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. Eban and Charley
    Few people will be able to go along with Bolton's point of view regarding relationships between adults and underage youths, but there's no denying the writer-director, in his feature debut, has avoided sensationalism in telling this story.
  2. The Business of Strangers
    Crisp and provocative, and no small amount of its pleasure derives from Channing's dazzling performance.
  3. No Man's Land
    A savage comedy about the war in the former Yugoslavia that artfully mixes comic absurdism with a passion for what's right and a concern for the individuality of all concerned.
  4. Ocean's Eleven
    A champagne bubble of a movie, lively, effervescent and diverting. If it bursts earlier than we'd like -- and it does -- that takes nothing away from the considerable pleasure it provides along the way.
  5. Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel
    Has much that tries for outrageous camp, but too much of it plays like a crude travesty of overly familiar Southern decadence. It needed a director who knows how to stylize intense theatricality rather than merely revel in it in wobbly fashion.
  6. Texas Rangers
    A routine shoot-'em-up, with the triteness of Scott Busby and Martin Copeland's script exceeded only by the flatness of Steve Miner's direction.
  7. Bay of Angels
    Because Bay of Angels reveals rather than moralizes, because its concerns are character and psychology, it's a potent showcase for Moreau's gifts.
  8. ABCD
    It's polished without being slick; well-paced and graceful and brought alive by stellar performances led by Jaffrey.
  9. Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys
    Haneke illuminates beautifully the lives of his people with an eye for the revealing nuance and detail.
  10. The Independent
    Unashamedly silly, inevitably erratic, it has so much fun sending up the world of exploitation filmmaking that even the most serious film student won't be able to suppress a laugh or two. Maybe even more.
  11. The Affair of the Necklace
    Shyer and Sweet bring consistent clarity and ever-increasing depth to the playing out of Jeanne's bold scheming and single-minded resolve; a tone of brisk wit gives way effortlessly to poignancy and ultimately tragedy.
  12. Behind Enemy Lines
    As a director, Moore is like an energetic puppy who's all over you all at once. You admire his energy, and it's awfully hard to get angry at such high spirits, but you can't help but wish he'd calm down just a bit.
  13. Trouble Every Day
    Highly problematical. The trouble with "Trouble" is one of temperament. Denis' formality and seriousness make the horror genre a risky business for her, especially when sex is combined with outrageous gore.
  14. In the Bedroom
    With performances that will raise the hairs on the back of your head, it's a film that knows the private geography of love, grief and obsession.
  15. Black Knight
    It has more hilarious throwaway lines than most comedies offer up as their best jokes, and it is consistently inspired, energetic and, most important, light on its feet.
  16. Sidewalks of New York
    The assumption among many when the movie was postponed was that Paramount Classics felt New Yorkers weren't emotionally equipped for something bright or frothy or vivacious. They needn't have been concerned.
  17. The Devil's Backbone
    With the ambitious and ominous The Devil's Backbone, Del Toro rises to a new level of accomplishment, adding history and politics to his distinctive blend.
  18. Spy Game
    What Spy Game turns out to be is the old reliable family car spruced up around the edges in an attempt to convince a new generation of buyers that it's a hot number.
  19. Out Cold
    It's the perfect image for a smelly and instantly flushable comedy that telegraphs punch lines in advance like a boorish dinner party guest.
  20. Così ridevano
    The sweeping, confounding conclusion therefore unfolds with a beauty and an ease that seem truly organic. The Way We Laughed has that feeling of being a work of art.
  21. Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy
    It's not inaccurate to call Porn Star a puff piece.
  22. The Fluffer
    That it is a fine example of modest-budget filmmaking, boasting first-rate acting, writing and directing, is not all that surprising.
  23. Novocaine
    Martin is marvelous; through sheer charisma, he takes over certain scenes as if no one else is there.
  24. The Simian Line
    These formidable actresses [Redgrave and Daly], abetted by a persuasive Connick, and by Hurt as the most genteel and benevolent of ghosts, set a high standard for a splendid ensemble cast.
  25. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
    What saves Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is what created it in the first place: J.K. Rowling's enrapturing imagination. At those sporadic moments when the film allows us to share in Harry's wonder, it lets us recapture our own as well.
  26. The Wash
    A knucklehead operation, all glands and attitude with no heart or brains.
  27. Snide and Prejudice
    Might work on the stage but is merely tedious on the screen.
  28. Maze
    In Linney, Morrow has chosen a formidable co-star, an actress who seems to draw upon an unusual degree of self-awareness to endow every character she plays with dimensions beyond what any script could provide.
  29. King of the Jungle
    The merely depressing ultimately gives way to the contrived in Seth Zvi Rosenfeld's King of the Jungle.
  30. Heist
    The thinking person's caper flick, with its endlessly clever plotting revealing character under the utmost pressure.
  31. Shallow Hal
    Lacks even a vestige of subtlety and is rarely so much as amusing. Viewers with fond memories of the brothers' wildly funny "There's Something About Mary" will be astonished at how few laughs the current venture has.
  32. Happenstance
    It brims with the charm, wisdom and light touch that have endeared French films to international audiences for more than a century. It doesn't hurt that its star is "Amelie's" Audrey Tautou.
  33. Tape
    Thoroughly engrossing.
  34. Domestic Disturbance
    So TV-movie-of-the-week that you wonder throughout why you can't use a remote to find a decent ballgame.
  35. Everything Put Together
    The carefully crafted Everything Put Together is unpredictably venturesome, and cinematographer Roberto Schaefer makes virtuoso use of digital video to create the images and movements that play so large a part in the film's success.
  36. Monsters, Inc.
    Though it has its charms, Monsters, Inc. does not measure up. As a childhood entertainment it is certainly fine, but Pixar's celebrated lure for adults is largely absent.
  37. Amélie
    Features an aggressive, in-your-face romanticism that's noticeably lacking in genuine warmth. While its story of lonely misfits searching for love has appealing moments, more often it turns into an overbearing fable overburdened with fake joie de vivre.
  38. The One
    Li's far too unthreatening a presence to cause much of a stir amid the din of hard rock music and the pall left by fight choreography that has had every last bit of life digitally drained away.
  39. Punks
    Terrific entertainment, full of wit and energy, alternately hilarious and serious -- and very sexy.
  40. The Man Who Wasn't There
    You could say a lot about the very satisfying The Man Who Wasn't There, but what's for sure is that no one but the deadpan, dead-on Coen brothers could have turned it out.
  41. The Town Is Quiet
    Intimate and human yet deeply ambitious, a powerhouse of a film made with a disturbing vision.
  42. High Heels and Low Lifes
    A broad and stale British crime comedy that wastes the considerable talent and presence of Minnie Driver.
  43. On the Line
    Sophisticated romantic comedy for people who think "Corky Romano" is trenchant political satire.
  44. K-PAX
    A pleasant enough entertainment raised above its station by the quality of its acting.
  45. Life as a House
    Works as a heart-warming, involving experience.
  46. Better Than Sex
    It's a good thing Better Than Sex, which is pretty raunchy and absolutely not for prudes, does have more than sex on its mind, because otherwise audiences might be tempted to dismiss it as a tease.
  47. Thirteen Ghosts
    Although not for the faint of heart, it's a potent -- and very tricky -- treat.
  48. Donnie Darko
    If you let it be what it is, Donnie Darko will knock you flat.
  49. Bones
    The movie is over the top and garish. Its transitions often are sloppy and crude. But it brandishes its excesses like a loud, retro suit.
  50. Trembling Before G-d
    DuBowski has cast admirably far and wide for his interviews, giving the work global scope. In some instances, DuBowski is pretty clearly a proactive documentarian, inspiring some of his interviewees to dare to take steps that are risky and revealing.
  51. Dancing at the Blue Iguana
    A well-crafted film, and it must be said that its actresses, in being prepared to come close to baring all for art, reveal stunning figures and perform scorching routines.
  52. Focus
    While Macy is persuasive, much of Focus is not.
  53. Riding in Cars with Boys
    Buried under the miscalculations, the shamelessness, the off-putting and inappropriate broadness are sporadically visible souvenirs of a good project gone bad, hints of the unusual, bittersweet story that got away.
  54. Intimacy
    A triumph for all concerned, it is especially so for the multitalented Chereau.
  55. The Last Castle
    It's not objectionable (which is saying something these days) but neither does it have any compelling reason to be seen.
  56. From Hell
    It is deeply unpleasant to see women abducted, tortured and eviscerated by a methodical and meticulous butcher.
  57. Burnt Money
    It is a bravura work that attests to Pineyro's command of a style rich in texture and nuance and also of multilayered material.
  58. Waking Life
    The effect is dazzlingly beautiful and surreal.
  59. My Voyage to Italy
    Superb.
  60. My First Mister
    In its first two-thirds, My First Mister, which marks Christine Lahti's feature directorial debut, looks to be a winner. But it takes a disastrously wrong turn toward the end that all but destroys the good work that's come before.
  61. Iron Monkey
    If Asian martial arts movies interest you even a little bit, you're going to want to see Iron Monkey. Not only that, you're going to want to see it more than once.
    • 20 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Corky Romano
    Truly makes you laugh. At its best it recalls the animated antics of a Jerry Lewis escapade, the pratfall follies of a Buster Keaton flick and Rowan Atkinson's outsized physicality.
    • Los Angeles Times
  63. Bandits
    An amusing tale of larceny triumphant, Bandits is an entertainment with a rogue's imagination.
  64. Mulholland Dr.
    Likely as not, these things mean nothing in a conventional plot sense, but as powerful images, as pictures from a dreamlike world, they are unforgettable. And that, David Lynch would probably say, is exactly the point.
  65. Fat Girl
    The film's concluding sequence is bound to polarize audiences.
  66. The Learning Curve
    May not offer anything new, but it has terrific vitality.
  67. Grateful Dawg
    It's to be expected that the music is going to be wonderful, and it is. But there is more to this film, a surprising amount more.
