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. Just a Kiss
    Though the cast ends up looking good, the film's unwillingness or inability to have things add up hurts everyone's efforts.
  2. The Tuxedo
    Chan is still able to project the boyishness and insecurity of the new kid on the block. But even those aren't enough to make Tuxedo a black-tie affair.
  3. Skins
    A wrenching, uncompromisingly bleak film, but its stars, who include talented newcomer Noah Watts as Mogie's son and Lois Red Elk as the brothers' staunch aunt, fill the screen with warmth, humor and spiritual yearning in the face of hardship and tragedy.
  4. The Lonely Affair of the Heart
    A handsome, intelligent film of rigorous austerity; unfortunately, for all its seriousness of purpose and fine performances, it's also a boring film about boring people.
  5. Crazy as Hell
    Starts encouragingly and finishes strongly with a twist, but the middle is weighed down by too much discourse when it should be visually evoking its ideas and developing its mood of unease.
  6. Shanghai Ghetto
    A serious and thoughtful documentary.
  7. Biggie and Tupac
    One of the better documentaries I'd seen in years -- it plays like a suspense thriller because that's exactly what it is.
  8. The Man from Elysian Fields
    A shimmering fable of innocence and experience set in contemporary Los Angeles and Pasadena (its title is a nod to Virgil's "Aeneid"). Phillip Jayson Lasker's tartly knowing script, with the kind of witty dialogue that's all but vanished from American movies, recalls Hickenlooper's "The Low Life."
  9. Captain Pantoja and the Special Services
    While Pantaleón does have its scorching erotic moments and skewers establishment hypocrisy toward prostitution, it lacks the originality and complexity of "Y Tu Mamá."
  10. Wasabi
    Wasabi dawdles and drags when it should pop; it doesn't even have the virtue of enough mindless violence to break up the tedium of all its generational bonding.
  11. Sweet Home Alabama
    The South takes another beating in Sweet Home Alabama, but that's nothing compared with the one conferred on the sweetheart personality of its pint-sized Gen. Sherman.
  12. Moonlight Mile
    What's on screen is too honest and from the heart to totally dismiss but too slick and contrived to completely embrace. This is a film that cares about genuine emotion but also wants to tame it, to tidy it up and keep it confined to quarters.
  13. The Trials of Henry Kissinger
    Bluntly effective.
  14. Invincible
    The period is evoked with care and imagination, and the film glows with Peter Zeitlinger's cinematography. It has some bravura images and surreal moments typical of Herzog, and composers Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt have contributed a lovely score.
  15. Joshua
    It's a persuasive spiritual journey, sentimental at times but never hopelessly cloying.
  16. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever
    There's no defense for movies like these, but neither do they warrant apology; they're irresistibly watchable, like car wrecks.
  17. The Four Feathers
    All these intriguing good intentions, however, have largely gone for naught because of a variety of missteps, starting with an increasing implausible plot as well as the fact that Ledger's Harry looks about as likely to pass for an Arab as the Mahdi is to pass for Queen Victoria.
  18. The Banger Sisters
    A practiced piece of Hollywood hokum, way too calculated and contrived, especially for a film that nominally celebrates the chaos and creativity of the 1960s.
  19. Trapped
    Not the kind of unwatchable mess you might assume a film withheld from reviewers' scrutiny would be. It is, however, something equally unfortunate: a mess you'd rather not be watching.
  20. The Ignorant Fairies
    This graceful and wise film moves to its denouement with subtlety and, at its end, strikes a note that seems just right for all that has gone before.
  21. 8 Women
    Although it starts off vaguely amusing, 8 Women grows progressively sour, curdled by the filmmakers' bad faith and lack of compassion. It isn't just the tone that's off; it's the point.
  22. Secretary
    For all the dolorous trim, Secretary is a genial romance that maintains a surprisingly buoyant tone throughout, notwithstanding some of the writers' sporadic dips into pop Freudianism.
  23. Spirited Away
    Prepare to be astonished by Spirited Away.
  24. The Experiment
    As an exploitation picture, Das Experiment is mindlessly potent; subtitles are no guarantee of sophistication and subtlety.
  25. Quitting
    Daring and complex. At 112 minutes, it might be 15 minutes too long, but this is not enough to detract from its impact as a probing and universal contemporary drama.
  26. The Dogwalker
    This is, after all, a film in which no one leads life according to script -- but, then, that's also the reason it works.
