Luke Y. Thompson

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Dallas Observer, New Times (L.A.), The A.V. Club, Village Voice
For 520 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 55% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 41% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 8.1 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Luke Y. Thompson's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 58
Highest review score: 100 Dragon Inn (1967)
Lowest review score: 0 Slackers
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 204 out of 520
  2. Mixed: 228 out of 520
  3. Negative: 88 out of 520
520 movie reviews
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    • 31 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    In Search of Peace
    History buffs will find this film lacking, and it isn't really deep enough to educate the rest of us as thoroughly as it should.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 50 Luke Y. Thompson
    First Daughter
    Part of the problem is that this First Daughter is modeled on good-girl Chelsea Clinton; a movie based on our current two party-girls-in-chief trying to embarrass their reformed alcoholic dad would be far more fun.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    The Life of David Gale
    Some of this stuff should give you some good laughs. Unfortunately, the film's not a comedy, and once the conservative-bashing wears off, the alleged thriller elements kick in. Too bad that for you, the viewer, there's still another hour to go.
    • 30 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    The Cave
    There's no reason to see this film in a theater -- you'll hate yourself for paying full price. Plus, you'll need beer, and lots of it, to appreciate the movie properly.
    • 30 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    Love in the Time of Money
    What keeps Love in the Time of Money from being truly awful is the fact that the actors give it their all -- they may be in contrived situations, but by golly they'll make the best of them.
    • 30 Metascore
    • 60 Luke Y. Thompson
    Waiting...
    Many of the dilemmas that are established never pay off, and there is no clear protagonist or antagonist. To make matters even murkier, the movie is poorly shot in visually uninteresting locations with constant soft focus. That said, it's also damn funny.
    • 30 Metascore
    • 16 Luke Y. Thompson
    Purple Hearts
    Purple Hearts would be a lot more interesting if it interrogated the specific moments of weakness that attract Cassie to Luke, but that’s far too complex an idea to explore in this kiddie pool of sentimentality.
    • 30 Metascore
    • 50 Luke Y. Thompson
    Where the Heart Is
    A top-notch cast compensates for dubious credibility.
    • 29 Metascore
    • 40 Luke Y. Thompson
    Driven
    Stallone's script is well structured, though the jaw-droppingly banal dialogue gives us little reason to care.
    • 29 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    AVP: Alien vs. Predator
    Well, Sanaa Lathan's in there somewhere as the smart and sexy ass-kickin' chick, but it's really all about the monster disembowelments, which happen often.
    • 29 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    Swimfan
    Every plot point is obvious a mile away to anyone who's ever seen a film, and made even more obvious by the fact that the camera blatantly points out clues shortly before they're put to use.
    • New Times (L.A.)
    • 29 Metascore
    • 10 Luke Y. Thompson
    Snow Dogs
    Snow Dogs may simply be a stupid waste of your time. But if you know the source, it's an abomination.
    • 29 Metascore
    • 25 Luke Y. Thompson
    The Lost Girls
    After watching, you may well wish that Peter Pan could be re-copyrighted to be kept out of the hands of anyone inclined to make this much of a mess of it.
    • 28 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    Just Married
    Dude, where's the script? Just Awful.
    • 27 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    The Perfect Man
    It's a lame Heather Locklear romantic comedy and a lame Hilary Duff romantic comedy all in one!
    • 27 Metascore
    • 50 Luke Y. Thompson
    Garfield
    If it weren't for Murray, there'd be nothing at all to the film, which forgets all conventional notions of story or characterization.
    • 27 Metascore
    • 50 Luke Y. Thompson
    Crossroads
    Highbrow self-appointed guardians of culture need not apply, but those who loved "Cool as Ice" have at last found a worthy follow-up.
    • 27 Metascore
    • 67 Luke Y. Thompson
    Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2
    This is cinema at its most punk rock—a raucous, unpolished, cheap, sacred-cow shredding middle finger to the mainstream with just enough raw talent inside to keep it from being dismissable.
    • 27 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    The Fog
    Less fun than "Cry_Wolf" and "Venom," if that's possible.
    • 27 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    Taxi
    It would take the ghost of Stanley Kubrick to get great performances out of Jimmy Fallon, Queen Latifah, and supermodel Gisele Bündchen, and Tim, you're no Stanley.
    • 26 Metascore
    • 70 Luke Y. Thompson
    Shadow Hours
    Shadow Hours must stand simply as an impressive B movie. Compared with what we've seen lately, however, that doesn't seem like a bad achievement by any means.
    • 25 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    American Outlaws
    So desperate are the filmmakers to create a "hip" western that they try to cram it with action sequences that aren't very exciting.
    • 25 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    A Cinderella Story
    Duff isn't exactly known for complex fare, but even "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" was way better than this.
    • 25 Metascore
    • 50 Luke Y. Thompson
    Stealing Harvard
    No one in a McCulloch movie is ever normal -- most of the humor comes from characters saying or doing the weirdest thing you could possibly come up with in any given circumstance, and if that kind of humor's your bag, there's frequently a lot to enjoy in the bizarre antics of Green and Jason Lee,
    • New Times (L.A.)
    • 25 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    Venom
    The final showdown between sole survivor and killer is sufficiently well done that you wonder why the rest didn't measure up.
    • 25 Metascore
    • 40 Luke Y. Thompson
    Dragonfly
    Joe Morton, Linda Hunt and Kathy Bates show up in supporting roles, only to have Costner's flagging energy drag them down, too.
    • 25 Metascore
    • 50 Luke Y. Thompson
    Me Time
    It’s not just that more timely humor would do better; it’s that most comedy fans would probably rather be watching MacGruber again. Instead of sitting down for Me Time, do that, and hope that Hart and Wahlberg figure out a proper story next time that gives their chemistry somewhere to go.
    • 25 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    Enough
    You probably saw this film the last time around, when it was called "Sleeping With the Enemy." This one merely adds a better car chase and more ass-kicking.
    • 24 Metascore
    • 10 Luke Y. Thompson
    A Sound of Thunder
    Shoddy and ridiculous.
    • 23 Metascore
    • 60 Luke Y. Thompson
    Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
    Definitely merits its R rating with a fearless approach that will earn genuine laughs as it turns a few stomachs. Yes, a Rob Schneider movie that's funny. Strange but true.
    • 23 Metascore
    • 40 Luke Y. Thompson
    Poor White Trash
    Hilarity should ensue, but it doesn't.
    • 23 Metascore
    • 20 Luke Y. Thompson
    My Baby's Daddy
    Every bit as pathetic and unfunny as it looks.
    • 23 Metascore
    • 60 Luke Y. Thompson
    Darkness Falls
    Once you get past the inherent silliness of the premise, what we've got here is actually a deft little chiller, stylishly directed despite the so-so cast.
    • 23 Metascore
    • 20 Luke Y. Thompson
    Half Past Dead
    This lame hostage movie doesn't even deliver for Seagal fans.
    • 22 Metascore
    • 25 Luke Y. Thompson
    Children of the Corn
    There’s no reason a movie with this premise couldn’t be better. Just not in these folks’ hands.
    • 21 Metascore
    • 70 Luke Y. Thompson
    The Body
    It's a heartfelt and powerful examination of faith that no serious student or enthusiast of theology or philosophy should miss.
    • 20 Metascore
    • 20 Luke Y. Thompson
    Soul Survivors
    The film was cut down from an R rating to get a PG-13, but even if it had full-on Eliza Dushku nudity -- and it doesn't have anything close -- Soul Survivors would still suck.
    • 20 Metascore
    • 20 Luke Y. Thompson
    Marci X
    A romantic comedy with neither humor nor sparks between the leads, Marci X attempts to lampoon gangsta rap clichés so obvious they feel ten years old -– “Malibu's Most Wanted” brought more to the table.
    • 19 Metascore
    • 40 Luke Y. Thompson
    Underclassman
    Some fairly standard shenanigans ensue, and when the clichéd high school culture clash stuff stops, there's clichéd cop movie stuff going on.
    • 19 Metascore
    • 40 Luke Y. Thompson
    Outta Time
    The budget is low and the acting grade C at best, but director Lorena David stages one or two genuinely impressive stunts, and the script, by newbies Scott Duncan and Ned Kerwin, manages to skillfully maintain the plot's central mystery all the way to the end.
    • 18 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    Gigli
    So how bad, in the final analysis, is Gigli? The best that can be said is that it doesn't beat out "The Ladies Man" as the most abrasively awful film of the past five years, nor does it top "Battlefield Earth" for sheer misguided lunacy.
    • 18 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    The Wash
    If it had anything that even approached the vaguest vicinity of a plot, The Wash might be a cool diversion for a Saturday afternoon at the mall.
    • 17 Metascore
    • 20 Luke Y. Thompson
    Extreme Days
    The lack of profanity or even alcohol (when in Mexico, the gang downs shots of hot sauce, not tequila) makes the film suitable for all ages, except for those old enough to want actual content in their movies.
    • 16 Metascore
    • 50 Luke Y. Thompson
    Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
    To say that Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood And Honey delivers everything a slasher movie should is higher praise than it used to be. Marketing alone would have guaranteed this movie a certain percentage of curious eyeballs, but Frake-Waterfield made sure that what genre fans see is everything they expected.
    • 16 Metascore
    • 40 Luke Y. Thompson
    FeardotCom
    If sudden loud noises, relentless strobe lights, digital hallucinations and mutilated corpses make you jump, and you feel that nothing more is required for a good time at the movies, welcome to Feardotcom.
    • New Times (L.A.)
    • 15 Metascore
    • 20 Luke Y. Thompson
    The Cookout
    There might have been a decent comedy here if someone had remembered to insert some actual humor.
    • 15 Metascore
    • 20 Luke Y. Thompson
    My Boss's Daughter
    Director David Zucker has fallen a long way since the days of “Airplane” -- here, he seems to think endless hilarity can be milked from an animatronic owl and a running gag about urination that even the French would reject.
    • Dallas Observer
    • 15 Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
    While not entirely successful, at least deserves points for creativity.
    • 15 Metascore
    • 20 Luke Y. Thompson
    House of the Dead
    Prochnow rocks; nothing else does.
    • 13 Metascore
    • 50 Luke Y. Thompson
    Freddy Got Fingered
    The film is a somewhat disjointed affair that, like the man himself (Green), is occasionally brilliant, frequently repetitive and sometimes merely annoying.
    • 12 Metascore
    • 0 Luke Y. Thompson
    Slackers
    Alas, Slackers sucks. It's so bad Schwartzman can't save it, though he tries mightily; a flash of nudity from Pearl Harbor babe and male-named model-turned-actress James King isn't even worth the price of a video rental down the line.
    • 10 Metascore
    • 10 Luke Y. Thompson
    Whipped
    Hang out at a frat house or sports bar, and you can hear this kind of talk for free.
    • 9 Metascore
    • 20 Luke Y. Thompson
    State Property
    But there is a saving grace: Seemingly aware of how weak the material was, the filmmakers have filled it with wall-to-wall beautiful naked women in every other scene, complete with a little gratuitous lesbian action. It can't save the film, but it'll keep you from dozing off.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Luke Y. Thompson
    Illusion
    The movie is therefore better than it ought to be, but without Douglas, it ought not to be at all
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Luke Y. Thompson
    Ambush
    Beautifully shot and finely acted movie.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Luke Y. Thompson
    Going By
    By movie's end what began as an occasionally tragic comedy has slowly and effectively become a grand metaphor for the journey of life.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Luke Y. Thompson
    Dirt Boy
    Jeffrey Greeley's loving photography of the wintry landscapes is beautiful, but lead actor Jacob Lee Hedman is nowhere near as charismatic as he needs to be for a film with this few characters.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 20 Luke Y. Thompson
    Sorority Girls' Revenge
    OK, so you can't afford women who'll bare flesh for what you're paying. Then don't make an exploitation film!
    • tbd Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    A Galaxy Far, Far Away
    Of all the various low-budget documentaries chronicling the Star Wars phenomenon, Tariq Jalil's is certainly the most recent. There's not a whole lot else to say about it.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Luke Y. Thompson
    Stripped
    There are no stunning revelations herein, but then, that's not why you're going to go see it, is it?
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Luke Y. Thompson
    Freshmen
    The week's most pleasant surprise.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 30 Luke Y. Thompson
    96 Souls
    That some of the super-visions manage to disturb regardless is arguably a testament to writer-director Stanley Jacobs, but he’d have been better off keeping this as his demo reel and showing whatever he does next to the public at large.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 25 Luke Y. Thompson
    Unhuman
    If you’re a fan of Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, scribes of the later Saw sequels and the Feast trilogy, you know what to expect from them: gore, vomit, red filters, and maybe a half-clever plot twist. If you’re not a fan, it’s best to stay as far away as possible from Unhuman, a cheap-looking, awkwardly calibrated horror-comedy which only the team’s truest devotees could love.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 67 Luke Y. Thompson
    About Fate
    Despite the off-putting blandness of its poster, soundtrack, and setup, About Fate proves surprisingly charming. Old pros (especially for their relatively young ages) Mann and Roberts manage to sell some significant character flaws.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 75 Luke Y. Thompson
    Blank
    When the all-important moment of catharsis that every good scary movie requires comes around, it’s palpable. But writers, and other creative types, just might feel it a little bit extra.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 42 Luke Y. Thompson
    Dig
    The goal of a movie like Dig ought to be simple: keep ratcheting up the tension to the point that when our main character(s) finally turn the tables, it’s hugely cathartic. Unfortunately, the “ratcheting” part is where Dig fails to hit paydirt.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 58 Luke Y. Thompson
    The Last Manhunt
    Momoa’s clearly abetting a passion project here, but unfortunately, Camargo hasn’t managed to capture a similar passion from his main cast.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 67 Luke Y. Thompson
    Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story
    It certainly captures a side of the man, and maybe that’s all anyone would ask of it. But it’s hard to shake the feeling there’s an even better movie waiting to be made from all this material.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 75 Luke Y. Thompson
    How to Rob a Bank
    Where visuals of certain events are unavailable, like Scurlock writing in his journal at night, fully colored and animated storyboards fill in the gaps. It’s an odd semi-glorification, even as How To Rob A Bank throws in a few token mentions of robbery survivors with PTSD at the end, and offers a sense that Scurlock fell into the Butch Cassidy trap of being so hooked on robberies he never knew when to quit.
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