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. Creed
    Coogler and company do fine work convincing us against our better judgment that nothing we see is preordained, that anything can happen within the four corners of the ring. You can't ask a "Rocky" film to do more than that.
  2. Victor Frankenstein
    For much of the movie's running time, I wished I were watching Mel Brooks' classic take on Shelley's yarn, "Young Frankenstein." At least that one was intentionally funny.
  3. TransFatty Lives
    A raucous, weird, occasionally fascinating entry in the genre of disease-documenting, a portrait of raw nerve in the face of deteriorating nerves.
  4. Altered Minds
    A good mystery and earnest performances keep the movie lively, though the confined location and limited plot ultimately make the end product feel paltry.
  5. Very Semi-Serious
    It's a very, very funny film but also sweetly sad and poignant, echoing the mix of humor and pathos that marks a New Yorker cartoon exactly what it is.
  6. The Pearl Button
    By turns lyrical, impressionistic and profound, the documentary The Pearl Button requires patience but offers stirring rewards.
  7. #Horror
    The film works better as social satire than straight horror, as the murder plot that drives it along always feels unconvincing.
  8. Flowers
    Flowers is too exquisitely formalist — symmetric framings followed by willfully asymmetric shots — to ever feel flushed with real feeling.
  9. Entertainment
    There's a chic emptiness to Entertainment, undoubtedly, and anti-comedy constructs that may rub the wrong way, but there's also a spiky intelligence at work too, one that engages through the artifice of disengagement and the illusion of "performance."
  10. James White
    Ultimately, though, it's Abbott's show to steal — and steal it he does — as he rivetingly conjures a character who's chaotically charismatic, hugely affecting and for better or worse thoroughly real.
  11. Kingdom of Shadows
    Director Bernardo Ruiz never manages to weave the multiple narratives into a complex but cohesive big picture.
  12. Drone
    Drone is a solid, thought-provoking documentary that raises some pertinent questions even if they may not originate from the most objective of places.
  13. Criminal Activities
    Working from a glib, chatty script by Robert Lowell that's not as cleverly hatched as it likes to think it is, Haley whips it into something reasonably entertaining.
  14. Legend
    As told by Helgeland this Legend simply isn't memorable, because a tremendous effort by Hardy is let down by unfocused storytelling.
  15. Mediterranea
    Writer-director Jonas Carpignano glosses over much of the sociopolitical context in his depictions of the chain of events.
  16. Mustang
    It's a moving portrait of sisterhood, a celebration of a fierce femininity and a damning indictment of patriarchal systems that seek to destroy and control this spirit.
  17. Secret in Their Eyes
    As screenwriter, Billy Ray's adapting the original's Argentina-centric trappings to a tense post-9/11 milieu is smart, but as director his style is hardly atmospheric.
  18. The Night Before
    A raucous and refreshing new take on the Christmas movie.
  19. Carol
    Haynes understands that swooningly beautiful traditional technique bolstered by thrilling performances creates the greatest impact. He has made a serious melodrama about the geometry of desire, a dreamy example of heightened reality that fully engages emotions despite the exact calculations with which it's been made.
  20. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
    The aesthetically misguided idea of breaking the final book into two films, commercially remunerative though it might have been, has ended up making the dragged-out proceedings feel anti-climactic and emotionally static.
  21. Coming Home
    Succeeds despite an intrusive soundtrack that underscores each genuinely heartfelt moment.
  22. My All American
    Strict adherence to the playbook may work in sports, but My All American shows the pitfalls of that approach with movies.
  23. Of Men and War
    The access that Bécue-Renard got, reportedly after five months of being there without a camera, is remarkable.
  24. Condemned
    Aggressively ugly and gross, the movie boasts a certain low-rent authenticity, but the auteur never figures out how to fill his grubby little rooms.
  25. Heist
    As vapidly generic as its title, British director Scott Mann's Heist is a by-the-numbers crime thriller that squanders a decent cast, including Robert De Niro, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Dave Bautista.
  26. The Funhouse Massacre
    Honestly, The Funhouse Massacre isn't quite enough of either.
  27. Sweet Micky for President
    There's no shortage of political intrigue even with the outcome a foregone conclusion.
  28. Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans
    The documentary, far from a glorified making-of featurette, is fittingly cinematic, with spectacularly wide establishing shots and studio-portrait-like testimonials.
  29. Song of Lahore
    The unifying power of music is rewardingly demonstrated in Song of Lahore.
  30. I Remember You
    Writer-director Claudia Sparrow prefers to pay more mind to the abstract.
  31. Joe's War
    The film, unfortunately, treats the important and complex subject of post-traumatic stress disorder in an oversimplified and reductive way.
  32. Karski & the Lords of Humanity
    Although it is often moving, the film is less satisfying than it could be.
  33. Sand Dollars
    Sand Dollars has an assured, light touch.
  34. The Hallow
    This backwoods monster movie boasts compelling performances, eye-catching creatures and an effective blend of practical and digital effects.
  35. By the Sea
    As a writer, Jolie Pitt is better at ideas than dialogue, much of which is leaden here. But the characters' behaviors feel true.
  36. Love the Coopers
    The celebrity soup that is Love the Coopers is, indeed, a mess, the kind in which the screenplay by Steven Rogers...is made more chaotic by Jessie Nelson's tonally smeary direction.
  37. Out of My Hand
    The film may deliver an all-too-neat resolution, but the haunting reminder that your past is never far away lingers.
  38. Cut Snake
    In one punchy way it's feverishly, genre-shakingly different. That difference makes the movie almost work. Almost.
  39. Man Up
    Frequently laugh-out-loud funny and tangibly tender where it ought to be, the immensely satisfying screwball romp feels freshly contemporary even as it largely conforms to genre conventions.
  40. Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict
    Lisa Immordino Vreeland deftly choreographs the story in her vibrant documentary Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, at once a capsule history of Modernism and a poignant personal portrait.
  41. Shelter
    The story on screen comes off as a naive interpretation of the homeless experience as imagined from a place of great privilege.
  42. This Isn't Funny
    This first feature is populated by blandly underdeveloped main characters who tend to recite their lines rather than inhabit them.
  43. Landmine Goes Click
    It's a shame that what could have been an intriguing situational thriller devolves into a hateful, arduous drag
  44. Care of Footpath 2
    Director Kishan SS has made Care of Footpath 2 (a.k.a. Kill Them Young) as a bombastic, overlong melodrama that doesn't recognize the occasional need to takes things down a decibel or three.
  45. Frame by Frame
    The filmmakers' approach is inherently positive.
  46. Heneral Luna
    Boasting a sizable budget, stirring photography and Arcilla's charismatic lead performance, Heneral Luna would never be mistaken for more serious-minded art-house material, but there are certainly less lively ways to be taught a history lesson.
  47. What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy
    Sands' scripted narration sounds detached and dissociated from the grief, frustration and anger he sporadically displays.
  48. Wrecker
    Aside from a few good jump-scares and a couple of original plot twists, Wrecker spends most of its running time cutting between footage of the roadster and footage of the truck, apparently assuming viewers will take those images and use them to imagine something more exciting.
  49. Xenia
    Koutras admirably resists easy wish fulfillment by making the brothers' journey more important than their destination, but the scenario he presents inexplicably turns out to be fantasy.
  50. Sex, Death and Bowling
    At its heart, it's a simple story about a family gathering around a loved one, but there's too much going on narratively and stylistically.
  51. Welcome to Leith
    This cautionary tale couldn't be more timely or essential.
  52. Heart of a Dog
    Heart of a Dog is that rarest of pieces, an unabashedly experimental work that's as inviting as a visit with an old friend, one who may not always make sense, who's sometimes goofy, but has been through a lot lately and treasures the opportunity to artfully unload.
  53. Trumbo
    Trumbo is timely in its portrayal of a moment when political speech is dangerously charged, yet unabashedly old-fashioned in the sincerity of its storytelling.
  54. Lost in the Sun
    Despite some scenic territory, there's just not much to this journey, leaving Lost in the Sun feeling like a short story stretched way too thinly toward feature length.
  55. The Peanuts Movie
    The movie is pleasant and charming, but when making a big-screen adaptation of a beloved classic and genuine touchstone for generations, adequate doesn't feel like quite enough.
  56. Miss You Already
    The film's insistence on laughter through the tears too often feels strained.
  57. Love
    When Love works, Noé achieves a lulling, melancholic frenzy about sex and memory, but the foundation isn't strong enough to make his movie ever seem more than a stereoscopic fermata: one envelope-pushing note held way too long.
  58. Spotlight
    Spotlight doesn't call attention to itself. Its screenplay is self-effacing, its accomplished direction is intentionally low key, and it encourages its fistful of top actors to blend into an eloquent ensemble.
  59. Evidence of Harm
    Since his due-diligence efforts were rebuffed by the American Dental Assn. and the Food and Drug Administration in their declining of interview requests, director Randall Moore doubles down on the already ex parte narrative with heavy-handed editorializing.
  60. SPECTRE
    Yes, some of the individual stunts and action set pieces temporarily hold our interest...but the story itself is not convincing on its own terms, playing like a series of boxes (Bond asking for a martini shaken not stirred) that need to be checked off and forgotten.
  61. Missing Child
    Writer-director Luke Sabis brings some interesting ideas to the well-known genre, exploring the nuances of abuse, spirituality and redemption. Unfortunately, the low-budget execution shows on screen, with a dim and dismal look, and the energy is decidedly lethargic.
  62. The Diplomat
    A rich, occasionally stirring and ultimately plaintive ode to the craft of velvet gloves, iron fists and how to point with either or both.
  63. Brooklyn
    A godsend for audiences who hunger for rich emotion presented with wit, grace and not a trace of sentimentality, Brooklyn illustrates the power of restraint in dealing with poignant, impassioned material.
  64. CodeGirl
    Unfortunately, there’s a missed opportunity to develop the suspense within a structure that has built-in tension. The pacing remains steady during the ramp-up to the final pitch, but it lacks competitive drama.
  65. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
    The aim here seems to be to replace startled gasps with shocked guffaws. The results are contrary to Scout Law — not Kind, Clean or Reverent.
  66. Eating Happiness
    It's tough to stomach in more ways than one.... A capricious, counterintuitive narrative also renders the film nearly unwatchable.
  67. At Granny's House
    Seemingly meant for the stage, the film feels unnaturally theatrical with characters stiltedly reciting each line of dialogue even when supposedly conversing. But with Mahoney's pedestrian, shot-reverse-shot direction, these scenes play out like situational skits from an instructional video made for ESL students.
  68. Excess Flesh
    The repetitively fetishistic camera work and lunatic-asylum sound cues are meant to signify a nod to something psychological and pointed, but all it is is bilious, empty-calorie extremism, and it only ever drags you where you expect.
  69. Dancin' It's On
    Even if the world had been clamoring for yet another "Step Up"-type hip hop dance movie, it wouldn't be Dancin' It's On!, an inept knockoff that proves every bit as clunky as its punctuation-challenged title.
  70. City Slickers Can't Stay with Me: The Coach Bob Larsen Story
    His runners' successes speak volumes, but the film never ventures outside of his inner circle to gain more perspective.
  71. The Russian Woodpecker
    The documentary The Russian Woodpecker is provocative, spooky and just a little nutty.
  72. Tab Hunter Confidential
    Schwarz and Hunter never dig all that deep — in fact, it all seems pretty tame by today's reality TV standards — but the film remains an evocative, enjoyable ride.
  73. Asthma
    The soundtrack is fantastic and Samuel eminently watchable, but "Asthma" suffers from near-lethal doses of self-satisfied hipness.
  74. How to Change the World
    A fascinating, skillfully assembled chronicle of the rise and inevitable fallout surrounding the granddaddy of the environmental activism movement.
  75. The Armor of Light
    Whether viewers accept the spiritual terms of the conversation or not, the unlikely allies shine a burning light on questions that go to the essence of who we are and what it means to value life.
  76. Bare
    Director Natalia Leite brings an emotional intelligence and sensitivity to Bare that raises it above its smutty late-night cable premise of a small-town girl falling into a lesbian affair and exploring the world of stripping.
  77. Burnt
    Burnt is mildly diverting.
