Christian Science Monitor's Scores

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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
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  1. The Assassination of Richard Nixon
    This is one of the rare movies to explore American materialism through the eyes of an all-too-ordinary person who isn't up to the challenges of everyday life.
  2. Booye kafoor, atre yas
    This understated Iranian drama affirms life as vigorously as it provokes thought.
  3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    It's fun to see the regular gang on hand for new adventures, joined by fresh characters who add touches of novelty and spice. But the secrets in this chamber aren't all that amazing once you get a glimpse of them.
  4. The 11th Hour
    Considerably less slick than "An Inconvenient Truth," and no less urgent.
  5. The River Wild
    There's nothing to think about once the watery plot has run its course, and even Streep's plucky performance isn't enough to keep it steadily afloat. [30 Sep 1994, p.13]
    • Christian Science Monitor
  6. Octopussy
    Directed by John Glen, who keeps the excitement level high for an hour or so, then lets the show slip into the doldrums.
  7. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
    Based on the 1938 novel by Winifred Watson, it's a deluxe romance that most of the time plays like farce.
  8. Undertow
    Taking great artistic chances in storytelling and performance style, Green finally fulfills the promise he showed in his fine 2000 drama "George Washington" as a terrific builder of mood, atmosphere, and psychological suspense.
  9. The Cat's Meow
    Resembles the yacht where it takes place. Everything is arranged for fun, pleasure, and amusement. But the vehicle itself is heavy and cumbersome, and it takes a tad too long to get us where we're going.
  10. Open Water
    Worth a dozen "Blair Witch Projects," with much more harrowing psychology and pithy dialogue. It's a bone-chilling plunge into no-holds-barred storytelling.
  11. Persons of Interest
    Not a great movie, but a valuable and revealing document.
  12. The Great Buck Howard
    Consistently good as long as it centers on Buck and his seriocomic travails.
  13. World War Z
    Director Marc Forster is very good at amping up the terror, but after a while, we reach zombie overload and we might as well be watching an infestation of Transformers.
  14. Split
    Shyamalan is a one-trick pony who needs to find a new rodeo.
  15. I Capture the Castle
    It's surprising no filmmaker has adapted Dodie Smith's novel before now, and pleasing that Mr. Fywell and company have done such a responsible job with it. It's one of the season's most captivating surprises.
  16. Kiss Me, Stupid (re-release)
    Hollywood censors made Wilder reshoot one scene, but the original version has been rediscovered; while it's tame by today's standards, it makes the movie's caustic social commentary more potent than ever.
  17. Life
    No show-business tradition is sturdier than the two-man comedy team, and no contemporary stars are better suited to the format than Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. Pairing them was a terrific idea.
  18. L'amour fou
    An oddly discursive documentary that is, ultimately, more about Pierre Bergé, his companion and business partner of 50 years.
  19. The Upside of Anger
    What's lacking in The Upside of Anger is a steady sense that we're watching real people cope with real, jolting emotions.
  20. The Dreamers
    Best when it recreates the cultural and political ferment of the era, capturing the idealism that made youths push against the social boundaries imposed on them by elders.
  21. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
    Preteen girls – and not just those who are already American Girl fanatics – should be entranced. And why not? Not many movies for that audience are as respectful as is this one.
  22. How to Get Ahead in Advertising
    How To Get Ahead in Advertising is loud, aggressive, and boisterously crude. But it has something serious on its mind, and that's more than can be said about many current films. [30 Jun 1989, p.10]
    • Christian Science Monitor
  23. Laggies
    Laggies itself isn’t exactly slow – its pace is pleasantly meandering – and it’s far from aimless, although what it’s aiming for isn’t always clear.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    Eureka
    Eureka is vintage Roeg in its sweep, its bravado, and its explosive visual style. It's also a murky stew of half-baked story ideas, overcooked sex, and nasty violence, inhabited by characters who'd be tedious even if they didn't talk, talk, talk through one self-indulgent scene after another. [11 Sep 1985, p.23]
    • Christian Science Monitor
  25. SubUrbia
    The picture often rambles as aimlessly as its characters, but its vivid depiction of alienation and self-destructiveness among suburban youth has much cautionary value.
  26. Megamind
    No doubt some of it is charming enough to induce giggles in its preteen target audience.
  27. Burn After Reading
    This is the loopiest star vehicle in ages.
  28. Diamonds and Rust
    You meet some fascinating personalities during this uncomfortable voyage.
  29. Shutter Island
    It comes on strong, but in its bloody heart of hearts it’s no more resonant than one of those old Vincent Price-Edgar Allan Poe contraptions – and less entertaining, too.
  30. The Man from Snowy River
    It's kind of fun, and Australians apparently love it, buying enough tickets to make it their country's all-time champ at the box office. But anybody much older than Star Wars - the movie that definitively replaced horses and six-shooters with rockets and ray guns - has seen it all a million times before. [03 Feb 1983, p.18]
    • Christian Science Monitor
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