Los Angeles Times' Scores

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For 16,523 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 16523
  2. Mixed: 5,808 out of 16523
  3. Negative: 2,017 out of 16523
16523 movie reviews
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  1. For Ellen
    A small but exquisite film, beautifully observed and impeccably executed. Written and directed by So Yong Kim, it shows a different side of an actor we thought we knew and reveals unexpected aspects of a character who turns out to be not as familiar as he seems.
  2. Nobody Walks
    If you allow yourself to drift with it, rather than get frustrated by all the non sequiturs, Nobody Walks becomes a more enjoyable film.
  3. The Sessions
    In a country that embraces cinematic violence with such ease but blushingly prefers to keep sex in the shadows or under the sheets, the grown-up approach of The Sessions is rare.
  4. Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike
    Budgetary constraints aside, director John Putch struggles to find balance or generate a single spark from the clunky mix of romance, political diatribe and thriller.
  5. Paranormal Activity 4
    This film's strong suit is that it finally feels contemporary.
  6. Alex Cross
    The best of the Alex Cross mess suggests that as an actor, he has the talent to move beyond the world of Madea should he want to. He just needs to look for much better material.
  7. Smashed
    Winstead, who appears in nearly every scene, can be compelling but, like the material, often pushes too hard, especially in Kate's climactic dive off the wagon. In a far more limited role, Paul is lower-key and convincing.
  8. Step Up To The Plate
    As for the so-called "food compositions" seen here, like the film itself, they're more impressionistic and artistic than enticing. For a far more satisfying cinematic meal, check out the similarly themed "Jiro Dreams of Sushi."
  9. Fat Kid Rules the World
    Endearingly uneven.
  10. Now, Forager
    Despite an awkwardly jokey title, Now, Forager has charm, intelligence and a cool passion for its principled characters - an appealing off-menu slice for hungry indie admirers.
  11. Wuthering Heights
    It's just that there isn't enough story - the book shouldn't be required reading for the film to make sense.
  12. Excuse Me for Living
    Vaguely misogynistic and defiantly paternalistic, the movie fails at nearly everything.
  13. War of the Buttons
    Though it's handled with little subtlety, the way the atmosphere of suspicion in Vichy France filters down to the kids is a smart slant on the material.
  14. The Thieves
    While the movie's second half feels more consequential - and more impressively action-packed - than its first part, it also loses some of its initial charm and quirk via a protracted, often dizzying descent into a kind of booty-centric game of hot potato.
  15. Sinister
    Rather than another drearily workaday horror picture, Sinister uses the supernatural to underline its examination of the all-too-human foibles of insecurity and myopic self-centeredness. As the best horror stories so often do, Sinister makes clear that we are our own boogeymen, the worst monsters of all.
  16. Here Comes the Boom
    The film works hard at its inoffensiveness. Throughout, jokes are left on the table, setups never pay off in any significant way.
  17. Seven Psychopaths
    Unlike "In Bruges," the outlandish parts of Seven Psychopaths, though often bleakly entertaining in their own right, remain a collection of weird riffs that not even engaging acting by Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken and Tom Waits can bring together.
  18. Middle of Nowhere
    So though it echoes the films of Charles Burnett, the plays of August Wilson and "A Raisin in the Sun," at its heart Middle of Nowhere is old-school, character-driven narrative at its most quietly effective.
  19. Argo
    Affleck easily orchestrates this complex film with 120 speaking parts as it moves from inside-the-Beltway espionage thriller to inside Hollywood dark comedy to gripping international hostage drama, all without missing a step.
  20. Just 45 Minutes from Broadway
    An investment in theatrical self-indulgence with diminishing returns.
  21. Mulberry Child
    In the film based on her memoir Mulberry Child, Jian Ping speaks of her family's ordeal during the Cultural Revolution with searing detail and not an ounce of sentimentality. The same can't be said of director Susan Morgan Cooper's heavy-handed approach to the material.
  22. Detropia
    It is a striking and moving study of "what was" versus "what it has become" as the filmmakers try to get at the whys.
  23. Decoding Deepak
    Decoding Deepak does not feel, as it might, like an indictment of those messages but rather a straightforward portrait of someone working hard to present the product he is selling.
  24. V/H/S
    Had V/H/S been a nasty jolt of three, it might have been memorable, but at nearly two hours, the gimmick punctures a hole in itself, causing ambience bleed-out. Recommended cure: a tripod
  25. Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare
    Cogent, convincing, determinedly non-ideological, Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare tells us that everything we think we know about that incendiary topic might be wrong. And it offers us a way out of the morass.
  26. Butter
    The would-be satire is nothing more than a bunch of sketch characters and jokes welded to a sentimental subplot.
  27. The Paperboy
    There is such unflinching passion in the piece that The Paperboy deserves to be seen even though it can feel almost as flawed as its characters.
  28. Taken 2
    At a beefy 6-foot-4, Neeson certainly looks physically imposing, but it was the notion of casting someone who can actually act in an action hero role that was the counter-intuitive concept that made both films - Taken 2 is more a remake than a sequel - so successful.
  29. Frankenweenie
    He (Burton) has used that tonality deftly here, it keeps Frankenweenie visually stunning and the sensibility light. It's too bad the tale, like Sparky's wagging appendage, keeps falling off.
  30. 186 Dollars to Freedom
    The trouble is that it's hard to care about poor Wayne when he seems so empty-headed and naïve - civic unrest in Peru on the eve of its first democratic elections in 1980 is the setting - and when the movie itself seems so unfocused.
  31. Masquerade
    As predictable as these stories invariably are, Lee's wonderful turn reignites the potent fantasy of peasant wisdom - if given the power - melting politically cynical hearts and legislating through decency rather than fear.
  32. The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best
    Although the sentiment threatens to flatten out an intriguingly nervy vibe, Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best has plenty of rhythmic charm about its responsibility-challenged strivers.
  33. Electoral Dysfunction
    Both well-timed and oddly late-on-arrival, the good-natured documentary Electoral Dysfunction attempts to lay bare the irregularities behind the American voting system but, for some, it may feel too lightweight and coy for genuine effect.
  34. Vulgaria
    Even amid the naughty flourishes, with Vulgaria, Pang again shows himself to be a wise, playful chronicler of modern life.
  35. Hellbound?
    Given the subjectively interpretive nature of scripture and ancient religious history, which informs most of the Christian-centric debate here, the result is an often dense, contradictory discourse.
  36. Harvest of Empire
    Though its snapshot approach is uneven, Harvest is itself a valuable resource: a good starting point for a fuller perspective on this nation of immigrants.
  37. The Waiting Room
    Wherever you stand on healthcare and the fact that uninsured people nationwide use emergency rooms for basic services, the documentary The Waiting Room is a revealing portrait of the often tough transactions between patients and hospital staff at the urgency level.
  38. Fred Won't Move Out
    It also points to one of the movie's most nagging problems: Stuck somewhere between personal memoir and universal truth, Fred Won't Move Out ends up being neither.
  39. The Iran Job
    One of those documentaries that is sad and hopeful in equal measure and exceptional in its storytelling.
  40. The Other Dream Team
    A sports film to remember.
  41. Solomon Kane
    Solomon Kane succeeds by embracing its identity as a straightforward genre exercise, complete with bone-crunching and blood-spurting action. By not aiming for more, it hits its target.
  42. Pitch Perfect
    What helps offset the predictable in this very predictable movie is a series of show-stopping numbers, so props to the folks who oversaw music and choreography. But the true saving grace is a few of the central players.
  43. Won't Back Down
    This poor film is so shamelessly manipulative and hopelessly bogus it will make you bite your tongue in regret and despair.
  44. Hotel Transylvania
    There are some crowd-pleasers - but Hotel Transylvania never becomes the great monster mash that seemed in the offing.
  45. Looper
    This is a highflying, super-stylish science-fiction thriller that brings a fresh approach to mind-bending genre material. We're not always sure where this time-travel film is going, but we wouldn't dream of abandoning the ride.
  46. West of Thunder
    Many of the performers have a distinctly unpolished way about them, almost as if they actually were turn-of-the-last-century townsfolk, which leads to some deeply eccentric line readings, but it also gives the entire film an unvarnished quality that remains curiously engaging.
  47. Raaz 3: The Third Dimension
    Whether meeting a malevolent spirit wearing expensive sunglasses, seductively controlling her (Bazu) prey, or bringing her scheme to an operatically violent close, she gives"Raaz 3" its defiantly retro flamboyance.
  48. House at the End of the Street
    Lawrence's natural, disarming screen presence is ill-suited to something as mannered and labored as House at the End of the Street, and at moments it's as if she freezes up, unable to simply throw on a scared-face for no good reason.
  49. Head Games
    It's a complex, determined look at one of the most pernicious problems facing organized sports on all levels.
  50. My Uncle Rafael
    It's no great surprise how things end up for this tossed-under-one-roof bunch. How they get there, however, provides a largely fertile playground for the picture's talented comic ensemble.
  51. Tears of Gaza
    Tears of Gaza is both horrifying and frustrating. This documentary's goals are noble ones, but its execution is something else again.
  52. Backwards
    It's simple stuff, but it works.
  53. End of Watch
    A visceral story of beat cops that is rare in its sensitivity, rash in its violence and raw in its humor.
  54. Dredd
    Dredd's cinematography is one of its strongest assets speaks to the film's larger problems - the parts and pieces just don't have the total impact they should, like a punch sailing helplessly through the air rather than forcefully smacking its target.
  55. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
    Back in the director's chair for only the second time, the filmmaker, like his main character, is a little unsteady on his feet. But thanks to his stars, the film - like the book - is a smartly observed study of a troubled teen's first year in high school.
  56. Alps
    The film takes some deciphering, but once a viewer cracks its code Alps opens up into something expansive and rich. Part of what makes Lanthimos so uniquely masterful is that he remains in control while refusing to point toward any singular interpretation.
  57. Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel
    Remarkably, much of that sizzling sensibility was caught on film and has been stylishly stitched together with her personal history in the scrumptious new documentary, Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel.
  58. How to Survive a Plague
    The latest in a recent spate of AIDS-themed documentaries, How to Survive a Plague is an exceptional portrait of a community in crisis and the focused fury of its response.
  59. Trouble with the Curve
    This amiable, old-fashioned film is no world-beater, but it underlines why, appearances with empty chairs excepted, it is always a pleasure to see this man on the screen.
  60. Starry Starry Night
    The cumulative effect is more that of a handsomely crafted museum piece than a moving, emotional journey.
  61. Somewhere Between
    You'd have to be a stone not to be moved.
  62. Girl Model
    Statistical evidence could have strengthened the film's anecdotal argument. But in Nadya's anticipation and Ashley's depressive, disingenuous soul searching, Girl Model captures something beyond hard facts: portraits of delusion, innocent and practiced.
  63. 5 Broken Cameras
    The immediacy with which it bears witness to injustice is powerful and affecting, as are the images of joy he captures amid the burning olive trees.
  64. The Trouble with the Truth
    Thanks to the residual love and attraction between the pair, this cocktail-fueled reunion never descends into a "Virginia Woolf"-like grudge match but, rather, remains an equitable, tender, sometimes surprising game of hard truth-telling.
  65. Little Birds
    Breathtaking moments give way to boring ones; searing emotions vie with the exceedingly bland.
  66. Resident Evil: Retribution
    As always, Jovovich's game face is admirable - whether giving gunslinger shade or play-acting a protective mother storyline straight-outta-Cameron. But it can't be easy when all around her are line readings that recall the glory days of baroquely dull foreign-movie dubbing.
  67. The Master
    The Master takes some getting used to. This is a superbly crafted film that's at times intentionally opaque, as if its creator didn't want us to see all the way into its heart of darkness.
  68. Last Ounce of Courage
    The patriot-packaged Last Ounce of Courage has been made with the conviction of true zealots, but also the competence of amateurs.
  69. Planet of Snail
    Planet of Snail is simple, direct and magical. The warm, intimate story of a singular couple, it won the top prize at the prestigious International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, and it will win you over as well if you give it the chance.
  70. 10 Years
    The largely engaging class-reunion dramedy 10 Years allows audiences to pretend they went to high school with the likes of Channing Tatum, Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Mackie and Kate Mara.
  71. Liberal Arts
    The bookish group at the heart of this talky film is having such a grand time trading tart exchanges their mood proves infectious. The sparring helps offset some of the contrivances that make Liberal Arts less buttoned up than it should be - so an A for effort and a C for execution.
  72. Arbitrage
    Writer-director Nicholas Jarecki squarely lands that punch, creating a tense and chilling horror story for financially fraught times.
  73. Branded
    To borrow a hamburger chain's refrain, not lovin' it.
  74. The Cold Light of Day
    A by-the-numbers thriller that often looks as murky as its plot.
  75. Keep the Lights On
    A haunting, immersive portrait of a romance between two men, one that's marked - and marred - by both drug dependency and emotional codependency. Not unlike last year's gay-themed drama, "Weekend," it proves an important and mature piece of business.
  76. Beauty Is Embarrassing
    As one observer here aptly - and non-hyperbolically - sums it up, White is "a founding father of the current state of pop art."
  77. 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.
  78. Wild Horse, Wild Ride
    With its gorgeous big-sky vistas, stirring shots of the majestic mustangs and intimate bits between trainers and trainees, Wild Horse proves a warm and memorable ride.
  79. Hollywood to Dollywood
    Amiable and upbeat though it is, the documentary Hollywood to Dollywood lacks a compelling reason to see it. Unless you are a Dolly Parton zealot, which its two protagonists definitely are.
  80. The Inbetweeners Movie
    The film is only slightly more boorish than the racy cult hit was on telly and would probably not be worth the celluloid expended were it not for the bookish, brainy Will McKenzie (Simon Bird).
  81. The Words
    It's a snooze.
  82. The Eye of the Storm
    The Eye of the Storm is an ambitious stab at what might be called the Great Australian Film. The results are off-and-on impressive, but the project's ambitions turn out to be greater than its ability to achieve them.
  83. Hello I Must Be Going
    Even though as a whole Hello I Must Be Going lets us down in the second half, the pleasure of watching Lynskey and Abbott never diminishes.
  84. Bachelorette
    It is billed as a comedy, but it's really a lipstick-smeared drunken tragedy. The humor is so caustic you won't know whether to laugh or cry.
  85. The Tall Man
    Long on atmosphere and short on sense, The Tall Man becomes less gripping as it grows more ridiculous.
  86. The Good Doctor
    John Enbom's slow-burn script avoids overloading the action with backstory or psychologizing, and Bloom strikes the right balance of diffidence, panic and blank-itude to keep things creepily on edge.
  87. The Bullet Vanishes
    Any caseworking suspense is drowned out by an over-abundance of visual pizazz: disjointed shootouts, arbitrary camera angles and cinematography that draws the eye to lighting patterns, not people.
  88. Supercapitalist
    The dull, hectoring financial melodrama Supercapitalist has all the spark of a high school assembly skit about not letting friends drive drunk.
  89. The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate
    A chunky spectacle, to be sure – overstuffed with plot and characters - but at times, it's an insanely entertaining one.
  90. Sleepwalk with Me
    Having seen the show on stage, I wondered if Birbiglia could morph the ideas into an equally funny movie. He hasn't quite, but he's come pretty close.
  91. Samsara
    Samsara is as frustrating as it is beautiful, which is saying a lot because this is a film laced with exquisite images.
  92. Chicken with Plums
    It's not entirely satisfying, but there's plenty to savor in Chicken With Plums.
  93. The Ambassador
    Part muckraking nonfiction film, part performance piece, it is a nervy documentary guaranteed, depending on who you are, to enlighten, disturb or offend. Which is what you might expect from a man who describes his work as "a strange mix of Borat and the Economist."
  94. The Possession
    A better-than-most fright-time tale.
  95. The Day
    Just good enough to engage audiences, but it falls well short of remarkable, leaving viewers wishing for a dawn that never breaks.
  96. Lawless
    For a movie about moonshine, something so imaginatively made, mood-altering and once violently sought-after, it goes down way too blandly.
  97. The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure
    For the sake of the children, The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure should be allowed to quietly float away.
  98. Compliance
    With its harrowing restraint, Compliance is potent filmmaking that's not easily forgotten.
  99. Little White Lies
    With an ensemble led by Marion Cotillard and François Cluzet, the French hit has personality to burn, and squanders most of it.
  100. Robot and Frank
    Everything about Robot & Frank is as unlikely as it is irresistible. Charming, playful and sly, it makes us believe that a serene automaton and a snappish human being can be best friends forever.
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