Wag the Dog |
The Watcher |
Way of the Gun |
The Wedding Singer |
What Dreams May Come |
What Lies Beneath |
What Women Want |
Wide Awake |
Wild Things |
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory |
Wing Commander |
Winged Migration |
Witness |
Woman on Top |
The World is Not Enough |
Wrongfully Accused
Wag the Dog (1997)
(R)
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A comedy about a political Mr. Fix-it (Robert DeNiro) trying to shift the public's attention away from the bad press the
President has received three weeks before he's up for re-election. He brings in the help of a Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman) and stages a war against Albania. Keeping the story alive creates many funny moments.
Links:
Official Studio Site
The Watcher (2000)
(R)
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James Spader is a retired FBI agent who has a serial killer he used to be trying to catch (Keanu Reeves) track him down to his new home and start their old game of cat and mouse again. The movie is fairly interesting in the way the characters interact and is creative enough to keep the story entertaining. However the points where we stop to watch the killer do his work sometimes turn rather boring, and the special effects at the end are annoyingly fake. Overall, a decent suspense movie that could have used a more fleshed out villain.
Links:
Official Studio Site
Film.com's Review
Roger Ebert's Review
Way of the Gun (2000)
(R)
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Two men decide they have nothing to offer the world by playing by the rules, and happen to overhear what they think would be a good opportunity to make money by kidnapping the surrogate mother of a rich couple's baby. They are then chased by several employees of the couple out to protect the couple's interests, while dealing with the other complications that arise. The story is interesting, creating good characters and several twists. The movie tends to be violent in a more painful looking way than most Hollywood films, but manages to make a good story around it instead of just showing violence for the sake of violence. Overall, an interesting if moderately painful movie.
Links:
Official Studio Site
Peter Brunette's Film.com Review
Gemma Files' Film.com Review
Roger Ebert's Review
The Wedding Singer (1998)
(PG-13)
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Adem Sandler plays a wedding singer (and would be rock singer) who gets stood up at his wedding. He meets Drew Barrymore, and the two start off a friendship that eventually grows a little deeper, even as Barrymore plans her wedding to a man who doesn't really love her. It's a fun little romance for the people who can't stand the thought of seeing Titanic again. The movie is set in 1985, but just for the music. It could really be set any time the makers wanted it to be, and still work just as well.
Links:
Official Studio Site
Cinema1's Wedding Singer Page
Radio Free's review
What Dreams May Come (1998)
(PG-13)
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A man dies and goes to heaven, where he has to rethink everything about life. The special effects are really good, and the movie does a great job of creating the world around the main character. The story is very well written, and give us a lot to think about life, death, and what we wish our lives, and ourselves, could be.
Links:
Official Studio Site
What Lies Beneath (2000)
(PG-13)
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Michelle Pfeiffer plays a woman who's professor/scientist husband, Harrison Ford, accepted a job where his father taught before he died and moved his family into his father's old house. His wife begins to have funny things happen to her at the house, including seeing a young woman in reflections, and tries to figure out what's happening. It is almost a typical supernatural thriller, but the acting helps make it believable, and the director succeeds at creating a spooky atmosphere for the movie. The climax, however, seemed a little too simplistic for it's own good, and the movie brings up details that sound interesting, like Ford's father, that are never really dealt with but could have made the movie more interesting. Overall, the script could have been thought out a little better, but is still a fairly entertaining haunted house movie.
Links:
Official Studio Site
Roger Ebert's Review
What Women Want (2000)
(PG-13)
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Mel Gibson plays a man who is suddenly able to hear what women think. The movie is fairly entertaining, letting a guy have fun playing around with the idea of what it's like to be a woman, which leads him to be a better man. The movie does tend to be a little one sided in its views, and could have used a small jolt of testosterone to even it out a little more. However, it is funny and entertaining, even if it doesn't really get as insightful as it could have given the plot device.
Links:
Official Studio Site
Elizabeth Weitzman's Film.com Review
Robert Horton's Film.com Review
Roget Ebert's Review
Wide Awake (1998)
(PG)
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This movie was like going to a lecture at school about something I was mildly interested in, but the teacher moved so slow I fell asleep anyway. The movie is all talk and very little action, and a couple touching moments hidden in the movie are wasted by a story that drags on and on. Set while the main character (Joshua, played by Joseph Cross) is in fifth grade, they could have made this a prequel to Good Will Hunting. Had they used Good Will Hunting's style of storytelling, this probably would have been a better movie. Joshua's grandfather has recently died, and he starts asking questions about life. This leads him to a quest to find God, and instead he finds out more about the other people around him (including Denis Leary and Dana Delany as his parents, Robert Loggia, shown in flashbacks, as his grandfather, and Rosie O'Donnell as his fifth grade teacher, the only mildly interesting adult character).
