Los Angeles Times' Scores

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For 16,536 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: 8,706 out of 16536
  2. Mixed: 5,813 out of 16536
  3. Negative: 2,017 out of 16536
16536 movie reviews
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  1. Hannah Montana: The Movie
    In the end, Hannah Montana: The Movie is big, beautiful, a little boring and utterly safe. There are flashes of inspiration -- the "Hoedown Throwdown" dance, the scenes between Martindale and the Cyruses -- but it also is what it is: Miley Cyrus' next big step.
  2. Observe and Report
    It heaps piles of bad, crazy stuff at our feet then walks away. There is no moral to this story, and there's not much comedy either.
  3. Lymelife
    Scott's coming-of-age bumblings form the piece's narrative rhythm. But the most affecting moments come from Mickey's midlife machinations: Baldwin, who also produced the film, has his best role since "The Cooler."
  4. Adventureland
    Greg Mottola has taken that most overdone of contemporary genres, the coming-of-age story, and made it engaging, bittersweet and even fun.
  5. Sugar
    As good as it is because of the care and skill writer-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck bring to it, gifts that were visible in their first film, "Half Nelson," which earned a lead actor Oscar nomination for Ryan Gosling.
  6. Alien Trespass
    While Alien Trespass stays true to the era and the genre, it forgets that its mission in this galaxy is not merely to pay tribute but to entertain.
  7. Bart Got a Room
    The mysterious Bart and the mythology of the senior prom as the defining moment in the life of a teenager are the unseen specters hovering over the slight comedy Bart Got a Room.
  8. The Escapist
    It makes for an unexpectedly welcome form of dramatic escape: the character study breaking free from a hoary old movie genre.
  9. Fast & Furious
    Fast & Furious is, in a very bizarre way, a thing of gasp-inducing artistry to watch, even if you're not a member of the NASCAR, gear-head, street-racing crowd.
  10. Gigantic
    First-time feature director Matt Aselton, who co-wrote the darkly funny, well-observed script with Adam Nagata, has crafted a disarming tale that's one of the better independent films in recent memory.
  11. Paris 36
    Paris 36 has a beguilingly authentic sound and offers a blend of impassioned sentiment and harsh, even brutal grit
  12. The Song of Sparrows
    I can't help but be struck by the stark cultural differences in the portrayal of family life, particularly the relationships between women and men. The characters Majidi draws of children and their fathers are rich: sometimes combative, always loving and textured. But the mothers never truly emerge from the background.
  13. C Me Dance
    Unfortunately, the movie is so rudimentarily written, acted and directed, and its more earthly concerns painted with such a broad, superficial brush, it's hard to be convinced of such key story elements as Sheri's advanced leukemia, her love of ballet and the fact that she and dad Vince (Robbins) are actually father and daughter.
  14. Forbidden Lie$
    Even after you've seen Forbidden Lie$, the dizzying, drop-dead fascinating documentary on Norma Khouri, you won't be absolutely sure if she's on the level or a con artist ranked as "one of the best ever." That's how good she is.
  15. Lifelines
    There's so much ranting and raving, all of it boring and trite.
  16. Tulpan
    This is a difficult film to pigeonhole, an indefinable mixture of genres and attitudes that is by turns off-the-wall and serious, comic and sad.
  17. Goodbye Solo
    Its style is spare, rigorous, almost anti-dramatic, but it deals thoughtfully with some of the most complex elements of the human equation.
  18. Monsters vs Aliens
    In fact "nice" is the adjective that seems to surface most in trying to pin down the film's most salient quality, which means that while the film is enjoyable enough, it is unlikely to become a classic for us, or a "Shrek" sort of franchise for DreamWorks.
  19. Spinning Into Butter
    Despite the film's haphazard choices and aversion to subtlety, Parker and Williamson come off as appealing sparring partners.
  20. The Education of Charlie Banks
    Too often Durst's direction is overly earnest, heavy in long takes, atmosphere wise but scene foolish.
  21. 12 Rounds
    Escapist fun that provides an effective showcase for the blue-collar charisma and bulky good looks of its hyper-athletic lead, four-time World Champion wrestler John Cena (think Matt Damon, only twice the size).
  22. American Swing
    But even a comic spin on grimace-inducing tales of the icky buffet, the "mattress room" (whatever you're imagining, that's it) and Levenson's own buffoonish image as a 10-ladies-a-night player -- "He never read a book," Al Goldstein cracks -- can't keep an unexplored sadness from slithering in amid the orgy of upbeat testimonials.
  23. The Haunting in Connecticut
    Part of what makes "Connecticut" oddly watchable even as it drags is the oil-and-water mix of acting styles of the leads. Virginia Madsen's refined naturalism is an awkward fit with the sharp mannerisms of Martin Donovan.
  24. Shall We Kiss?
    It is classical in form yet fresh and spontaneous.
  25. Knowing
    Whatever else Proyas has done in Knowing, he has created an ending that is sure to divide audiences into camps of love it or hate it, deeming its message either hopeful or hopelessly heavy-handed. For me, it doesn't quite work; still I'm glad he took the risk.
  26. Sin Nombre
    There is bitter and breathtaking truth in the story and in the story- telling, which won Fukunaga the directing and cinematography award in the dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival.
  27. I Love You, Man
    Could have taken a more relevant, insightful and even funnier cut at a very rich topic. But the filmmakers didn't; they went with dog poo instead.
  28. Duplicity
    A throwback to the days of old-school caper movies like "To Catch a Thief," Duplicity is just the kind of sophisticated amusement you would expect from filmmaker Tony Gilroy.
  29. Bob Funk
    If you can get through the tedious first half of Bob Funk, there's actually a decent little character study waiting on the other side.
  30. The Great Buck Howard
    An affectionate though flawed comedy.
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