Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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For 561 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 60% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 36% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 7.5 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Joe Williams' Scores

  • Movies
Average review score: 67
Highest review score:
Up in the Air
Critic Score 100
Lowest review score:
Alex Cross
Critic Score 25
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 418 out of 561
  2. Mixed: 101 out of 561
  3. Negative: 42 out of 561
561 movie reviews
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    • Metascore: 76
    • Joe Williams 75
    Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Perhaps the spookiest thing in this slyly scary movie is the word-for-word way that Patrick's followers regurgitate his pablum.
    • Metascore: 74
    • Joe Williams 75
    Tabloid
    There are three sides to most love stories: his, hers and the truth. But on London's Fleet Street, the three sides are his, hers and the tabloids'.
    • Metascore: 78
    • Joe Williams 75
    The Guard
    Like its neo-noir kin across the pond, The Guard is violent, profane and funny. But McDonagh is interested in more than mockery.
    • Metascore: 59
    • Joe Williams 75
    Magic Trip
    Neither as magic nor as trippy as the culture quake that it documents, but it's a valuable flashback and a pleasurable contact high.
    • Metascore: 58
    • Joe Williams 75
    Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
    It's a comedic dramatization with a looming shadow of the surreal.
    • Metascore: 55
    • Joe Williams 75
    Dark Shadows
    May be too light for vampire purists or fans of the original show, but fresh blood is just what the doctor ordered.
    • Metascore: 58
    • Joe Williams 75
    The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
    At nearly three hours long, "An Unexpected Journey" has moments when the caravan seems both overstuffed and out of balance, but it's such a scenic trip that only a stubborn homebody could complain.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Joe Williams 75
    Looper
    While Looper lacks the heft of a classic, this wayback machine is worth taking for a spin.
    • Metascore: 70
    • Joe Williams 75
    Passione
    Turturro, who previously directed a musical called "Romance and Cigarettes," lingers on the sensual movements of the performers and the character faces of the onlookers.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Joe Williams 75
    Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness
    In recording the timeless traditions of Jewry, he created a new one: the identity crisis that rides on the back of laughter.
    • Metascore: 42
    • Joe Williams 75
    Ironclad
    As a critic who complains about painless and brainless action movies, I hoist a glass of mead to the men and maidens of Ironclad.
    • Metascore: 61
    • Joe Williams 75
    Carnage
    When a man whose wife was killed by cultists invites us to laugh at life's absurdities, the particulars are almost incidental.
    • Metascore: 59
    • Joe Williams 75
    This Is 40
    Apatow still hasn't set the table for a meaty drama, but making us laugh is a piece of cake.
    • Metascore: 71
    • Joe Williams 75
    Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey
    The most mesmerizing parts of the movie make up a tutorial about how the Muppets are made and moved.
    • Metascore: 61
    • Joe Williams 75
    Blackthorn
    In place of a rousing adventure, Blackthorn is a haunting ode.
    • Metascore: 71
    • Joe Williams 75
    Undefeated
    Unlike the benchmark sports documentary "Hoop Dreams," Undefeated doesn't have a deep penetration of poverty and race in its playbook, but it does have enough heart to make substantial forward progress.
    • Metascore: 52
    • Joe Williams 75
    The Woman on the 6th Floor
    The Women on the 6th Floor shouldn't work, but this efficient flick whisks away our cynicism.
    • Metascore: 63
    • Joe Williams 75
    Anna Karenina
    Even more than most versions of Anna Karenina, this chamber piece is heated by two combustible characters, not by the winds of war and peace.
    • Metascore: 69
    • Joe Williams 75
    Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone
    Like a Fishbone show or an LA weather forecast, the dark curtain rises, and there's a promise of more sunshine.
    • Metascore: 55
    • Joe Williams 75
    The Great Gatsby
    The Great Gatsby is both swooningly romantic and giddily energetic.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Joe Williams 75
    Magic Mike
    It's guilty of some sleight-of-hand hokum, but in pulling the rug from under the norm, Magic Mike turns a trick.
    • Metascore: 74
    • Joe Williams 75
    Tomboy
    Although Tomboy is as tightly constructed as a short story and as seemingly straightforward as a documentary, the parable about a small fib that grows out of control is so rooted in the rich soil of sexual identity that it entangles us.
    • Metascore: 68
    • Joe Williams 75
    Addiction Incorporated
    While it's satisfying to see fat cats tamed by science and an enraged public, the movie misses the opportunity to sustain the pressure.
    • Metascore: 53
    • Joe Williams 75
    Being Flynn
    He might be guilty of showboating, but De Niro's knockout performance is a declaration that the star of "Raging Bull" isn't ready to hang up his gloves.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Joe Williams 75
    Footnote
    Footnote is faintly comic, and director Joseph Cedar mines dark humor from the humiliations of identity checks and pecking orders.
    • Metascore: 74
    • Joe Williams 75
    Frankenweenie
    While the big-headed, spindly puppets don't evoke enough emotion to make the movie a must-see, Burton's 3-D design team pours its heart into the monochrome surroundings, from the suburban décor to Victor's laboratory to the carnival midway.
    • Metascore: 60
    • Joe Williams 75
    Thin Ice
    Thin Ice resides just slightly south of "Fargo."
    • Metascore: 64
    • Joe Williams 75
    We Have a Pope
    This is rich material that Moretti mines for both superficial absurdity and deep pathos.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Joe Williams 75
    Goodbye First Love
    Goodbye First Love is like a postcard from a lost Eden, a painfully pure oasis where we're not allowed to linger.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Joe Williams 75
    Crazy Horse
    As opposed to the "gentlemen's clubs" in sinful cities like Las Vegas, the Crazy Horse attracts couples.
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