Dallas Observer's Scores

  • Movies
For 1,518 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 48% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 49% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 5.8 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 59
Highest review score: 100 Final Destination 3
Lowest review score: 0 How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Score distribution:
1518 movie reviews
  1. They do it up big, but their frame of reference -- mostly old sci-fi movies and TV shows -- is pint-sized.
  2. It's like an amateur theater production. Reiner rushes through the setup in such a mad dash that it feels like a cartoon.
  3. Horror fans will have a blast, though it's unlikely anyone else will be won over.
  4. The various talents on display aren't enough to overcome the sheer blandness of the material.
  5. Rent a porno instead; it'll be less exploitative. God help us, two more of these things are planned.
  6. Director Stephen T. Kay (The Last Time I Committed Suicide) busts off some cool shots, and Eric Kripke's story is pretty sound until the finale. Worth a look for horror fans, but nothing classic.
  7. Bernal can't decide if he's making a Tarantino homage or an Almodovar riff or an Albert Brooks tribute...and the wobbly sensibility finally knocks the movie's legs out from beneath it altogether.
  8. All of the plot developments seem half-hearted -- which is a shame, because the star has the charm to succeed if given a better movie.
  9. No less amusing than an average sitcom, but that's certainly not reason enough to buy a ticket.
  10. It's a mess, but it isn't as bad as you think.
  11. If your expectations aren't too high, there's lots of cool shit on-screen.
  12. This compression of logic--coupled with two hours of ham-fisted delivery--guarantees that Antitrust won't jangle your nerves but will intermittently split your sides with laughter.
  13. Manages the seemingly impossible task of being very funny indeed and being as dark as anything Wong has ever made. This is an almost painfully bleak comedy that makes you squirm in the manner of “The Out-of-Towners.”
  14. Billed as a comedy, this low-wattage sitcom is both ill-tempered and mean-spirited.
  15. Part of the problem is that this First Daughter is modeled on good-girl Chelsea Clinton; a movie based on our current two party-girls-in-chief trying to embarrass their reformed alcoholic dad would be far more fun.
  16. Some of this stuff should give you some good laughs. Unfortunately, the film's not a comedy, and once the conservative-bashing wears off, the alleged thriller elements kick in. Too bad that for you, the viewer, there's still another hour to go.
  17. Using humor to make a serious point, Arau suggests that without the millions of Hispanics...life in the Golden State would screech to a halt.
  18. There's no reason to see this film in a theater -- you'll hate yourself for paying full price. Plus, you'll need beer, and lots of it, to appreciate the movie properly.
  19. What keeps Love in the Time of Money from being truly awful is the fact that the actors give it their all -- they may be in contrived situations, but by golly they'll make the best of them.
  20. Filled with so much religious righteousness--endless Bible-readings...that the film feels more like a recruitment tool for Soldiers for Christ than a look at the bloody four-year conflict that tore this nation apart.
  21. Moore invested his characters with flaws, with a tangible humanity; God knows they never felt the need to explain themselves, as the film does, rendering it something akin to one long footnote.
  22. Here's a bizarre hodgepodge of influences: "Kindergarten Cop" meets "Sound of Music," filtered through the Hulk Hogan movie "Mr. Nanny." The formula, by now so overused it's actually formless, is pure Disney
  23. A mostly well-constructed action flick with a number of flashy, well-choreographed fight and chase scenes.
  24. Many of the dilemmas that are established never pay off, and there is no clear protagonist or antagonist. To make matters even murkier, the movie is poorly shot in visually uninteresting locations with constant soft focus. That said, it's also damn funny.
  25. There's nothing at all scary about White Noise, which goes bump in the night so often it's easy to mistake it for clumsy.
  26. Here's a popcorn movie with soul, welcoming the masses to consider how much can change in popular culture over 30 years, as the horrific becomes the familiar.
  27. Grind does evince a true love for skating, and both the street action and the actual competitions are brilliantly performed and slickly lensed. That it's also funny and excels beyond Youth Culture 101 is a nice bonus.
  28. As a thriller, The Butterfly Effect is iffy and uneven, but as a portrait of a people, it's effective and intriguing.
  29. It's absolutely awful, and even Gene Hackman can't carry it across the goal line.
  30. A top-notch cast compensates for dubious credibility.

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