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. Something in the Air
    Assayas has such a steady hand as a director, he knows precisely how to let all of Gilles' inner angst play out. His nostalgia for those past days can be felt in the affection and forgiving way the indiscretions of youth are portrayed.
  2. Love Is All You Need
    Though Bier isn't as comfortable with the lighter side of life, the film is a lovely little lark with a good head on its shoulders.
  3. Iron Man 3
    Black and company throw all kinds of stuff at the audience, and though it doesn't all work, a lot of it does and the attempt to be different and create unguessable twists is always appreciated.
  4. Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's
    A lively, clever, fast-moving film that isn't overly reverential about its subject.
  5. Aroused
    The impulse to profile "the world's most sexualized women" is a worthy one. But little sense of individuality emerges in Aroused.
  6. Graceland
    Graceland is a tense, twisty cinematic artichoke brimming with moral complexity and intriguing shades of gray.
  7. The Numbers Station
    A predictable hodgepodge of uninteresting psychological cat-and-mouse, dimly lighted action.
  8. The Crumbles
    This one's all about the next jaunty, jangly guitar riff on the soundtrack that signals a new day, the next bit of inspiration or opportunity, and sometimes that's just fine.
  9. Aquí y Allá (Here and There)
    Esparza's cast of unknowns is so fresh and raw that the drama could be mistaken for a documentary if the camera work weren't so controlled.
  10. Tai Chi Hero
    There's still a nagging, cartoonish emptiness — and a trilogy-ending installment still to come.
  11. Pain & Gain
    That sense of extreme, excess, over-the-top everything is there from start to finish. And isn't that what Bay fans count on even at cut-rate prices?
  12. The Big Wedding
    To be fair, there are moments that earn their laughs and nostalgic memories for the marriage that was and the relationship that is that are sweet. But like many big weddings — a lot of things go wrong and not much goes right.
  13. Mud
    One of the most creatively rich and emotionally rewarding movies to come along this year.
  14. Arthur Newman
    The promise it begins with doesn't pay off. And while Arthur Newman is not a complete disaster, it does leave you wishing the romance and the ride had been a whole lot smoother.
  15. Kon-Tiki
    Kon-Tiki features a protagonist who was determination itself, a filmmaking style that is square as opposed to cutting edge, and a story that is strong enough to involve us despite its earnest underpinnings.
  16. The Reluctant Fundamentalist
    The result inevitably pushes too hard at times and can't help but stray into melodrama, yet the film does an admirable job of transplanting the novel's thoughtful concerns into a fast-moving suspense context.
  17. Le Petit Soldat (re-release)
    Beyond the timelessness of the story itself, the film is beautifully shot and though early in Godard’s career already showcased his ability to capture emotional intensity in the very way he frames the shots.
  18. At Any Price
    Bahrani sometimes pushes too hard as he reaches for big drama. But when the story works, it has a dark power that draws shrewdly upon his two leads' screen charisma.
  19. Bert Stern: Original Madman
    Though the photographs are memorable, the photographer is not.
  20. Antiviral
    Antiviral is often fascinating to watch. If Cronenberg's not yet a dead ringer for his iconic dad, he's taken an intriguing first step.
  21. Filly Brown
    The cast keeps us invested in Filly's furious resurrection.
  22. Oconomowoc
    Ironically, the only thing that makes much sense about the DIY effort Oconomowoc is its baffling title.
  23. Violeta Went to Heaven
    Francisca Gavilán's lead performance burns with a dark radiance that's anything but self-congratulatory.
  24. Home Run
    Almost from the beginning the message overwhelms the medium.
  25. Three Days (of Hamlet)
    The result is high school English crossed with "Waiting for Guffman," though the humor is largely accidental.
  26. Oblivion
    Oblivion has the ability to haunt you visually and, with an unanticipated love story, even emotionally.
  27. The Lords of Salem
    The Lords of Salem is like some queasy-making machine, a chamber piece of possession and madness that exerts a strange, disturbing power.
  28. Stolen Seas
    What really elevates the film, though, is the crucial context that Payne provides to explain — but not justify — the pirates' actions.
  29. The Revolutionary Optimists
    Unfortunately, the film often feels somewhat random and disorganized, with Newnham and Grainger-Monsen never zeroing in on a cohesive narrative structure. Still, the movie's engaging subjects (including several parents) and valuable themes largely carry the day.
