Los Angeles Times' Scores

For 16,526 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:
16526 movie reviews
  1. Pulpy dross of surpassing dumbness, Charlie Countryman takes the blender approach to mixing dark adventure, doofus comedy and pie-eyed romance, but forgets to put the lid on when pulsed.
  2. The film, named for "Calvin" creator Bill Watterson, offers not only an in-depth look at the comic strip's unique influence but also a concise snapshot of the dwindling state of newspapers and their "funny pages."
  3. It's a plot that never takes hold, a mystery devoid of suspense... But the actors' unforced chemistry defies the artifice.
  4. Despite some diffused messaging and oddly elliptical storytelling, "In the Name Of" proves an absorbing, at times hypnotic drama about religion, repression and sexuality.
  5. The lions are majestic yet adorable; too bad the humans are such a sorry sight.
  6. Director Wendy J.N. Lee, who made the grueling trek with a solar-powered camera operated by a monk, provides plenty of breathtaking footage and a strong sense of both the journey's illuminative highs and treacherous (as in altitude and terrain) lows.
  7. Apart from Farmer's effectively stricken portrayal of a singularly conflicted man, The Falls: Testament of Love is too earnest a slog to have any impact.
  8. As a showcase for accomplished performers tugging heart strings in a holiday awards season, it's perfectly serviceable.
  9. The whole truth about the complicated, charismatic man may never come out, but The Armstrong Lie is closer than we ever thought we'd get.
  10. Its depiction of esoteric facets of immigrant life lends an air of credibility seldom seen in rom-coms.
  11. "Breakdown" gets the music right and has the benefit of strong acting, but its unapologetically melodramatic plot has a tendency to throw everything at you but the kitchen sink.
  12. It's shame that the first film to come out of Lebanon featuring a gay theme turns out to be such a head-scratching jumble.
  13. All of this is ridiculously silly, of course, with low-rent special effects to boot. But you may laugh despite yourself.
  14. At once short on details and incredibly forthcoming, Barbara Kopple's documentary doesn't dig into specifics about Mariel's personal struggles with mental illness nor the WillingWay lifestyle that she and her boyfriend Bobby Williams espouse.
  15. It does have a point of view, but the intended conclusion ripens for the picking in a roundabout way.
    • 27 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    The film is more polarizing than persuasive.
  16. The feature spikes its lonesome mood with shots of dry humor, animated sequences and flashbacks — at times overplaying its hand, even as Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff wordlessly convey all that needs to be said.
  17. Honest and unadorned though the film may be, it's ultimately just not that involving.
  18. If Michael Mann, Luc Besson and Quentin Tarantino all ate the same bad sushi together, the unfortunate end result might just resemble the pre-digested pap that is the French thriller Paris Countdown.
  19. The film's overall narrative is one of rocky but steady progress.
  20. Billy and Buddy manages to maintain the kind of brisk giddiness that many animated films struggle to achieve. But as family fare with a few unsettling Gallic touches, the boy-and-his-dog escapade is an odd fit.
  21. The scenarios in Ass Backwards, which director Chris Nelson contributed to by filming in focus, feel arbitrary rather than organic, as if the creators' list of humor targets — lesbian bikers, trailer trash, drug-addicted reality TV stars, pageant world denizens — were picked out of a hat.
  22. To see The Wind Rises is to simultaneously marvel at the work of a master and regret that this film is likely his last.
  23. The film's main misstep, however, is its unconvincing use of celebrity voices to re-create various speeches and letters... Though well-intended, their inclusion proves a needless distraction in an otherwise smart and dignified presentation.
  24. A Case of You is perfectly enjoyable as far as indie rom coms go — just not particularly original.
  25. Director Dong-Suk Kuk ratchets up the tension, effectively toggling back and forth in time to reveal the picture's various puzzle pieces.
  26. The performances are genuine and the narrative beats land solidly for a perfectly enjoyable feel-good dramedy.
  27. Director Junya Sakino's debut would have been stronger if the comic barbs in Jeff Mizushima's script hadn't been dulled by Mizushima's editing, which bungles the timing of the jokes.
  28. Sal
    Franco seems torn, on the one hand presenting his subject as a likably ordinary, self-involved actor and on the other sanctifying him as a would-be gay icon in a conformist industry.
  29. This somber work about the worthiness of living has little life in it.

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