Joe Williams Movie Reviews & Previews

Critics » Joe Williams

Joe Williams

Agrees with the Tomatometer 76% of the time.

Biography:: I am the film critic for the daily St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Favorites:: It's a Wonderful Life, Quadrophenia, Lost in America, The Graduate, Days of Heaven, The Heartbreak Kid, Apocalypse Now, Gangs of New York, Love with the Proper Stranger, The Party, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, Memento, Waking Life, Amelie
Publications:: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Total Reviews:: 733
Total QuickRatings:: 24

Location:: St. Louis, MO

Listing Of All Reviews & Articles

Showing 1 - 50 of 733

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date
	55%	Man of Steel (2013)	" Every opportunity for humor, compassion or plausible responses to otherworldly phenomena is buried beneath product placements and CGI special effects." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Jun 13, 2013
2/4	58%	Pandora's Promise (2013)	" Without telling us about the producers or introducing us to more sources, it can't contribute enough to an honest debate." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Jun 13, 2013
3.5/4	85%	This Is the End (2013)	" This gut-busting comedy is an intoxicating mix of "Write what you know" and "Give the people what they want."" — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Jun 11, 2013
3/4	73%	The Kings of Summer (2013)	" The sharp wit, soft-focus cinematography and slow-motion lyricism lift it into the realm of this summer's nicest surprises." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Jun 6, 2013
	34%	The Internship (2013)	" The setting is a simulacrum of real life circa 2013. The user has a choice of avatars, including virtual-reality versions of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson that can reproduce the humor of "Wedding Crashers" with 65 percent accuracy." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Jun 5, 2013
1/4	11%	After Earth (2013)	" [Shyamalan's] grasp of film fundamentals is so tenuous that this hot-air balloon gets blown into the rarefied air of the worst movies ever made." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 30, 2013
2/4	71%	Fast & Furious 6 (2013)	" How you feel about "Fast & Furious 6" is a matter of perspective." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 24, 2013
2.5/4	75%	Love Is All You Need (2013)	" Despite the excess cheese atop the story, the setting in the birthplace of pizza gives "Love Is All You Need" a satisfying finish." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 23, 2013
3/4	91%	Frances Ha (2013)	" The conversations sparkle with both intended and unintended wit, and in a certain cockeyed light, Frances' blithe denial of reality is a charming affirmation of life." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 23, 2013
	62%	Epic (2013)	" In the roll call of visually distinctive 'toons, "Epic" looms large." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 23, 2013
1.5/4	20%	The Hangover Part III (2013)	" Here the characters are cardboard cutouts, placed into predicaments that aren't remotely real. Or funny." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 22, 2013
3/4	68%	The Iceman (2013)	" While Hollywood keeps coughing up comedies and thrillers about sympathetic hitmen, the true story dramatized in "The Iceman" should bury those noxious fantasies forever." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 16, 2013
2/4	48%	At Any Price (2013)	" Like the small farmers forced to kowtow to corporations, writer and director Ramin Bahrani chickens out. His melodramatic script reduces a global conflict to a Grain Belt "Glengarry Glen Ross."" — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 16, 2013
3.5/4	87%	Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)	" Like its entertaining predecessor, "Star Trek Into Darkness" offers much of what the fans expect and not much of what they don't. This character-driven vehicle is a supercharged example of cinematic craftsmanship." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 15, 2013
3/4	50%	The Great Gatsby (2013)	" Old dogs who don't believe in new tricks can howl about sacrilege, but for those attuned to the movie, "The Great Gatsby" is the cat's meow." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 9, 2013
1.5/4	36%	Peeples (2013)	" Comedies about privileged princesses and unsuitable suitors come in all colors, but "Peeples" is only palatable on a double bill with pink antacid." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 9, 2013
3/4	76%	Renoir (2013)	" For those who just want to float away on waves of beauty, "Renoir" is a boating party." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 2, 2013
2/4	78%	Iron Man 3 (2013)	" It's lightweight but slow, padded with cheap jokes to disguise how hollow it is." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 2, 2013
2.5/4	65%	Starbuck (2013)	" A high-concept comedy that peddles some slapstick laughs and life lessons but little insight." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 2, 2013
3/4	88%	The Angels' Share (2013)	" A fairy tale with its feet firmly on the ground." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted May 2, 2013
1.5/4	7%	The Big Wedding (2013)	" "The Big Wedding" doesn't have a single moment of recognizable humanity." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Apr 26, 2013
3/4	45%	Pain & Gain (2013)	" In telling a true story about hapless thugs who are the embodiment of Michael Bay fans, the director has made the most fiendishly enjoyable movie of his career." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Apr 25, 2013
2.5/4	56%	The Company You Keep (2013)	" Redford is an adequate director, and he keeps things moving at a moderate pace, passing up exits to more spectacular vistas or hotter issues." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Apr 25, 2013
3/4	81%	From Up On Poppy Hill (2013)	" Goro Miyazaki has a style that's both more painterly and more cinematic than the cartoonish norm, while his father's screenplay is a classic coming-of-age story that seems suited for a live-action remake." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Apr 18, 2013
	55%	Oblivion (2013)	" Instead of developing characters, Kosinski pours most of his imagination into the annihilated landscapes and futuristic gadgetry." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Apr 18, 2013
3/4	77%	42 (2013)	" The inspirational movie named for Robinson's number is too dignified to throw audiences a curveball, let alone a knockdown pitch, but its solid fundamentals make it a winner." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Apr 11, 2013
2/4	68%	Trance (2013)	" When we awaken from this "Trance," we wish we could have our amnesia back." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Apr 11, 2013
3/4	90%	Beyond The Hills (2013)	" It's an enigmatic and austere film from a region where political, sexual and religious repression are as stifling as the sooty air." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Apr 4, 2013
2.5/4	93%	The Sapphires (2013)	" Draining most of the blood, sweat and tears from a true story, this music-minded movie capably covers a song we've heard a hundred times before." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Apr 4, 2013
	87%	The Silence (2013)	" Its measured pacing whispers art while its lurid subject matter screams commerce." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 28, 2013
	80%	Ginger & Rosa (2013)	" Potter has a rich compositional eye, but she wisely trims the fat from the dialogue, which dances around most of the melodrama until an explosive last act." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 28, 2013
2/4	28%	G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)	" Good Lord, what did we do to deserve "G.I. Joe: Retaliation"?" — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 27, 2013
3.5/4	45%	On the Road (2012)	" Notwithstanding the characters' spiritual camaraderie, Salles' emphasizes the hard physical labor and loneliness in Sal's story, including the jittery rigors of the writing process." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 21, 2013
2/4	95%	West of Memphis (2012)	" We feel like we're watching an overlong true-crime television episode and not a movie." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 21, 2013
3/4	65%	Spring Breakers (2013)	" It may be irritating, but "Spring Breakers" is like a sunburn we can't help scratching." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 21, 2013
	93%	Lore (2013)	" With a child's perspective on war, "Lore" deserves comparisons with "Empire of the Sun" and "Hope and Glory," and with a feisty female protagonist it stands virtually alone." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 14, 2013
	37%	The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013)	" "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" may be a fake, but the way it produces new amusement from old tricks is a treat." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 14, 2013
	67%	Stoker (2013)	" Like a taxidermied owl, "Stoker" is lovely to look at, but in the end it's hard to give a hoot." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 13, 2013
2/4	59%	Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)	" By the end of the two-hour 10-minute movie, director Sam Raimi proves he understands spectacle but not the deeper dreams of the people who consume it." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 8, 2013
	30%	Emperor (2013)	" Satisfied to serve popcorn in place of red meat, this potboiler about love and war is merely fair." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 7, 2013
	87%	Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2013)	" Titling a documentary about snowbound Siberian fur trappers "Happy People" is not as ironic as it seems." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Mar 7, 2013
	88%	Yossi (2013)	" The several allusions to Thomas Mann's forbidden-love novel "Death in Venice" are apt, but "Yossi" is also a standalone film and an extraordinary sequel." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Feb 21, 2013
	57%	Snitch (2013)	" We could overlook the anachronisms if the story moved fast enough." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Feb 21, 2013
	70%	Bless Me, Ultima (2013)	" Its very existence in a godforsaken marketplace is a minor miracle." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Feb 21, 2013
	98%	56 Up (2013)	" Apted skillfully weaves old footage with the new, and we become poignantly aware of another factor shaping their lives (and our own): biology, as the we watch the once-cute kids grow gray and heavy." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Feb 14, 2013
2/4	46%	Beautiful Creatures (2013)	" The derivative script and skimpy effects don't convey either the power or the problems of being a young witch." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Feb 13, 2013
	13%	Safe Haven (2013)	" Hallstrom makes the mishmash palatable, and romance mainstay Duhamel provides some sweet-and-salty charm, but there's not much they can do with Sparks' canned dialogue and Hough's undercooked acting." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Feb 13, 2013
2/4	15%	A Good Day To Die Hard (2013)	" To paraphrase a classic of Reagan-era cinema, "A Good Day to Die Hard" is a bad day to stop sniffing glue." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Feb 13, 2013
3/4	60%	John Dies at the End (2013)	" As with most fantasy films, the story is secondary to inventive images and speculative ideas. And more than most, this one adheres to its own logic in ways that are continually entertaining." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Posted Feb 7, 2013

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