle to stay alive while rescuers frantically search for survivors. The debate goes on as to whether it is too soon for 9/11 movies to be made. Keep in mind that Hollywood was churning out World War Two films while the war was still being fought! Also starring Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal. 125 minutes.