  68. Joy Ride
    Terrific escapist fare, stylish, outrageous and compelling.
  69. The Debut
    Illuminating as it is entertaining.
  70. Serendipity
    A blithe and unapologetic fairy tale about affairs of the heart, it's a spun-sugar confection that's so light and airy it threatens to simply float away.
  71. The Hidden Half
    Courageous but uneven The Hidden Half landed the director in jail.
  72. Training Day
    Though Training Day doesn't resolve itself as well as it deserves and ends strictly cops-and-robbers style, it's given us some great acting and something to ponder. Not every cop show can lay claim to that.
  73. Max Keeble's Big Move
    The impulse to shtick it up to burlesque-level inanity is encouraged at every turn.
  74. Chop Suey
    Of the many remarks Weber makes in the course of his beautifully fashioned film, none may be more significant than his observation, "We photograph things we can never be."
  75. La Ciénaga
    Martel's sharp observations of the foibles of human nature are expressed perfectly in the telling images of cinematographer Hugo Colace and tight editing of Santiago Ricci.
  76. Va Savoir (Who Knows?)
    This masterful celebration starts off slowly, even uncertainly, giving no hint of the rich and elegant exploration of love, jealousy and animal attraction it will in all good time become.
  77. Dinner Rush
    Effortlessly graceful and burnished to a glow, Dinner Rush is surely as satisfying as any of the delicious-looking food served at Louis' restaurant -- and is as full of surprises as any dish Udo ever concocted.
  78. Born Romantic
    Although Born Romantic is sweetly intentioned and staunchly on the side of love, it meanders long to enough to alienate whatever affection it otherwise earns.
  79. Hearts in Atlantis
    Assisted by a well-crafted script by the veteran William Goldman and a masterful performance by Anthony Hopkins, Hicks has turned two King short stories into a somber meditation on the dreams and frustrations of childhood and the ways the adult world makes its darker qualities known.
  80. Zoolander
    Exuberant and insidiously funny satire.
  81. Don't Say a Word
    Smart, stylish and, most important, satisfying.
  82. Diamond Men
    A very small film but a sweet one, an easygoing venture of the feel-good variety. What sets it apart is something even larger pictures often lack: an excellent performance by its star.
  83. Sobreviviré
    Sobrevivire has a satisfying scope and substance with an appealing blend of warmth, humor and pathos with a dash of tartness.
  84. Liam
    There is something about Stephen Frears' complex, heartbreaking, beautifully made Liam that seems to speak eloquently, painfully to the dilemmas we are facing today, to the terrible price dark times can extort from us all.
  85. Vampire Hunter D
    A baroque, bloody fantasy-adventure that stubbornly remains less than the sum of its parts.
  86. The Endurance
    Butler used several elements to make this story come alive, starting with that vintage Frank Hurley footage, whose rescue from icy waters is in itself something of a miracle.
  87. Go Tigers!
    Energetic and absorbing documentary.
  88. Megiddo: The Omega Code 2
    What's wrong with Megiddo is not its good-versus-evil theme but the clunky, unpersuasive manner in which it has been expressed.
  89. Glitter
    Glitter is the week's only major Hollywood release, and it offers considerable escapist entertainment while hitting an affirmative note.
  90. Haiku Tunnel
    A sly and captivating comedy of imaginative leaps and gently orchestrated pandemonium.
  91. The Glass House
    So laughably awful that it begs to have stones thrown at it; it's a wonder it got made at all.
  92. Hard Ball
    A surefire heart-tugger made with skill and judgment, affords Keanu Reeves a career high point.
  93. Kill Me Later
    Although the film's narrative line sometimes proves hard to follow, and some of the songs heard on the soundtrack seem to have little to offer beyond sheer noise, Kill Me Later is a gem, even if a little rough around the edges.
  94. Tell Me Something
    Not ultimately original enough to sustain its many horrific images.
  95. Two Can Play That Game
    There probably isn't another actress anywhere who could make that corny self-advertisement work. And there definitely isn't another actress who could make such an overbearing heroine worth watching for an hour and a half.
  96. A Matter of Taste
    An elegant study of devious mind games and emotional perversion, it makes the strangest of psychological dynamics plausible and involving.
  97. The Musketeer
    For his robust and handsome The Musketeer, Hyams enlisted veteran Hong Kong stunt coordinator Xin-Xin Xiong to stage a clutch of spectacular action sequences that are amusing in the imaginative intricacy of their bravura.
  98. L.I.E.
    L.I.E. has embraced tragedy, folly, perversity and outrageous dark humor. Like "Happiness" and "American Beauty," it takes an unflinching look at the darker aspects of life in American suburbia.
  99. Soul Survivors
    The actors are game, but their roles lack color and depth, and it's a real struggle to survive Soul Survivors to the finish.
  100. Our Lady of the Assassins
    As the film, with its haunting score and inspired use of popular music, builds flawlessly to its resounding conclusion, it is accompanied by a pitch-dark humor that grows out of the sheer absurdity of the city's daily body count.
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