L.A. Weekly's Scores

Select another publication »
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
view
per page
  1. Titus
    Taymor has done an inspired job of resurrecting one of Shakespeare's unruliest works, just in time for the new century.
  2. City of Ghosts
    Dillon doesn't yet possess the directorial chops to give his story the necessary snap; the action too often feels poky and muffled. But he does have a strong sense of place, and the movie's almost worth seeing just for Jim Denault's exquisite cinematography.
  3. Amen.
    Subtle distinctions have not been Costa-Gavras' long suit, but urgency becomes him in this forceful and intelligent evocation.
  4. Hannibal
    The flabbiest of cop-outs. Moore gives a flat, spiritless performance, almost matched by that of Anthony Hopkins, who, notwithstanding the Armani threads, shuffles around like a pensioner in bedroom slippers.
  5. My Life Without Me
    My Life Without Me was produced by the studio of Pedro Almodóvar, and one sees the Spanish director's influence in the way Polley edges her Madonna with a touch of the reckless sensualist.
  6. Code 46
    If the movie is finally something of a failure as a romance, it's rarely less than a triumph of soulful imagination.
  7. Faster
    An awesome introduction to the sport and the outspoken personalities -- riders, mechanics, engineers, lorry drivers, commentators, fans and girlfriends -- who support it.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Derailroaded
    In spite of its sympathy, Derailroaded veers into reality-TV voyeurism whenever the former street singer bemoans his lack of fame or breaks into childish caterwauling.
  9. Mardi Gras: Made in China
    Smart, witty look at the human cost of free-market reforms and globalization.
  10. Funny Money
    Never-hilarious but often-quite-amusing film.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Ten 'til Noon
    In more experienced hands, perhaps a great story could be told, but Ten ’Til Noon has two major factors working against it. First, the acting is wildly uneven...Second, once the conspiracy is more or less revealed, the story ceases to be interesting.
  12. Gandhi, My Father
    Gandhi, My Father radiates sincerity. It’s a beautifully shot and staged period reconstruction, and is at times impressively acted, at least in the secondary roles. What it lacks is fresh insight.
  13. Laura Smiles
    It casts an increasingly hypnotic spell, thanks in no small measure to Wright -- a fearless actress (and the real-life wife of writer-director Ruscio) who brings this sometimes despicable, often heartbreaking character to life with every atom of her being.
    • 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 Muse
    If only the whole thing were as funny as an Albert Brooks movie.
  16. Hatchet
    This horror comedy is loaded with decapitations, bodies torn in two and spewing blood, and yet, unlike the grim, torture-filled gore-fests of late, Hatchet’s mayhem is so giddily over-the-top that you end up applauding the low-budget aplomb of it all.
  17. The House with a Clock in Its Walls
    Since the movie is in such a hurry, we’re not given much chance to soak in this strangeness. Making up for it: Black is paired with Blanchett, who plays a neighboring witch in smashing violet skirt ensembles; the two rat-a-tat insults at each other like a vaudevillian comedy duo.
  18. Strangers with Candy
    The film is never really more than a series of loosely connected riffs and set pieces. That'd be fine except much of it is slack and airless; the laughs are many but they're too spread out -- a far cry from the series' heyday of taut, rapid-fire lunacy. Still, it's worth catching the film just for Sedaris' performance.
  19. Bubba Ho-tep
    Campbell is flat-out great, muting his beloved Sam Raimi shtick in favor of a genuine character turn, an act of transformation that makes you wonder why he's never been called on to interpret Elvis before.
  20. Coach Carter
    The corniness and predictability feel, if not quite fresh, then not so groaningly stale.
  21. Assisted Living
    Yet for all its willful blurring of the lines between documentary and fiction, Assisted Living is the least self-conscious of movies.
  22. High School Musical 3: Senior Year
    Set against a production design seemingly inspired by the American flag, director Kenny Ortega's choreography is industrial and efficient, if haplessly stranded somewhere between Michael Jackson and the Village People.
  23. The Great New Wonderful
    Writer Sam Catlin and director Danny Leiner have fashioned an alert, shrewdly observed portrait of a moment in time.
  24. Traveller
    It's fine acting of - and chemistry - between Paxton, Margulies and Mark Wahlberg that gives this film (written by Jim McGlynn, directed by Jack Green) its kick.
    • L.A. Weekly
  25. The Tavern
    Although on the surface this is a modest comedy about the Catch-22 frustrations of the restaurant game (arcane insurance laws, backstabbing chefs), it is also a movie of some psychological depth, thanks to the understated precision of Dye's deep-welled performance.
  26. Up at the Villa
    Impressive supporting cast---, in character parts both expanded and invented, enrich the enterprise.
  27. The Man from Elysian Fields
    Despite its dry wit and compassion, the film suffers from a philosophical emptiness and maddeningly sedate pacing, and, in the end, the only aspect of the movie that truly commands attention is Jagger's desperately inexpressive acting, which hasn’t improved one iota since "Ned Kelly."
  28. Alila
    Though absorbing enough, Alila must be counted a noble failure, if only because its efforts to follow the screwed-up lives of 12 hapless souls in a seedy Tel Aviv apartment building finally add up more to mere mimicry than commentary.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    First Love
    The film, which is directed by Matteo Garrone (The Embalmer), could do with a bit more plot: It doesn't resolve so much as collapse in utter desolation.
  30. Antibodies
    Antibodies is fairly riveting, thanks to Alvart's command of craft and tone. He's a director to watch.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »