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. Manic
    If the cast is distractingly pretty, the performances are also quite fine and, in the case of Gordon-Levitt, exceptional.
  2. The Children of the Century
    In scope, ambition and accomplishment, Children of the Century therefore takes Kurys' career to a whole new level.
  3. Only the Strong Survive
    It emphasizes its stars' capacity to endure as individuals and entertainers and does not dwell on the harder times and personal travails they survived. However, it acknowledges the well-known exploitation black artists have traditionally experienced in the pop music industry.
  4. The Hunt for Red October
    The production is as clean and effective as Red October herself; there's not one dial or glowing radar screen too many; the underwater hits and near-misses are clearly choreographed and the undersea intensity is captured perfectly by Jan De Bont's camera work. [2 Mar 1990, Calendar, p.F-1]
    • Los Angeles Times
  5. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
    Far from seeming dated, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie seems timelier than ever, downright prophetic, for that matter.
    • Los Angeles Times
  6. Haiku Tunnel
    A sly and captivating comedy of imaginative leaps and gently orchestrated pandemonium.
  7. On the Run
    Reveals its secrets slowly and with coy deliberation. The storytelling has the quality of a striptease, so that by the end of the film, Le Roux looks radically different from how he appears at the start.
  8. Tumbleweeds
    One of those wonderful, deeply personal pictures that pop up every now and then to lift your spirits.
  9. 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.
  10. Primal Fear
    A tight courtroom melodrama that serves up twist after twist like so many baffling knuckle balls, this film handles its suspenseful material with skill and style.
  11. Drop Dead Gorgeous
    Occasionally heavy-handed and overdone -- and scarcely free from a self-congratulatory tone -- this latest spoof is nonetheless lots of fun, clever and fearless, and loaded with wicked lines and touches.
  12. Mission: Impossible II
    The power of film to irrationally transform and exalt is almost a religion to Woo, and another reason why he was the natural go-to guy for this lucrative movie franchise.
  13. Charlotte Sometimes
    Would that all love stories were as sophisticated and amusing as the satisfying Charlotte Sometimes.
  14. Deliver Us from Eva
    Flows smoothly, looks great and probably cost lots less than it looks. One can't help resist saying it delivers the goods.
  15. Sugar & Spice
    Amusingly subversive, thanks to sharp writing and direction, by Mandy Nelson and Francine McDougall, respectively.
  16. Mystery Men
    It's clever, amusing, clever, visually inventive, clever, well-cast .
  17. Looking Through Lillian
    Director Jake Torem swiftly moves beyond familiar first-feature artiness to create an illuminating portrait of a young woman (Jade Henham) brought to a crossroads in her life.
  18. Blue in the Face
    [The movie has] considerable charm and humor....Adam Holender's fresh, airy camera work and a vibrant electric score also add vitality to an all-talk film. [13 Oct 1999, p.F8]
    • Los Angeles Times
  19. Swimming Pool
    Ozon misses some chances with Sarah, but Rampling doesn't skip a beat. Freed from the burden of likability, the actress pushes the character from near-farce to near-tragedy, without once appealing to sentimentalism.
  20. Two Family House
    A film of rare, delicate sensibility.
  21. Midnight Run
    There isn't a single performance in Midnight Run that doesn't have a pulse, that doesn't show the actors at their best or near-best, especially De Niro. [20 July 1988]
    • Los Angeles Times
  22. Go Tigers!
    Energetic and absorbing documentary.
  23. Fellini: I'm a Born Liar
    Both completely fascinating and intermittently frustrating; however, as with Fellini's own films, the downside is far outweighed by the pluses.
  24. 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."
  25. Chuck & Buck
    Succeeds because it turns out not to be the movie it might so easily have been.
  26. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
    An expertly paced and efficient sci-fi thrill machine, "T3" effectively marries impressive action sequences with persuasive storytelling and its star's uniquely appealing style of "No" drama -- as in no reaction, no expression, no emotion of any kind.
  27. Real Women Have Curves
    Honest and wise enough to strike the right bittersweet note.
  28. Knock Off
    It's fast, light and funny and not top-heavy with special effects and epic-scale destruction.
  29. Under solen
    Casts a lovely spell, as warm and seductive as its summertime setting.
  30. Butterfly Tongues
    A beautiful, harrowing film of understated power and perception that affords Fernando Fernán Gómez, the Spanish cinema's great, weathered veteran, yet another of his unforgettable performances.
  31. Dummy
    A romantic comedy of considerable charm and humor.
  32. The Rookie
    The pleasure of a film like this is not in wondering where it's going to go, but in knowing its exact trajectory. Getting us to pull for a foregone conclusion as if the outcome was in serious doubt is no small sleight of hand.
  33. Green Dragon
    A gracious, eloquent film that by its end offers a ray of hope to the refugees able to look ahead and resist living in a past forever lost.
  34. The Flower of Evil
    This is another gratifying gem from a master.
  35. The Thomas Crown Affair
    A moderately diverting entertainment as sleek and aerodynamically sound as the glider its characters tool around in, it takes no extraordinary chances and delivers no major surprises.
  36. Hard Ball
    A surefire heart-tugger made with skill and judgment, affords Keanu Reeves a career high point.
  37. The Grandfather
    A wise and beautiful film.
  38. L'Auberge Espagnole
    Exhilarating comedy...Its warm, embracing spirit is refreshing in these divisive times.
  39. 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.
  40. The Tic Code
    Starts out self-consciously but gets better as it goes along, winding up as affecting as it is illuminating.
  41. Like Mike
    Sure-fire heart-warmer: lively, funny yet emotion-charged and uplifting.
  42. Valentine
    A smart, stylish horror picture that offers a fresh twist on the ever-reliable revenge theme and affords a raft of talented young actors solid roles that show them to advantage.
  43. Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion
    The most comprehensive and devastating documentary yet on that tragic country.
  44. Kingdom Come
    This joyous film, which confronts pain, loss and transgression with love, wisdom and forgiveness amid inspired humor, has it all.
  45. Saving Grace
    It makes you giggle. That's the dark, dirty secret. You giggle. You giggle again.
  46. The Code
    The atmospheric, richly detailed La Mentale has terrific vitality with its volatile mixture of alternating camaraderie and savagery.
  47. The Very Thought of You
    Glowing, amusing movie that's a good bet to lift your spirits.
  48. Johnny English
    A comic actor of genius who raises silliness to an art form, the wonderfully expressive Atkinson makes excellent use of those devastating looks in the spy spoof Johnny English, where he turns up as a James Bond type more likely to kill adversaries by accident than on purpose.
  49. The Embalmer
    From start to finish Garrone charges The Embalmer, a richly visual film, with an effective ambiguity and sense of foreboding.
  50. Crazy/Beautiful
    Very much of a guilty pleasure. A nifty piece of teenage romantic piffle, it combines two strong and attractive performances.
  51. Timecode
    A clever way of providing crucial layering and heightening a hip, satirical take on bad old Hollywood ways.
  52. Bulgarian Lovers
    Sly, swift, succinct -- and very sexy.
  53. The Weather Underground
    A compelling piece of work that turns out to have unexpected relevance to the current world situation.
  54. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
    She was guilty, no doubt, but as this immensely moving film makes clear, Aileen Wuornos was also heartbreakingly human.
  55. Life
    Gracefully bittersweet and balanced. [16 April 1999, Calendar, p.F-1]
    • Los Angeles Times
  56. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
    In the years since he first played Drebin, Nielsen has deepened the role, made it more subtle, more universal, more paramount. He's brought out an almost preternatural mellowness in a character who began as a relatively uncomplicated dimwit. [2 Dec 1988]
    • Los Angeles Times
  57. With All Deliberate Speed
    Rather than merely chronicling the events leading up to the May 17, 1954, Supreme Court decision that ordered the desegregation of public schools in the U.S., the film explores both its effect and ways in which it has fallen short in creating true equality.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Startup.com
    Nimbly documents the rise and fall of a Web company through its charismatic leaders.
  59. Civil Brand
    A compelling, highly charged film that brings a contemporary perspective to classic prison picture elements.
  60. 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.
  61. The Jungle Book 2
    A work of such charm and imagination it should enchant, as the old circus phrase goes, "children of all ages."
  62. Spy Kids
    Lively, imaginative, with a playful sense of humor.
  63. Get Shorty
    The jokes are quick, with clever jibes alternating with double-crosses and the occasional murder, and the streamlined plot unrolls like a colorful ball of twine.
  64. Beyond the Clouds
    A shimmeringly beautiful and wise reverie on love and desire.
  65. Frailty
    Well-crafted, disturbing Texas gothic thriller, a completely spooky piece of business that gets under your skin and, some plot blips aside, stays there for the duration.
  66. Better Luck Tomorrow
    It has the virtue of Lin's tangy wit but it also suffers from the vice of a director who, torn between personal vision and wide public reach, tends to smother his ideas under a veneer of cool.
  67. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
    Elle dresses in shades of sorbet and dolls up her Chihuahua like a bantamweight drag queen, but by fighting the good fight she's also giving alpha girls and women their due, rescuing them from the magazine horror stories and the taint of Hillary.
  68. The Seagull's Laughter
    A delicious pitch-dark Icelandic comedy centering on a femme fatale so enigmatic it brings into question just how fatale she may actually be.
  69. My Sister Maria
    A thoughtful look backward, a summing up that attempts to understand what is ephemeral and what truly lasts, what it is that matters in the final analysis.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Simple Plan
    The role of Jacob is greatly expanded from the book, and the unsatisfying way that Smith and Raimi resolve the brothers' relationship in the movie is the only major change--major compromise--made in transporting the novel to the screen.
  71. Agent Cody Banks
    A clever and lively action-adventure with a warm sense of humor and smart dialogue that allows for an affectionate and fleet-footed satire of the classic elements of the Bond franchise.
  72. The Trip
    Swain balances the personal and the political, allowing his film to be intimate while keeping a larger perspective. It is refreshing to see people on screen who are living in a real world.
  73. Stir of Echoes
    What gives the movie its teeth is the very earthy Witzky family, who behave so much like real people you might think they are.
  74. 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.
  75. The Siege
    A political thriller with more plausibility -- and yes, more thrills -- than most.
  76. An Ideal Husband
    Parker has shaped the play to make it more film-friendly and relevant, but he has done so with such subtlety you would have to be a Wilde authority even to notice.
  77. Trekkies
    A laid-back excursion through the "Star Trek" phenomenon that boldly goes where millions and millions of fans have gone--in and out of costume.
  78. Torque
    A terrific action picture, fast-moving, studded with great stunts and smart enough not to take itself too seriously. Amid a plethora of high-minded, big-deal, year-end Oscar contenders, it offers a welcome contrast (and respite).
  79. At First Sight
    An exceptionally touching and provocative love story. [15 January 1999, Calendar, p. F-4]
    • Los Angeles Times
  80. The Fifth Element
    The cast is a delight, but it's Willis who is the film's true "fifth element," giving it life, depth and humanity.
  81. Yossi & Jagger
    Performances are crisp, as is everything else about this vital, economical film, proof that less really can be more.
  82. Bolivia
    There are no big surprises in Caetano's film, which plays out exactly as ordained, only a sense of life at its most precarious and real.
  83. Borstal Boy
    But if the film flirts with being sentimental, it never completely gives in: The inherent strength of the material as well as the integrity of the filmmakers gives this coming-of-age story restraint as well as warmth.
  84. One True Thing
    One True Thing demonstrates that the power of simple things, the transcendent nature of the ordinary, can make for riveting filmmaking.
  85. Amen.
    A handsome period production of fluidity and subtlety, intimate and large-scale.
  86. Osama
    Raw and wretchedly current, it is a story that packs a cruel emotional wallop.
  87. Gerry
    About as non-narrative a film as you're likely to see in commercial theaters. This makes it a curiosity and, less charitably, something of a gimmick, but mostly it makes it a challenge.
  88. 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.
  89. The Company
    Makes the world of ballet, seen by so many as rarefied, accessible and exciting, a rigorous art that yields breathtaking results.
  90. There's Something About Mary
    The Farrellys here show a gift not just for finding humor where others have feared to look but for presenting it in a way that is surprisingly close to irresistible.
  91. Ash Wednesday
    Suspenseful and ultimately unpredictable, with a sterling ensemble cast.
  92. Urbania
    Such a powerful experience that it is equally effective whether you have figured out from the start where it is headed or whether its denouement comes as a complete surprise.
    • Los Angeles Times
  93. Winged Migration
    At its best, Winged Migration is a marvel, and if that seems like a gee-whiz word, that's because this film has a lot to be gee-whiz about.
  94. The Eye
    Their (filmmakers Oxide and Danny Pang) sense of pacing is nicely arrhythmic, which makes the "boo" moments all the more heart-thudding, but what's even more pleasurable are the pockets of quiet, those lacuna of low-frequency dread when nothing much happens.
  95. Who Is Cletis Tout?
    A gem of a romantic crime comedy that turns out to be clever, amusing and unpredictable.
  96. Intact
    A sharp brainteaser of a film, a compelling mind game you compulsively play along with.
  97. Adorenarin doraibu
    A rip-roaring romantic comedy that's as funny as it is light on its feet.
  98. Chopper
    A most ambitious first film. Dominik pulls it off impressively, assisted by a selfless cast, a driving score by Mick Harvey, and gifted cameramen Kevin Hayward and Geoffrey Hall.
  99. Universal Soldier: The Return
    Sleek...This is one "return" that's surely welcome.
    • Los Angeles Times
  100. X2: X-Men United
    Brisk and involving with a streamlined forward propulsion, it's the kind of superhero movie we want if we have to have superhero movies at all.
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