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 Chumscrubber
    At once dreamily surreal, acutely intelligent, and strikingly tough-minded, this pitch-dark dramatic comedy recalls David Lynch and "Donnie Darko" while remaining fresh and original to its core. A stunning directorial debut.
  2. Junebug
    This low-key drama is a miracle of mood, atmosphere, and sensitivity.
  3. Young Rebels
    An eye-opening movie, both socially and politically.
  4. Must Love Dogs
    Virtually every person in the story is fabulously cute, picturesquely forlorn, adorably ditzy, or winsomely philosophical. In short, there's plenty of smooth storytelling but not a hint of reality here.
  5. The Aristocrats
    Mighty monotonous after a while.
  6. Edgar G. Ulmer - The Man Off-screen
    The subject and the film clips are great, although the documentary as a whole is a bit gimmicky.
  7. Tony Takitani
    The movie's underlying theme is the complex relationship between objects and memories, worked out through a taut, compelling story and superbly understated acting. Ryuichi Sakamoto composed the atmospheric score.
  8. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
    The story is winning but the telling, with Dai adapting and directing from his own novel, is too sentimental in the long run.
  9. Yat luk che
    A romantic kung-fu comedy with a good heart.
  10. The Island
    The first half is high-quality science fiction, the rest is a high-tech chase adventure with a gleeful yen for destructive thrills.
  11. Bad News Bears
    The coach is certainly an offensive goofball, and the Bears are certainly a pack of hard-to-handle whippersnappers. But the picture's point is that surfaces don't tell the whole story about people, about teams, or about anything.
  12. The Devil's Rejects
    If you're not in the mood for "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" meets "Last House on the Left," stay very far away. Horror fans will find what they're looking for, though.
  13. 9 Songs
    It's always hard to predict what Winterbottom will try next, but this experiment isn't worth repeating, the lively concert scenes notwithstanding. Be forewarned that the sexual scenes aren't simulated.
  14. Last Days
    A true American tragedy, directed with skill and conviction.
  15. November
    An ingeniously scripted psychological thriller.
  16. Making Grace
    Informative, but very slow going.
  17. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
    On the screen, Burton turns out to BE the ideal filmmaker for this deliciously bizarre yarn. He's given free rein to his fantasies in past movies, but rarely as wittily and consistently as he does here.
  18. Wedding Crashers
    There are a few good laughs, but not nearly enough clever ideas to keep things hopping for two hours.
  19. Happy Endings
    There are marvelous moments and dull ones. The best asset is first-rate acting; the worst liability is Roos's overuse of cinematic gimmicks.
  20. Return to the Land of Wonders
    The filmmaker keeps things lively by roaming far and wide with her camera, returning to the statesmanship side of the documentary often enough to let us follow relevant events as they unfold.
  21. Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus
    A travelogue unlike any other.
  22. Dark Water
    The end product is so clunky, scattered, and all-around soggy that sometimes you can't help laughing. At least Connelly and Reilly give their all, and Tim Roth is terrific as a weird lawyer.
  23. Fantastic Four
    It's fun to watch superheroes who aren't quite at ease with their abilities, but "The Incredibles" - last year's similarly themed animated film - is livelier and funnier.
  24. The Beautiful Country
    The subject is compelling but the story is very, very slow.
  25. Murderball
    This is a lively, life-affirming documentary no viewer is likely to forget.
  26. Saraband
    Its leisurely, deliberative style is a perfect complement to the emotions it deals with - emotions so penetrating that I warn you at the outset how jarringly intense you may find Bergman's most brilliant drama in decades.
  27. Chronicles
    The film begins strongly and violently, then simmers down to a standard-issue suspense story.
  28. Doing Time, Doing Vipassana
    Earnest, if not as informative as it might have been.
  29. A Sidewalk Astronomer
    Some of his theories seem cockamamie compared with current intellectual norms, though, so it's too bad the filmmakers don't give him time to make a coherent case.
  30. The Beat That My Heart Skipped
    As stylish as it is suspenseful.
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