Los Angeles Times' Scores

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For 16,522 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 56% higher than the average critic
  • 6% same as the average critic
  • 38% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.3 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 63
Highest review score: 100 Sand Storm
Lowest review score: 0 Saw VI
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8,697 out of 16522
  2. Mixed: 5,808 out of 16522
  3. Negative: 2,017 out of 16522
16522 movie reviews
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  1. The Visitor
    An unassuming but quietly heartbreaking drama.
  2. Chaos Theory
    Not exactly bad, but it disappointingly never really discovers the movie that it wants to be.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Take
    If you were going to show what happens to a man who loses the best part of himself, you'd want to cast John Leguizamo, who has spent his career leaping from one extreme characterization to another.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Bra Boys
    The contrast between grainy videos of street fights and gorgeous scenes of the same boys conquering enormous waves is simultaneously inspiring and sad. Imagine a world in which gang members looked forward to singing in the Sunday choir.
  5. Jack and Jill vs. the World
    Bubbly to the point of indigestion and mechanical about ticking off the romantic trajectory.
  6. Smart People
    It's the kind of observational comedy, that'll be hard to find come summertime and should be enjoyed while there's still a chance.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Remember the Daze
    If you swiped the most insipid dialogue of the teenage-angst movies of John Hughes and Kevin Smith and Amy Heckerling, you would still have a script -- and a movie -- far superior to the newest of the genre, Remember the Daze.
  8. Body of War
    Politics recede in the face of the realities of Young's life, and Spiro and Donahue would have succeeded in making the same point had they omitted all but his day-to-day existence. Together, however, they comprise a powerful indictment of the tactical politics that led to the invasion and a heartbreaking account of one man's living with the aftermath.
  9. Young@Heart
    This may sound like a suspect enterprise, a musical gimmick impossible to embrace, but the reality is otherwise. For what the members of this uncanny chorus lack in pure ability they make up for in irrepressible spirits and a desire to simply have fun.
  10. Flight of the Red Balloon
    The camera is so unobtrusive and the acting so naturalistic that it takes a while for a narrative to emerge. When it finally does, you're surprised to find you're deeply invested in the characters.
  11. Meduzot
    Yes, Jellyfish says, it's a wonderful life, not in that old-fashioned style we've perhaps tired of but in a surprising new and magical way all its own.
  12. Leatherheads
    Leatherheads proceeds agreeably, hitting occasional high notes when it isn't getting bogged down in forced slapstick hi-jinks.
  13. Meet Bill
    It isn't any good.
  14. My Blueberry Nights
    The use of recognizable movie stars doesn't help, r serve Wong's style. My Blueberry Nights" should have played like a memory, but its hard-living, luckless losers are too beautiful to be believed.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Nim's Island
    The premise, from the book by Wendy Orr, is terrific, but the execution seems designed to make all but the youngest viewers fling copies of the book at the screen in frustration.
  16. The Ruins
    The characters never evolve past mere functionality, and the adherence to certain tried-and-true horror tropes -- the good girl who doesn't want to go but does, the generic naughty kids who get it first -- feels workmanlike, robbing the story of any real suspense or surprise.
  17. Shine a Light
    Shine a Light may not be the last Rolling Stones movie, but it's likely to be the last one with a touch of the poet about it.
  18. Water Lilies
    The elegant Water Lilies is not about answers but about discovery of self and of others in all its pain and pleasure.
  19. Tuya's Marriage
    Thoroughly gratifying in its consistent inventiveness and has a grasp of human nature so universal that there's no feeling of the exotic about the film and its people.
  20. Run, Fatboy, Run
    Snarkiness and sentiment are in constant battle for supremacy throughout Run, Fat Boy, Run with no chance of a comfortable draw.
  21. 21
    What might have been a complex story dealing with greed and high-stakes betrayal among the young intellectual elite in America's gaming playground is instead treated as a slick, glossy romp.
  22. My Brother Is an Only Child
    Petraglia and Rulli once again display their gift for bringing the texture of reality to family drama, for creating people and situations that involve us completely. My Brother Is an Only Child is not the only film that does this, but it's a product that's in shorter and shorter supply every year.
  23. Priceless
    A cynic is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing, or so the saying goes, but the unadulterated joy Irène takes in throwing open the closet door to show Jean how this gold digging is done is positively infectious.
  24. Stop-Loss
    Stop-Loss is a film that does it right.
  25. Superhero Movie
    The very act of writing critically about Superhero Movie inspires something of an existential crisis -- no one likely to turn out for it is reading this review, and anybody reading this review is probably not inclined to see it under any circumstances.