  27. The Children of the Century
    In scope, ambition and accomplishment, Children of the Century therefore takes Kurys' career to a whole new level.
  28. Igby Goes Down
    Writer-director Steers has chosen to overload "Igby" with phony archness and forced black humor, making it not the place to look for satisfying acting.
  29. Barbershop
    As warm as it is wise, deftly setting off uproarious humor with an underlying seriousness that sneaks up on the viewer, providing an experience that is richer than anticipated.
  30. Alias Betty
    A confidently adroit thriller that captures a comprehensive sense of life in an edgy, multicultural and economically diverse Paris. The large cast couldn't be better, but the film belongs to Kiberlain.
  31. Stealing Harvard
    It's so bad that you have to wonder whether Tom Green was looking for a project to match last year's "Freddy Got Fingered" -- Green didn't direct this turkey, but it surely is a contender for the bottom of the barrel award for 2002.
  32. Swimfan
    This predictable teenage take on the 'Fatal Attraction' formula goes from dumb to even dumber.
  33. City by the Sea
    Has trouble seeming real. Its back story, involving the sins of Detective LaMarca's own father, feels contrived and the eventual resolution is simultaneously shaky and too pat.
  34. 7 Days in September
    If ever there was a prime example of art bringing order out of chaos, it is Steven Rosenbaum's 7 Days in September. -- The result is a narrative at once personal, admirably coherent and, above all, heartening.
  35. In Praise of Love
    Godard has always made films that are as thrilling for their ideas and ideals as for the sheer beauty of their images; the difference here is that for the first time in years he's more interested in turning us on than in turning us off.
  36. Heartbreak Hospital
    A dreary indulgence. An unfunny satire set in the world of daytime soap opera, it isn't offensive enough to inspire passionate response.
  37. Mad Love
    Succeeds as a full-bodied diversion because it takes even its silly elements seriously. If you're in the mood for impressive castles and sumptuous costumes, torch-lit processions and decorative nudity, this is the place to turn.
  38. FeardotCom
    The story leapfrogs abruptly from scene to scene, and it makes such a mockery of narrative logic and continuity that the cast tends to look either baffled (Dorff) or as if they're trying to remain unrecognized.
  39. Agnivarsha: The Fire and the Rain
    This is a splendid example of contemporary Bollywood in which a director's sophisticated style and vision have been brought to bear on the beloved conventions of popular Hindi cinema.
  40. Crop Circles: Quest for Truth
    Turns out to be a film that's interesting in spite of itself. It's less an impartial investigation than an advocacy film, having been hijacked by the members of the "inner sanctum."
  41. Red Satin
    Belly dancing isn't always the most thrilling of dances, but it's a blast to see these women shaking and rolling because they're so thoroughly in charge of the male clientele and their own sexuality.
  42. Undisputed
    A compelling entertainment because of Hill and co-writer David Giler's adroit cinematic storytelling skills and the powerful presence of Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames, whose talent and intelligence are as impressive as their physiques.
  43. Little Secrets
    Its greeting card look and feel aside, Little Secrets is an otherwise worthy family entertainment.
  44. Serving Sara
    Crushingly unfunny.
  45. Amy's Orgasm
    Julie Davis' story is fresh and amusing.
  46. How I Killed My Father
    Truly, there can be nothing as complex as the simplest human relationships, and nothing as satisfying as a film that understands that as this one does.
  47. S1m0ne
    Such a tedious Hollywood farce, so unpleasantly glib and relentlessly shallow, that Pacino's excessive performance is not even the worst thing about it.
  48. Gibel Otrara
    Shot in sepia, "The Fall of Otrar" is as exotic in look and feel as a Sergei Paradjanov fable but a lot more rambunctious and savagely humorous. Unfortunately, it is exceedingly hard to track and not surprisingly assumes the viewer is up to speed on medieval Central Asian history. [03 Feb 2005, p.E20]
    • Los Angeles Times
  49. One Hour Photo
    All too predictably, as if obeying some rule of genre, the director trades in his more involved ideas about alienation and voyeurism for an eruption of violence, then tags on some nonsense about marital fidelity.
  50. Long Time Since
    Porizkova and Sands seem too young for their roles, but then the film seems as timeless as a fable.
  51. Possession
    LaBute can't avoid a fatal mistake in the modern era: He's changed the male academic from a lower-class Brit to an American, a choice that upsets the novel's exquisite balance and shreds the fabric of the film, corrupting all of LaBute's good work and robbing it of the impact it would otherwise have.
