Los Angeles Times' Scores

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For 16,550 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 2.2 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: 8,714 out of 16550
  2. Mixed: 5,819 out of 16550
  3. Negative: 2,017 out of 16550
16550 movie reviews
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  1. The Cookout
    Good-natured but it's a dud.
  2. Big Girls Don't Cry
    A refreshing reminder that learning how to navigate danger is a big part of being a teenager, and that no kind of upbringing - or nifty home furnishings - can or should shield a young adult from life outside her doors.
  3. Warriors of Heaven and Earth
    May be a period piece but there's nothing antiquated about it except an overly populated, initially hard-to-follow plot.
  4. Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War
    With killing as an end in itself, combatants lose sight of what they were supposed to be taking up arms for in the first place. It's a terrible lesson, and one that Tae Guk Gi teaches with unexpected confidence.
  5. Wicker Park
    An elegant tale of romantic obsession weighed down by a needlessly convoluted plot that yields far more confusion than psychological suspense.
  6. Paparazzi
    It was shrewdly written by Forrest Smith and directed crisply by Paul Abascal (Gibson's onetime hairdresser) for maximum visceral impact upon the susceptible.
  7. Vanity Fair
    It almost makes you wonder whether Vanity Fair is not the perfect text for a lesson in Buddhist detachment. Certainly, Vanity Fair is a never-ending Western story that benefits from Nair's philosophically Eastern point of view.
  8. Suspect Zero
    Merhige understands how exciting going to the edge of credibility can be without falling off, and he has the bravura talent and imagination needed to pull off the sheer, hurtling audacity of Suspect Zero.
  9. The Brown Bunny
    How much you enjoy the experience will depend on your take on Gallo. If you think he's a brilliant, satirical cut-up, then The Brown Bunny is an elaborate and successful art prank. If you think he's a pretentious, self-obsessed, tedious weirdo, then The Brown Bunny will back you up 100%
  10. Bush's Brain
    Only partially convincing.
  11. Hero
    Led by director Zhang Yimou and dazzling cinematographer Christopher Doyle, the unseen Hero production team has made what just might be the most artistically sophisticated, most formally beautiful martial arts film the genre has seen.
  12. Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid
    A highly entertaining movie assured of its genre-jumping potential.
  13. Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2
    May quite easily put an end to any discussion of what is the worst theatrical release of 2004.
  14. L.A. Twister
    In trying to qualify as mordant satire, charming rom-com, uplifting buddy movie about underdogs trying to stick it to the man and the most meta story ever told, L.A. Twister sprains itself badly.
  15. Bright Leaves
    Inevitably poignant but also often amusing and always deeply touching.
  16. End of the Century
    An engaging and emotional documentary.
  17. Almost Peaceful
    Succeeds as a delicately moving memory piece about a subject not often put on film: the process of moving on into ordinary life after surviving the Holocaust.
  18. Nicotina
    Nicotina's every loser, criminal, dreamer, crank and cynic is flawed, but their flaws are primal and as human as thumbs. In the end, it's this grim but tender view of humanity that gives the movie its appealing combination of mordant humor and cheerful pessimism.
  19. Rosenstrasse
    Most important is the film's consistent unexpectedness. Rosenstrasse captures well not only the varying states of mind and levels of awareness in Germany during World War II but also the era's lingering effect upon its survivors.
  20. Mean Creek
    Mean Creek's greatest asset is its sense of truth. It doesn't pander to or indulge its characters like the teen films we're used to. It looks at them straight ahead and with respect. It's something you wish Hollywood, and even parents, did more often.
  21. Bright Young Things
    As faithful to the spirit of the novel, and the era that inspired it, as a movie could be yet still feel as fresh as Paris Hilton dish on Page Six.
  22. Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War
    There are hopeful notes here. If you are looking for examples for America's finest hour, it's not our rush to start an optional war but rather that an anti-administration film like this can still be made and still be seen.
  23. Red Lights
    Taut, atmospheric, impeccably made psychological thriller.
  24. Exorcist: The Beginning
    A perfectly mediocre horror film. There is some hoot-inducing dialogue and cheesy effects, but the film's workmanlike narrative marches gamely forward, managing a handful of respectable scares along the way.
  25. Benji: Off the Leash!
    Unfortunately, the new film does not live up to the low-key charm of the original. It's essentially a long-form public service announcement extolling the virtues of animal adoption and decrying the scourge of unfettered dog breeding.
  26. Without a Paddle
    Despite some agreeably idiotic moments, Without a Paddle is also mostly without a rudder. Its few memorable highlights end up floating haplessly in a genial but uninspired and watery plot.
  27. AVP: Alien vs. Predator
    Surprisingly free of gore, unlike its predecessors.
  28. Anatomy 2
    Suspenseful entertainment -- but it's also a suitably chilling cautionary tale.
  29. The Leopard (re-release)
    The film is a glittering triumph of personal expression at its most elegant and opulent.
  30. We Don't Live Here Anymore
    Affecting and sincere in the best sense, which makes up for the whiff of anachronism and the creakiness of some of the big metaphoric moments.
  31. Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie
    The appeal of Yu-Gi-Oh! for kids who play the card game shouldn't be too much of a mystery -- at least to any adult who admits to tuning in to celebrity poker on TV.
  32. Danny Deckchair
    As instantly gratifying and devoid of surprises as a Club Med vacation. It bears no relation to reality whatsoever, but sometimes it's nice to imagine that, somewhere, there's a place nothing like home.
  33. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
    Like its predecessor, it's Hollywood hokum at its most glamorous and effective.
  34. Bang Rajan
    The vigorous Bang Rajan moves with a sure sense of direction and authority to its major culminating battle, a singularly savage and wrenching encounter that for all its bloodshed is never exploitative and concludes the film on a resounding note of tragic grandeur.
  35. Last Life in the Universe
    The stars and Doyle's expressive cinematography add up to a disarmingly seductive yet always precarious film experience.
  36. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
    Keeps its filmmakers behind the camera and does without the personality-driven "Fahrenheit's" sarcastic sense of humor.
  37. Stander
    Crackles with forceful portrayals. Funny, violent, impassioned and inescapably poignant, Stander in no way sanctions Stander's turning to a life of crime yet has the courage to see him as a victim of apartheid himself.
  38. Code 46
    Winterbottom, who's never been a director with a gift for warmth, can't make this romance come alive. Morton and Robbins are gifted actors, but they seem straitjacketed here, and the film finds it difficult to avoid tedium as their lugubrious relationship unfolds.
  39. Little Black Book
    It's an irrefutably bad movie, littered with paper-thin characters, crummy dialogue and a mawkish undercurrent that wells up any time it starts to resemble something smarter and snappier. Yet it is somehow redeemed by Murphy's agreeably quirky performance in a horribly underwritten role.
  40. Open Water
    An expertly made suspense thriller based on an actual incident, but on a visceral level it's about as much fun as watching someone pull the wings off a butterfly.
  41. Collateral
    As a result of Mann's craftsmanship and concern, Collateral crackles with energy and purpose, a propulsive film with character on its mind and confident men and women on both sides of the camera.
  42. Festival Express
    There were greater rock festivals and there are greater rock movies, but nothing existed quite like this mobile bacchanal, nicely preserved in Festival Express.
  43. Gozu
    The film unfolds as if it were a dream in which taboo subconscious urges surface symbolically as in a Dali painting, yet everything takes place in everyday settings.
  44. Gender Bias
    Transfixed is a solid, engaging example of how a genre plot can illuminate a marginalized world.
  45. Thunderbirds
    Aside from a couple of rescue set pieces that bookend it, the film is strictly low-wattage in terms of action.
  46. The Village
    It's tedious instead of provocative and so unconvincing as to be preposterous.
  47. Intimate Strangers
    Patrice Leconte has long ago mastered a Gallic specialty: the knack of making impeccably polished, graceful films with an unpretentious ease while allowing them to emerge seeming fresh and spontaneous. Leconte's latest film to reach the U.S. reveals him to be at his slyest best.
  48. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
    That Cho and Penn are such likable actors and are so funny in their roles earns the movie more slack than it probably deserves and prevents it from being just another gross-out comedy.
  49. The Manchurian Candidate
    The strength of sensational material joined to excellent acting, superior filmmaking and uncanny political relevance has made The Manchurian Candidate into exceptionally intelligent entertainment and a high point of director Jonathan Demme's career.
  50. Proteus
    Proteus is involving and affecting even if it is not completely coherent or fully realized.
  51. The Burial Society
    The gimmicky nature of the flashbacks weakens the story and lessens the film's suspense. Nevertheless, The Burial Society is a clever, spiritual film that argues that God sees all and, what's more, he's always right.
  52. She Hate Me
    Lee's energy never flags, and She Hate Me resonates with authority and impact and daring, but the messages it sends are mixed.
  53. Garden State
    Garden State illuminates a young man's overdue coming of age with unexpected depth and grace.
  54. Los Angeles Plays Itself
    It is a remarkable work, quite likely the best documentary on the City of Angels ever made.
  55. Orwell Rolls in His Grave
    Enlightening, at times disturbing, and always provocative, but Pappas manages to end with a glimmer of hope.
  56. This Old Cub
    Though at times sentimental, the documentary is a terrific character sketch, capturing both the rough edges and the compassion of its subject.
  57. Catwoman
    Not everybody will be able to swallow its heady romanticism, yet its French director, Pitof, has brought sophistication to a comic book sensibility, which helps some purple patches of dialogue along with other absurdities.
  58. Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut
    “Donnie Darko" was one of the best pictures released in 2001. Now that it has returned in a 20-minute longer--and richer -- director's cut, it seems sure to be ranked as one of the key American films of the decade.
  59. Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
    The film is especially strong in its second half, which is dominated by contemporary footage of Zinn.
  60. A Home at the End of the World
    Charged by a passion for life, A Home at the End of the World is a major achievement.
  61. The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi
    Kitano uses exaggerated acting, choreo-graphed violence and, most radically, the rhythms of everyday life -- farmers pounding the earth, the syncopated plop of falling rain -- to turn this genre story into a crypto-Kabuki play and one blissfully idiosyncratic diversion.
  62. Ju-on: The Grudge
    The film's repetitious, episodic structure seems to unnecessarily alleviate the building tension, making it a far less frightening film than it might have been.
  63. The Bourne Supremacy
    Rarely does pop come with such sizzle.
  64. Zhou Yu de huo che
    Seems at once overwhelmingly romantic and elliptical, yet all the while it has been building to a conclusion that is surprisingly affecting in the jolt of recognition it elicits.
  65. A Cinderella Story
    Unfortunately, "Cinderella" feels like a pro forma TV movie from the get-go and relies almost entirely on Duff's likability to hold the audience's attention.
  66. Maria Full of Grace
    In its vitality and finesse, Maria Full of Grace is all of a piece -- and both artistically and spiritually itself full of grace.
  67. Touch of Pink
    Lively and often comical.
  68. I, Robot
    More disturbing, yet another robot, or maybe two, seems to have written a Hollywood script and hijacked a major studio production. Given the film's assembly-line screenplay and mechanistic storytelling, no other explanation seems viable. Certainly no one with a heartbeat or taste would blow so much talent, time and resources on such rubbishy writing.
  69. Flavors
    Aims for a kind of hip cultural fusion but lacks the sharp satirical perspective to pull it off.
  70. Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme
    Even if you have no previous interest in or extensive knowledge of hip-hop, Freestyle will draw you in, accomplishing that rare feat of making the creative process interesting while also telling a story.
  71. The Door in the Floor
    Bridges turns a two-dimensional image into a presence so vital, so filled with breath and blood, that you uneasily fall in love with his character and abandon all thought of the artifice that's brought it to life.
  72. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
    By turns exasperating, appalling and surprisingly empathetic -- sometimes all in the same moment -- the three members of Metallica quickly emerge as the main attractions in Some Kind of Monster, but not for the reasons you might expect.
  73. The Inheritance
    A powerhouse. Highly dramatic and intensely emotional, blessed with strong themes and an unstoppable narrative drive, it is adult, intelligent entertainment of a kind we rarely see these days.
  74. Sleepover
    A skillfully made teen comedy with such an endearing sensibility that it's fun even for those old enough to be the grandparents of its stars.
  75. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
    In this context Ferrell seems more than just comic relief. He's a reminder that the greatest, deepest laughter doesn't come at the expense of some other guy, but from the glints of self-recognition we get when the screen becomes our mirror.
  76. Riding Giants
    For those who do enjoy being smacked around by the ocean, for those who thrill to the romance and hype of extreme surfing and dig the outsider aspect of this rarefied culture or at least its marketed cool, this film will likely be their ticket to ride a board by proxy.
  77. King Arthur
    A nutty, often enjoyable farrago of craft and cinematic sampling, King Arthur moves fast and loose, and is almost aggressive in its absence of an original idea, in and of itself a Bruckheimer trademark.
  78. Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi
    May ultimately be slight, but its appeal lies in its ability to find hope and strength in the soulful eyes of a gentle teenager.
  79. America's Heart and Soul
    This is an undeniably gorgeous film, with tremendous sweep and a great feel for vast landscapes and glittering cityscapes. Schwartzberg has captured a sense of the country's grandeur.
  80. The Clearing
    A beautiful and consistently engaging film, but that the filmmakers dared cast all three lead roles with actors who are over 40 makes it especially rewarding.
  81. Before Sunset
    Because Linklater now wears his heart on his sleeve, he has made a film that in its joy, optimism and aesthetic achievement keeps faith with American cinema at its finest.
  82. De-Lovely
    Something certainly blows here, but it isn't the archangel's horn.
  83. Spider-Man 2
    As played by Alfred Molina with both computer-generated and puppeteer assistance, Doc Ock grabs this film with his quartet of sinisterly serpentine mechanical arms and refuses to let go.
  84. The Notebook
    Cassavetes isn't much of a director and he never settles on a mood, which he seems intent on ruining with hiccups of goofiness. But there's an underlying humanity to his scenes, a sense that movies are made by people for other people.
  85. Bought & Sold
    The story wraps a little too neatly and backs away from some of its darker impulses but is finally a sweet-natured tale of male rituals and cultural adaptation in urban America.
  86. The Intended
    The misguided, delirious result offers the perverse guilty pleasure of watching a roster of distinguished actors earnestly swimming against a tidal wave of silliness.
  87. Kaena: The Prophecy
    There are moments in Kaena that are absorbing, but too much of the time it simply becomes tedious.
  88. Time of the Wolf
    One of the most harrowing and plausible visions of apocalypse since George A. Romero's 1968 zombie shocker, "Night of the Living Dead."
  89. Two Brothers
    Only the tigers, beautiful and dangerous, maintain their integrity. By staying true to themselves, they make nothing else matter.
  90. White Chicks
    Even if it lingers a bit too long, White Chicks represents a solid accomplishment for the crowd-pleasing Wayans brothers.
  91. Fahrenheit 9/11
    Michael Moore in Fahrenheit 9/11 has launched an unapologetic attack, both savage and savvy, on an administration he feels has betrayed the best of America and done extensive damage in the world.
  92. Swing
    All surface shine with little substance.
  93. The Hunting of the President
    Worthy of being seen as more than a potential double-bill partner for "Fahrenheit 9/11."
  94. Facing Windows
    Far from a simple, feel-good story of self-discovery, Facing Windows delivers a challenging examination of loneliness and human interaction.
  95. Seducing Doctor Lewis
    The kind of shrewd, genial comedy it provides doesn't intend to break new ground, but its traditional satisfactions are so effectively done and so long in coming our way that to see it is to realize just how hungry we've been for this kind of old-fashioned treat.
  96. Father and Son
    Nothing much happens by way of plot in the course of Father and Son, but it offers a fresh and often startling vision of one of the most fundamental relationships between human beings.
  97. The Terminal
    Entertainment like this is too hard to find to second-guess for too long.
  98. What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?
    As entertainment, the movie is a mixed bag. Some of the talking heads become just that after a while.
  99. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
    Mean-spirited vulgarity and homosexual panic.
  100. À cause d'un garçon
    There's a naturalness to the entire cast, yet there is considerable depth to the portrayals, and the interplay between the characters is exceptionally rich and nuanced.
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