  26. Alexandra
    The luminous humanity that characterizes the films of Alexander Sokurov is in full force in Alexandra. On the surface, it is a work of the utmost simplicity but is charged with the eternal complexities and contradictions of both love and war.
  27. Shotgun Stories
    An understated gem. Writer-director Jeff Nichols, making his feature debut, has created a richly textured world.
  28. Drillbit Taylor
    Wilson is as sincere as ever at being insincere, though the sweet minor notes of his trademark melancholia seem here to be in search of a more boisterous presence -- say a Vince Vaughn -- to riff with.
  29. The Grand
    Lacks any sort of urgency or inner propulsion; the actors do their little goofs, then hand them off to the next, lending the jest the frolicking but ultimately monotonous quality of a game of tag.
  30. The Hammer
    What you have here, essentially, is a classic "Honeymooners" episode juiced with tropes from the most recent "Rocky" movie.
  31. Meet the Browns
    Even his brief appearance onscreen as his most popular character, Madea, the sassy, tough-talking grandma, feels like a calculated addition rather than an organic necessity.
  32. Boarding Gate
    The plot may be murky, but actress Asia Argento is a clear and commanding force throughout.
  33. Love Songs
    An attractive and talented young cast brings this graceful film alive in all its tenderness and emotion.
  34. Irina Palm
    Genially preposterous and pleasantly diverting, it balances calculation against humanity and generally comes out on top.
  35. Under the Same Moon (La misma luna)
    This largely Spanish-language film brings on the waterworks because its core story is undeniably affecting. The whole movie, however, would be more convincing if the elements around that vital core were more multidimensional and less contrived.
  36. Doomsday
    Just to shake things up a little, I guess, the creators of the laughably over-the-top Doomsday thought it might be fun to turn the survivors of a deadly epidemic, rather than its victims, into maniacal murderers.
  37. Horton Hears a Who!
    Unlike so many computer-animated movies, "Horton" doesn't have that garish, sealed-in-plastic effect that can be so claustrophobic.
  38. Never Back Down
    A disposable sports drama.
  39. Sleepwalking
    Terrific performances and a bleak, riveting look at life on the economic fringes eventually gives way to an overly familiar tale of abuse, denial and catharsis that feels like warmed over Sam Shepard minus the poetry.
  40. Funny Games (2008)
    In the end, the difference between "Funny Games" and Hollywood schlock horror may only be a matter of breeding. Funny Games is "Saw IV" with a PhD.
  41. Blind Mountain
    This is a resolutely tough-minded, beautifully crafted film so compelling as to make bearable watching the nearly unbearable.
  42. 10,000 BC
    10,000 BC is as crazy as it wants to be, plundering the past and other movies with that peculiar Hollywood combination of the earnest and the preposterous that can result in the guiltiest of guilty pleasures.
  43. The Bank Job
    The film dawdles at times. but for the most part Donaldson keeps just the right amount of tension present in each scene.
  44. College Road Trip
    As over-the-top as Raven-Symoné and Lawrence are, the most live-action cartoon characters in College Road Trip are the father-daughter tandem of Doug (Donny Osmond) and Wendy (Molly Ephraim), whose nitro-powered perkiness pass the point of grating and move into a perversely antic state of grace.
  45. Married Life
    The appeal of the cast, the witty dialogue, the gorgeous costumes and production design, and the refreshingly grown-up subject matter can't be discounted. Maybe it is about compromise, after all, because though Married Life has its moments, it's bewildering as a whole.
  46. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
    Bharat Nalluri directs with a light touch and a great eye for costumes and sets, which are gorgeous enough to make up for any contrivances in the plot. It's pure romantic fantasy, and you won't believe it for a minute. But it's fun to watch Miss Pettigrew and Miss Lafosse live for a couple of hours.
  47. Paranoid Park
    Youth and death meet again in Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park, a gorgeously stark, mesmerizingly elliptical story told in the same lyrical-prosaic style that has characterized his latest films.
  48. Snow Angels
    Despite all-around wonderful performances and excellent dialogue, the story never quite coheres narratively. Instead it moves toward a hopelessly bleak -- and I mean bleak -- climax that's more traumatic than dramatic.
  49. CJ7
    As clumsy and awkward as his previous films were stylishly silly.
  50. Girls Rock!
    Though Girls Rock! is nothing if not well meaning, it doesn't always feel like the best possible film on the subject.
  51. Blindsight
    Walker was the best choice to document this journey. For one thing, her first film, "Devil's Playground," and its examination of how Amish teenagers react when confronted with the outside world, showed her to be both curious and fearless. Plus, it turns out she is herself blind in one eye.
  52. City of Men
    Morelli uses plentiful flashbacks drawn from the earlier movie and television series that are at times intrusive to the narrative but eventually serve to deepen the relationship of Ace and Laranjinha.
  53. Vivere
    The wave-like "Rashomon" structure of the story, combined with the steady pace and moody look of Vivere are lulling, but in the end the situation is neither believable nor fantastic enough to be very compelling.
  54. Bonneville
    Scarcely original and in no way earthshaking, but its notable cast is a pleasure to behold.
  55. Chicago 10
    Morgen's decision to avoid talking heads recounting events and find a way to dramatize them instead is consistent with his intention for the film. The director wants to bring recent history to life for people who weren't around to witness it, and in that he succeeds pretty admirably.
  56. The Other Boleyn Girl
    Not content to be a mildly diverting royal bodice-ripper, it spirals out of control into the kind of overwrought dramaturgy that's out of its league.
  57. Penelope
    There's no real rigor or craft applied to this story -- just mood, tone, neo-gothic imagery and frantic attitude. If only Penelope knew what it truly wished to be and how to go about it. Which is probably what this overly coy fantasy's modestly appealing title character wishes as well.
  58. Romulus, My Father
    For all its sad moments, Romulus, My Father is a love story between father and son kept aloft by unalloyed admiration.
  59. Semi-Pro
    Harrelson and Maura Tierney, who plays Monix's love interest, seem to be inhabiting a different, more interesting, movie, one that follows the familiar path of a has-been athlete seeking redemption at what looks like his last stop. The strange thing is that the subplot is so tangential to the rest of the movie that the scenes could be omitted with no one the wiser.
  60. The Unforeseen
    Though The Unforeseen has a few too many clips of Robert Redford, its environmentalist executive producer, its strength is its realization that these unforeseen developments are making few people happy.
  61. Chop Shop
    Chop Shop"exudes a sense of joyousness amid harshness. Bahrani celebrates those who never give up, no matter how badly their dreams are shattered.
  62. Charlie Bartlett
    For the most part, it's an uneven if amiable and occasionally inspired comedy about getting through adolescence that hits some false notes along the way.
  63. Be Kind Rewind
    Sweet-natured and likable as the movie is, it never really delivers on the promise of its ingenious premise, which hints at a subversive retelling of mainstream Hollywood movies but stops short at goofy homage.
  64. The Counterfeiters
    The Counterfeiters demonstrates that no matter how many Holocaust stories the movies tell, there are always new and unexpected ones waiting to be revealed.
  65. Vantage Point
    The truth is that two other films with Greengrass' name on them, "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum," have spoiled us for this kind of thriller filmmaking, and stacked against that, Vantage Point doesn't have a chance.
  66. The Duchess of Langeais
    Jacques Rivette has brought the Balzac short story to screen as a superb chamber drama. His is a graceful work of austerity and formality that perfectly captures the chaos of repressed emotions that see beneath the rigid conventions of aristocratic society.
  67. Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
    The story possesses a true depth of character; there is every reason to hope that Anno’s multiple meanings become increasingly clear in the subsequent installments.
  68. Diary of the Dead
    The movie suffers from the same malaise Romero diagnoses in society. It's just too mediated to be scary, despite its zeal for gore. You can't feel the characters' fear, and they don't seem to feel it either.
  69. The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
    A sweet and somber film that works hard to overcome its limitations.
  70. Definitely, Maybe
    This is a film bound and determined to do whatever it takes to be your Valentine. If it had trusted itself more, it might even have succeeded.
  71. Jumper
    Jumper is all high concept with little invested in characters or story.
  72. The Spiderwick Chronicles
    Suffers slightly from that not-so-fresh feeling.
  73. The Band's Visit
    Both sweet-natured and sharply pointed, a film whose poignant, emotional effects and subtle acting sneak up on you.
  74. Fool's Gold
    It's a big, cheesy, familiar bore. With its garland of set pieces featuring Matthew McConaughey in mortal danger strung together by beach-groovy musical hooks, Fool's Gold feels at times like a third-rate Bond movie set to a Jimmy Buffett album.
    • 7 Metascore
    • 0 Critic Score
    The Hottie & the Nottie
    It's not like Paris Hilton to rise above her material, but The Hottie and the Nottie sinks so low that all she has to do is stand upright.
  76. In Bruges
    A dark comedy with a melancholy streak and punchy sense of humor.
  77. Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland
    Surprisingly endearing and chock-full of a genuine appreciation of the moment.
  78. Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins
    A near continuous assault of clichés, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins doesn't become truly bothersome until its denouement, when it attempts to wring unearned sentiment from the inevitable, awkwardly staged family rapprochement.
  79. A Walk to Beautiful
    A Walk to Beautiful will leave you speechless two times over -- first with despair, then with joy. Neither unmentionable subject matter nor nonexistent commercial prospects can keep this documentary from having a power over your heart that is unparalleled.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Spiral
    A middling, if stylish, psychological thriller making a perfunctory big-screen pit stop before its DVD release next week.
  81. Caramel
    It is sweet but not saccharine, an intimate film that doesn't stint on the desperation and anxiety that go along with the search for love.
  82. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert
    The Irish-pretty Cyrus exudes a goofball vitality and sunny work ethic that ultimately wins you over, despite the slickness of her vehicle. The 3-D camera throws drumsticks and confetti in our faces, but the technical effects seem superfluous to the star's bona-fide energy.
  83. Over Her Dead Body
    For what is essentially a screwball comedy, Over Her Dead Body is surprisingly uninspired, a frothy concept that offers little satisfaction in the way of execution.
  84. Strange Wilderness
    Despite the presence of funny guys such as Zahn, Garlin, Justin Long and Jonah Hill, along with veteran character actors Ernest Borgnine, Joe Don Baker and Robert Patrick, the movie fails to be even passably funny.
  85. The Witnesses
    The tone of The Witnesses is one of randomness. This makes for an ambling narrative, but an atmospheric one that feels authentic despite its unlikely character pairings.
  86. Rambo
    Moved to take charge by something like chivalry, Rambo hits his stride in the film's second half, meting out justice in an unjust world and ultimately the movie works best when warbling its out-of-tune greatest hits.
  87. Untraceable
    If Dick Wolf is interested in doing a "Law & Order: Cyber Crimes," he could do worse than to follow the lead of Untraceable, a diverting police procedural about an FBI unit tasked with sleuthing the Internet for mouse-wielding bad guys.
  88. The Air I Breathe
    A stew of cheap irony, ponderous but meaningless allegory, violence and pretension, the movie is all borrowed style and calculated pandering. It does, however, get more ludicrous by the minute. So in that sense, it's good for an occasional laugh.
  89. Alice's House
    What Teixeira has set out to do, and accomplished brilliantly, is to find drama and pathos in the mundane details, thoughtless betrayals and casual cruelties. What lingers after watching Alice's House are not the moments of conflict but the inexorable rhythms of daily life.
  90. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
    This is a film with a commitment to reality unlike any we're used to seeing.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    U2 3D
    For this longtime U2 fan, the U2 3D experience wasn't quite sensual enough, but to quote another Bono lyric, others may find it "even better than the real thing."
  92. Summer Palace
    For director Lou Ye, who also co-wrote the script and was a student in Beijing during that crucial year, Summer Palace is the story of his particular lost generation, a story he felt so deeply about he risked his career to tell it. Search out this vivid film in a theater. Don't let the sacrifices he made be in vain.
  93. Teeth
    Campy, shameless and sophisticated, Lichtenstein's debut is gutsy and original, and it makes "Juno" look positively tame by comparison.
  94. Cassandra's Dream
    An uninspired if perfectly watchable drama.
  95. Cloverfield
    Adept at wringing maximum suspense and might have reached the heights of the Korean monster film "The Host" but for the limitations of the camcorder ploy. While it injects the film with a run-and-gun urgency, the device grows tiresome and ultimately leaves the film shortchanged.
  96. Mad Money
    Keaton and Ted Danson, who plays her husband, Don, are the comedic bright spot in the movie, not least because they are ridiculous.
  97. 27 Dresses
    27 Dresses dutifully privileges its formulaic plot over its stick-figure characters, slapping a happy ending on a setup that, say, "Happiness" director Todd Solondz could have gone to town on.
  98. Taxi to the Dark Side
    As viewers of his Enron film will testify, Gibney is a scrupulous director, and Taxi to the Dark Side is filled with detailed factual information.
    • 15 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
    Its convictionless competence is merely dull, denying the pleasures of an outright howler without providing much else.
  100. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie
    Pirates relies more on classical and pop culture-driven references to deliver its worthwhile message.
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