L.A. Weekly's Scores

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For 3,750 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 46% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 51% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 8.8 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 56
Highest review score: 100 A Bread Factory Part Two: Walk With Me a While
Lowest review score: 0 Deuces Wild
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,540 out of 3750
  2. Mixed: 1,542 out of 3750
  3. Negative: 668 out of 3750
3750 movie reviews
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  1. A State of Mind
    The stadiums and performance halls of Pyongyang become staging grounds for massive, highly choreographed political pageants that make the Nuremberg rallies look like dinner theater. You’ve never seen anything quite like these dazzling displays of groupthink.
  2. I Love Your Work
    The filmmaking is actually quite polished, and Ribisi is fascinating to watch -- his fluttery weirdness has never seemed more grounded and resonant, turning Gray's self-destructive egoism into near tragedy.
  3. Steal Me
    It's not really original stuff, and there are few genuine surprises, but Painter skillfully layers visual details and off-the-cuff dialogue into a smart, condescension-free piece on small towns and the complicated lives they contain. The standout here is the always-wonderful Seymour (Hotel Rwanda, Birth).
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Bad Company
    Refreshingly complex teen drama.
  5. The Good German
    Sumptuous, clever and cold.
  6. Danielson: A Family Movie (or, Make a Joyful Noise Here)
    Shot on digital and layered with animated segments, performance footage and clips from Smith family home movies, Family Movie unfolds with a gentle, justified confidence in the power of its subject.
  7. Scumrock
    Sweetly mocking comedy about the perils of reaching 30 with little to show for one's avant-gardeness except crazy hair and an ossifying attitude.
  8. Theeviravaathi: The Terrorist
    A heartbreaking reminder of all the wars whose frontlines are currently held by the very young, wars that have robbed them not only of family and friends, but of their childhoods as well.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Control Room
    Memorable, if not fully satisfying, film.
  10. In & Out
    Kline, Debbie Reynolds (as his mom) and Tom Selleck are all wonderful. But it's the always amazing Cusack, playing the baffled Emily, who steals the film in a smooth transition from wide-eyed fiancée to possibly wronged woman, a role she essays with a perfect balance of wounded-ness and comedic aplomb.
  11. The Road to El Dorado
    A snappy, delightfully balanced bit of historic whimsy.
  12. Everybody Says I'm Fine!
    Bose does a good job of keeping his melancholy tales loose with wry humor, and while not all of the episodes are successful, at their best they show real empathy for the complex lives of India's modern middle class.
  13. P.S. Your Cat Is Dead!
    It's Boyar who’s the find here, though, a gently magnetic presence who's all the more impressive for being thoroughly riveting despite spending most of the movie face-down on a counter.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Defendor
    Although Harrelson displays the right balance of sweetness and quiet instability, Defendor’s genial spirit fails to mesh with the filmmaker’s exploration of darker emotional terrain.
  15. The Fog
    Even amid all the campy, uneven creepiness The Fog unleashes, you have to give it up to Carpenter for continuing his knack of making women just as ready as men to get into heroic, survival mode whenever some strange shit goes down.
  16. Gladiator
    Filled with brilliant filmmaking and features outstanding performances, but it's neither profound enough nor pop enough to be great -- it's mournful, serious, beautiful and, finally, pointless.
  17. The Far Side of Jericho
    The movie gives every cheerful appearance of having been shot with no time and less money, and it doesn't have much on its mind, unless you count the moral integrity supplied by local Apaches more by way of Mel Brooks than Howard Hawks.
  18. Corpse Bride
    There is much clattering and clanking plus a couple of songs; some of the gothic-inspired, neo-Victorian visuals are quite arresting; and the corpse bride herself is, dare one say, surprisingly hot. But the whole thing just isn’t much fun.
  19. The Patriot
    Patriot reflects on nothing, except perhaps that the American Revolution was a golden opportunity for Mel Gibson to go postal.
  20. La Nouvelle Ève
    Corsini's insight into the psyche of this contemporary woman doesn't have much of a point because it tells us nothing new.
  21. Eyes Wide Shut
    It's good -- when it's not adrift in an absence of meaning.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Milarepa
    Engages on a narrative level; however, Chokling’s direction fails to give the story any period texture or visceral emotion.
  23. A Beautiful Mind
    While I don't doubt that Howard's done the best he can, it's sad to see a beautiful mind whittled down by such a plain one.
  24. Night Watch: Nochnoi Dozor
    In the final act, the movie dons a more human face and commits to an absorbing tale of crime and punishment, albeit pushing the fatigued message that you can't always tell light from dark these days.
  25. Frailty
    Audiences are destined to debate the film's final scenes, where Hanley piles on plot twists, leading to a coda that turns a creepily ambiguous story about God and the terrifying power of paternal love into something closer to an X-File.
  26. Nicholas Nickleby
    In his capable, yet only mildly exciting, adaptation of Charles Dickens’ third novel, Douglas McGrath (Emma) keeps reminding us that what we’re seeing is theater. This feels gratuitous.
  27. Liam
    At once a heartfelt story about a family undone by violence and an overburdened allegory of fascism.
  28. Romy and Michele's High School Reunion
    It's the spark and surprise of good sketch comedy that makes this film really work--the laugh-out-loud moments are worth the wait.
  29. I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
    If nothing else, Chuck & Larry should open up a whole new career path for the ineffably funny, unselfconsciously buck-naked Ving Rhames as an übermacho firefighter who’s been sitting on a little secret of his own.
  30. Big Momma's House 2
    Mercifully free of excess mania, sexual innuendo and fart jokes, this sweet-natured comedy, ably directed by John Whitesell (Malibu's Most Wanted), has some nice bits of business.
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