Arizona Republic's Scores

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For 2,968 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 62% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 34% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 66
Highest review score: 100 The Peanut Butter Falcon
Lowest review score: 10 The Legend of Hercules
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,701 out of 2968
  2. Mixed: 1,148 out of 2968
  3. Negative: 119 out of 2968
2968 movie reviews
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  1. Wadjda
    The movie’s best moments are the small ones.
  2. Decision to Leave
    The way Park composes each frame is masterful. Sometimes the set-ups are intended to throw you off the scent of what’s happening, but wow, who cares when a film looks like this?
  3. The Favourite
    Each of the spectacular ascensions and drops in power throughout the 18th century-set The Favourite is filled with spectacle, betrayal and plenty of humor.
  4. Parallel Mothers
    It is a beautiful excavation, fueled by tremendous performances from frequent Almodóvar collaborator Penélope Cruz and relative feature-film newcomer Milena Smit.
  5. Blaze
    It’s the kind of movie that, if you give yourself to it, you’ll love.
  6. Annihilation
    The movie is as gorgeous as it is disturbing, and that’s a powerful combination. It may be about the beginning of the end of the world or the beginning of something else entirely. I’d be lying if I said I understand every aspect of the film, but I was engrossed trying to.
  7. In the Heights
    It doesn’t have to be a great movie. It’s a great experience, like a beautiful summer day.
  8. Please Give
    Please Give is an almost perfectly rendered slice of life, buoyant with wonderful performances.
  9. Sinners
    Sinners is a fascinating movie, overflowing with creativity and bold ideas.
  10. Frozen
    Frozen is a delightful animated musical, a return to form for Disney animation with an intriguing story and terrific songs.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    A Different Man
    This is one film I think you should remain seated for as the dark comedy and psychological thriller will leave you feeling better about yourself in the end.
  12. Babygirl
    There is an edginess to Babygirl, an uncomfortableness that is part and parcel of the subject matter. But it’s somehow accessible. Maybe that’s a plus, maybe that’s a minus; perhaps it depends on your taste for this sort of thing. But there’s undeniable power in Kidman’s performance, one of the most interesting and, along the way, best of the year.
  13. Moonrise Kingdom
    There isn't a false note among the performances. It's the first movie for Hayward and Gilman; whatever awkwardness they display is appropriate. Willis may never have been better. Norton is fantastic. Murray and McDormand are also ... well, you get the idea.
  14. A Complete Unknown
    It stands on its own as another in a long line of attempted explanations of what made Dylan Dylan. The more the merrier.
  15. The Florida Project
    Sometimes infuriating but never depressing, The Florida Project doesn’t just shine a light on people rarely represented in anything but a condescending manner. Instead it brings us into their world and introduces us to its inhabitants in a meaningful way. We care about them.
  16. Pride
    It's feel-good, no question about it. But it's also absorbing, important and inspiring.
  17. Silver Linings Playbook
    For a movie that seems at times to have no idea what it's trying to do, 'Silver Linings Playbook' is compulsively watchable. ... Throwing together so many movie tropes and blending them is both a brilliant idea and a scary one, but one that Russell proves well capable of handling.
  18. The LEGO Movie
    The Lego Movie is a delight, a funny, fast-moving film that should satisfy adults and children alike.
  19. The Black Phone
    The film only works if Ethan Hawke is scary. And he is.
  20. The Fits
    Genuine, honest, thrilling.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Next Goal Wins
    It's not a usual story: a down on its luck team that has its own way of doing things turns a jaded coach into a human with a heart. We've all seen that before. But, Waititi's singular style makes it a joy to watch and a film worth cheering for.
  22. All of Us Strangers
    All of Us Strangers, defies easy categorization in the usual fashion. But it’s also easy to place it in one category: that of really, really good movies.
  23. The Clan
    Trapero handles the movie's pacing with a masterful ease.
  24. Farewell
    As in a Le Carré novel, we're given long doses of the private lives of the protagonists, and we learn their secrets, their insecurities and the toll taken by the necessity of constant lying.
  25. The Rider
    The Rider is a beautiful movie, a Western of sorts that isn’t limited to that classification as it chronicles the life of a down-on-his-luck cowboy who simply keeps on living, as difficult as that sometimes can be.
  26. Beautiful Boy
    Director Felix Van Groeningen unflinchingly depicts the struggles and hopes of a family affected by drug addiction in a powerfully honest movie with gut-wrenching acting.
  27. Melancholia
    Melancholia is an intense, exhausting experience. That may not sound appealing, and for some, it won't be. But nor should it be off-putting. Proceed with caution, perhaps. But proceed nevertheless.
  28. The Post
    This is a story about taking risks, about putting the good of the country before your own. It sounds corny and clichéd, but even in Spielberg’s hands it doesn’t come off that way.
  29. i'm thinking of ending things
    I can say without hesitation that if you’re looking for something ambitious and difficult and super weird — and satisfying, in the end, though think of that in loose terms — I recommend the rather amazing experience.
  30. Tabloid
    For much of the movie Morris simply lets the loquacious McKinney talk, and she never, ever stops. And she never disappoints.
  31. The Go-Go's
    Like the elements of a good hit song, it all comes together and seems fresh. It may sound like something you’ve heard before, but it also sounds new.
  32. Brooklyn
    Brooklyn often feels like a throwback in the best way, while Ronan has an old-time star turn, and she makes the most of it.
  33. The Long Walk
    Despite the gore and the tragedies witnessed on screen, I left the theater hopeful.
  34. The Act of Killing
    The Act of Killing is a horrifying film, a surreal experience that explores the limits of human cruelty. It’s a film that is absolutely hard to watch. It’s also a film that absolutely should be seen.
  35. Barbara
    The whole film is an exercise in trust and the lack thereof. In the end, it’s a kind of horror film, really, a reminder that these sorts of things were endured by so many for so long, with hope an unlikely ally.
  36. Beasts of the Southern Wild
    A mixture of magical realism, Southern gothic, coming-of-age movie, star turn for first-timers, disaster story and out-and-out strangeness. It's unlike any film you've seen.
  37. Showing Up
    Of its many brilliant aspects, the film does illuminate the numbing grind of real life when you’re trying to make art.
  38. Arrival
    It is intelligent, moving and wholly original.
  39. Take Shelter
    Not just a fascinating character study but a kind of horror movie as well.
  40. Lincoln
    If it sounds like so much backroom politicking, it is. But it's exceptionally interesting, entertaining backroom politicking.
  41. The Muppets
    Clever and current without being cynical, smart without being condescending, funny without being exclusionary to grown-ups or to kids.
  42. Maestro
    It’s exciting filmmaking, and Cooper rarely lets up.
  43. Margin Call
    A terrific piece of entertainment. The financial lingo will please money wonks. But the film as a whole focuses more on the people and personalities who went into such a catastrophic failure.
  44. American Hustle
    Boasting terrific acting, a brilliant soundtrack, outrageous outfits and hair, and a kinda-sorta based-on-fact story of ambition and greed, it’s relentless, in the best possible way.
  45. Oslo, August 31st
    Although it can be harrowing and disturbing, Joachim Trier's film -- and Lie's performance -- are so masterful that the movie seems more like a searing portrait of self-discovery and realization, with the understanding that not everything you learn about yourself will be pleasant.
  46. Room
    Room is a terrific movie, one that has two outstanding performances, confident direction and a story line that is both harrowing and moving.
  47. The Holdovers
    If one definition of art is seeing what everyone else does, only in a different way, The Holdovers fits that bill. It’s a delight.
  48. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
    The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is everything you want in a movie: the fight scenes are bloody and exciting, the dialogue is tongue-in-cheek, every joke landed, and not one actor felt out of place.
  49. The Card Counter
    As with First Reformed, Schrader crashes right through the boundaries separating the literal from the surreal. It is a strange journey, increasingly so, but an immensely satisfying one.
  50. Belfast
    It’s a heartfelt salute from Branagh to his hometown, and what he loved there.
  51. Suspiria
    It takes the charred bones and ash of Argento's witches and roots them in a reality entirely familiar to our own.
  52. Hugo
    What Scorsese has really made is a beautifully crafted love letter to movies, the passion of his life. What sounded like an odd pairing winds up being a perfect fit.
  53. Deaf President Now!
    With attacks on diversity and inclusion more abundant and dangerous than ever, “Deaf President Now!” is more relevant than ever.
  54. Detroit
    Detroit, as a movie, is all over the place, yet oddly that messiness is one of its strengths. It is also appropriate. Necessary, even. It fits.
  55. Gone Girl
    David Fincher's meticulous direction pays off in spades. From the way he expresses the book's construction — not quite he-said/she-said, but a version of that — to the way the film looks (cold and uncaring, like its characters) to his work with actors (go Tyler Perry!), Gone Girl delivers.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Creem: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine
    Crawford's documentary celebrates the legacy of CREEM in all its dysfunctional glory, not only addressing but owning all the things about it that would never fly in 2020.
  57. BlacKkKlansman
    BlacKkKlansman is Spike Lee’s best movie in years, bringing together everything that makes him such a dynamic, exciting, urgent filmmaker – as well as some of what can drive you crazy about him, too.
  58. Beginners
    A delightful film - gentle, playful, creative and ultimately happy - though it's a tricky journey.
  59. The Big Short
    The Big Short manages to entertain you while making you really, really mad.
  60. Eighth Grade
    The transition between junior high and high school is exhilarating, traumatic, funny and horrifying, and Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade captures the whole experience perfectly.
  61. Bellflower
    Bursts at the seams with wild creativity.
  62. I Am Not Your Negro
    Its importance lies in Baldwin’s insistence on exposing truths, many of them uncomfortable, many of them more urgent than ever.
  63. Colette
    When every aspect of a movie comes together, it's a beautiful sight.
  64. One Night in Miami
    It’s fantastic.
  65. The Big Sick
    It’s a terrific example of a movie that doesn’t work too hard to make you love it. It’s patient as it waits for you to come around to its considerable charms.
  66. The Wailing
    I love movies like The Wailing. Na Hong-jin’s film is like a genre buffet, with horror as the main course, but a hearty helping of mystery, crime drama, black comedy and family relations on the menu, as well. Don’t forget the side dishes of religion, superstition and ritual. It’s a full meal.
  67. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
    On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is not the first film about family secrets coming to light through grief, but it may be the most original.
  68. A Film Unfinished
    To say that the film is uncomfortable to watch is an understatement. It's searing. Yet it's also invaluable.
  69. Don't Think Twice
    Birbiglia, whose previous feature was the well-received “Sleepwalk with Me,” has made a tiny gem, a delightful film as surprising as it is satisfying.
  70. The Lighthouse
    Captivating and grim, The Lighthouse is a tempestuous descent into a briny abyss urging its audience to pack a life preserver.
  71. Steve Jobs
    What Boyle and Sorkin are after here is a portrait of Jobs, not a photograph. And they have succeeded in making one, in wildly entertaining fashion.
  72. Skyfall
    The great success for Mendes and Craig, however, is that while Skyfall obviously has a great fondness for the past, it's not trapped there. It also anticipates Bond's future. In this immensely satisfying movie, so do we.
  73. Black Bag
    Black Bag, Steven Soderbergh’s outstanding new film, is sleek, cool, polished, smart, smooth — if Soderbergh were a thief, he’d leave no fingerprints.
  74. Beyond the Hills
    This is not an anti-religious polemic, though it easily could have gone that way. Instead it is a much more thoughtful film and in some ways more troubling. No one is trying to do the wrong thing here, but, as with most things in life, it becomes increasingly hard to know what the right thing might be.
  75. First Man
    The film gifts us with a fresh perspective, not just of the space race, but of ourselves.
  76. My Old Ass
    I love movies like this — sweet little surprises that stick with you.
