Charlotte Observer's Scores
- Movies
For 1,652 reviews, this publication has graded:
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56% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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41% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.1 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 65
| Highest review score: | Frost/Nixon | |
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| Lowest review score: | Waist Deep |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 1,085 out of 1652
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Mixed: 279 out of 1652
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Negative: 288 out of 1652
1652
movie
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Charlotte Observer
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Reviewed by
Lawrence Toppman
Evans makes a terrific raconteur, imitating voices and putting us behind the scenes.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
In an era when most scripts are written by committees of monkeys, hearing one man's intelligent voice is an almost forgotten pleasure.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
It's an approachable film that handles a serious topic deftly and offers a fresh take on a familiar subject.- Charlotte Observer
- Posted Jul 26, 2012
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Lawrence Toppman
McNamara's too mentally adroit to let Morris pin blame or guilt on him, and the director's not interested in shaming him.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
Writers Rasmus Heisterberg and Nicolaj Arcel are known in America for the original version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." This film is the exact opposite: stately instead of propulsive, emotionally warm instead of chilly, lit by candles and sun instead of flashlights and neon.- Charlotte Observer
- Posted Dec 6, 2012
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Lawrence Toppman
The two male leads, bulwarks of the Danish film industry for more than a decade, play off each other like the veterans they are.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
Bizarrely entertaining and brilliantly designed.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
You can say nothing of Castle-Hughes except that she's already a movie star: The camera loves her and we do, too.- Charlotte Observer
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- Charlotte Observer
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Reviewed by
Lawrence Toppman
Plays out like a sprinter competing in his first distance race: It bursts forth with tremendous energy, sustains itself for quite a while, loses steam near the end but finishes ahead of most of the pack.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
The best action movie of the month contains chase scenes, fights, a love story, exotic locations - well, one exotic locale, snow-blasted Antarctica - and a battle for survival against long odds amid brutal conditions.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
Supplies the three key elements of the best political thrillers: suspense, credibility and the feeling that you're really sitting in the Oval Office.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
Some writer-directors would have squeezed pathos from this story until the corn turned to pone, especially in a post-Christmas release. Writer-director Robert Benton (Places in the Heart) keeps a gentler grip on the proceedings and makes 10 times the impact. [13 Jan 1995, p.1F]- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
Whatever you think of gay people (or politicians), you may find the movie compelling viewing.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
Every time it starts to feel like something we have known, we realize how unlike us these Iranian characters are.- Charlotte Observer
- Posted Mar 3, 2012
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Lawrence Toppman
But as cynical as I may have been going in, I came out a believer.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
British director Stephen Walker approached this project with wide-eyed good humor.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
Why on earth didn't Warner Bros. release this movie in time for Oscar consideration? Sure, it's bleak, depressing, sometimes painful to watch. But it would have been one of the best pictures of the year, and Nicholson (who hasn't done work of this caliber since "The Crossing Guard") might have been on the podium again.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
When I first heard about Wordplay, I assumed I wouldn't have an ort of interest.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
Zero Dark Thirty, like the mission that inspired it, commands respect, admiration, even awe in places for the logistical nightmares that had to be overcome to get it done. But it's a hard movie to love.- Charlotte Observer
- Posted Jan 10, 2013
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Lawrence Toppman
[I] enjoyed McQuarrie’s ingenuity in construction, smiled occasionally at the jokes and admired Ferguson’s performance as the most interesting femme fatale in the series.- Charlotte Observer
- Posted Jul 28, 2015
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Lawrence Toppman
Raymond Wong, who has become Chow's favorite composer, iced this cake with music that sounds like Beethoven, Henry Mancini's jazz and all the James Bond themes run together in a blender.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
Crowe gave Kate Hudson one pointer while making Almost Famous: Her character simply had to light up every room as soon as she walked into it.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
The most violent scene is dreamlike, and more direct killings are often seen at an angle or from a distance. The camera placement is thoughtful and effective, never titillating.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
If Hollywood’s going to extend the most famous movie myth of the past 40 years, The Force Awakens seems a worthwhile way to do so.- Charlotte Observer
- Posted Dec 16, 2015
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Lawrence Toppman
Gibney also made the Oscar-nominated "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," and he gets remarkable access to people you wouldn't expect to talk to him (including U.S. interrogators charged with crimes at Bagram).- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
The result is one of the twistiest thrillers in recent memory.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
Can there be higher praise for a motion picture designed to capture a beloved book with fidelity, thoroughness and affection? Only this: They made it better.- Charlotte Observer
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Lawrence Toppman
The superb Trintignant and the Oscar-nominated Riva – who would win, in a just world – embody once-vigorous people in inevitable decline. Yet as another critic has said, the film is sad without being depressing.- Charlotte Observer
- Posted Feb 13, 2013
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