  78. India's Daughter
    Don't mistake the brief running time of India's Daughter for a lack of importance or ability to involve. Though it lasts only 63 minutes, this documentary's impact is devastating.
  79. Our Brand Is Crisis
    Nominally a satiric comedy, the film is only sporadically effective, running out of energy before it reaches the end.
  80. The Creeping Garden
    The Creeping Garden cultivates more style than substance.
  81. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
    At its most basic level, the Paranormal Activity formula still has some kick, with its combination of creepy lo-fi video and tasteful suburbia creating some strong, unsettling dissonance.
  82. Tower to the People: Tesla's Dream at Wardenclyffe Continues
    Tower to the People means well, and Tesla deserves his own movie, but it's like being cornered by a zealot: an educational slog that morphs into an infomercial.
  83. Mi America
    Although Fontaine, a former soap opera actor, hits the saga's sins-of-the-fathers theme too often, there's a palpable small-town-in-transition feel to the fictional Braxton.... And there's no denying Fontaine's reflective but rumpled Rolando Ramirez is an interesting protagonist.
  84. 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.
  85. A Ballerina's Tale
    Copeland's victories are shortchanged by the film's prevailing sense of detachment from its main subject.
  86. Extraordinary Tales
    Like "A Cat in Paris" or "Sita Sings the Blues," Extraordinary Tales reminds viewers that animation can enable an artist to realize an individual vision, even on a limited budget.
  87. I Smile Back
    Without pandering to audience sympathy, Silverman's dark shadings lend something unexpected and real to the role.
  88. Bone Tomahawk
    Zahler's still starkness, enhanced by a fondness for long shots and dark spaces, is refreshing in this shaky-cam era, and his ear for Old West sensibilities — from the mythically polite to the realistically xenophobic — is clinically effective.
  89. Tokyo Tribe
    While the gangsta lyrics and posturing are laden with cliché, there's still some novelty in sustaining a rap narration for nearly two hours. But whenever the music stops, the film can never stay in the game by landing on a figurative chair.
  90. The Last Witch Hunter
    The Last Witch Hunter is one of those artlessly restless, exposition-dialogue fantasy-action slogs that, thanks to Breck Eisner's untamed direction, never manages to corral all the potion talk, mythology rationale and leaps back and forth in time into anything remotely entertaining.
  91. Rock the Kasbah
    The oddball script by Mitch Glazer ("Scrooged"), as directed by Barry Levinson ("Rain Man," "Good Morning, Vietnam"), takes so long to bring Richie and Salima together, it deprives us of the kind of fully fleshed dynamic the story so desperately needs.
  92. Jem and the Holograms
    In revisiting the pop rock quest of a multiracial group of adopted sisters in suburban California, Chu has made a stylish and self-aware musical fantasy for the YouTube generation.
  93. The Looking Glass
    Tristan's creaky, often episodic script attempts to tackle some big topics — art, love, loss, family bonds, mortality — but does so in such a forced, talky way that it's hard to buy into the tale's earnest emotional core.
  94. A Wonderful Cloud
    Whenever the larkishness thins, though, Sheil — who could easily have modeled her face for Modigliani — grounds it all as a young woman torn between dissecting a mistake and accepting a responsible future.
  95. Suffragette
    Though ably acted and indisputably on the side of the angels, Suffragette as directed by Sarah Gavron is more dead-on earnest and schematic than it needs to be.
  96. Medusa
    The pedestrian writing and acting prove even more cringe-worthy and dreadful than the special effects.
  97. Aram, Aram
    Aram, Aram is almost too lightweight to have real power, but its snapshot of a vibrant local community and a hollowed-out transplant's very real identity crisis feels genuine.
  98. The Tainted Veil
    The Tainted Veil resists taking a stance, and both sides of the argument are compelling and persuasive.
  99. Henry & Me
    An increasingly rare example of traditional 2D American animation, Henry & Me is so well-intentioned, you wish the film were better.
  100. Woodlawn
    Taking those Hail Mary passes to heart, Woodlawn is a heavily Christian sports drama that almost goes the distance despite adhering closely to the inspirational movie playbook.
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