Arizona Republic's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
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 1.3 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:
2968 movie reviews
  1. Kosinski never manages full control of the film’s tone, which is essential in a story like this.
  2. It’s a throwback in some ways, offering the same feeling you might get from ’90s and early 2000s films like “Garden State,” “Walking and Talking” and “Flirting with Disaster,” not in content, but in mood and atmosphere — an indie vibe that permeates everything, in a pleasant way.
  3. “Lightyear” is an OK movie. Chris Evans as the voice of this version of Buzz is a nice touch. But there’s just no magic here.
  4. There is a really cool idea at the heart of the film, which brings together the cast of the original “Jurassic Park” movies and the cast of the latest bunch from the “Jurassic World” ones for the first time. Although they’re kind of like guests staying in different parts of the same hotel who just happen to run into each other at dinner.
  5. Yes, if you have watched more than four or five movies, you probably recognize the setup. It’s the execution that makes Hustle more than just a run-of-the-mill sports film. Not always a lot more, but more.
  6. Eventually the film's subtlety gives way to a more straightforward conclusion. But Okuno and Monroe still make Watcher worth watching.
  7. Certainly the film, which Cronenberg also wrote, is a comment on celebrity culture, on environmental disaster, on relationships, all filtered through a Cronenberg lens. If you’re seen “The Brood” or “Videodrome” or “The Fly,” you know how bizarre and horrifying that lens can be.
  8. Fire Island, Andrew Ahn’s romantic comedy that is basically “Pride and Prejudice” with gay men, is an utter delight.
  9. Top Gun: Maverick is a movie-star movie with great action pieces best seen on the biggest screen available. It’s a modern take on old-fashioned fun.
  10. The Bob’s Burgers Movie is good. At times it’s really good, with a lot of the charm and humor that makes the show so great.
  11. Montana Story is a personal film, a small story told under the Big Sky. Those skies can make any story feel epic in scope — they frame tales as mythology in a way. But in Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s film (they wrote and direct), those same skies are so grand and far-reaching they can make you lose your perspective.
  12. Men
    This is not a movie for the squeamish. It may not be a movie for the non-squeamish either. But it is a movie for those who like to see directors take big swings, seemingly unconcerned if they whiff every now and then.
  13. Vartolomei’s performance is amazing. The way her face registers everything she endures, from grim determination to frustration to mental and physical agony, seems genuine, authentic.
  14. The Innocents, writer and director Eskil Vogt’s horror film about children with supernatural powers, is definitely difficult to watch, a brutal bit of business. But the thrills aren’t cheap — they’re hard earned, if you can call them thrills at all.
  15. As events unfold, Raimi’s hand becomes more and more apparent, and that’s a good thing.
  16. Memory is a good-enough movie that could have been a lot better. Neeson is to thank for most of the good. Turns out he, like his characters, does have a particular set of skills. They involve acting.
  17. If you want pinpoint accuracy, watch a documentary. If you want to see top-notch actors inhabit characters in genuine and ultimately moving ways, The Duke is a much better option.
  18. There’s nothing particularly surprising in the plot, once you get past the meta-Cage business. Pretty soon it’s just an action movie. What is surprising is how enjoyable Cage and Pascal make the movie anyway.
  19. The most interesting parts of Father Stu, an OK film in which Mark Wahlberg plays a rough-hewn man who finds redemption in an unexpected place, are not the ones you — and possibly the filmmakers — would expect.
  20. The story, meanwhile, strains to be a masterpiece. And the strain shows.
  21. There are some laughs (a well-placed police baton, for one). But Metal Lords feels unfinished, rough, like a solo the guitarist never mastered.
  22. The twists are somewhat predictable; a twist within a twist is reasonably satisfying. But this is the kind of movie that relies less on surprises than chemistry. And Pine and Newton’s is fine, nothing more. In fact their conversation is far more magnetic than their romantic scenes.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    This film has enough stunning special effects and adorable baby animals to keep you entertained for 2½ hours.
  23. It doesn’t always make sense. But it is fascinating — and fun — to watch.
  24. There’s a freewheeling spirit to The Bubble that’s meant to reflect the times during which the film was made, but instead of creative forces finally unleashed it comes off as half-baked, more like a first draft than a finished film. Apatow knows comedy, and his intentions here are good. It’s just the movie that isn’t.
  25. Impressionistic, unconventional and often downright weird, it’s most of all an exploration of humanity — what that means and how it is achieved.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    While Bullock and Tatum’s chemistry doesn’t sizzle on-screen, their romantic storyline still manages to make sense. Their hate-to-love journey is paved with laughs — yes, even at Brad Pitt’s expense — and a seemingly genuine camaraderie.
  26. There’s nothing wrong with a thriller leaving some loose ends. But Deep Water trips over them too often.
  27. Among other things, “The Outfit” is a celebration of those who sit quietly, who soak in what everyone else is saying, who you overlook.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It's not often anymore that you find a film everyone in the family can enjoy, but The Adam Project is that and more. Think "Guardians of the Galaxy" vibes, but a little more low-key.

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