  30. Pawn
    Pawn's cops and robbers game could have been far better played.
  31. Unmade in China
    It's a cautionary tale of sorts, but the story is so strange it is often not clear exactly what it's cautioning us against.
  32. In the House
    François Ozon can usually be counted on for dark irony of the juiciest sort...But the filmmaker has an especially deft touch when a dash of comedy is mixed in. He uses this to delicious effect in his latest, In the House.
  33. Scary Movie 5
    If you think three months is an impossible amount of time to write and produce a feature film, well, it is.
  34. Lotus Eaters
    McGuinness has a commendable grasp of visual textures and rhythms. It will be interesting to see what she does with a stronger story to tell. Here, reaching for dramatic effect, she comes up empty.
  35. Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington
    For Hetherington, the front line was not just a set of coordinates in a bloody battle, but a space where true artists operated, and Junger's film goes a long way toward celebrating that mind set, but also recognizing how treacherous it can be.
  36. Pavilion
    What you see is pretty much what you get. Fortunately, what we see is often vivid and lovely.
  37. It's a Disaster
    The movie elicits knowing smiles more than laughs, even as it reveals a boundless observational awareness about the beefs and slights that, for the small-minded, must feel like everyday Armageddons.
  38. Leonie
    As a portrait of female strength and a celebration of the artistic spirit, Leonie too seldom comes fully alive.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Fists of Legend
    Director Kang Woo-Suk spins an epic swirl of masculine psychodrama over his many punishing fight sequences...But he also makes a handful of sage points about desperate times, the cycle of bullying and our modern culture of ratings-sanctioned aggression.
  40. No Place on Earth
    Add one more extraordinary survival tale to the canon of Holocaust documentaries: No Place on Earth.
  41. Consuming Spirits
    With its startling mix of 16-millimeter-shot, handmade animation styles using stop-motion, sketches, collages and models, along with uncensored characters often resembling cadaverous marionettes, this twisted look at life in a faded Appalachian town is one decidedly idiosyncratic ride.
  42. Disconnect
    Alas, the flick can't resist overheating. Paradoxically, when people finally do jump in their cars, curl their fists and grab their guns, we wish they'd retreat to the safety of their monitors.
  43. To the Wonder
    I found it to be some kind of wonderful, flaws and all. This is one to be taken in like meditation. Clear the mind and let what is in front of you wash over you. Save the contemplation for later.
  44. 42
    Robinson's combination of fortitude, restraint and passion for the game was stunning. You can't help getting caught up in this story, even as you are wishing the telling was sharper than it is.
  45. Upstream Color
    Part science fiction scare movie, part offbeat romance, part completely unclassifiable, "Color" is also one-man filmmaking of a remarkable sort.
  46. The Angels' Share
    The Angels' Share leaves a warm glow.
  47. Simon Killer
    Simon Killer...is Campos' bleakest project, which honestly makes me fearful for the future. Still, he is a provocative one to watch — willing to push the aesthetic boundaries as well as the story to extremes even when the risks don't always pay off.
  48. My Brother the Devil
    My Brother the Devil is a promising debut that marks El Hosaini as a filmmaker to watch, but one still very much in the developmental stages.
  49. 6 Souls
    6 Souls is regrettably sick with that familiar disease afflicting movies of this ilk: ostentatious, hollow moodiness that spreads like an unwelcome rash.
  50. The Brass Teapot
    Without a human dimension to ground its construct, The Brass Teapot ultimately feels like an interminably stretched-out skit rather than a storybook lesson stained with blood and hurt.
  51. Silver Circle
    There's plenty of action, some ping-ponging romance and even a bit of tension as Silver Circle spins its muddled tale. But it's all so overwhelmed by the rudimentary, computer-generated animation (characters don't so much walk as lurch and glide) that, well, the medium becomes the message.
  52. The Story of Luke
    The Story of Luke is not a saga of epic proportions, but with a huge assist from Pucci's layered performance, takes a premise that could easily be movie-of-the-week sappy and finds a humanizing lightness.
  53. Free Angela & All Political Prisoners
    Lynch's film is a work of steady chronological progression. Without straining for big-picture significance, it provides a composed look into the revolutionary spirit.
  54. Neighboring Sounds
    [Filho's] mastery of pacing, theme and stylistic eccentricity throughout Neighboring Sounds is so assured as to be breathtaking. Don't miss it.
  55. The Company You Keep
    The Company You Keep is a shrewder, more satisfying piece of filmmaking than we've seen from Redford in a while, though not quite in the league with his best behind-the-camera work.
  56. Babe's and Ricky's Inn
    Music in Babe's and Ricky's is righteous and raucous and easy to come by, but the story of Mama Laura is more elusive. And that is the frustration.
  57. Trance
    It starts out like a house afire, but by the time it's over we're the ones feeling burned. A slick heist tale with more twists than sense, this is one movie that ends up outsmarting itself.
  58. Evil Dead
    It's unlikely the movie will gain the same ardent following as Raimi's debut, but it offers enough good-time gore, goofiness, scares and screams to leave an audience feeling a certain elated exhaustion.
  59. Tattoo Nation
    A vivid portrait that should satisfy aficionados and intrigue the curious. Ink-averse viewers, however, may remain unsold.
  60. Tyler Perry's Temptation
    Perry's ongoing disinterest in improving as a filmmaker is now seemingly part of his unshakable belief in himself, his insistence on doing his thing his way.
  61. Molly's Theory of Relativity
    At times, Lipsky's storytelling is too cutely self-aware, trying too hard, making Molly's Theory of Relativity something of an intriguing, if not entirely successful, exoticism.
  62. The Place Beyond the Pines
    The movie is intimate in its telling, sweeping in its issues and stumbles only occasionally.
  63. Welcome to the Punch
    Writer-director Eran Creevy shows himself to be well versed in the mythic sweep of Christopher Nolan's and Michael Mann's crime sagas, if not their intelligence with storytelling.
  64. Rescue in the Philippines
    "Rescue" features excellent archival footage plus a rich array of recent interviews.
  65. Wrong
    "Rubber" felt inventive and complex, but here Dupieux's absurdism is simply muddled, masking the fact he doesn't really have much to say.
  66. Eden
    Eden is never less than suspenseful, but rather than sentimentally pander to easy outrage, or indulge in icky women-in-distress titillation, the movie...zeros in on the details of how dignity can be stripped like bark from a tree, and the queasy determination it takes to stay alive in a living hell.
  67. Detour
    For all the ways Dickerson vigorously dramatizes the stages of solitary confinement — nervous humor, fear, rages, survival ingenuity (including a nifty breathing apparatus) — it's never enough to explain why this particular individual's story is worth telling.
  68. Mental
    Writer-director P.J. Hogan may have based Mental on an actual incident from his childhood, but the crazy quilt of a movie that resulted feels anything but real.
  69. Gimme the Loot
    Filmmaker Leon has deftly structured Gimme the Loot as a picaresque tale, an anecdotal, observational film that introduces us to all manner of eccentric and original characters. Will Malcolm and Sophia get what they want, what they need, or something in between? The only sure thing is that being along for the ride is pleasure of the most unexpected sort.
  70. The Host
    The story goes slack onscreen, so much so that the movie's two-plus hours will seem an eternity.
  71. Family Weekend
    Family Weekend is no worse than many of the dysfunctional family comedies that populate the Sundance Film Festival — "Little Miss Sunshine" is name-checked within the movie itself — but isn't any better either.
  72. Renoir
    Renoir is a lush, involving film.
  73. Blancanieves
    In an attempt to be both modern and traditional, this gorgeously made film ends up betwixt and between.
  74. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
    It's massive, all the retaliation and the world saving stuff. And it's convoluted. Frankly no one should have to think that hard to keep up with the Joes.
  75. The We and the I
    Moving somewhat obviously toward denouement, the film hits a false note or two. But mainly it's exhilarating in its refusal to make smooth what's messy, inchoate and tenaciously alive.
  76. Olympus Has Fallen
    [Antoine Fuqua] gives in to terrible instincts here, flirting with overwrought patriotism, one too many laugh lines amid numerous characters being shot in the head, and a general chaos-inspired editing technique all too rampant in today's action cinema.
  77. Bob's New Suit
    With good intentions and a warm heart but undone by uneven performances and shaky storytelling, Bob's New Suit never quite finds the right fit.
  78. Starbuck
    As amiable art-house fluff, it's a passable way to kill time.
