Christian Science Monitor's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Select another publication »
For 4,492 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 55% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 43% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 67
Highest review score: 100 'Round Midnight
Lowest review score: 0 Couples Retreat
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,780 out of 4492
  2. Mixed: 1,361 out of 4492
  3. Negative: 351 out of 4492
4492 movie reviews
view
per page
  1. Bush's Brain
    A skeptical view of George W. Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, using argumentative strategies common to agenda-driven documentaries.
  2. 2046
    Filmed to perfection by the great Christopher Doyle and others.
  3. Brokeback Mountain
    Brokeback Mountain is a tragedy because these men have found something that many people, of whatever sexual persuasion, never find - true love. And they can't do anything about it.
  4. Lawrence of Arabia (re-release)
    In short, they don't make 'em like this one anymore. Viewing it is like taking a time machine to a movie age that was more naive than our own in some ways, more sophisticated and ambitious in others.
  5. 25th Hour
    The movie is flawed by implausible psychology and moments of weak acting. But it's more than redeemed by Lee's passionate ideas about America today.
  6. Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary
    The visual style is at once deliberately archaic and slyly postmodernist, slinky and sensuous from first frame to last.
  7. Eureka
    Understated acting and brilliant use of wide-screen black-and-white cinematography.
  8. Hairspray
    A feel-good musical that, for a change, actually makes you feel good.
  9. Ernest & Célestine
    The enchanting French-Belgian animated feature Ernest & Celestine is so liltingly sweet and graceful that, a day or two after I saw it, it seemed almost as if I had dreamed it.
  10. What Time Is It Over There?
    Tsai's cinematic style is unique: He unfolds his stories in long, static shots that let you discover their surprises and mysteries on your own. And that's great fun. What Time Is It There? is perky, entertaining, and one of a kind.
  11. Memories of Murder
    Suspenseful, surprising, and psychologically rich.
  12. Brooklyn
    It’s possible to be heartwarming and tough-minded, as this wonderful film demonstrates. And it’s possible to be both “old-fashioned” and vibrant, too. It’s the best new/old movie in town.
  13. Elevator to the Gallows
    A plan for a perfect murder goes wildly wrong in this 1958 melodrama by one of France's great filmmakers.
  14. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
    I hate to sound blurby, but Borat is the funniest comedy I've seen since I don't know when.
  15. In the Mirror of Maya Deren
    In the Mirror of Maya Deren, creatively written and directed by Martina Kudlacek, is an eloquent memorial to her unique accomplishments -- and an excellent introduction for those who have yet to discover them.
  16. The Hours
    Kidman, Moore, and Streep do some of their best work, backed by a first-rank supporting cast.
  17. I Served the King of England
    It's a giddy nightmare. Nothing is quite what it seems in I Served the King of England, and this is poetically appropriate. The world it depicts is too dangerous and too lovely to classify.
  18. Do the Right Thing
    With its ingenious camera style, keenly dramatic music score, and brash yet indomitable humor, Do the Right Thing is the richest and most thought-provoking portrait of underclass experience that Hollywood has ever given us.
  19. Cave of Forgotten Dreams
    These paintings speak to us; they both compress and elongate time. In Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Herzog is reaching for ways to comprehend what he imagines to be the emblems of the birth of the modern soul.
  20. Late Marriage
    The acting is superb, the filmmaking is imaginative, and the story never goes quite where you expect.
  21. Cinemania
    You may become a cinemaniac yourself after sitting through this beauty.
  22. Under the Sea 3D
    There's plenty for us to feast on in Under the Sea 3D without drawing a single drop of blood. If you have small children, you'd be crazy not to take them to this film.
  23. Downfall
    A riveting re-creation of three world-changing collapses: those of the Nazi party, of militarized Germany as a whole, and of the Führer who guided them into self-destructive ruin.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    The Wizard of Oz
    They don't make 'em like this anymore! [13 Nov 1998, p.B2]
    • Christian Science Monitor
  25. Two Days, One Night
    In a series of deft vignettes, the Dardennes offer up a microcosm of an entire working-class contingent, and each vignette is a universe all to itself.
  26. Sister
    Her film is closer to Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" in the way it gets inside the gumption and desperation of childhood lived on the edge. It's a terrific, bracingly sad movie.
  27. Dawson City: Frozen Time
    The rise and fall of Dawson City, intimately tied to the vagaries of climate and man’s greed, is heartbreakingly rendered.
  28. Monster House
    Kenan never loses sight of the wonderment that children (and adults) experience when the inanimate becomes animate. Anthropomorphism is basic to the art of animation. So is a good story, and Kenan has that, too.
  29. Song of the Sea
    The plot may be a bit too busy, but a great wash of transcendent imagery floods the screen. If I had to recommend the best children’s film out there for all ages, this one, and “The Tale of Princess Kaguya,” would easily top the charts.
  30. Gimme the Loot
    Leon has a marvelous and rare eye for blending staged dramatic sequences into documentary settings, from barrio bodegas to high-rise penthouses. He often films in extended, unbroken takes, and this gives the actors a chance to work up their own distinctive rhythms.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »