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. Super Size Me
    Tasty while you take it in, but larded down with empty cinematic calories.
  2. Envy
    The movie works fairly well as a pitch-dark comedy, and very well as a dead-on satire of upward mobility and its discontents.
  3. Godsend
    How could such a high-octane cast produce such low-octane horror?
  4. Laws of Attraction
    Poor writing and directing are the culprits - and whatever possessed the gifted Moore to make her role a nonstop Diane Keaton imitation? There oughta be a law!
  5. Mean Girls
    The screenplay by Tina Fey -- head writer for "Saturday Night Live" -- is marvelously smart, though, and the ensemble cast is uncannily in sync with it.
  6. Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius
    True-blue golf buffs should find it a treat. For others it's no deeper than a tin cup on a putting green.
  7. Since Otar Left
    Everything about this subtly directed drama enhances its pathos and humor, especially an astonishing performance by Gorintin, a 90-something woman only a few years into her acting career.
  8. The Saddest Music in the World
    A deliciously weirded-out picture by Guy Maddin, a deliciously weirded-out Canadian filmmaker.
  9. 13 Going on 30
    You won't find a load of laughs in 13 Going on 30, but there's plenty of whimsy, which is a close cousin of genuine humor.
  10. Man on Fire
    The first hour is sharply directed, character-driven drama that ranks with Scott's best work. Then he lapses into his usual mode - more a bombardier than an entertainer, filling the screen with sadistic violence and arbitrary plot twists. In all, a wasted opportunity.
  11. Close Your Eyes
    Strong acting and smartly tuned-in directing turn a run-of-the-mill detective story into a striking, sometimes harrowing blend of horror and suspense.
  12. The Agronomist
    Watching Demme's documentary is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a provocative visit with one of its most colorful citizens.
  13. This So-Called Disaster: Sam Shepard Directs the Late Henry Moss
    Almereyda's movie is riveting for several reasons: its inside look at Shepard in action, its vivid account of how a challenging play is brought from printed page to public stage, and its glimpses of Shepard's troubled youth.
  14. Kill Bill: Vol. 2
    Tarantino has always been an inventive director, and in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 he's at his cinematic best, showing an ingenuity that nothing in his monster hit "Pulp Fiction" surpasses.
  15. The Punisher
    The most entertaining scenes focus on the lovable louts and losers who share the boardinghouse where the protagonist - based on a comic-book character billed as a superhero without superpowers - prepares his grisly exploits. The rest is mayhem.
  16. Young Adam
    Rich atmospherics and an all-star British cast make this a superior melodrama if you can handle the heavy-breathing sex scenes.
  17. The Alamo
    In short, it's dull, derivative, and as lifelike as a heap of historical figurines. Few will remember this Alamo for long.
  18. The Girl Next Door
    Olyphant steals the show as a cheeky porn producer. The rest is gimmicky and predictable, except for a clever surprise near the end.
  19. The Whole Ten Yards
    Strenuously unfunny sequel.
  20. I'm Not Scared
    It's hard to find a current release that so effectively teases the mind and emotions.
  21. Twentynine Palms
    Dumont's methods are radical, but there's a fascinating method to his seeming cinematic madness.
  22. The Blonds
    What distinguishes the movie is its inventive, multifaceted way of questioning whether the "truth" of past events can ever be separated from the memories, longings, and scanty evidence that inextricably surrounds it.
  23. Hellboy
    The screenplay has flashes of real wit, and Perlman is perfect in the title role.
  24. Home on the Range
    Old-style animation slows down after a snappy start, but it's lively enough to keep kids from fidgeting too much.
  25. The Prince and Me
    Quite appealing, thanks to good-humored acting and to Martha Coolidge's quiet directing style. She lets romance and comedy bubble up from the characters instead of imposing gimmicky twists on the story.
  26. Marathon
    The drama is as obsessive as its heroine. Crossword mavens may enjoy it, but it's too monomaniacal for comfort.
  27. Son frère
    Beneath its surface of chronic suffering and hospital details, Chereau's best drama etches a humane, sensitive, and richly moving portrait of fraternal love struggling to mitigate human frailty.
  28. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
    Kim's movie conjures a sense of spiritual discipline as suspenseful as it is stunning to watch and exhilarating to contemplate.
  29. The United States of Leland
    The screenplay aims high in terms of humanity and complexity, but director Hoge drains it of energy with listless meanderings that provide more yawns than insights.
  30. The Ladykillers
    It's insulting when such savvy filmmakers expect us to laugh automatically at four-letter words, bathroom humor, and caricatures as crude as they are unoriginal. At its best, The Ladykillers soars above its own worst instincts, especially when Hanks and Hall take over the action.
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