  79. Silver Case
    Anyone seeking an empty-headed, derivative joy ride through crime-comedy conventions could do far worse than Silver Case, a brisk, good-looking and never dull B movie.
  80. Reality
    Garrone achieves something uniquely colorful, disturbing and trenchant about self-perception in an increasingly fishbowl-like society.
  81. New World
    Loyalties are tested, futures are reconsidered and the body count climbs in the effective action import New World.
  82. Love and Honor
    Save a weak police pursuit, events are earnestly depicted and involvingly played, even if the period re-creation at times feels overly burnished. Still, Love and Honor suffices as old-fashioned, pie-in-the-sky entertainment.
  83. The Kill Hole
    Though the film at times works scene by scene, Webley can't quite tie it all together. A disjointed jumble, The Kill Hole can't dig itself out.
  84. Hunky Dory
    Laurence Coriat's shapeless script...pads its overlong running time with standard teen trauma — band squabbles, girl betrayals, skinhead brothers — that saps the audience's energy before the grand finale.
  85. The Croods
    Good stuff comes when bad stuff happens; that's when some of the movie animation prowess kicks into high gear. But too many of the "solutions" the guys concoct are so impossibly complex or just downright ridiculous — puppetry comes to mind — that like the continents, it's a little too easy to drift away.
  86. Everybody Has a Plan
    The noir-ish contours of writer-director Ana Piterbarg's story yield a frustratingly dissipated movie, one with few storytelling pleasures and an overabundance of forced mood.
  87. Dorfman in Love
    Brad Leong's comedy has some nicely miserable character beats.
  88. Come Out and Play
    A one-man band known as Makinov — he wrote, directed, produced, shot, edited and ran sound here — has done a pretty decent job in the chills department using a simple story, small cast and largely contained location.
  89. From Up on Poppy Hill
    From Up on Poppy Hill is frankly stunning, as beautiful a hand-drawn animated feature as you are likely to see. It's a time-machine dream of a not-so-distant past, a sweet and honestly sentimental story that also represents a collaboration between the greatest of Japanese animators and his up-and-coming son.
  90. The Call
    It buzzes along for a while, the promising plot innovations inviting suspension of disbelief, before by-the-numbers implausibility, over-the-top valor and unsavory contrivances take over and the line goes dead.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Reincarnated
    Capper's film feels like a making-of featurette spun out to documentary dimensions, just another component in the new album's marketing plan...In its simplest moments, though, Reincarnated presents an honesty that is its own reward. It shows us an old Dogg with no tricks.
  92. My Amityville Horror
    The blurring of fact and fiction has been a part of the Amityville saga since it became public, but for Lutz there's no gray area in his memories, whose power is undiminished.
  93. Language of a Broken Heart
    The film, directed by first-timer Rocky Powell, has a different happy ending in mind, one that adheres to rom-com formulas in a manner that should give it a second life on basic cable. Just don't expect to fall hard for it.
  94. Mindless Behavior: All Around the World
    Less a documentary than an acutely positioned marketing tool, Mindless Behavior: All Around the World delivers a chaotically high-energy burst of performance and behind-the-scenes footage for fans of the slickly produced hip-hop boy band.
  95. Hava Nagila: The Movie
    It's a fun, nostalgic, informative journey. Aided by vivid archival footage and photos, the movie charts the evolution of the song through the Holocaust, the birth of Israel and the modern Jewish Diaspora.
  96. K-11
    K-11 has the makings of a cult movie campfest but little of the authentic wit, edge or outré vision it would take to get there. What's left is a dreary jailhouse drama that somehow managed to imprison a few notable actors within its lurid walls.
  97. Ginger & Rosa
    It's an adult look at the teenage years, an examination of how personal emotions inform political action, a noteworthy change of pace for writer-director Sally Potter and, most of all, the showcase for a performance by Elle Fanning as Ginger that is little short of phenomenal.
  98. Upside Down
    It's best not to overthink the sci-fi love story Upside Down and just enjoy its dazzling visuals, dream-like inventiveness and lush romanticism.
  99. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
    Part manic comedy, part would-be heart-warmer of the "follow your bliss" variety, its odd combination of tones and situations leads to as many awkward, uncertain moments as funny ones.
  100. If I Were You
    This is Nancy Meyers territory, but leaden with passé observations about lovelorn women...and hardly ebullient as either oddball-pair comedy or housewife-revenge fantasy.
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