Los Angeles Times' Scores

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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
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  1. Acts Of Vengeance
    Occasionally, when you Death Wish upon a star and that star is Banderas, you get a serviceable time-waster like Acts of Vengeance.
  2. The Truth About Lies
    On a single day, the protagonist of The Truth About Lies is fired from his job, his apartment burns down and his girlfriend dumps him. He has it easy compared to anyone who actually watches this thoroughly unpleasant, unfunny comedy.
  3. Novitiate
    Novitiate sure-handedly takes us inside the world of belief with care, concern and a piercing, discerning eye.
  4. God's Own Country
    In the push-pull between Secareanu’s resonant stillness and O’Connor’s barely sublimated intensity, you feel the struggle of two souls forging a path toward each other, gradually realizing that while life may be harsh and unforgiving, love doesn’t have to be.
  5. Thank You for Your Service
    Thank You For Your Service is more effective, more disturbing than you may expect, and that is very much a good thing.
  6. The Square
    The Square means to send you out of the theater arguing, and its success on that front should not eclipse its more lasting, unsettling achievement. It affirms that art, this movie very much included, can tell us things about ourselves that we’d prefer not to know.
  7. Dealt
    As keenly observed by Korem and cinematographer Jacob Hamilton, Dealt achieves the neat trick of giving its main subject a rewarding character arc.
  8. Crash Pad
    A plucky ensemble fails to elevate Crash Pad, a forced, formulaic revenge comedy about an obnoxious slacker whose new housemate turns out to be the husband of his older ex-mistress.
  9. The Work
    There’s also such a profound sense of support among the participants, albeit of the tough-love variety, that the movie offers a strange kind of hope.
  10. Suburbicon
    In filtering a ripped-from-the-headlines story through the prism of satire, Suburbicon winds up squandering much of its power. For all that the movie borrows from history, it conveys little in the way of truth.
  11. Same Kind of Different as Me
    Same Kind of Different as Me takes its time, but the performances by Kinnear, Zellweger and especially Hounsou sneak up on you, building to an emotional, but not overstated climax.
  12. Tyler Perry's Boo 2! A Madea Halloween
    While its predecessor at least pleased his fans, writer-director-star Perry’s latest offers few laughs and embarrassing post-production work.
  13. Geostorm
    When the long-promised global barrage of tornadoes, lightning strikes, tidal waves and extreme temperatures hits in the final half-hour, the special effects are stunning. But the razzle-dazzle arrives too late, and is strangely unmoving.
  14. Where's the Money
    Lacking the incisive bite of the keenly observed campus-based “Dear White People,” the movie too often finds itself on the unfunny side of that very fine line between risqué and bad taste.
  15. Deliver Us
    The subject matter of Deliver Us is sensational, but Di Giacomo’s approach is more in the spirit of documentarian Frederick Wiseman, where very little is explained.
  16. Carving a Life
    The self-seriousness of this loony swing-and-a-miss shares a tone with Tommy Wiseau’s outrageously amateurish cult classic “The Room” but isn’t nearly as entertaining.
  17. The Strange Ones
    It’s an artful, boundary-pushing debut from Radcliff and Wolkstein, with breakthrough performances from Freedson-Jackson, and Pettyfer, perhaps signaling a new direction in his career.
  18. The Fortress
    The battle scenes here are impressively large-scale, but too sparsely deployed. A good two-thirds of this movie consists of miserable-looking people quietly debating their terrible options, which can be exhausting.
  19. Somebody's Mother
    The performances don’t always reach the rawness of the subject, but the film will resonate with many people who have experienced similar crises and help others empathize.
  20. Nightworld
    London is adequate (if not exactly magnetic) as the lead, and director Patricio Valladares gives the film a rich, shadowy look that almost compensates for the turgid pace and distractingly incessant score.
  21. Heal
    It’s a well-intentioned film that wants to help people live healthier lives, but it sometimes appears closer to a feature-length infomercial than a legitimate documentary.
  22. One of Us
    In the mythology of personal growth, liberating yourself leads invariably to increased happiness. Yet what characterizes the seekers in the powerful One of Us is nothing that straightforward.
  23. The Bachelors
    Deftly balancing humor and grief, The Bachelors is fueled by wonderfully human performances and fully realized characters.
  24. Jungle
    Despite the considerable physicality of the movie, with its impressive cinematography and Radcliffe’s believable, all-in disintegration, it’s more earthbound slog than psychological deep-dive.
  25. Thy Father's Chair
    An enigmatic, if perhaps hopeful, epilogue caps this sad, strange, at times weirdly poignant portrait.
  26. Killing Gunther
    Save a bit of narrative padding (karaoke, anyone?), this is a mostly swift and lively ride as the tables turn — and turn again — in some absurdly clever ways.
  27. Tragedy Girls
    The movie’s central idea and bright young cast are so good that some of its shallowness is forgivable.
  28. Human Flow
    The overall effect is of something too large to fully comprehend, yet also too intimately sad to ignore, the kind of dilemma that Ai believes speaks directly to who we are as human beings — that ingrained desire to better ourselves, the right to migrate toward safety and prosperity, and the belief we’ll find solidarity in that quest.
  29. The Paris Opera
    Covering an eventful artistic season, Jean-Stéphane Bron’s The Paris Opera is a well-observed vérité portrait of a major cultural institution.
  30. The Departure
    Unfailingly sensitive about issues of selflessness and suffering, The Departure is in a way its own work of meditation, on the pressures of living up to the turbulent promise of life’s expected length.
  31. For Ahkeem
    A tenderly intimate, affecting documentary portrait.
  32. 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene
    Obsessive but accessible.
  33. Only the Brave
    While Only the Brave is consistently involving and entertaining, that desire to be accurate about a heroic reality proves to be an at times awkward fit with the conventions of this kind of earnest and old-fashioned Hollywood film.
  34. Tom of Finland
    Tom of Finland entertainingly recounts an intriguing and vital chapter of 20th-century gay history with style and deference.
  35. A Silent Voice
    Its wrenching honesty provides a potent counter to the simple-minded let’s-all-be-friends-and-sing-a-song inanities of “My Little Pony,” “The Emoji Movie” and other recent American animated features.
  36. Never Here
    Artful and atmospheric to the max, Never Here is a study in personality disintegration dressed up as a whodunit. The film marks an auspicious debut for writer-director Camille Thoman.
  37. Leatherface
    Leatherface is well-made pulp, not a masterpiece like Hooper’s original. But given what this character means to horror history — and how badly he’s been treated — any upgrade’s a gift.
  38. Jane
    No stranger to found footage, Morgen (“The Kid Stays in the Picture”) has tapped into NatGeo’s treasure trove with a bracing immediacy.
  39. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
    As it marches its characters ever so slowly toward a suitably despairing climax, the movie feels increasingly like a self-satisfied but unsustained provocation, a rich display of craft in service of secondhand shocks and ideas.
  40. Wonderstruck
    Though it takes its time, Wonderstruck — like the best tales of wonder — resolves all its mysteries as the plot's disparate strands come together in a lovely way.
  41. The Snowman
    A wretched waste of time and talent.
  42. Alex & Eve
    The romance lacks the depth that can make a love story feel real, but the performances charm, as does the film’s well-meaning take on culture clashes.
  43. Prosperity
    The end result comes across less as a bona fide, issue-oriented documentary than a package of company profiles.
  44. Surviving Peace
    Based on the dubious, and occasionally eye-rolling responses from the majority of those being pitched, the plan would appear to be as ill-conceived as Surviving Peace itself.
  45. Angels Within
    Though it lacks the sophistication and depth its subject merits, Angels Within does suggest the possibility of reconciling some of the cultural divisions that face the nation if we are willing to drop the labels and judgments and see one another as human beings.
  46. Haze
    As a morality tale, Haze is old news. But as an in-the-moment explanation of how hazing happens, it’s so fresh, it’s raw.
  47. Bad Blood: The Movie
    There’s barely enough plot here to fill a feature, but this energetic throwback’s DIY effects and general looniness should appeal to horror mavens.
  48. Paradise
    Paradise and its predictable waltz of suffering, choked consciousness and monstrosity adds little to the problematic subset of camp-themed World War II movies, which feel like nostalgia for hell.
  49. Blood Money
    Coltrane displays a range he hasn’t shown before onscreen, dipping into darker realms as the romantically spurned blue collar townie Victor. But Fitzgerald runs away with Blood Money as femme fatale Lynn.
  50. M.F.A.
    Tonally, M.F.A is sometimes jarring, as these outrageous, fantastical killings are motivated by authentic, grounded emotions. But at the center, Eastwood is absolutely riveting, inhabiting a true violent vigilante worth rooting for.