Links:
Cinema 1's Wide Awake Page
Wild Things (1998)
(R)
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If I have to get talked into seeing a sexual movie (I had a free pass for this one), then this is the kind I want to see. The whole movie is cheezy beyond belief, and it actually helps. A teacher is accused of raping a student at the school he works at, and is taken to trial. After this, the script feeds us one plot twist after another, constantly changing the viewer's ideas of who did what. The script and acting were remarkably clichéd, which adds to the fun. But, as a warning, the movie earns it's R rating and then some, so keep it away from the kids. The movie even offers nudity for both sexes, showing a "side" of Kevin Bacon never seen before on screen.
Links:
Official Studio Site
Radio Free's Review
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
(G)
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A musical about a boy who wins a chance to go inside a world famous chocolate factory. The first part of the movie is a little slow, but a few of the songs are catchy. When he gets in the factory, though, the movie gets really fun. Gene Wilder is hysterical as Willy Wonka, the factory's owner, and the Oompah-Lumpahs are great. A great way to escape from reality for a while, even while being grounded in it.
Links:
The Unofficial Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Home Page
WonkaFacts
The Wit and Wisdom of Willy Wonka
Wing Commander (1999)
(PG-13)
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A sci-fi war movie about a group of pilots fighting aliens while trying to fly back and forth between two groups of humans through an unstable tunnel in space. A mildly amusing B movie with really goofy acting and costumes, but a story that keeps moving enough to keep it almost entertaining.
Links:
Official Studio Site
Dark Horisons's Page
Dan's Wing Commander: The Movie Page
Winged Migration (2001)
(G)
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Jacques Perrin takes us on a whirlwind tour across all seven continents. Our subject: the migratory patterns of birds. This documentary, which took 3 years to complete, features some of the most amazing cinematography I have ever seen (it feels like you're actually flying along with the birds, rather than just passively observing them). The filmmakers are also careful to document the migrations in an honest manner; showing the effects that harsh weather and hunters have on the process. At times, the quick pacing of the film might leave the viewer confused. But that's the only flaw in an otherwise breathtaking production. Even those who find nature programs boring might want to check this one out.
Links:
Roger Ebert's Review
Witness (1985)
(R)
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An Amish boy witness a murder while traveling cross country with his mother. When it is revealed that the killer was a cop, the cop put in charge of the boy takes him home, but gets shot. He is taken care of by the Amish, where he learns about the ways the Amish live and falls in love with one of the women, while the cops involved with the murder try to track down and eliminate the cop and the boy. The script is very well thought out, and the acting is good. The whole movie is very subtle, making it seem real. A very well made and enjoyable movie.
Woman on Top (2000)
(R)
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The wife of a restaurant owner in Brazil catches him cheating on her. She then moves to America to be with a friend, where she becomes famous on her own cooking show and starts having romantic feelings for one of the men she works with. Her husband tracks her down, however, and she tries to choose between her new life and giving him another chance. The movie tried to be a real life fairy tail, and pulled if off fairly well. It was well acted and directed, making it fun and romantic enough to make it worth seeing without going too far over the top.
Links:
Official Studio Site
Film.com's Review
Roger Ebert's Review
The World is Not Enough (1999)
(PG-13)
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The 19th movie in the James Bond series, this is one of the more fun. Bond runs around trying to stop a bad guy from blowing up a bomb, and lots of chaos ensues. Well made for the thrill ride all Bond movies try to be, and this successfully pulls it off and makes it work.
Links:
Official Studio Site
Wrongfully Accused (1998)
(PG-13)
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In this parody of The Fugitive, a man is framed for a crime he didn't commit. The movie is a mad rush from one joke to the next, never hitting on anything really classic but still getting some good material. The only problem is that they seem to have constructed a plot that was just the fasted way to the next joke, which just reminded me how dumb the humor was, since I never had to think at all. Not really very memorable, but not that bad either.
Links:
Official Studio Site
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