  52. The Adventures of Pluto Nash
    It's not awful, but the high cost of a movie ticket these days seems like a steep price to pay for 90 minutes of air conditioning and production design.
    • Los Angeles Times
  53. Mostly Martha
    It's a drag how Nettelbeck sees working women -- or at least this working woman -- for whom she shows little understanding; there's a puritan, even punitive, cast to the way she sees her character, whose pathology she digs at with the tenacity of a truffle hound.
  54. Blue Crush
    Overcomplicates its plot and spends a lot of time floundering around in the shallow end.
  55. Katakuri-ke no kôfuku
    Long-winded and ultimately uninvolving.
  56. All My Loved Ones
    It is crucial when viewing All My Loved Ones, with its fine ensemble cast and well-evoked sense of time and place, to remember that it unfolds as a recollection of David, a boy of perhaps 10 in 1938.
  57. I'm Going Home
    By far the most approachable of the director's recent films, with an emotional depth that's true to life and a streamlined narrative that for long stretches barely contains a word.
  58. The Château
    Delightfully bittersweet culture-clash comedy. If what's funny is frequently hilarious, then what's nasty truly stings, and the film is honest enough not to tie up everything with a ribbon.
  59. Scarlet Diva
    It's a demented kitsch mess (although the smeary digital video does match the muddled narrative), but it's savvy about celebrity and has more guts and energy than much of what will open this year.
  60. Secret Ballot
    Secret Ballot, which has a rich, spare score by Michael Galasso that blends Eastern and Western motifs, is funny, provocative, well-paced and leaves a memorable bittersweet aftertaste.
  61. xXx
    Built of action-sport stunts, has adrenaline to spare. But, c'mon. Where is its sense of fun?
  62. The City of Lost Souls
    There's enough atmosphere, mayhem and just plain energy to make the film a viable midnight movie.
  63. 24 Hour Party People
    Amazing, rich in authentic period atmosphere and detail, an ever-changing cyclorama of a movie.
  64. Blood Work
    There's a certain pleasure in seeing a thriller that's almost a relic of a bygone era. There's nothing flashy about Blood Work, no in-your-face nihilism, no hot young actors you'd know from the WB network if you ever watched it.
  65. Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams
    Though it's longer and more elaborate than it needs to be, it shares its predecessor's smart but relaxed sense of humor, a sophisticated imagination and the ability to be sharp and playful without being malicious.
  66. The Good Girl
    The extraordinary quality of White's script and Arteta's direction lifts the meticulously cast actors to the height of their abilities. "Friends" star Aniston digs deep but is never showy. Reilly reveals the tenderness, vulnerability and hidden depth that can lurk within a slob, and Nelson has some of the film's most outrageously funny and inspired moments.
  67. Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat
    Lawrence is a no-holds-barred stand-up comedian who gets away with the strongest, most graphic language because he is so funny and because he makes himself the object of so much of his humor.
  68. Full Frontal
    When a set of pre-shooting guidelines a director came up with for his actors turns out to be cleverer, better written and of considerable more interest than the finished film, that's a bad sign. A very bad sign.
  69. One Last Kiss
    Its portrait of the many ways we can complicate our romantic lives may have a few serious moments, but it's intended to go down easy, and that's what it does.
  70. The Master of Disguise
    But even Carvey's protean talent can't dent this ponderously unfunny and uninspired comedy. It's hard to imagine anyone older than 10 being diverted by its broad buffoonery, and kids deserve better than this in the first place.
  71. Signs
    Shyamalan's great gift is the creation of atmosphere, the conjuring of spooky, unseen menace. When he gets around to doing this in Signs, all is well, but it's a tossup as to whether the film offers enough of a payoff considering how long it takes to get where it's going.
  72. Merci Pour Le Chocolat
    Once again Chabrol's son Mathieu has composed a crucially evocative score, and Renato Berta's cinematography is gleaming. Merci Pour le Chocolat crackles with wit and elegance, humor and pathos.
  73. The Kid Stays in the Picture
    A witty, colorful and poignant account of the life and times of producer Robert Evans.
  74. Swimming
    Ambrose's Frankie, who is more intelligent and capable of reflection than those around her but is even more unworldly than she realizes, is tremendously appealing.
  75. Lan Yu
    Assured, vital and well wrought, the film is, arguably, the most accomplished work to date from Hong Kong's versatile Stanley Kwan.
  76. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
    An exciting and involving rock music doc, a smart and satisfying look inside that tumultuous world.
  77. The Country Bears
    After a while, the only way for a reasonably intelligent person to get through The Country Bears is to ponder how a whole segment of pop-music history has been allowed to get wet, fuzzy and sticky.
  78. Who Is Cletis Tout?
    A gem of a romantic crime comedy that turns out to be clever, amusing and unpredictable.
  79. Austin Powers in Goldmember
    The only thing that won't make you laugh, unless you've got a 12-year-old's sense of humor, is the film's tireless parade of gross-out gags and scatological verbal jests. Myers gets a charge out of this material--it wouldn't be here if he didn't--but so much of it is so tedious it's difficult to believe an adult actually sat down and wrote it.
  80. Happy Times
    This is a film that goes its own way to the end as it asks the audience, "What you just saw, were they happy times or not?" The question is a good one, and the answer, like this film, is sure to stay with you.
  81. K-19: The Widowmaker
    K-19's determination to push hard for self-congratulatory morals and convenient resolutions undercut the film's strengths and make it more conventional.
  82. Lansdown
    Though there's a thin noir line between lust and hate, Lansdown delivers nothing to stir the passions of filmgoers one way or the other.
  83. Stuart Little 2
    Like many modern children's films, Stuart Little 2 can't decide between teaching good values ("You're only as big as you feel") and tossing out fake-hip jokes. Though it doesn't happen as often as it should, this is a better film when it allows itself simply to be sweet.
  84. Tadpole
    The witty coming-of-age film is marred by an uneven, digitally shot look, a disservice to its first-rate cast.
  85. Eight Legged Freaks
    So why does Eight Legged Freaks make one laugh out loud even though there is nothing revolutionary about its approach to the giant bug genre? -- the movie is so unapologetic in its crassness that it disarms even the fussiest connoisseur of throwaway disaster flicks.
  86. Langrishe Go Down
    Unearthing even the roughest gems serves a programming purpose, but in this case it has also led to a theatrical release of a movie that looks like a muddy second-generation Xerox and contains all the emotional and intellectual appeal of cold tea and soggy toast.
  87. All About Lily Chou-Chou
    Continually jarring. Although the film's narrative thread may prove chronically elusive, Iwai's depiction of what life can be like for far too many teens comes across loud and clear.
  88. My Wife Is an Actress
    The French are very good at taking sit-commy setups and cloaking the machinery with charming and surprisingly resonant comic nuance.
  89. The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course
    So refreshing and funny and, in its way, sophisticated.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tosca
    Altogether, this is successful as a film, while at the same time being a most touching reconsideration of the familiar masterpiece.
  91. Reign of Fire
    Though Reign of Fire's concept of a humans-versus-dragons smackdown is a good one, the way it's worked out on screen is more silly than compelling.
  92. Sex and Lucia
    Medem is one of the few directors who understands sensuality and knows how to make it happen on screen. Sex and Lucia specializes in pleasant eroticism, using nudity, Koko de la Rica's dreamy cinematography and Alberto Iglesias' Goya-winning score to create episodes of voluptuous lovemaking.
  93. Never Again
    Youthful audiences won't be attracted to a love story between two 54-year-olds in the first place, and mature audiences will be turned off by the language, not necessarily out of prudishness, but out of its sheer crassness.
  94. Halloween: Resurrection
    It's not the worst film in the series -- "Halloween III" will never be unseated -- but there's not nearly enough scares, or humor, to make Halloween: Resurrection worthwhile.
  95. Road to Perdition
    Mendes, in only his second feature (following the Oscar-winning "American Beauty"), has told this surprisingly resonant story with the potent, unrelenting fatalism of a previously unknown Greek myth.
  96. Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
    An excellent example of its genre, with Pennebaker capturing the excitement of what was a very special, emotion-charged occasion.
  97. Me Without You
    An engaging, straightforward narrative about two childhood playmates and the stages of their friendship from 1973 to 2001.
  98. Read My Lips
    While the plot twists in Read My Lips may be too intensely melodramatic for some tastes, the performances of the two leads are impeccable, just about compelling our belief.
  99. Group
    The well-intended Group is nevertheless problematic. It's relentlessly grueling, as therapy can be, and not everyone will be able to see a reason to watch it.
  100. Like Mike
    Sure-fire heart-warmer: lively, funny yet emotion-charged and uplifting.
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