Film Journal International's Scores

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For 225 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 56% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 42% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.3 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 65
Highest review score: 100 Alien
Lowest review score: 10 The Happytime Murders
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 151 out of 225
  2. Mixed: 43 out of 225
  3. Negative: 31 out of 225
225 movie reviews
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  1. I Am Not a Witch
    Nyoni’s title articulates her uncompromising, feminist stance, and her characterizations of Mr. Banda and the male villagers explain how patriarchy plays out in Zambia, but it is in her sublime direction—lengthy close-ups, clever tableaux and skillful scoring—that the writer-director accomplishes a social critique so cinematic as to defy description.
  2. Hal
    Amy Scott’s affectionate and smart documentary sheds light on an artist obsessed with addressing the injustice and intolerance in this country, but who himself could be the most problematic of men.
  3. Five Fingers For Marseilles
    It cannot, unfortunately, boast a taut pace and narrative to match the mood of unease that fills the air like dust in this depressed desert outpost.
  4. Peppermint
    Peppermint is a bloody crowd-pleaser, but it’s fundamentally forgettable, the kind of movie whose details begin to disappear the moment the credits roll.
  5. The Nun
    The Nun resorts to makeup effects to put a frightening face on its supposedly scary sisters.
  6. First Man
    A giant leap even for the youngest-ever Best Director victor, Damien Chazelle’s technically astonishing First Man is a poetic non-blockbuster of claustrophobic intimacy.
  7. Older Than Ireland
    Older Than Ireland isn't relentlessly upbeat. It's filled with stories of loss, disappointment, tough lessons learned and compromises made, and it's hard not to suspect that the genetic hand you're dealt counts for a lot.
  8. Reprisal
    The bottom line is that Reprisal is an extremely silly movie doing its damnedest to look tough and gritty and clever, none of which it is. In fact, it’s both tediously formulaic and weirdly puzzling.
  9. The Little Stranger
    The Little Stranger invites debate and analysis long after viewing. Heady horror films with psychological tics and twists are few and far between, and this is the best one since The Innocents, Jack Clayton’s stylishly sinister 1961 edition of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw.
  10. Blood Fest
    It’s clearly meant to be a light romp –a party movie to be enjoyed in group settings—and it is.
  11. Active Measures
    Unfortunately, Bryan's case quickly turns into a dense, confusing slog through a bewildering array of newspaper headlines, TV news clips, splashy graphics and talking heads.
  12. Destination Wedding
    Slim movies like this live or die based on their personal charm, and the sour Destination Wedding soon wheezes its way into the ICU.
  13. Operation Finale
    Given the magnitude and complexity of the topic, an entertaining film is almost irrelevant, at moments trivializing. This particular story cries out to be viewed through a new, fresh lens. Otherwise, why are we hearing it? Why now?
  14. The Bookshop
    The Bookshop is an exquisitely understated tragicomedy.
  15. What Keeps You Alive
    Writer-director Colin Minihan’s thriller is tightly plotted and delivers a couple of terrific shocks, shocks that are firmly rooted in character
  16. Papillon
    Charlie Hunnam as Parisian safecracker Henri “Papillon” Charrière and Rami Malek as his pal-in-hell, counterfeiter Louis Dega, were sorely in need of richer characters written (or directed?) with more complexity, coloring, backstory, tics, or whatever might humanize them more.
  17. I Am Vengeance
    I Am Vengeance showcases Bennett playing tough and taciturn, but he nevertheless comes off a bit stiff. He has potential, but Bennett is going to need to try a little harder to have a career on par with his Eliminators co-star Adkins.
  18. Crime + Punishment
    The whistleblowers of the NYPD 12 definitely deserve a comprehensive chronicle of their struggle for justice, as their struggle affects so many. Crime + Punishment speaks well on their behalf, but not emphatically enough to close the case.
  19. Blue Iguana
    It’s not a great movie, but it’s a good reminder of why Rockwell’s admirers have happily stuck with him for decades.
  20. Arizona
    the film, set in 2009, misses its comic target by a mile, resulting in a dumbfounding collision of unsympathetic characters always choosing the most moronic thing to do in any given situation.
  21. The Happytime Murders
    If you expect the humor to be any smarter or more original than “Hey, look, this puppet has pubes!,” you’re going to walk out disappointed.
  22. The Oslo Diaries
    Dramatically constructed and studded with sharp, thoughtful points of view,The Oslo Diaries nevertheless falls down on one point. The movie doesn’t get as much sunlight into the PLO viewpoint on the process, focusing almost exclusively on Israeli domestic politics.
  23. We the Animals
    At any moment, We the Animals might look and sound gorgeous—yet the film unfolds with a naturalistic pace that plods like a too-lazy summer day. This gorgeous view demands ample, ample patience.
  24. Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich
    Funny little Nazis require rather more finesse than The Littlest Reich possesses.
  25. Memoir of War
    There are few elements of suspense or intrigue in this drama, as it’s largely an inward journey into Duras’ agonized, shaky state of mind over the unknown whereabouts of her Resistance-member husband, Robert Anselme.
  26. Juliet, Naked
    Endearing and funny but with a melancholy edge, Juliet, Naked is more than just a rom-com—it’s a movie for and about adults, in all their messy complexity.
  27. Mile 22
    New paint can't hide the worn-out frame behind Mile 22, a gung-ho workout that pairs Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg for the fourth time. Cribbing from themselves as well as tons of other action films, they manage to throw enough firepower on the screen to placate genre fans.
  28. A Whale of a Tale
    A Whale of a Tale only skims the surface of the many matters it raises, be it cultural imperialism, tradition, animal rights and socioeconomic necessities. Still, its objective approach, and subtle plea for middle-ground compromise, makes it a worthwhile addendum to Psihoyos’ celebrated predecessor.
  29. The Wife
    The Wife is an astute character study thanks in large part to Jane Anderson’s winning screenplay.
  30. Alpha
    The movie...is a visual feast, one of the rare 3D films which was clearly designed with that extra dimension in mind.
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