Betsy Sharkey

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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 1.1 points 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
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    • 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.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
    There is a great deal of silliness about Allan's journey from start to finish and no real message other than to never stop taking life as it comes. But there is also a great deal of fun in watching a 100-year-old man climb out a window and disappear.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Pirate Radio
    Pirate Radio, the new rock-saturated comedy that proves life really is better when it's set to a '60s soundtrack, is, to borrow from the Stones, "a gas! gas! gas!"
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Shrek Forever After
    Whatever else gets tossed into the mix, Shrek must be the heart and soul. In this, Myers is a master; he makes it seem easy being green.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Turbo
    A series of strong emotional crosscurrents tied to the notion of winning and losing are in the hands of a very eclectic and capable cast.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Betsy Sharkey
    Biutiful
    Sometimes it seems as if Iñárritu is literally carving out his actor's heart, so tangible does Bardem make Uxbal's fears. Iñárritu has so much that he wants to say - too much, in fact, and the film's central weakness - that he has created an emotional tsunami for both the actors and the audience.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Betsy Sharkey
    The Dictator
    By turns hysterical, heretical, guilty, innocent, silly, sophisticated, teasing and tedious.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Betsy Sharkey
    Rise of the Guardians
    There is a lot to savor in Rise of the Guardians, but sometimes too much of a good thing can be exhausting.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Betsy Sharkey
    Frontera
    In trying to create a balanced portrait of the conflicts and the ordinary people affected by them, director Michael Berry, who co-wrote the screenplay with Luis Moulinet III, chips away at the authenticity and intensity that an issue-driven film like this sorely needs.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 80 Betsy Sharkey
    The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
    The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is back with all of the lethal and loving bite it was meant to have: The kiss of the vampire is cooler, the werewolf is hotter, the battles are bigger and the choices are, as everyone with a pulse (and a few without) knows by now, life-changing.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Men in Black III
    Good trippy fun.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Betsy Sharkey
    Brothers
    Sheridan seems as conflicted as the Cahills about their virtues and failings. The underlying themes -- love, loyalty, decency, duty, honor, betrayal -- that screenwriter David Benioff will use to both bind and break this family seem to bedevil him more than inspire him this time out.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Fading Gigolo
    While Fading Gigolo periodically threatens to come apart at the seams, it is Turturro's most disciplined and delightful work yet.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Betsy Sharkey
    We Bought a Zoo
    An intelligent family film, a rarity, and while not quite Crowe at his absolute best, it carries his humanistic imprint and benefits from a strong acting ensemble that keep emotions in check.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Betsy Sharkey
    All Good Things
    The good thing about All Good Things - that would be Kirsten Dunst, for if there is one thing this strange and creepy film does well it is remind us of just what a talented actress she is.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Paul
    After the sharp bite and harsh light of most American-style guy-based funny films today, Paul comes as such sweet relief.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop
    The result of Zhang's experimental theater will be a rich brew for some, weak tea for others - a divide that will largely depend on your taste for a blend that is lighter on the subtext and heavier on the slapstick.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    Adult Beginners
    The kind of comedy that goes down easy even as it looks at the hard stuff.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 80 Betsy Sharkey
    Bad Words
    Sarcastic, sanctimonious, salacious, sly, slight and surprisingly sweet, the black comedy of Bad Words, starring and directed by Jason Bateman, is high-minded, foul-mouthed good nonsense.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 40 Betsy Sharkey
    Albert Nobbs
    When the filmmakers move into Nobbs' isolation, though, the movie flags - a surprise given Garcia's excellent work on HBO's minimalist personality study "In Treatment," on which he wrote and directed extensively.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 40 Betsy Sharkey
    Hotel Transylvania
    There are some crowd-pleasers - but Hotel Transylvania never becomes the great monster mash that seemed in the offing.
    • 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.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Betsy Sharkey
    Mama
    Beautifully envisioned, badly constructed, the only truly terrifying things in the new horror movie Mama are the fake tattoos, short black hair and black T-shirts meant to turn "Zero Dark Thirty" star Jessica Chastain into a guitar-shredding, punk rocker chick.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Betsy Sharkey
    The Company You Keep
    The Company You Keep is a shrewder, more satisfying piece of filmmaking than we've seen from Redford in a while, though not quite in the league with his best behind-the-camera work.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Betsy Sharkey
    It's Complicated
    The problem with It's Complicated, a romantic comedy about the menopausal crowd starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, is that it's not nearly complicated enough.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Betsy Sharkey
    I Origins
    On the face of it, tackling the warring sides of science and the spirit seemed a good fit for the writer-director, who continues to be drawn to existential themes. There are occasional flashes of the exceptional, but the film's dodgy story can't sustain them.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 80 Betsy Sharkey
    The First Grader
    Anchored by a lovely performance from Oliver Litondo as Maruge and an exuberant Naomie Harris as Jane Obinchu, the school principal who champions his cause, the result is a tearful, joyful, imperfect, yet nearly irresistible ode to the human spirit.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 40 Betsy Sharkey
    Monk With a Camera
    Ultimately the documentary falls short of explaining why Vreeland not only made his choice but maintained it.
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