Bill Watters
Tomatometer-approved critic
Bill Watters is a child of the late 70s; he walked into a theater to watch Star Wars, and emerged to become a lifelong fan of cinema and television. Spending nearly a decade as a projectionist, he fell into the Silicon Valley dot-com boom and became a codemonkey for a range of game companies. These days he's a frequent speaker, moderator, and panelist at pop-culture events and conventions, as well as a film and television critic.
As with any fan, there's too many to really have a definitive listing, but among the top that come to mind in film would be Blade Runner, Alien, Lord of the Rings, Mad Max: Fury Road, Man From Earth, Young Frankenstein, Blow Out, The Thing, and The Godfather. For TV, the top shelf would include Lost, Battlestar Galactica (the re-imagined version), Shameless, Deadwood, Rome, The West Wing, and the original Twilight Zone
San Francisco
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Babylon (2022) |
Beautiful, troubled, and ephemeral, like a fever dream, but with enough reality to know the truth of the superficial nature of it's characters. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Dec 16, 2022
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Black Adam (2022) |
It's an enjoyable enough of a superhero battler, but frustrating in that it actually has things to say under it's cape, but constantly flies away anytime it gets close to being meaningful. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Oct 21, 2022
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Death on the Nile (2022) |
Its superbly elegant production design and beautiful cast can't hide the fact that the underlying story is not one of Agatha Christy's best works, further hindered by it being a whodunit committing the sin of being utterly predictable. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Feb 11, 2022
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Marry Me (2022) |
Jennifer Lopez is best when she's in a film that lets her do what she's best at and the story doesn't try to be more than it is. It's a sweet and sincere-feeling RomCom for the Valentine's Day weekend. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Feb 11, 2022
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The Matrix Resurrections (2021) |
"Matrix: Resurrections" is a mix of whimsically meta and a lack of coherent storytelling. Scenes feel contrived as a wink and a nod for fans of the franchise, but there's not a lot of sense to the plot as a whole. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Dec 29, 2021
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Don't Look Up (2021) |
Don't Look Up gives what is probably one of the most on-the-nose assessments if the world today got the news that a comet was on a collision course with earth. While it's satire, it's a dark one, and the longer it plays the more it feels spot on. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Dec 24, 2021
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Nightmare Alley (2021) |
Beautifully shot, and some good performances, but it's a paint by numbers affair with little suspense or surprise, all the while aspiring to be a classic noir outing. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Dec 18, 2021
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Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) |
Spider-Man: No Way Home is a showcase example of how Marvel keeps spinning together threads of what has come before. Even elements from long before the MCU was realized and it winds up letting us see old stories in a new light. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Dec 17, 2021
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Dune (2021) |
"Dune" is a science fiction epic on all levels, and Denis Villeneuve and Warner Bros. has learned from "Blade Runner 2049's" missteps. The scope and pacing will not be for everyone, but by the end, audience will know it's something special. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Oct 22, 2021
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Halloween Kills (2021) |
"Halloween Kills" is is deeply disappointing entry coming on the heels of the prior 2018 refresh. It's a series of droll and uninteresting death scenes without any particular point beyond "hey, let's add in some more legacy characters." - NERDBOT
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| Posted Oct 16, 2021
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The Last Duel (2021) |
True to form, Ridley Scott brings another beautifully crafted genre piece which struggles in the balance with a cast delivering both subtle performances and over the top scenery chewing. The Duel itself, however, is worth the price of any admission. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Oct 14, 2021
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The Green Knight (2021) |
It's been over 40 years since Excalibur gave us a truly classic take on the Arthurian mythos, but David Lowery has given us a new one. Unfortunately it's not for the uninitiated; if medieval epics isn't your thing, you may wind up scratching your head. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Aug 06, 2021
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F9 The Fast Saga (2021) |
It's one thing to create a film that is mindless fun, but it's another to have your lead actor emoting like it's an earthy drama while the dumbest action sequences to be seen since Travolta landed a helicopter on a plane's wing in Face/Off. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Aug 06, 2021
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The Suicide Squad (2021) |
James Gunn finally handles a multi-character DC film in a way that works. Blending The Belko Experiment with Tromeo & Juliet and playing with super-villains, we finally get the Suicide Squad we had hoped for. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Aug 06, 2021
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Old (2021) |
If M. Night Shyamalan would just stop fixating on reminding us that his films are simply all about him, there was probably a solid thriller in "Old," buried under overused close-ups, and an unengaged cast. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jul 26, 2021
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Pig (2021) |
Pivoting away from the recent eccentric outings of genre b-films, in "Pig," Nicholas Cage reminds us of the subdued talent he has within a particular scope, taking us back to his days of "Leaving Las Vegas," "Valley Girl," and "Moonstruck." - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jul 26, 2021
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Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) |
When the best thing one can say is that at least it's better than its predecessor, and that the best things about it is everything going on other than its main protagonist/antagonist arc, you know that there's a rough road ahead. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jul 16, 2021
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Black Widow (2021) |
"Black Widow," dials it back from the galactic scale of mad titans and space gods fighting it out to a more manageable superhuman scale of Super-soldiers, assassins, and secret agents. It easily stands alongside the MCU's other solo outings. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jul 16, 2021
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Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (2021) |
Trying to explain Anthony Bourdain's post-chef impact on the uninitiated is impossible without wild hyperbole, and fortunately "Roadrunner" doesn't begin to try. It is a catharsis for those who felt his passing, and needed to know they were not alone. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jul 16, 2021
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The Tomorrow War (2021) |
With all the elements of a fun Summer alien invasion/time loop action film, it's unfortunate that Chris Pratt can't manage to coax the audience into caring about his fate, let alone the world's. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jul 02, 2021
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Cruella (2021) |
Disney finally creates a film that actually breathes new life into an earlier animated film, with a result that also stands on its own. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jun 04, 2021
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A Quiet Place Part II (2021) |
Krasinski manages to coax out more tension and thrills from his new sequel, even through the curtain was fully pulled back on the lurking evil in the first film. It's not as fresh, but still entertaining. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jun 04, 2021
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Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021) |
Angelina Jolie, as well as the rest of the cast of characters are performing like they are in a far more compelling film than "Those Who Wish Me Dead" actually is. - NERDBOT
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| Posted May 15, 2021
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The Midnight Sky (2020) |
George Clooney stars and directs in this end of the world sci-fi introspection on life. Probably the most introspective of the genre we've seen recently, sadly it winds up being more dull than thoughtful. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Dec 25, 2020
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Greenland (2020) |
Coming after the hot mess that was Geostorm, one might be wary about another end of the world Gerard Butler film. Greenland, however, surprises by being both a fun ride and well executed. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Dec 25, 2020
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Breach (2020) |
A minimal budget does not absolve a film from having horrible direction and writing. This Alien: Covenant /The Thing mash up doesn't serve up anything new, it serves it in an utterly cringe-worthy fashion. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Dec 24, 2020
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Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) |
Patty Jenkins is back with a solid second outing, even if it doesn't achieve the same highs as the first film, it sticks the landing in the third act this time. It is, though, overly-long and needing another editing pass to pull it to fighting trim. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Dec 24, 2020
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Hunter Hunter (2020) |
Finally in 2020, a minimalist, well crafted, and wonderfully tense thriller. There's been so many this year that have reached for the same bar and wound up being bland, but writer/director Shawn Linden pulls it off. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Dec 24, 2020
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Cuties (2020) |
While it's rough around the edges, and perhaps does cross even the French avant-garde lines, it remains a very raw and unsettling look at what young girls believe to be the path to success and popularity. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Sep 15, 2020
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Mulan (2020) |
Disney's ongoing foray into rehashing its existing classic properties as Live-Action remakes has seemingly done the unlikely with "Mulan," namely by giving its new incarnation a reason to exist. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Sep 04, 2020
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Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020) |
Bill & Ted haven't changed very much, and neither has the overall storyline, but in the end, it's a familiar and charming ride. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Aug 28, 2020
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The Rental (2020) |
"The Rental," is a horror film that unfortunately misses the mark in creating any kind of either tension or horror. When you don't care about the setup, the characters, or the killer. There's not a whole lot left to hang your hat on. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jul 22, 2020
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Ask No Questions (2020) |
Ask No Questions serves as a cautionary tale about how hard it can be to come to the truth, especially when powerful central governments have an interest in the way the public perceives a given event. - SF Weekly
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| Posted Jul 21, 2020
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Irresistible (2020) |
John Stewart remains one of America's leading political satirists, so with his latest film, "Irresistible", it comes as a bit of a shock that it feels pointedly sad and depressing. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jun 27, 2020
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The King of Staten Island (2020) |
An imperfect study of imperfect people, but performed very well. Pete Davidson and Marisa Tomei keep the story engaging enough to want to spend a few hours in their company. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jun 13, 2020
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The Night Clerk (2020) |
For a crime thriller, it's a problem when there's nothing thrilling, and it barely cares about the crime. Its main crime is a great cast, wasted. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jun 08, 2020
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Becky (2020) |
A fun mash up of Breaking In, Home Alone, and the feral girl from that episode of Barry everyone keeps talking about. Watching a 14-year old exact her own hands-on vengeance against a home invasion is remarkably cathartic right now. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jun 05, 2020
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The Vast of Night (2019) |
After multiple seasons of series like Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone, and Black Spot, it's three freshmen filmmakers who have created something that really captures the essence of those original Rod Serling tales. The others would do tell to take note. - NERDBOT
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| Posted Jun 05, 2020
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Bloodshot (2020) |
When "The Mummy" ran Universal's Dark Universe plans right off the rails and people said, wow we've never seen anything sideline a franchise so quickly? Well here's Columbia Pictures with "Bloodshot" saying, "hold my beer". - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Mar 14, 2020
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The Invisible Man (2020) |
Rare is it that one of the classic tales from the golden age gets a solid re-imagining, but this is one of those times. It's a more intimate story rather than madman wanting to rule the world, and it [mostly] works. - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Feb 26, 2020
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Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) |
Birds of Prey has a shaky start, gets a bit too infatuated with its own kitschy conceits, but when it settles in to the characters quieter stories and the main action, it nails it. - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Feb 08, 2020
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The Gentlemen (2020) |
Guy Ritchie spends far too much time telling the audience how clever he is rather than actually being clever. - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Jan 25, 2020
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Underwater (2020) |
I came out of Underwater quite happy that they kept it moving, tense, and not giving you enough time during its 90 minute length to poke too hard at the story. It's not a great film, but it delivers what the trailers promised. - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Jan 10, 2020
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1917 (2019) |
1917 does an amazing thing - it reminds us of the wonder of moviemaking in a time where CGI has all be robbed us from the ability to ever be wowed anymore. - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Dec 24, 2019
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Cats (2019) |
Ill-concieved and ill-executed, this incarnation of Cats leans in on the effects to the expense of most of the performances. - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Dec 19, 2019
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) |
[Spoiler-Free] After 42 years, the original saga's story arc has come to a close, and it winds up doing it in a solid (if imperfect) fashion and does so while marching to the beat of their own vision. - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Dec 18, 2019
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Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) |
This time around the novelty has faded, but there's still some fun to be had watching The Rock and friends effectively running around having a great time playing in a LARP. - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Dec 14, 2019
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Knives Out (2019) |
If you are a fan of the classic style of murder-mystery whodoneits - Knives out, with a brilliant cast and sharp writing, is a brilliant effort by director/writer Rian Johnson. - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Nov 27, 2019
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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) |
It could have been such a caricature of Mr. Rogers, but you find that the central story arc isn't about him, but about an avatar of a cynical-world everyman that the audience can't help but be swept up into discovering there is some good in the world. - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Nov 23, 2019
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Ford v Ferrari (2019) |
One might wish that it didn't feel quite so contrived as an award season vehicle, but in the end that doesn't stand in its way of being a really captivating racing and character drama. - Aggressive Comix
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| Posted Nov 10, 2019
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