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. Cowards Bend the Knee or The Blue Hands
    There's a new visual idea every second, each teeming with energy, pitch-dark comedy, and inspired cinematic lunacy.
  2. Collateral
    Stylishly made, if less intellectually resonant than first-rate Mann films like "Ali" and "The Insider."
  3. Little Black Book
    A spicy critique of tabloid TV is buried in romantic-comedy material that strains too hard for cuteness. Ditto for Murphy's acting.
  4. Bang Rajan
    The story suggests a more violent "Seven Samurai," full of jungle mayhem and eloquently filmed action-movie suspense.
  5. Code 46
    Not always compellingly made, but intelligent and perhaps prophetic.
  6. Last Life in the Universe
    Moody, atmospheric, and bewitching, like other first-rate examples of modern Thai cinema.
  7. 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.
  8. Stander
    The story is so eager to highlight macho action scenes that it loses track of the important historical and political issues it raises.
  9. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
    This is an op-ed polemic, and it's refreshing to see one so skillfully produced by filmmakers with a shoestring budget and meager access to mainstream distribution. A must-see movie, no matter what your politics are.
  10. The Manchurian Candidate
    Denzel Washington is stellar, and so is Tak Fujimoto's cinematography, which is as edgy and antsy as the story it tells.
  11. Thunderbirds
    The action is snappy and quick, but why does this youth-targeted adventure pit white male heroes against a trio of villains comprising a black man, an Asian man, and an ugly woman?
  12. The Village
    Shyamalan remains a stilted screenwriter, but Roger Deakins's cinematography is spooky, creepy, eerie all the way.
  13. Festival Express
    Full of bright colors, offbeat people, tuneful sounds.
  14. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
    The multicultural cast gives a shred of substance to what's otherwise a standard adolescent gross-out flick.
  15. Intimate Strangers
    Leconte justifies his vaunted reputation by lending freshness and feeling to what could have been a gimmicky tragicomedy.
  16. Gender Bias
    Dull despite its suspense-driven story.
  17. Daughters of the Sun
    Acted as a drama, paced like a ritual, filmed as a slice of rural Iranian life.
  18. Garden State
    Braff makes a striking directorial debut while leading a superb ensemble cast.
  19. Los Angeles Plays Itself
    Smart, funny, stimulating.
  20. She Hate Me
    This intensely topical satire tackles a wide range of important issues, from corporate whistle-blowing to the toll sexual license takes on stable family structures.
  21. The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi
    Stylishly directed and smartly acted, especially by the filmmaker-star, who gives one of his best performances as the unerring swordsman.
  22. The Bourne Supremacy
    This time it's just chasing, fistfighting, and shooting. A disappointment from the director of "Bloody Sunday."
  23. Catwoman
    Cartoonish effects and overacting make this more corn than catnip.
  24. A Home at the End of the World
    At its best, A Home at the End of the World has great emotional strength. But it's not the towering achievement it might have been if Cunningham had stayed truer to his original inspiration.
  25. Free Radicals
    The parallel stories don't always dovetail with each other smoothly, but the acting is strong and the atmosphere is powerful.
  26. Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
    Thoughtful, exciting, moving.
  27. Orwell Rolls in His Grave
    Ingenious, eye-opening documentary.
  28. Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut
    The director's cut of this 2001 cult fantasy is a deliriously subtle exploration of storytelling possibilities, and a deliciously wry teen-pic to boot. Brilliant.
  29. A Cinderella Story
    Even the delightful Duff disappoints.
  30. I, Robot
    Less ambitious than "Blade Runner" but more coherent than "Artificial Intelligence: A.I.," which it vaguely resembles, I, Robot is best during homely moments when Smith shows his human side.
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