Los Angeles Times' Scores

Select another publication »
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:
  1. Positive: 8,699 out of 16526
  2. Mixed: 5,810 out of 16526
  3. Negative: 2,017 out of 16526
16526 movie reviews
view
per page
  1. The Escapist
    It makes for an unexpectedly welcome form of dramatic escape: the character study breaking free from a hoary old movie genre.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Paris 36
    Paris 36 has a beguilingly authentic sound and offers a blend of impassioned sentiment and harsh, even brutal grit
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Lifelines
    There's so much ranting and raving, all of it boring and trite.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. Spinning Into Butter
    Despite the film's haphazard choices and aversion to subtlety, Parker and Williamson come off as appealing sparring partners.
  13. The Education of Charlie Banks
    Too often Durst's direction is overly earnest, heavy in long takes, atmosphere wise but scene foolish.
  14. 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).
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. Shall We Kiss?
    It is classical in form yet fresh and spontaneous.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. 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.
  23. The Great Buck Howard
    An affectionate though flawed comedy.
  24. Skills Like This
    Too bad all the forced whimsy of this "Bottle Rocket" wannabe feels maniacally scattershot -- like an off night at an improv club -- rather than organically inspired.
  25. Valentino: The Last Emperor
    Unexpectedly involving documentary.
  26. Sunshine Cleaning
    A smartly done morality tale that couldn't be more in sync with these troubled times.
  27. Miss March
    Even a 15-year-old boy would find this movie to be a chore.
  28. The Last House on the Left
    A shockingly mundane disappointment taken on its own and a deeply misguided refraction of the original.
  29. The Cake Eaters
    A bland ensemble drama with an unremarkable script that somehow inspired actress Mary Stuart Masterson to make her feature-directing debut. The material doesn't serve her well -- and vice versa.
  30. The Edge of Love
    Sometimes glossy, sometimes hard-edged, the film alternates between glitz and unpleasantness and ends as a kind of glum soap opera, too glam to be bleak and too bleak to be so glam.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »