Los Angeles Times' Scores

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For 16,524 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: 8,698 out of 16524
  2. Mixed: 5,809 out of 16524
  3. Negative: 2,017 out of 16524
16524 movie reviews
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    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Joe the King
    Antisentimental to a fault.
  2. Herod's Law
    A bombshell in its home country, Herod's Law is made with the kind of flair that ensures a following everywhere politicians are venal and voters hope against hope for deliverance.
  3. One Swallow Brought Spring
    Wise, understated, warm and witty, it presents stars Michel Serrault and Mathilde Seigner in roles that fit them so perfectly they could have been tailor-made.
  4. Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War
    With killing as an end in itself, combatants lose sight of what they were supposed to be taking up arms for in the first place. It's a terrible lesson, and one that Tae Guk Gi teaches with unexpected confidence.
  5. Dementia
    Testin and Berg's work here is definitely promising, suggesting something better from both of them down the road.
  6. Civil: Ben Crump
    It presents some thoughtful perspectives, both from the dedicated litigator and a community conditioned to expect disappointment from the criminal justice system — and a last chance at fairness in the civil courts.
  7. Sleeping with Other People
    Though the leads lend charm and comic timing to the unpersuasive material, it would take a ground-up rewrite to make the fate of their characters matter.
  8. Cherry
    Ultimately, this film is less about her final decision than about how having these choices helps her figure out who she wants to be.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Wanted
    Wanted's hyperkinetic antics are sometimes weighed down by a surfeit of adolescent misanthropy. But the adrenaline-overdose strategy works for viewers as well as hit men. As long as Bekmambetov keeps the pedal to the metal, you don't notice the rotten scenery outside.
  10. Wes Craven's New Nightmare
    Freddy Krueger fans will exult and horror movie mavens will not be surprised: Wes Craven's New Nightmare is much better than the usual run of scare pictures. [14 Oct 1994, p.F4]
    • Los Angeles Times
  11. Enola Holmes 2
    The story’s a bit convoluted, though no more than most detective plots. Ultimately, it’s a solid mystery, explained well by Enola in her fourth-wall-breaking chats with the audience. The pairing of actor and role here is just about perfect, and as much a star-making turn for Brown as her breakout performance in “Stranger Things.”
  12. Adoration
    There is always a risk with having such a singular focus on a single theme; you might wake up to find the walls of that favored niche are closing in on you. And that is where we find Egoyan in Adoration.
  13. 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.
  14. Outbreak
    It's a B-movie with A-accouterments.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Kid Galahad
    Michael Curtiz directed this enjoyable story starring Wayne Norris in his film debut as a naive young man who is turned into a top fighter by a promoter (Edward G. Robinson). [27 Dec 2001, p.22]
    • Los Angeles Times
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    JCVD
    The giddy near-brilliance of its central conceit is squandered by flat execution.
  17. Girls Town
    The improvisational method with which this film evolved allows its actors to show us so many sides to their people, so much volatility, that it can take a while for its key figures to involve us. But snare us Taylor, Harris and Grace most surely do.
  18. Day of the Fight
    This soft-jab tragedy never finds the depth of expression to become a truly layered tale about choices, regrets and what we do with the rounds we have left.
  19. Captain Marvel
    Watching Danvers’ story play out, complete with boggling plot twists and a scene-stealing friendly feline, is hugely entertaining, and it can’t be over-emphasized how central Larson, about to become the most recognized woman on the planet, is to the enterprise.
  20. Ghosts of Cité Soleil
    A forceful documentary set against the 2004 Haitian coup d'état that toppled the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
  21. Hot Shots! Part Deux
    [An] often hilarious film...Abrahams and Proft’s nonstop throwaway humor keeps spirits lifted and a smile on our faces, and it also has the admirable effect of deflating those action movies that exploit violence in the name of a pious, if dubious, patriotism.
  22. How to Survive a Pandemic
    It’s a globe-trotting look at the worldwide response to COVID-19, with an emphasis on the unprecedented effort to get a safe, effective vaccine quickly into billions of people.
  23. The Notorious Bettie Page
    Harron has said she was determined to be nonjudgmental about Page, to do justice to the woman's "mystery and ambiguity." In practice, however, that attitude plays as coldness, and Page, for all her remarkable zest, comes off as a not terribly interesting person we're given no incentive to become involved with.
  24. The Eight Hundred
    The Eight Hundred fetishizes martyrdom, but for those seeking big-screen, epic violence, it’s pretty much the only game in town.
  25. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
    Rich in revealing detail and apt in its use of everyday Spokane settings, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers shows that Wang remains a master explorer of the landscape of the human heart.
  26. undertone
    The film is so committed to its rigors — the two-person cast, the glacial camera pivots, the moody lighting — that it teeters on the line of becoming monotonous.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Clockwatchers
    Clockwatchers opens with fresh, quirky panache, but by film's end, those most closely consulting their watches may be those in the audience. [15 May 1988, p.F8]
    • Los Angeles Times
  28. Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist
    It is the charm of Lorna Tucker's film that, her subject's reluctance notwithstanding, it provides a fascinating, involving glimpse of both who Westwood was back in the day and who she is at this particular moment in time, so much so that we genuinely miss her once the credits begin to roll.
  29. Pooh's Heffalump Movie
    Features some charming songs by Carly Simon and is warmly animated so as to evoke nostalgia in parents.
  30. Northfork
    A thoroughly original accomplishment of a high artistic order, Northfork features flawless, spare production design by Ichelle Spitzig and the Polish brothers' father, Del, and cinematographer M. David Mullen's striking images slide effortlessly into Dalí-like Surrealism.
  31. 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.
  32. Father and Son
    Nothing much happens by way of plot in the course of Father and Son, but it offers a fresh and often startling vision of one of the most fundamental relationships between human beings.
  33. Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
    Successfully brings to the big screen those no-brainer nerds who have brought laughter to living rooms around the world for nearly four years.
  34. Blue Juice
    Prechezer's cast is ingratiating and attractive, and Blue Juice is as buoyant as its terrific rock score.
  35. Confess, Fletch
    Hamm’s performance here as freelance journalist and investigative whiz Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher is a master class in effortless charm, a comedic turn that never sacrifices the character’s intelligence for a punchline yet steers clear of the smugness and smarminess so prevalent in contemporary comedy.
  36. Quartet
    Quartet is very much a performance piece, which plays to Hoffman's strength - as an actor he knows when to allow this excellent ensemble breathing room and when to tighten the belt.
  37. Suitable Flesh
    Despite its bumpy execution and general thinness, Suitable Flesh boasts a playfulness that feels ripe for slicing up and serving anew.
  38. Adam
    The resulting film is tenderly provocative and markedly vital.
  39. Prometheus
    Prometheus, unlike its predecessors, does not wear its themes lightly. It pushes too hard for significance, which is dicey in and of itself for genre material and contrasts badly with the standard nature of some of the story's plotting.
  40. Orgasm Inc.
    Canner's deft exposé also makes clear that some of the highest-profile "experts" are shills for Big Pharma, and that genital mutilation is thriving in the West, in the form of cosmetic surgery.
  41. Northern Soul
    The electrifying Northern Soul captures the 1970s British club scene of the same name with ethnographic detail and ebullient style.
  42. Paper Clips
    Paper Clips arrives with an authentically persuasive message of hope.
  43. Bonjour Tristesse
    One can appreciate the effort behind this well-made Bonjour Tristesse without necessarily feeling its turmoil.
  44. Fast Color
    Fast Color is a nifty little film, a smart, adventurous and surprising production made with visible care and considerable love.
  45. Goon
    Goon feels like a movie starring a gimmick, not a person.
  46. Slash
    The film is a respectful analysis of burgeoning sexuality, the sometimes embarrassing missteps that come along with figuring it out, and exploring that all through fiction.
  47. Princesas
    Indeed, Aranoa loves these women so completely that his film seems overly drawn out at nearly two hours and likely would have had greater effect had it been half an hour shorter. Even so, Princesas remains largely engaging and rewarding.
  48. Always Be My Maybe
    Always Be My Maybe is pleasant without being particularly powerful, appealing if not exactly transformative.
  49. The Lost Bus
    There are scenes of nerve-jangling terror that weld you to your seat, but they’re sandwiched in between a lot that feels very much sculpted for three-act character arc effect by Greengrass and co-writer Brad Ingelsby.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Party
    [Sellers] pulls off the physical comedy, which ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous, with ease. [03 Jan 1991, p.7]
    • Los Angeles Times
  51. Teenage
    It can feel repetitive and oversimplified. Aesthetically, though, it has an aching, dreamlike pull, constructing a panoramic view of history through the prism of collective and personal memory.
  52. The Patience Stone
    It's the flesh-and-blood lead performance by Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani as a profoundly conflicted Muslim wife and mother that seals this cinematic deal. She's superb.
  53. The Truth About Cats & Dogs
    From the moment we meet Abby, whimsically soothing her callers, we're turned into lap dogs, ready to follow her -- ready to follow Garofalo -- anywhere.
  54. Renoir
    Renoir is a lush, involving film.
  55. 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.
  56. The Other Lamb
    As a study in atmospheric seclusion, The Other Lamb is beautifully crafted enough to hold your attention, but you can’t shake the feeling that Selah’s next chapter — and Cassidy’s — might well be the more interesting movie.
  57. I Dream in Another Language
    This is an unusual venture, both charming and serious, that goes in more directions than anticipated, including more than a touch of magic realism.
  58. The Pursuit of Happyness
    "Inspired by" is an interesting phrase because the movie is more inspiring than inspired. The man's struggles are emotionally engaging, but dramatically it lacks the layering of a "Kramer vs. Kramer," which it superficially resembles.
  59. 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.
  60. Eight Below
    This family adventure about a team of sled dogs abandoned in Antarctica naturally invokes the traditional shout of "Mush!" urging the canines to go faster, but it's also an apt descriptor of both its shameless sentimentality and ineptly structured story.
  61. Bombshell
    It is as harrowing as it is triumphant in its depiction of the way it all came to pass.
  62. Belle
    Belle is greatly buoyed by Mbatha-Raw's performance. She infuses Dido with a confident and intelligent grace that keeps you engaged long after the tangled story has let both the actress and audience down.
  63. Suspiria
    By the time the phantasmagorical finale arrives, you are flooded with blood and viscera, yes, but also something even more unsettling — a sudden onrush of feeling, a deep, overpowering melancholy.
  64. Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers And The Emergence Of A People
    Some of the black photographers' works here are breathtaking — and may prompt you to hunt down Willis' book for the coffee table. But there's so much more to take away from Harris' documentary.
  65. Avenue Montaigne
    Avenue Montaigne may not be a centimeter deeper than it needs to be, but you also won't be feeling that your pocket was picked when it's over.
  66. 1408
    In the grand scheme of things, the Dolphin Hotel is no Overlook, but it's no cheesy slaughter motel either.
  67. The Low Down
    Thraves is skillful at evoking mood and atmosphere and at depicting transitional periods in a person's life with a mildly wistful humor.
  68. Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)
    Not only does it feel like an exclusive party at which there is definitely no room for the uninitiated, its waves of idolization barely leave room for the band itself. Good as they are, They Might Be Giants deserve a better film.
  69. Mondays in the Sun
    A triumph of quiet realism, a piece of sophisticated, subtle filmmaking that is both thoughtful and thought-provoking.
  70. Enigma
    It is such a grand, romantic entertainment that it sweeps the viewer along in its swiftly escalating suspense.
  71. The Sixth Sense
    So disarmingly eerie it's virtually guaranteed to rattle the most jaded of cages.
  72. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
    That Cho and Penn are such likable actors and are so funny in their roles earns the movie more slack than it probably deserves and prevents it from being just another gross-out comedy.
  73. Between Us
    The loose style of the film is held together by the strong performances from the leads and supporting actors alike.
  74. Swiss Army Man
    Even with all the design-rich invention and admirably committed weirdness on display in “Swiss Army Man,” we’re still in the land of immature males, poor-me feelings and superpowers. While the movie focuses on one end of the body, you might be left sighing from the other.
  75. Bettie Page Reveals All
    [A] highly watchable portrait.
  76. Whitney: Can I Be Me
    "Whitney's" story makes for strong and compelling viewing even though it has something of a cobbled together feel to it.
  77. Medora
    Honest and unadorned though the film may be, it's ultimately just not that involving.
  78. XX
    It’s fascinating to observe how the feminine perspectives of XX create four powerfully compelling and original horror tales that operate within the genre while testing the boundaries of traditional storytelling and style.
  79. Keep an Eye Out
    The delightfully daft, dialogue-driven result makes for a languid farce that mischievously flips a funhouse mirror on jaded audiences to welcome, if fleeting, effect.
  80. Ready or Not
    While the mocking tone mostly undermines any trenchant commentary, the strongest impression Ready or Not leaves, thanks to Weaving’s eye-rolling, primal-screaming, evil-giggling performance, is of the cathartic, transformative female rage at the center of it all.
  81. Che
    The political realities of his legacy can be endlessly debated, but in this flawed work of austere beauty, the logistics of war and the language of revolution give way to something greater, a struggle that may be defined by politics but can't be contained by it.
  82. Youth
    Youth is a film that goes its own way. Quixotic, idiosyncratic, effortlessly moving, it's as much a cinematic essay as anything else, a meditation on the wonders and complications of life, an examination of what lasts, of what matters to people no matter their age.
  83. Look Both Ways
    A fearless movie about a fearful subject, an unusually empathetic and quite funny film that deals with death and dying in the most offbeat and casually life-affirming way. Exceptionally smart, playful and perceptive, Look Both Ways confronts things that people would rather avoid.
  84. Canopy
    Chittenden and Tzu-yi are expressive actors, but, like the film itself, are hamstrung by the project's self-imposed confines.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Hills Have Eyes
    Taut, unsettling tale. One of the seminal horror films of the 1970s. [29 Oct 2003, p.E5]
    • Los Angeles Times
  86. The Whale
    Thoughtful and moving, if often heavy-handed, The Whale follows the remarkable story of Luna and will appeal to animal lovers of all ages.
  87. Toys in the Attic
    The narrative, though, is mere scaffolding for Barta's richly realized world, a kind of hand-hewn 3-D cinema that's testament to the limitlessness of imagination.
  88. The Europeans
    What’s attractive about revisiting The Europeans now is how it’s more indie-flavored, its pleasurable finery and delicate ironies — even the filmic stiltedness — befitting a novel whose lightness of tone James himself recognized when he subtitled it “A Sketch.”
  89. Mitt
    Although Whiteley's unrestricted there-ness effortlessly yields an avuncular striver... it means little when the viewpoint is so hermetic.
  90. Nasty Baby
    In much the way "Crystal Fairy" blossomed when we were snapped out of our chuckling repulsion, Nasty Baby rights itself intriguingly when Silva pushes his characters into unknown territory and lifestyle is imposed upon by life.
  91. Born to be Blue
    By reducing Baker's story to just a couple of pivotal years, Budreau makes every moment matter, including a tense final scene that treats the preparation for a performance like a duel at high noon. Like Baker himself, Born to Be Blue finds drama in minimalism.
  92. The Wild Boys
    Writer-director Bertrand Mandico’s The Wild Boys is a heady, sexually charged take on “Lord of the Flies” — an exciting sail on the waters of gender fluidity that energetically skewers any notion of the binary.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Come Early Morning
    Falls prey to bits of psychoanalytic shorthand and narrative predictability, but it offers the rare, meaty role for an actress in her late 30s.
  94. Before We Vanish
    If Before We Vanish isn't nearly as focused or accomplished as Kurosawa's horror masterpiece "Cure" (2001), or as shattering as his magnum opus "Tokyo Sonata" (2008), it's nonetheless a reminder that he has few equals when it comes to spinning even the flimsiest B-movie template into a cinema of ideas.
  95. Enzo Avitabile Music Life
    In Enzo Avitabile Music Life, Demme has not given us an expansive film, and there are spots you wish he'd dug deeper. But there is such a well of emotion that the music alone is almost enough.
  96. Elvis
    To complain that “Elvis” is basically a compilation of musical-biopic conventions is a bit like complaining about a greatest-hits album; it also misses one of Luhrmann’s strengths as a filmmaker, which is his ability to suffuse clichés with sincerity, energy and feeling.
  97. Holy Hell
    It’s not a complete journalistic picture, unfortunately, and it’s ham-fistedly structured to withhold information for maximum dramatic impact. But that impact, as predictable as it is, hits hard.
  98. Pick of the Litter
    This film — which follows the process as a litter of puppies make their way through training to become guide dogs for the blind — shows us the best in humanity, as well as the best in dogs.
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