  51. Swing Away
    Directed by Michael Achilles Nickles, the movie can’t maintain a consistent tone, veering from earnestness to silliness like a bad slice.
  52. Bending the Arc
    The archival footage, the impassioned interviews, and the inspiring story of how warriors for solutions can overcome entrenched views on poverty and health, make for something genuinely stirring.
  53. Wasted! The Story of Food Waste
    The skillfully assembled documentary Wasted! The Story of Food Waste proves as eye-opening as it is mouth-watering.
  54. Bugs
    Input from a broader range of chefs and food experts, as well as sociologists and scientists, could have better fleshed out this brief study.
  55. Rat Film
    There’s a thrilling friction between the smoothly assembled pieces of Anthony’s narrative, and often sparks.
  56. Faces Places
    Faces Places turns out to be a road movie in more than a merely literal sense. It is at once a roving journey into environments we rarely see in cinema and an incomplete but invaluable map of Varda’s memories.
  57. Goodbye Christopher Robin
    If you do see the movie, by all means surrender to its portrait of an earlier era of toxic celebrity culture, and also to the bracing nastiness of the central performances.
  58. Take My Nose... Please!
    Take My Nose … Please! is a lively and enjoyable documentary about comedians, plastic surgery, female self-image, aging in Hollywood, and other facets of facial politics.
  59. Trafficked
    Movies can warp any urgent issue into disposable melodrama, and what’s cringe-worthy about Trafficked, directed by Will Wallace, is how unnecessarily eroticized it is, like something from the made-for-video bin in a ’90s-era Blockbuster.
  60. Breathe
    In leaving out the rasp of life from this unusual story, Breathe too often feels like a mechanized exhale.
  61. Blood Stripe
    Made with passion, integrity and skill, Blood Stripe is American independent filmmaking at its most effective. It takes on a difficult subject and treats it with an honesty that can't help but capture us from start to finish.
  62. 6 Below: Miracle On The Mountain
    While Harnett’s a real trooper and stuntman-turned-filmmaker Scott Waugh (“Act of Valor”) establishes an effectively bone-chilling milieu heightened by an immersive sound design that keeps those whipping winds and howling wolves in uncomfortably close proximity, the embellishments fail to create crucial suspense.
  63. Te Ata
    The film rarely soars with the kind of authentic spirit and passion needed to fully sell this decidedly old-fashioned material.
  64. Walking Out
    The Smiths may be working on a comparatively modest scale, but it’s precisely that modesty that gives their work its bone-deep authority and humanity, along with a refusal to indulge in violence for its own sake.
  65. Una
    It’s at once talky yet emotionally remote, and while posing a risky set of questions about sexual abuse, power and relationships, the experience is an unsatisfactory and draining slog.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Happy Death Day
    If you’re looking to enjoy some scares while trying to figure out a clever mystery, don’t miss Happy Death Day.
  67. Professor Marston & the Wonder Women
    You may long for a more disreputable, less buttoned-up telling, but there is something about this one’s sleek, streamlined conventionality that feels both appropriate and pleasing.
  68. Marshall
    While the film is constructed from top to bottom for maximum popular entertainment, it is unwilling to let us leave the theater without reminding us that these battles are far from over.
  69. Dina
    From the mundane to the eventful, the movie takes a fairly unflinching, yet respectful view of Dina and Scott’s world.
  70. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
    "Meyerowitz” feels very much from the heart. It has an unexpected maturity and warmth, a compassion that seems to reflect Baumbach’s desire to dig as deeply as he can into the myriad conundrums of family life. And, as noted, it is often quite funny.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Cadillac Tramps: Life On the Edge
    The film is surprisingly upbeat given the double heartbreak of the two through lines. Much of that can be attributed to Gaborno’s infectious stage presence and his storied sense of humor.
  72. Demons
    Doleac’s forging a niche. His name on a picture is now an indication that genre fans will see something different … though it’s not yet a mark of quality.
  73. The Crucifixion
    A lifeless demonic possession drama.
  74. Dog Park
    Shanahan shows potential as the hunky but clueless leading man, and Dixon displays a solid point of view with a refreshing perspective centered around women’s success and choices.
  75. Cold Moon
    There’s little fun to be had for the audience other than in some nicely executed special effects.
  76. The Pathological Optimist
    For a movie about so rabble-rousing a figure, it’s an unusually quiet portrait.
  77. The Legend of 420
    The Legend of 420 captures a zeitgeist, but with so many facets to explore in this survey of contemporary American marijuana culture, it only scratches the surface.
  78. Rocky Ros Muc
    One doesn’t need to be into pugilism or well-versed in Gaelic to appreciate Rocky Ros Muc, a documentary that is as much about roots and identity as it is a portrait of Irish American boxer Sean Mannion.
  79. Sled Dogs
    This gripping exposé of the dark side of the commercial dog sledding industry, particularly as it pertains to Alaska’s annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, is a horrifying heartbreaker.
  80. Brawl in Cell Block 99
    Vaughn’s performance is riveting in its containment, and he honors his character’s ethos by making sure that every word, glance, gesture and silence counts.
  81. The King's Choice
    Its intent is to show us how difficult it is to see clearly during times of crisis, how what seems as simple as black and white today was the source of uncertainty and soul-searching when it happened.
  82. The Stray
    Love of God and dog can be powerful things, but in this uncinematic telling, they fail to inspire.
  83. Dementia 13
    Beyond its style, Dementia 13 doesn’t innovate, but it’s a capably made indie that should please genre fans searching for a haunted diversion.
  84. 2307: Winter's Dream
    The overstuffed production feels as tediously incessant as its endless winter.
  85. Earth: One Amazing Day
    It’s a stunning feat of technology and artistry.
  86. The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
    While Cruz wins us over with her emotionally charged amateur sleuthing, the weight of a constant struggle to not just gain acceptance, but survive fighting for it, gives France’s documentary a stirring poignancy.
  87. Chavela
    Celebrating a great ranchera interpreter without sugarcoating her, this straightforward film honors her approach.
  88. I Am Another You
    I Am Another You is a remarkably sensitive and lovely portrait of an individual, a family, and a life that shines an uncommonly humane light on the issues of mental illness and homelessness.
  89. Barracuda
    Beneath its quiet surface, the Austin, Texas-set drama Barracuda thrums with menace and mystery from first moment to last.
  90. Bobbi Jene
    There may be an intriguing, perhaps even profound story behind Smith’s growth as a singular artist and woman, but director Elvira Lind keeps too much on the surface, making it hard to invest in Smith’s often esoteric, self-centered journey
  91. Architects of Denial
    George combines a wide array of strong, if at times grisly, archival footage and photos with remarkable interviews with two centenarian survivors of the killings, plus moving commentary from many Armenians whose relatives perished in that first massacre and/or more recent conflicts across Azerbaijan.
  92. The Florida Project
    It’s the tension between hardscrabble realism and buoyant fantasy — and the understanding that they are both, in fact, vital aspects of the same experience — that makes The Florida Project so powerfully unresolved.
  93. The Mountain Between Us
    The Mountain Between Us is an uneasy hybrid of a film, and its successes and disappointments show the benefits and drawbacks of hitching your film to a pair of stars.
  94. Generational Sins
    Generational Sins does deserve praise for avoiding the saccharine tone that plagues so many other films about faith, though its script may fail to convert nonbelievers.
  95. So B. It
    The strong cast, including John Heard, Dash Mihok, Jacinda Barrett and Cloris Leachman, sells the warm, at times cloying material with earnest conviction.
  96. Blade Runner 2049
    As shaped by Villeneuve and his masterful creative team, especially production designer Dennis Gassner and cinematographer Roger Deakins, this film puts you firmly, brilliantly, unassailably in another world of its own devising, and that is no small thing.
  97. Overdrive
    Choked with clichés, joyless, and with a suspense meter on empty, this France-set caper about classic-car-thieving half brothers (Scott Eastwood and Freddie Thorp) mixed up with a pair of violent, automobile-collecting crime lords (Simon Abkarian and Clemens Schick) is only for those who think the “Fast and the Furious” movies aren’t white and charmless enough.
  98. The Osiris Child
    While the storytelling, by Abbess and co-writer Brian Cachia, might lack novelty and, occasionally, coherence, visually the film consistently impresses with creative art direction and costume choices.
  99. Better Watch Out
    From the shockingly raunchy dialogue to the ironic yuletide pop songs, this movie is a fun kind of nasty.
  100. A Question of Faith
    Faith comes naturally, but complexity does not for Ty Manns’ script, which plays like a first draft, one written from a manual and riddled with two-dimensional characters and on-the-nose dialogue.
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