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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  1. 5 to 7
    The banter between Brian and Arielle is easy and often amusing. But despite all the tangled sheets and entwined bodies during assignations at the St. Regis hotel, the relationship never moves beyond the look of puppy love.
  2. Wild Canaries
    Strip away all the flimsy copycat stuff, including the cheesy retro synth score, and what lurks beneath is a perceptive portrait of contemporary thirtysomething relationships, no silly sleuthing required.
  3. Lovesick
    Although Lovesick plays more like an extended sitcom episode than a full-fledged feature film, the script by Dean Young contains enough genuine laughs and amusing moments to keep this slight romantic farce afloat.
  4. Faults
    The wan drama is enlivened by bursts of black comedy, some bits more effective than others, and though it ultimately disappoints, there's promise in the understated creepiness of Riley Stearns' debut feature.
  5. Diary of a Chambermaid
    Unfolding elliptically, the new film can feel abrupt and unsatisfying, but it’s filled with sharp commentary on class and servitude, and the actress delivers another extraordinary performance.
  6. An American in Hollywood
    There's a lot of truth in writer-director Sai Varadan's observant depictions of the battle of the sexes, the East Coast-West Coast cultural clash and struggling artists in soul-crushing showbiz. Too bad he isn't particularly sympathetic or fair toward his female characters, because there's much to commend otherwise.
  7. Walter
    A lovely and touching third act helps make up for a wobbly, at times convoluted first hour in the quirky fantasy-dramedy Walter.
  8. Kung Fu Elliot
    Whether the con is truly on or the filmmakers have simply taken an awful lot of poetic license where the post-Michael Moore documentary format is concerned, moviegoers certainly have less amusing ways to be bamboozled.
  9. Victoria
    It's a film of exceptional technical virtuosity that could have used some help in the dramatic department.
  10. Champs
    Champs is all over the place and at times too polished for its own good — too many celebrity fan testimonials when more insider insights would have helped. But it comes from a place of caring for an oft-maligned sport.
  11. Anita Ho
    Although the film purposefully traffics in stereotypes, the Myungs' earnest, been-there approach helps soften the spoofy blows.
  12. Zombeavers
    Despite the deliberately schlocky effects and puppetry, other aspects of the filmmaking are surprisingly satisfactory. It needs to be only one notch more bonkers to help its chances for cult status.
  13. Broken Horses
    While Chopra attempts to crack the American market with a slice of cinematic apple pie, he holds up a mirror to how Hollywood's tried-and-true narrative of vigilantism connotes who we are, at home and overseas.
  14. That Guy Dick Miller
    While the end result feels a tad overstuffed at 92 minutes, it's entirely understandable if, after more than half a century of being identified as "that guy," Miller's in no hurry to relinquish the spotlight.
  15. The Connection
    Despite the pedestrian screenplay (by Jimenez and Audrey Diwan), Dujardin and Lellouche are magnetic performers who slip easily into their antagonistic roles.
  16. The Reconstruction of William Zero
    Byrne does a fine job fragmenting William's innocent, scary and guilt-ridden sides, and Amy Seimetz makes his wife a compelling, grief-stricken figure. But The Reconstruction of William Zero has its own identity problem, essentially, being a solid sci-fi story with a welcome emotional component, yet never fully effective at either.
  17. Beauty and the Beast
    This isn’t just a remake; it’s an act of cinematic upholstery, with all the padding that implies.
  18. My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes
    Get past what sounds like a melodrama about a forbidden love affair, and director Oren Jacoby's carefully crafted film deftly blends archival footage with dramatic re-creations and interviews with surviving family members to illuminating effect.
  19. Manos Sucias
    Though the plot turns aren't necessarily surprising and characterizations a bit facile, Wladyka manages tense moments.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. The Sisterhood of Night
    What director Caryn Waechter does best is artfully and lyrically capture moments of teenage abandon where the girls feel free, self-possessed and full of friendship love.
  23. WA-SHOKU ~Beyond Sushi~
    Despite its clumsiness, the film conveys the melding of modern and ancient, sensuous and sacred.
  24. Echoes of War
    While all the naturalistic overtones might suggest faith-based Terrence Malick, those committed performances keep the film involving, however recognizably those echoes might resonate.
  25. The Road Within
    The Road Within suffers from midfilm wandering and a hasty ending, but the message of self-acceptance rings true and clear.
  26. Batkid Begins
    As to truly exploring the phenomenon of a live-tweeted collective fiction, the documentary makes a couple of intriguing observations but doesn't look far beyond the metrics, content to exult in the wow factor of it all, which admittedly is considerable.
  27. The Gallows
    Plot holes aside, the filmmakers provide enough well-timed jumps and energetic moments to keep the highly contained picture afloat.
  28. The Little Death
    Alternately silly and provocative, strained and funny.
  29. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
    The sharp satirical edge that earned Fountain’s novel comparisons to “Catch-22” feels duller and more sluggish on the screen as Lee strains to weave his story’s dissonant tones and subplots...into a movie that works as both a compelling psychological portrait and an astute political argument.
  30. Maze Runner: The Death Cure
    Ball and screenwriter Nowlin keep a tight grip on the tone and the relentless pace, but they often back the story and characters into corners that only a deus ex machina can fix.
  31. Time Lapse
    Director Bradley King and his co-writer, B.P. Cooper, manage to overcome their shoddy premise as the plot progresses assuredly and persuasively.
  32. Heaven Knows What
    Despite the undeniable novelty of having Holmes on hand to keep it real, the absence of traditional character development ultimately takes its toll on viewer empathy.
  33. Noble
    Uneven but nonetheless emotionally gratifying.
  34. Spike Island
    Though the story is drawn in broad strokes and overloaded with melodrama, director Mat Whitecross' exuberant feature understands the communal joy and personal necessity of rock 'n' roll.
  35. Dark Star: HR Giger's World
    Dark Star might have been more fascinating had Sallin delved deeper into his place as an artist.
  36. Shake the Dust
    Sjöberg is so enamored with the dancing and overall positivity that moves and platitudes fairly dominate, when the movie could have used more narrative cohesion and engagement with his subjects.
  37. 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.
  38. Love at First Fight
    Cailley never truly builds a narrative head of steam, resulting in periods of logy pacing and diffused focus. Still, the strong leads, several amusing moments and a clutch of intriguing character bits sketch what might have been.
  39. Tale of Tales
    Diverting but rarely transporting, unpredictable yet strangely overdetermined, Garrone's film never conjures the sustained, enveloping magic promised by its extravagant design and its agreeably unhinged story sense.
  40. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
    Besson, an industrial-strength entertainer and the reigning maximalist of the European film industry, isn’t selling originality so much as volume. He has made a madly overstuffed Mos Eisley Cantina of a movie, one that surveys its diverse alien constituencies with the wide-eyed wonderment of a small child and the attention span to boot.
  41. The Sea of Trees
    The Sea of Trees proves a stronger movie experience than one might expect. It’s anchored by a fine, understated performance by Matthew McConaughey and a deeply felt, if at times melodramatic, story that proves strangely immersive.
  42. Dheepan
    The nagging lack of specificity with which the film concludes can’t help but call its entire dramatic construction into question.
  43. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
    The sequel is a little like a bear hug from a beloved old relative — the embrace is too tight, the perfume is too strong, but ultimately it still leaves you feeling good inside.
  44. Yakuza Apocalypse
    For those fans who don't mind enduring some tedium and confusion, Yakuza Apocalypse at least offers something memorably bizarre.
  45. We Are Still Here
    Once We Are Still Here unsticks itself from hommage mode, it finds something cathartically funny inside the fearsome.
  46. Gabriel
    Culkin's performance is never exploitative. His eyes often say everything, appearing simultaneously laser-focused and distant — he can't reconcile his brain with the world.
  47. 3 Generations
    When this well-acted picture calms down and focuses on real emotions, it proves a poignant, absorbing look at a modern family.
  48. The Fourth Noble Truth
    This introduction to the Buddha's Eightfold Path is often clever and occasionally exasperating.
  49. Alléluia
    Du Welz, despite a strong assist from cinematographer Manuel Dacosse, rarely musters the requisite tension or propulsion to immerse us fully in the story's wickedly wild ride.
  50. Rubble Kings
    Fascinating as it may be, the film could have used outside perspectives to provide more context.
  51. The Wanted 18
    Imaginatively interspersing testimonials with reenactments, comic panels and Claymation, the film plays out like an entertaining absurdist satire.
  52. Samba
    Nakache and Toledano...pepper the film with enough stirring emotional beats, crowd-pleasing bits...and vivid supporting characters such as Samba's ebullient immigrant pal, Wilson (Tahar Rahim), that there are distinct pleasures to be had.
  53. The Midnight Swim
    The film reveals frustratingly little about the sisters themselves.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Station to Station
    Its individual moments are quite seductive. But if there is a deeper meaning — of what it means to hit the rails in the 21st century, to peer into America's de-industrialized guts — it lies well beyond the scope of this film.
  55. Jenny's Wedding
    Heartstring-tugging if a bit humorless.
  56. The Young Kieslowski
    The film taps into some genuine, relatable truths lurking beneath all that try-too-hard quirkiness.
  57. Steak (R)evolution
    Ribière and Le Bourdonnec get almost hypertechnical with all the cattle breeds, feeds, grades, cuts, marbling, dry-aging and preparation. Nevertheless, most any carnivore would find this absolute torture on an empty stomach.
  58. A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile
    Sophie Deraspe's film is a compelling anatomy of an Internet hoax.
  59. One & Two
    Gorgeous and naturalistic shots by cinematographer by Autumn Durald speak volumes, and the atonal, foreboding score by Nathan Halpern creates a sense of dread, though they are ultimately squandered in an underdeveloped story.
  60. Wild City
    Fans will be thrilled that the auteur hasn't missed a beat with Wild City, although he appears to be making the same concessions to the Chinese market as his contemporaries.
  61. Freeheld
    Having its heart and mind in the right place is not enough to make this a better movie than it is.
  62. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
    Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a one-joke movie, relying on the subversion of physical stereotypes, but thanks to impeccable casting and fun performances, that joke is very well-executed.
  63. Being Canadian
    It's all pleasant enough, but the film, ultimately more of a checklist than an in-depth analysis, never really shines any fresh light on Canada's identity crisis or gets to the source of all those preconceived notions.
  64. A Ballerina's Tale
    Copeland's victories are shortchanged by the film's prevailing sense of detachment from its main subject.
  65. I Saw the Light
    I Saw the Light is solid but not spectacular, a retelling of a sad story that never catches fire.
  66. Front Cover
    Unfortunately, writer-director Ray Yeung leapfrogs over several key emotional beats and points of credibility. At the same time, he plies an ambitious slate of social, sexual and cultural messages, some more fully formed than others.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Jeremy Scott: The People's Designer
    Anyone who follows Scott's career in any depth may be frustrated by the film because the brush strokes are broad, and the focus feels more about the scrum and swirl around the man than the man himself.
  68. Poached
    Director Timothy Wheeler manages to wrangle for interviews some active and reformed egg offenders along with authorities, conservationists and volunteers. Some are quite the characters, indeed.
  69. Sunset Song
    Sunset Song, Davies’ adaptation of a 1932 novel about a Scottish farming family, falls short of the intended cumulative effect, its emotional power undercut by its studied, episodic unfolding.
  70. Meadowland
    Though the film is well made, the all-aftermath approach to Meadowland leaves a lot — an establishing, enlightening character stability, for one thing — to be desired.
  71. Reversion
    Because of the faulty memory of its unreliable protagonist, Reversion prompts viewers to second-guess its narrative. Director and co-writer Jose Nestor Marquez eschews most establishing shots, exacerbating the sense of disorientation and mystery.
  72. My Last Year with the Nuns
    Like an uncle making a long-winded, embarrassing toast to the bride, Smith may have a lot of defining childhood memories at his disposal, but that doesn't mean they all need to be shared.
  73. This Changes Everything
    They may not do enough to alter the climate change film landscape, but Klein and those impassioned protesters provide something that has been in short supply in the predecessors — namely, a modicum of hope for the future.
  74. The Idol
    The rare feature to be shot on location in Gaza, The Idol offers implicit commentary on everyday deprivations and work-arounds. Yet the screenplay stumbles when it plants self-conscious observations in the mouths of characters of all ages.
  75. Therapy for a Vampire
    Although amusing and filled with many well-timed comic bits, especially by the deft Moretti, the movie loses some of its farcical steam en route and suffers from a diffused point of view.
  76. Boruto: Naruto the Movie
    No "Naruto" fan will want to miss "Boruto," which suggests a new direction the franchise may take, now that the long-running TV series has finally concluded.
  77. #Horror
    The film works better as social satire than straight horror, as the murder plot that drives it along always feels unconvincing.
  78. Dixieland
    Compelling as Zylka and Keough may be — and we're definitely rooting for their well-etched characters — Bedford too often plies a kind of woeful wooziness here when a more propulsive approach is in order.
  79. Fist Fight
    For much of its fast-paced running time, the film, which involves an after-school fight between two polar-opposite teachers, is just amusing enough to make up for its sheer preposterousness.
  80. 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.
  81. The Wannabe
    The mix of callous humor and romantic doom doesn't always hold up, but in its best moments, The Wannabe finds real spikiness in the pitfalls of anti-hero worship.
  82. 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.
  83. 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.
  84. 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.
  85. Karski & the Lords of Humanity
    Although it is often moving, the film is less satisfying than it could be.
  86. Fifty Shades of Black
    "Black” foregoes too much scene-setting, chronology and logic to stand completely on its own. As a piece of cultural criticism, however, it painstakingly eviscerates nearly every scene in “Grey” and skewers latent sexism, classism and ludicrous sexual innuendoes, as well as the original’s numerous plot holes.
  87. Uncle Nick
    Demski and director Chris Kasick wrap up the story neatly — in both senses of that word — by suggesting that we can all feel better at somebody else's expense.
  88. Dementia
    Testin and Berg's work here is definitely promising, suggesting something better from both of them down the road.
  89. Dark Horse
    A sweet if underwhelming documentary with plenty of character, but told in such a simple and gentle way, it doesn’t quite grab audiences as it could.
  90. Almost There
    The film is as lacking in polish and structure as its subject's canvases, which makes it an appropriate tribute to a marginal figure whose dreams of art world and/or Hollywood stardom stubbornly remain "almost there."
  91. The Girl King
    The greatest appeal of The Girl King lies in the fascinating historical character and the formidable actress portraying her.
  92. The Bye Bye Man
    The Bye Bye Man is cheesy, but it feels knowingly cheesy, with a heavy dose of wink-wink, nudge-nudge from the filmmakers.
  93. Rabid Dogs
    Although the original sometimes looked like a bunch of loosely connected scenes, this Rabid Dogs feels more purposeful.
  94. Bad Hurt
    Although affecting and well acted, the family drama Bad Hurt is too airless and depressing to fully engage.
  95. 31
    The Rob Zombie brand promises hard-core horror and scuzzy atmosphere, and “31” delivers just that. Even on autopilot, Zombie makes movies that hit hard and leave a stain.
  96. Solace
    The plot of Solace is ultimately too generic — and too silly — to take seriously, which is probably why the film’s taken so long to come out. But it has style, and throwback appeal.
  97. We Are Twisted F***ing Sister!
    The film itself is a bit rudimentary, with amateurish titles, and editing choices that bloat the already extended length, but the interviews with band members and fans are insightful and engaging, with archival footage that truly rocks.
  98. Bleak Street
    The grubby melodrama should appeal to adventurous moviegoers — and to the director’s small-but-fervent cult — but even that crowd should brace themselves for something slow-paced and opaque.
  99. Desierto
    Desierto is a generic thriller that happens to be wrapped in political packaging. That packaging is sometimes more interesting than the thrills themselves, but the film is bare enough to project what you want onto it.
  100. The Birth of a Nation
    The Birth of a Nation certainly has the power of conviction, but the grace of art escapes it.
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