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 Backyard
    Eventually you realize the whole movie has been about young showoffs who think it's uproarious to gross out neighborhood grownups.
  2. Babí léto
    Provides a compassionate look at problems of old age that Hollywood rarely bothers to treat seriously.
  3. Dog Days
    Some scenes of Ulrich Seidl's first fiction feature (he's already a respected documentary maker) are so brutal and degrading that they're hard to watch. Others are highly atmospheric and sometimes quite funny.
  4. Dust
    Its most impressive aspect is its visual style, patterned to some degree on Sergio Leone westerns. A picture this long and dense should work harder to be cogent and coherent, though.
  5. Rana's Wedding
    Excellent acting, and a plot that combines suspense, whimsy, and political resonance make this Palestinian comedy-drama an unusual treat.
  6. Catching Out
    Unique and fascinating.
  7. Uptown Girls
    Add marvelously imaginative directing -- finally Yakin fulfills the promise he showed in "Fresh" almost a decade ago -- and you have a colorful, creative, deliciously frolicsome romp.
  8. American Splendor
    Filmed and acted to near perfection, it's one of the year's most innovative and exciting pictures.
  9. Open Range
    In all, the film is a striking, if flawed, achievement by a talented actor who may become an important director if he sticks to the genre that suits him best.
  10. OT: Our Town
    Kennedy documents their efforts with skill and compassion, almost entirely avoiding the pitfalls of sentimentality and victimology. He and his likable "cast" deserve a standing ovation.
  11. Step Into Liquid
    There are some novelties, like views of people surfing down sand dunes, but there's also far too much self-congratulation by surfers. Don't step into this not-so-new wave unless you're a die-hard surfing buff.
  12. Le divorce
    No masterpiece, but that shouldn't dissuade moviegoers from giving it a whirl as a flavorful alternative to the summer's more gimmicky fare.
  13. Freaky Friday
    Deliciously acted and good-humored to its core, it's one of the summer's very best surprises.
  14. The Magdalene Sisters
    A pungent, powerful film that points an accusing finger not at religious beliefs but at flawed human institutions. It also targets social and cultural mores that are almost medieval in their patriarchal bias against girls and women.
  15. The Secret Lives of Dentists
    One of the best pictures so far this year, marking a high point of Rudolph's career and reconfirming the extraordinary talent Mr. Campbell has shown in earlier films. Dentistry will never seem the same.
  16. American Wedding
    Whatever novelty this series ever possessed has gone down the proverbial tube. The actors are on autopilot, and Adam Herz's screenplay panders to its immature target audience so cravenly and relentlessly that it verges on incompetence.
  17. Buffalo Soldiers
    At its best it's as refreshing as it is daring. Superbly acted.
  18. Hotel
    Figgis still deserves credit for taking more artistic chances than a dozen ordinary directors.
  19. Mondays in the Sun
    The story's rambling, meandering style is just right for the melancholy subject being explored, and all the acting is excellent.
  20. Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
    In sum, it's a quintessential summer film, especially if you're 8 years old and in the mood for a quick dose of mindless fun.
  21. Seabiscuit
    I found much of it as emotionally rigged as a crooked horse race.
  22. Cuban Rafters
    Poignant, spirited, revealing.
  23. The Embalmer
    Mahieux gives a bravura performance as the title character. Director Garrone keeps the story involving even though it doesn't quite live up to the star's strong talents.
  24. How to Deal
    Director Claire Kilner and screenwriter Neena Beber don't walk the tightrope between comedy and drama skillfully enough to make either aspect work as well as it should.
  25. September 11
    They vary enormously in style, quality, and ideas, but the best of them -- by Gitai, Chahine, and Iñárritu, among others -- pack an enormous emotional and intellectual punch.
  26. Johnny English
    Where's the real 007 when we really need him? Or better yet -- Calling Inspector Clouseau!
  27. The Cuckoo
    This situation hardly provides a clever or original metaphor for the failures of communication that perennially plague the human race, but the drama's heart is in the right place.
  28. The Holy Land
    The acting and directing are uneven, but many scenes have strong emotional and political power.
  29. 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.
  30. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
    Opium- addicted Allan Quatermain becomes none other than Sean Connery. At least he gives a real movie-star performance, which is more than the other gentlemen manage. Extraordinary? Balderdash!
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