  77. Star Trek Into Darkness
    Star Trek Into Darkness is a giddy homage to what’s come before it, but it also at least tries to go boldly where ... well, you know.
  78. Isle of Dogs
    Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs is delightful, giddy fun, but it’s more than that. It’s also insightful and relevant, all while existing inside one of the signature wildly creative, self-contained worlds Anderson creates.
  79. The Art of Self-Defense
    It’s a surprising film in many ways. Both for its thoughtfulness and the way the plot unfurls into thriller territory as Casey falls deeper under Sensei's spell.
  80. Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me
    Directors Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori’s film Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me looks at the band’s rise, such as it was, and its inevitable crumbling, as well as the influence its recorded legacy had on popular music. And it’s terrific.
  81. Son of Saul
    Son of Saul offers Nemes' harrowing vision of the possibility of peace, at least within oneself. And it is a singular vision, one that demands to be shared.
  82. Win Win
    Shaffer's inexperience pays off. He's completely natural as a mixed-up kid (and great on the mat).
  83. Marley
    It is gripping from the start, not just because of the quality of the music, but because of Marley's magnetic, challenging personality, as well.
  84. Buried
    In theory, we go to movies for enjoyment. Director Rodrigo Cortés inverts that notion with Buried, a terrific, claustrophobic, fist-clenching film in which he tortures his audience in exquisite fashion.
  85. Strange Darling
    Strange Darling is an original, well worth seeing — and then talking about.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Song of the Sea
    Song of the Sea is a lyrical treat for those willing to sit still and let it wash over them.
  87. Exit Through the Gift Shop
    A sparkling documentary in which we can't trust that anything in it is true. And yet you would never call it a hoax.
  88. Jiro Dreams of Sushi
    Jiro Ono is a magician.
  89. Enough Said
    You may or may not be surprised by developments here, but it doesn’t really matter. What does is the honesty of the characters and the absolute delight it is to spend time with them.
  90. Judas and the Black Messiah
    The story is infuriating — not in the way King presents it, not at all, but in its details. The manipulation of justice is heartbreaking. Though sadness isn't what you'll most likely feel while watching. Anger is. The betrayal in Judas and the Black Messiah extends far beyond the title character, making it an even greater tragedy.
  91. Two Days, One Night
    There is strength in simplicity, something the Dardenne brothers' Two Days, One Night and its brilliant star, Marion Cotillard, prove emphatically.
  92. Ilo Ilo
    Chen captures with both humor and heartbreaking realism the complicated mechanics of the family dynamic and how outside forces work to shape it.
  93. 28 Years Later
    It’s a horror-movie coming-of-age story, absolutely bonkers and gory and at its heart an art film about finding your own way in a world that has never made any sense since you’ve been in it, which is probably what the world feels like to any kid growing up, only most kids don’t have to protect themselves from zombies who want to devour them.
  94. The Grand Budapest Hotel
    It's a terrific movie.
  95. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
    Long story short: Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a terrific movie and you should do whatever you can to see it.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Wicked Little Letters
    Though that might not sound like the makings of a comedy, it is. And a really funny one, too.
  97. Jodorowsky's Dune
    [Jodorowsky's] a hoot, and so is Jodorowsky's Dune. But it's something more, too, a look at twisted genius and missed opportunities, a sad but intriguing combination.
  98. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
    Movies about movies don’t always work. Even in this case, the films Scorsese discusses are superior to the one we’re watching. (Most of them, anyway.) But “Made in England” is so good in its own right, as a gateway to so many remarkable films, that it’s a great starting point for the uninitiated and a great reminder for everyone else.
  99. Dear White People
    Simien's film is one of those rare works that teach by appearing not to — you laugh at some of the antics, cringe at others, but the film is so entertaining you may forget you're learning something.
  100. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
    What Abrams has done is find and return the ingredient crucial to the original three films in the franchise that was sorely lacking in the second round: fun...There are some laugh-out-loud moments here, but also some touching ones. Happy, sad, exciting, silly — all that is included, along with the original sense of Saturday-morning-serial abandon that made what became known as “A New Hope” so wonderful all those years ago.
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