Betsy Sharkey

Select another critic »
Los Angeles Times
For 635 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 61% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 37% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 1 point lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Betsy Sharkey's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 65
Highest review score: 100 Prisoners
Lowest review score: 0 Nothing Left to Fear
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 342 out of 635
  2. Mixed: 255 out of 635
  3. Negative: 38 out of 635
635 movie reviews
view
per page
    • 58 Metascore
    • 40 Betsy Sharkey
    Cosmopolis
    It is a disappointment coming from writer-director David Cronenberg, who has proved such a master at mind games. Cronenberg is perhaps too faithful to the book. The topic is provocative and certainly timely, but the film never achieves the incisive power of his best work, "A History of Violence" for one. Even an A-list ensemble that includes Juliette Binoche, Samantha Morton and Paul Giamatti can't save it.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Betsy Sharkey
    ParaNorman
    It may be the most fun you'll have with ghosts and zombies all year.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Betsy Sharkey
    Nuit #1
    Like the relationship she has chosen to dissect, the film is promising, disappointing, touching or frustrating, depending on the moment.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Betsy Sharkey
    Hope Springs
    An unusually intelligent cut at the relationship game.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Celeste and Jesse Forever
    There are moments when the film is a little too precious, taking time to preen at just how clever it is.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 80 Betsy Sharkey
    Killer Joe
    By far the film's deadliest weapon is McConaughey. The way the actor leans into threats, dropping his voice, wrapping eloquence in sinister tones, is skin-crawling. The muscles in his neck literally seem to tense one by one. And if the eyes are the window to the soul, you really don't want to peer for long into his. It is not an easy performance to watch, but it is unforgettable.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Betsy Sharkey
    Searching for Sugar Man
    The truth-is-stranger-than-fiction saga has been a hit on the festival circuit, winning top documentary prizes at Sundance for Sweden's Bendjelloul. What sets Searching for Sugar Man apart, though, is the way in which the filmmaker preserves a sense of mystery in the telling.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 60 Betsy Sharkey
    The Watch
    Some of the phallic jokes work, others are really lame. Fortunately there are many other funny bits that have nothing to do with body parts that keep the laughs coming.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Ruby Sparks
    There is a great deal of playfulness between the couple that will touch the romantic in most.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Ice Age: Continental Drift
    In Continental Drift, the filmmakers have gone a little crazy too, but in a good way. Smack dab in the middle of things there's a big Broadway-style number involving pirates.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Betsy Sharkey
    Take This Waltz
    Somehow it is the waiting - for the fall that you expect is coming, for the marriage you figure will fall apart - that makes Take This Waltz one to make room for on your dance card.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Katy Perry: Part of Me
    The secret, which "Part of Me" captures quite nicely, was to just let her be.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Betsy Sharkey
    Neil Young Journeys
    Young's almost mystical musicianship is what saves it.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Ted
    The comic targets run the gamut - race, religion, relationships, reality, etc. While nothing is sacred, the sacrilege comes with just enough sweetness to offset the salt.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 100 Betsy Sharkey
    Beasts of the Southern Wild
    Director Benh Zeitlin and his co-writer Lucy Alibar, a playwright whose "Juicy and Delicious" was the inspiration, have created characters that are wondrously indelible, distinctive of voice and set them inside a story that will unleash a devastating hurricane, and a flood of emotions, before it is done.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 40 Betsy Sharkey
    Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
    Starts imploding long before the massive asteroid hurtling toward Earth is due to deliver annihilation.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding
    It's not "On Golden Pond" by any stretch, but it is nice to have Fonda back in the fractious family way.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 Betsy Sharkey
    Lola Versus
    Here that soul-baring, soul-searching is the centerpiece of the film. Unfortunately, not much else about Lola Versus matches that standard.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
    The animation artistry of Madagascar 3 is at its best under the big top, all cotton candy fluff and razzle dazzle. The character development of this edition is the best of the rest as well.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Betsy Sharkey
    A Cat in Paris
    It's not your typical animated fare, but since the filmmakers can't quite decide whether its tale should be serious or silly, "Cat" trips and stumbles unsteadily between a bit of both.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Snow White and the Huntsman
    It is an absolute wonder to watch and creates a warrior princess for the ages. But what this revisionist fairy tale does not give us is a passionate love - its kisses are as chaste as the snow is white.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Men in Black III
    Good trippy fun.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Betsy Sharkey
    Moonrise Kingdom
    Here the writer-director's tendency toward the allegorical casts a magical spell with Anderson finding a near perfect balance between the humanism and the surreal that imprints all of his work.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Natural Selection
    An intriguing and intelligent first effort from indie filmmaker Robbie Pickering, digs deep into the heart of Texas for its soulful tale of small town saints and sinners and a road trip to redemption.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 40 Betsy Sharkey
    What to Expect When You're Expecting
    Rather than the engaging enlightenment of the source, the film becomes bloated by confusion.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Betsy Sharkey
    The Dictator
    By turns hysterical, heretical, guilty, innocent, silly, sophisticated, teasing and tedious.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 50 Betsy Sharkey
    The Cup
    Given all the impossible choices the young jockey had to face, The Cup should have been a weepie if ever there was one - but the filmmakers stumble on their way to the finish line.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    God Bless America
    This funny, sick twist of social satire is certainly locked and loaded, even if its aim is sometimes off.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Betsy Sharkey
    I Wish
    There is a lot of hope in the air in I Wish, but the film never feels sappy. The very appealing score by the Japanese indie-rock group Quruli brings a kind of upbeat energy that matches the clean, open style of director of photography Yutaka Yamazaki, a frequent Kore-eda collaborator.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 40 Betsy Sharkey
    The Perfect Family
    The film's single saving grace is Turner, who channels that legendary Catholic guilt like there is no tomorrow.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »