Los Angeles Times' Scores

Select another publication »
For 16,520 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 16520
  2. Mixed: 5,806 out of 16520
  3. Negative: 2,017 out of 16520
16520 movie reviews
view
per page
  1. The Barbarian Invasions
    Bristling but finally surprisingly moving film.
  2. The Cat in the Hat
    Critics are paid to suffer bad art, no matter how icky it is from the start. So all we could do was to Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! And we did not like it. Not one little bit.
  3. The Missing
    The combined intensity of these two performances (Jones and Blanchett) obliterates objections and raises the stakes in what might otherwise have been a standard western.
  4. The Singing Forest
    Awkwardly staged and edited and fitted out with an overly intrusive score drawn primarily from classical music, the film consistently subverts the earnest efforts of its cast.
  5. One from the Heart (re-release)
    Francis Ford Coppola has reworked somewhat and meticulously restored his ambitious 1982 romantic musical fantasy One From the Heart, out of circulation for more than 20 years, but for all his efforts it stubbornly remains a bold experiment in style and technique that doesn't work.
  6. The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John
    Though it has loftier aims, it is in reality strictly a film made by believers for believers. It's like the Discovery Channel version of the Greatest Story Ever Told, an earnest, not particularly distinguished piece of work that has none of the touch of the poet that made Pasolini's "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" such a triumph.
  7. Tupac: Resurrection
    Especially good at showing how unnervingly, even heartbreakingly contradictory this man could be.
  8. Looney Tunes: Back in Action
    Looney Tunes doesn't have much on its addled mind other than pure entertainment, and on this level it succeeds quite nicely.
  9. I Vitelloni [re-release]
    It was this ineffably poignant semiautobiographical reverie that unleashed fully Fellini's shimmering, flowing poetic style, echoed perfectly in a plaintive score by Fellini's potently evocative collaborator, Nino Rota.
  10. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
    Few actors can be as convincing as leaders of men, and to see Crowe as Capt. Jack Aubrey in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is to see a consummate performer doing what he does best.
  11. Anything But Love
    Robert Cary's Anything but Love is that rarity, an hommage to the sweeping Technicolor Hollywood love story of the '40s and '50s that works.
  12. My Architect
    Nathaniel Kahn is very much a presence in this film, at times too much so. The title is properly read with the emphasis on the "my," and the work itself is a plea, understandable but disconcerting at times in its nakedness, to be linked irrevocably to his father.
  13. In My Skin
    Spectacularly grotesque and literally nauseating, even for this usually intrepid moviegoer, In My Skin is among the more disturbing films in this blood-drenched cinematic season.
  14. Gloomy Sunday
    A beautiful period piece, set against one of the world's glorious cities, adding poignancy. Twists and turns heighten a gradually accruing effect, building to a risky moment of truth, a coup de théâtre that is as daring as it is satisfying.
  15. Elf
    Directed by Jon Favreau from a script by David Berenbaum, Elf returns to the hip but warm-hearted spirit of "Swingers," which Favreau both wrote and starred in. It brings sophisticated glee and a sense of innocent fun to what could have been a moribund traditional family film.
  16. Love Actually
    Though it would be dishonest to call this an unqualified success, it would be churlish not to tip the hat to Love Actually's genuine charm.
  17. The Matrix Revolutions
    How did something that started out so cool get so dorky?
  18. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
    Their (Kim Bartley and Donnacha Ó Briain ) remarkable true-life footage makes this 74-minute film as potent as behemoths twice its size.
  19. Suspended Animation
    A bold and unqualified triumph, nifty trick and treat for Halloween that is, arguably, Hancock's best film ever, surpassing even his potent heart-tugger, the 1973 baseball drama "Bang the Drum Slowly."
  20. Die, Mommie, Die!
    With his hilarious spoof Die Mommie Die! Charles Busch takes the melodramatic woman's picture of the '40s and '50s to delirious extremes.
  21. Shattered Glass
    What is a most pleasant surprise is how emotionally involving a story writer-director Billy Ray has fashioned, how he's turned Shattered Glass into a film for anyone who cares about strong drama.
  22. The Human Stain
    Etched in acid, stoked by wrath, it is one of those big-ideas novels that fits perfectly in human hands, where it can be savored over time or wrestled with page by page. But big ideas don't always size down for movie screens.
  23. Eyes Without a Face [re-release]
    Disturbing, disorienting, quietly terrifying, it's one of the least known of the world's great horror movies and, in its own dark way, a startlingly beautiful and artful piece of cinema as well.
  24. Girlhood
    The impulse to end on an "up" note, to turn complex and contradictory lives into palatable narratives, is one of the least-examined pitfalls in nonfiction filmmaking. But in her attempt to give their lives a shape that the girls themselves seem to resist, this talented filmmaker has done both herself and them a disservice.
  25. The Singing Detective
    Too flat and academic to come alive. The film's lack of dimension tends to render much of it banal, and Downey's lengthy harangues, as beautifully wrought as they are, are overly literary, which serves to make this intricate film seem all the more contrived.
  26. Radio
    A gentle film yet develops increasing dramatic tension beneath its easygoing, fair-minded surface.
  27. Brother Bear
    Does have a satisfying ending and it's nice to see a G-rated film without bathroom humor, but there is too much formula and not enough reason to pay attention here.
  28. Elephant
    Working with cinematographer Harris Savides and serving as the film's editor, he (Van Sant) has fashioned a visual style and a narrative shape that has the quality of a waking dream, then a nightmare. Rarely do form and content add up with such harmonious grace and power.
  29. Scary Movie 3
    It is consistently entertaining and frequently hilarious, the violence of the slapstick so cartoonish that it does not spoil the fun.
  30. Beyond Borders
    The hard truth is that the line between being deadly earnest and unintentionally silly is thinner than these people think, and Beyond Borders turns out to be an unreal film about a real situation, unavoidably cartoonish, as was the earlier "Tears of the Sun," in its attempt to join crucial issues to ridiculous melodrama.
  31. Last Party 2000
    Highly entertaining and thought-provoking, but also frustrating -- which, ultimately, might be the point.
  32. In the Cut
    Jane Campion's astonishingly beautiful new film may be the most maddening and imperfect great movie of the year.
  33. Sylvia
    Aside from Paltrow's performance, Sylvia is neither a film so spectacular it shouldn't be missed nor something so tepid you have to stay away.
  34. Veronica Guerin
    What's especially disheartening is the large gap between what's on the screen and the significant, meaningful work its creators sincerely believe they've made.
  35. Runaway Jury
    The spirit of the law will be upheld (this being Hollywood), but only after everyone has had plenty of nasty fun (this being Hollywood).
  36. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
    There's nothing wrong with remakes, but as this movie amply proves, there's often nothing right about them, either
  37. Returner
    Like all good B-movies, Returner comes loaded with enough eccentric touches to give the recycling a whiff of freshness and, as is often the case with many above-par follies, it's the cast that takes the whole thing to another level.
  38. Pieces of April
    It turns out to be an especially warm comedy with a hidden heart. It's a film whose humor has feeling behind it because writer-director Peter Hedges doesn't let his comedy overpower an understanding of how emotionally weighted family situations are always going to be.
  39. 9 Dead Gay Guys
    Feeble and unfunny.
  40. Porn Theater
    Not for everyone, but the open-minded should find it enlightening as well as entertaining.
  41. Dopamine
    Overcomes some forced artiness to be a sweet, smart romance without being saccharine.
  42. The Flower of Evil
    This is another gratifying gem from a master.
  43. Good Boy!
    As long as you keep thinking of "Babe," you can't help thinking that there's no excuse for movies like Good Boy! to merely push the usual buttons, deploy the usual poop jokes and carry out the usual sight gags.
  44. Intolerable Cruelty
    So clever, so funny, so suavely entertaining that it comes as a shock to realize that it's not nearly as satisfying as all those qualities would lead you to believe.
  45. House of the Dead
    There's scarcely a whiff of originality in the zombie horror picture House of the Dead, but Uwe Boll has directed it with enough energy and style that it adds up to passably mindless if grisly fun.
  46. Girls Will Be Girls
    Writer-director Richard Day has come up with a delicious cliché of a plot to allow talented female impersonators Jack Plotnick, Clinton Leupp and Jeffery Roberson to strut their stuff. The result is a nonstop hoot.
  47. Kill Bill: Vol. 1
    The movie love can make it hard to hear the human pulse beneath the noise (it's there, if faint), much less see if there's anything new going on.
  48. Small Voices
    A leisurely, understated film reminiscent of any number of Japanese counterparts featuring quietly heroic rural teachers. It is easy to label the film as slow, old-fashioned and sentimental, which it certainly is, but it has the tenacity of its heroine, the pretty and intelligent Melinda (Alessandra de Rossi).
  49. Bus 174
    What results is a thoughtful, analytical yet still emotional film, meticulously investigated and absolutely compelling.
  50. Mystic River
    A major American motion picture, an overpowering piece of work that involves some of the most basic human emotions: love, hate, fear, revenge, despair. Directed by Clint Eastwood with absolute confidence and remarkable control.
  51. The Event
    Has such quiet power that it is actually not depressing, and the cast follows suit with Dukakis, Carver and Posey, rising to the occasion.
  52. Rennie's Landing
    The four actors are very good, and it's a shame they aren't working from a more focused and original concept. Written by Fusco and Michael Garrity, there's nothing awful about Stealing Time except that it mixes familiar ingredients with pretty bland results.
  53. Out of Time
    There's something about the movie that sets it apart from the usual thriller. Franklin may not be a master of genre like Hammett and Chandler, but he knows that it means SOMETHING when a character throws a punch or fires a gun.
  54. The Station Agent
    Its charming story of the delicate intersection of three highly individual lives is the kind of completely personal yet universal film that the festival and the entire independent movement came into being to celebrate. And it does it all in 88 deft and funny minutes.
  55. Wonderland
    This is the latest addition to a new type of drug movie -- one that exploits addiction for a lot of self-adoring showboating.
  56. School of Rock
    Takes a clever premise and Black's unflagging manic energy and comes up with a pleasing mainstream comedy that uses new people and attitudes to entertain in old-fashioned ways.
  57. Camera Obscura
    An L.A. neo-noir raised to an insufferable degree of artiness.
  58. Bollywood/Hollywood
    Lacks the sharpness and sophistication necessary for it to appeal beyond Indian audiences.
  59. My Life Without Me
    A splendid cast, coupled with Isabel Coixet's deeply committed writing and direction, goes a long way to make this movie affecting to watch even it if doesn't hold up well to reflection once the lights go up.
  60. Prey for Rock & Roll
    Some of what happens feels real, a lot doesn't, but even when the screenplay groans with clichés, the four lead actresses play their parts with truckloads of heart.
  61. Duplex
    Its drawback is that it's a one-joke affair, leading to a repetitiousness that makes the film seem overlong even at 87 minutes.
  62. The Rundown
    For much of the film, Berg is content to act like a Michael Bay wannabe, orchestrating large action set pieces that get increasingly tiresome and WWE-like as individuals get mindlessly slammed into the dust.
  63. Under the Tuscan Sun
    It's a pleasure to watch Lane's delicately lived-in face tremble with feeling -- it's the truest thing in the movie -- but the character's desperation feels wrong, the worst kind of sellout.
  64. Bubba Ho-tep
    Limp spoof.
  65. Luther
    After a summer of numbing mindlessness, there is something frankly refreshing about a movie that deals even superficially with as significant a figure as the rebellious 16th century theologian Martin Luther, one of the founders of Protestantism and the man who put the reform in the Reformation.
  66. Yossi & Jagger
    Performances are crisp, as is everything else about this vital, economical film, proof that less really can be more.
  67. Demonlover
    It's an exasperating, irresistible, must-see mess of a movie about life in the modern world and so very good that even when its story finally crashes and burns the filmmaking remains unscathed.
  68. Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion
    The most comprehensive and devastating documentary yet on that tragic country.
  69. Cold Creek Manor
    A lightweight popcorn movie, hardly the scariest of the year but with enough jolts to be satisfying. Writer Richard Jefferies' solid script emphasizes character and psychology over plot and provides Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone with engaging, multidimensional starring roles.
  70. Mambo italiano
    Intent on offering viewers a good time yet manages to sneak in considerable substance in a disarming, even old-fashioned manner.
  71. In This World
    What we are seeing may be a representation of the truth, but it is not real, and this collision of artifice and reality is jarring and disconcerting. This is a hurdle but not an insurmountable one. Even if it is counterfeit in a number of ways, the story In This World tells finally wins us over because it is too disturbing and well told not to.
  72. Anything Else
    Feels newly hatched. Some of the laugh lines creak as loudly as grandma's rocker and the cultural references send up billows of dust.
  73. Blue Hill Avenue
    This is a demanding, intelligent film of considerable complexity and of sufficient seriousness to justify its 128-minute running time.
  74. How It All Went Down
    The only element that keeps the film from falling apart entirely is powerful physical presence of Pollio, an experienced, impassioned young actor.
  75. Casa de los babys
    There is often not enough space for all these personalities to truly play out. They tend to become types rather than people, representatives of classes and points of view more than individual human beings.
  76. To Be and to Have
    Part of what makes a great documentary great is the subject, and though the film never scrapes below the surface of the schoolteacher -- we never find out if he lives alone or has children of his own -- Lopez pulls as hard on the imagination as a fictional character.
  77. Secondhand Lions
    Something we want to like more than we can. It's a mild family film with an excellent cast that never develops traction.
  78. The Fighting Temptations
    A rousing, warmhearted comedy, as infectious as the gospel music it celebrates.
  79. Underworld
    Alas, as is often the case with lower-end genre movies, the story cooked up by Wiseman and his friends, actor Kevin Grevioux and the film's screenwriter, Danny McBride, is decidedly less important than the look of the film and its influences.
  80. Emerald Cowboy
    Rich in authentic locales but is unevenly directed by Andrew Molina and is hazy in its chronology. Hayata's story in all its myriad implications might well have been better told in documentary form.
  81. The Year That Trembled
    Evokes the fear, anger and conflict that swept over the country at the time, but it doesn't offer sufficient fresh insights to justify doing so.
  82. Millennium Actress
    Millennium Actress fascinatingly goes where films have not often gone before.
  83. Dummy
    A romantic comedy of considerable charm and humor.
  84. Luster
    Has a charming, skittish quality, and Lewis finds pathos and humor in his characters' often painful search for love.
  85. So Close
    A martial arts valentine to the power of fighting women. It's a slick and delirious Hong Kong action film.
  86. Matchstick Men
    Everything in Matchstick Men moves and looks right, from John Mathieson's cinematography to Tom Foden's production design, so it's puzzling that the film fizzles rather than fizzes.
  87. Cabin Fever
    Rather than steep his story in dread, ideas or something, anything, fresh and different, first-time director Eli Roth just pours on the blood, along with some recycled surrealism and plenty of giddy movie allusions.
  88. Lost in Translation
    The fact that this kind of serious material ends up playing puckishly funny as well as poignant is a tribute both to Coppola and to her do-or-die decision to cast Murray in the lead role.
  89. Once Upon a Time in Mexico
    Depp's performance reminds us that, yeah, it's only a movie -- just not a good one.
  90. The Same River Twice
    Other documentaries have crisscrossed between time frames, but Moss' beguiling The Same River Twice represents one of the most effective uses of the device.
  91. Where's the Party Yaar?
    Looks good but overstays its welcome.
  92. Grisbi (re-release)
    A wonderful treasure from the seemingly inexhaustible cornucopia of crackling French crime dramas.
  93. Carnage
    There's undeniable pathos to many of these encounters, and because the director has a wonderful feel for color and knows how to throw a frame around the world, there's also unmistakable beauty.
  94. The Order
    Cast adrift with vague, improbable characters and a plot that's at once under-and overcooked, the actors struggle to find a steady tone, lurching from somber to silly as the director tries to figure out what he's doing.
  95. Home Room
    Feels like detention -- without the possibility of recess.
  96. Party Monster
    For all its decadence, it moves effectively from outrageous camp humor to stark pathos and in the process manages to be oddly touching. As for Culkin, he succeeds as an adult actor in completely unexpected ways.
  97. Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
    This sleek and sunny comedy is an all-too-rare example of smart and inventive Hollywood filmmaking.
  98. Taking Sides
    In compelling, suspenseful fashion, Taking Sides illuminates brilliantly the dilemma of a great, world-renowned artist flourishing in a totalitarian regime.
  99. The Backyard
    What is going on here? Most would say a lot of incredibly dangerous and stupid activity, and most of the people in this documentary not surprisingly seem none too bright.
  100. Once Upon a Time in the Midlands
    It's a compelling and ambitious idea, but one that misfires because of its underwhelming characters and slack storytelling.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »