New Orleans Times-Picayune's Scores

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For 1,128 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 43% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 55% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.4 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 62
Highest review score: 100 Gleason
Lowest review score: 0 Double Dragon
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 497 out of 1128
  2. Mixed: 552 out of 1128
  3. Negative: 79 out of 1128
1128 movie reviews
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  1. Oculus
    Oculus is a time bomb of a psychological horror film.
  2. The Kings of Summer
    This is the kind of movie that is so embraceable that it floats smoothly over those imperfections almost unnoticed.
  3. Peter Pan & Wendy
    In short, this version of Barrie’s classic tale — which is all about the joy of childhood and the pitfalls of adulthood — feels awfully grown up at times.
  4. Capitalism: A Love Story
    After watching the bailouts, the bank foreclosures and the Bernie Madoffs of the world dominate headlines, Michael Moore is mad as hell, and he's going to try to make you mad as hell, too.
  5. Secretariat
    A reasonably well-made biopic, with crowd-pleasing moments, but one that -- despite that title -- isn't really about the animal.
  6. Nymphomaniac: Volume II
    It all adds up to weave an engaging story, and not just for its wealth of titillations. Many of the sex scenes, in fact, feel more clinical than anything else.
  7. Fast & Furious 6
    Just don't think too hard -- or at all, really -- or else you run the risk of realizing that Fast & Furious 6 is running on little more than fumes, with just a shot or two of nitrous.
  8. This Must Be the Place
    There's no "place" in this place, no clear destination -- and no real payoff in a film that stands a cinematic curiosity but little more.
  9. Muppets Most Wanted
    That's not to say Muppets Most Wanted is all stuffing and nonsense. The franchise hasn't declined that much just yet. There are entertaining moments to be had here, for sure.
  10. Extract
    With its immensely likable cast elevating the material, Judge extracts just enough ironic chuckles to rescue the movie from being written off as an assembly-line comedy.
  11. Mr. Jealousy
    Disappointingly, all of "Jealousy's" promising narrative turns go nowhere. [3 July 1998, p.L28]
    • New Orleans Times-Picayune
  12. Carnage
    Among them, Polanski's four-person cast boasts four Oscars and eight more nominations, so these are big-league actors who are capable of carrying a film such as this through its occasional miscalculations.
  13. Trance
    Dawson, who to this point has largely built her career playing supporting characters, seizes the opportunity to stand center-stage, all but taking over the film.
  14. At Any Price
    And therein lies one of the film's most glaring problems. Perhaps that vilification of Big Agro will resonate with farm folk, but it's not the sort of thing that will have many city slickers -- even those who sympathize with the little guys on this issue -- exactly sitting on the edge of their theater seat.
  15. The Bourne Legacy
    Gilroy -- who earned writing credits on all four "Bourne" films -- doesn't miss when it comes to the most important task at hand: He takes a well-worn concept and makes it feel new, and without sacrificing its sense of familiarity.
  16. Elysium
    Granted, Elysium could be more clever as it goes about its business. This is smart sci-fi, but it's not as smart as it could have been -- or as many "District 9" fans were probably hoping it would be.
  17. The Karate Kid
    The casting is perfect, and the resetting of the story to China allows for a satisfyingly cinematic retelling.
  18. Good Neighbors
    It's his film's metamorphosis into something else -- something every bit as dark, and every bit as intriguing -- that will keep viewers planted in their seats, and, at times, perched on the edges of them.
  19. No One Will Save You
    What we’re left with is a well-crafted genre thriller that is ultimately tripped up by its art house aspirations.
  20. SPECTRE
    Granted, there's comfort to be found in the familiarity of Mendes' film, which makes an effort to look back while also advancing the series. But there's a fine line between paying homage to the past and merely repeating it.... Spectre often crosses that line.
  21. Ghostbusters
    It is funny at times, it is scary at times, it is downright silly at times, and it is action-packed at times. In its best moments, it's all of those things at once.
  22. 9
    9, though animated, isn't really a movie for kids. The problem is that, despite its strikingly original set-up and its cool steampunk visual vibe, it's not much of a movie for grown-ups, either.
  23. Kill the Messenger
    The result is a film that is engrossing for stretches, that will raise your hackles -- and maybe the hair on the back of your neck -- especially if you believe in the vital role journalism plays in a free society. At the same time, though, it also feels a bit like a by-the-numbers affair.
  24. Jeff Who Lives at Home
    It is small, it is smart, it is quirky.
  25. The Do-Deca-Pentathlon
    What the Duplasses end up with is a film that is amusing at times, a touch repetitive at others, but one that never quite shakes the feeling that it is something of an unfinished thought. And perhaps something they've also grown beyond.
  26. Trumbo
    Trumbo isn't monotonous, but it falls short of genius.
  27. The Last Five Years
    While The Last Five Years isn't a bad movie, neither does it fall into the "must-see" category.
  28. The Adjustment Bureau
    Not the deepest stuff, but thought-provoking all the same -- and entertaining to boot.
  29. McFarland USA
    The result is a feel-good, family-friendly trip film that promises drama, suspense, humor and -- in a rarity for sports dramas -- no small amount of modern relevance.
  30. Christopher Robin
    It's still, however, a long way from the Hundred Acre Wood that most "Pooh" fans remember so fondly.
  31. Tomorrowland
    The problem is, the closer our heroes come to their goal, the weaker the story becomes. What we're left with is a film that gets off to a ripping good start, but which -- given how little time is actually spent in the fanciful world after which the whose shebang is named -- ends up feeling like a cinematic bait-and-switch.
  32. Love Is All You Need
    This is a movie purely for grown-ups, with its enjoyment coming not from its explosions or attacking aliens but from spending time with these characters and savoring its optimistic, "never too late for happiness" message.
  33. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
    One only wishes they were able to deliver these performances in a movie that felt more like a true celebration of Mandela's life -- and less like homework.
  34. RED
    RED is so much fun -- and its Over the Hill Gang so likeable -- that this is one of those rare cases where I wouldn't mind seeing them come out of retirement again for another romp.
  35. Goosebumps
    There's hardly a shred of cleverness to be found amid all the predictabilities.
  36. The Beaver
    The Beaver also has a tendency to slip around as it finds its footing. But then the powerful third act comes and Foster, with Gibson's help, hits it home.
  37. Gray's Anatomy
    This latest enterprise - 70-odd minutes of purposeful navel-gazing directed by Steven Soderbergh - isn't quite as searching or provocative as Gray's prior big-screen outings, "Swimming to Cambodia" and "Monster In a Box." [16 May 1997, p.L25]
    • New Orleans Times-Picayune
  38. The Aeronauts
    Frustratingly, whenever it begins to get going and pulses begin pounding, Harper brings things to a screeching halt by introducing flashback sequences to tell us the backstory of Jones’ invented character.
  39. Gifted
    Against all odds, Gifted nicely accomplishes what it sets out to do.
  40. Lone Survivor
    While Lone Survivor is presented as a piece of hero-focused entertainment, it is a suitably sobering one in the end, and a film that is bound to stick to the ribs of audiences longer than, say, your average Superman movie.
  41. Being the Ricardos
    You want to introduce your kids or grandkids to the undeniable pleasures of I Love Lucy? Then I’ve got one word for you: re-runs. Because Being the Ricardos doesn’t do Lucy justice or suitably celebrate her career.
  42. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
    Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is not a Meryl Streep movie. She's featured prominently on the movie's posters. She's all over the trailer. But no matter what the studio wants you to believe, the above-the-title star of 2008's original "Mamma Mia!," and the most celebrated actress of her generation, gets all of about five minutes of screen time in the sequel.
  43. Hateship Loveship
    Wiig is so enjoyable to watch that it rescues Johnson's film. She's the best reason to see it.
  44. Celeste and Jesse Forever
    Celeste and Jesse Forever isn't a movie many people will outright hate, but if this is the most original romantic comedy that Hollywood can muster, forever can't come soon enough.
  45. White Boy Rick
    Even if Demange has a tendency to go on too long about details that don't really matter to the narrative while shortchanging those that do, he peppers White Boy Rick with enough resonant moments, and flashes of humor, to keep it on the rails, chugging forward to the inevitable train wreck.
  46. Mission: Impossible II
    Long stretches of boredom punctuated by a few thrilling action sequences is the most succint description I can give of M:I-2. [24 May 2000, p.E1]
    • New Orleans Times-Picayune
  47. Mom and Dad
    We've seen unhinged Nicolas Cage before. For the most part, we like unhinged Nicolas Cage. But in the darkly comic horror satire Mom and Dad, Cage gets the opportunity to take things to a whole new level. Of course, he takes it.
  48. Unbroken
    As glossy and well-produced as Unbroken is, it doesn't stray too terribly far from Hollywood convention. In fact, its very story structure is so traditional that it's mirrored by Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper."
  49. The Best Man Holiday
    To be fair, in its best moments, The Best Man Holiday is more enjoyable than even a well-wrapped steam iron, functioning as it does as passable light entertainment -- but only just.
  50. Better Than Chocolate
    Winning performances and bright writing enliven Better Than Chocolate. [20 Sep 1999, p.D5]
    • New Orleans Times-Picayune
  51. Tower Heist
    It keeps things light and entertaining. And for $8 admission, that's never a bad investment.
  52. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
    That's a lot of storytelling going on, and it costs Battle of the Five Armies a certain cohesion.
  53. Army of Darkness
    A tedious mock-medieval adventure yarn that's easily the worst film so far this year...Without a single clever line of dialogue (by contrast, Arnold Schwarzenegger's one-liners rank with Oscar Wilde's) or a story of even marginal coherence, the movie relies entirely on visual overkill to bludgeon the viewer into a state of comatose submission. [19 Feb 1993, p.L23]
    • New Orleans Times-Picayune
  54. All Is True
    Consequently, while it's stocked with moments of heartfelt appreciation for the craft, it plays more like a 17th century soap opera than anything else.
  55. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
    It aims to entertain, to offer a few tame chuckles for parents and children to enjoy in a purely Saturday-morning way. And it accomplishes that.
  56. The Djinn
    As effective as it is, The Djinn won’t conjure up nearly as many eyeballs as Spiral, but those who watch it won’t be disappointed — although they might never look at I Dream of Jeannie the same way ever again.
  57. Godzilla vs. Kong
    The good news is that when the monkey and the lizard start fighting — which, let’s be honest, is really why we’re all here — brother, it is a sight to see. Between the chest-beating, fire-breathing and general mayhem, Godzilla vs. Kong is, if nothing else, a visual feast.
  58. J. Edgar
    So while J. Edgar ends up feeling like a mostly complete portrait of the man, and as fascinating a story as it is, it still falls just short of being something entirely memorable.
  59. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
    Perhaps the best thing about Seeking a Friend is that it never ceases to surprise, as Scafaria's script consistently defies Hollywood convention in the most congenial ways.
  60. The Railway Man
    Nicole Kidman as wife Patti (shows nice, subtle touches in her limited time on-screen).
  61. Sing
    The sum total is no more filling than the popcorn you'll overpay for upon entering the theater. But, like that popcorn, Sing has empty-calorie, crowd-pleasing appeal.
  62. Lizzie
    As for that murder scene, it's undoubtedly the part of the film that will get people talking the most. Clearly and meticulously taking its cues from the widely circulated photos of the crime scene, it is dramatic, it is attention-getting and it is memorable. It is, in other words, everything that the rest of Lizzie is not.
  63. Bridget Jones's Baby
    Delivers a rare perfect ending to a perfectly likeable trilogy.
  64. Quiz Lady
    In Quiz Lady, the sum total is a heartfelt but uneven shrug that probably should have been better than it is.
  65. Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
    The problem is that there's nothing of substance to hold together those occasionally fun moments of often-grotesque absurdity.
  66. Savages
    Stone is generally given to deep thinking -- eternal fates are on the line. Not only does that lend the riveting and intense Savages a certain gravity, but it's also what separates his film from, say, your favorite Guy Ritchie movie. Here, we find an appealing depth amid the appalling violence.
  67. Mission: Impossible
    While Cruise is more than adequate in a part that demands "Top Gun"-style histrionics rather than subtle characterization, the drawbacks of this movie are ultimately overwhelming. After all, entertainment made too difficult is no longer particularly entertaining. [24 May 1996, p.L21]
    • New Orleans Times-Picayune
  68. Surviving Progress
    With beautiful, artful images serving to break up the monotony of the film's wealth of talking heads, Surviving Progress is at times as visually striking as it is persuasive.
  69. Limitless
    Burger's film would have been better had he ended it about three minutes earlier than he does -- a move that would have given his movie at least a dash of profundity.
  70. Jurassic World
    A bronto-sized slice of big-screen entertainment buoyed by dazzling visual effects and intense action, and a film that plays like part adventure movie, part monster movie and part thrill ride.
  71. Rubber
    It's a fun one to talk about -- if only for the opportunity to shake your head in amused disbelief at what you just saw.
  72. The Whistleblower
    Ends up being a reasonably gripping story of political intrigue, international corruption and one woman's determined fight for justice.
  73. Learning to Drive
    Once Learning to Drive gets up to speed it hums along nicely.
  74. The Lover
    Annaud's picture does an exquisite job of conveying the many-layered ironies of its material, creating a mood of odd reserve and self-reflection even as it stages the couple's trysts with both force and delicacy. [29 Jan 1993, p.L21]
    • New Orleans Times-Picayune
  75. The Ref
    All of Demme's headliners are quite adequate, with Davis - a wonderful comedienne as well as a dramatic actress of stature - emerging as the film's principal delight. They make The Ref a briskly enjoyable affair that would have been even better if it had retained more of its diabolical edge. [18 Mar 1994, p.L24]
    • New Orleans Times-Picayune
  76. This Is 40
    Yes, Apatow's film has its peaks and valleys -- just the way life does -- but it stands alone nicely on its own, a satisfying comedic riff on life and all of its absurdities.
  77. Cruella
    But the way [Stone] elevates things in Cruella, taking what is a mediocre, fairly formulaic script and making it sing — making us eager for the next scene, just to see what she’s going to do — isn’t something a lot of people can do, and it’s thrilling to watch.
  78. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
    It's an uplifting, even enchanting, smile-inducer.
  79. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
    One of the most pleasant surprises of this year's jam-packed holiday release schedule, and easily the season's must-see family film.
  80. August: Osage County
    Not, in other words, a happy story. It is not a story of redemption or healing or finding happiness amid the despair. It is about reaping what one sows. But, damn, those performances. Damn, that dialog. Damn, that's good stuff.
  81. Cosmopolis
    Alas, in Cronenberg's hands, it just comes across as cold and lifeless and exhausting.
  82. Footloose
    Plotwise, though, Brewer's Footloose is anything but loose. In fact, it's rigidly loyal to the original, to the point of slavishness.
  83. Jason Bourne
    While the result is an often fast-moving and very Damon-y Jason Bourne, it doesn't at all feel as original or as well crafted as the series once did.
  84. Kansas City
    This period gangster yarn...is neither in the front rank nor the slag heap of Altman's oeuvre. Rather, it's an atypically accessible attempt at mainstream entertainment that contains both satisfying and off-putting elements. [16 Aug 1996, p.L24]
    • New Orleans Times-Picayune
  85. Boston Strangler
    An oddly inert and even old-fashioned yarn, one that sleepwalks for long stretches, defusing much of the drama of what is an undeniably fascinating true-crime story.
  86. Pirate Radio
    There's an overly episodic feel to it all, as Curtis and company seem happy merely to float along from gag to gag.
  87. Stoker
    What we end up with is an arm's-length film that feels more haunted than haunting -- and one that audiences will want to forget rather than remember.
  88. Trouble with the Curve
    Ends up being the kind of movie we don't see a whole lot anymore: an emotionally grounded and quietly meaningful crowd-pleaser that functions as a lovely antidote to the recently ended summer blockbuster season.
  89. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
    Once it gets past its lull-prone first half, Neighbors 2 tries to inject a little heart into the proceedings -- which was the secret weapon of the original -- but even those end up feeling stale and phoned-in.
  90. Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
    The fight sequences are briskly choreographed at least, gruesome though they are -- and, to be honest, that goes a long way in a film such as this. In fact they may be the only reason to see it, other than the chance to see Van Damme in full Col. Kurtz mode, all face-painted and droopy-eyed and bat-poop crazy.
  91. Shrek Forever After
    Worse, Shrek Forever After feels like just another animated movie -- which is exactly what the series was fighting against when it started, and a big reason why it caught on with audiences.
  92. Sisters
    For a movie like this to last, you've got to have a certain amount of pathos to serve as connective tissue between those jokes. That's where Sisters is most lacking.
  93. Biutiful
    It is raw, it is searing, it is honest.
  94. Quantum of Solace
    It's still darker, still grittier, still absent any shred of camp. Best of all, it's still got Daniel Craig.... So what's missing? How about a compelling story?
  95. Roman J. Israel, Esq.
    It's interesting to ponder how well Roman J. Israel, Esq. would have worked had Washington passed on the role. Thankfully, we don't have to ponder too long -- because Washington, indeed, took it, and he is terrific.
  96. I Declare War
    While it's enjoyable enough to watch, there's no slam-dunk takeaway here.
  97. Rise of the Guardians
    It's a grand, colorful adventure, an escapist romp draped in tinsel. And, who knows -- if you're all good little boys and girls this year, perhaps it will also be the first installment in a new DreamWorks holiday tradition.
  98. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
    More than just corny. Eclipse is boring.
  99. Men in Black III
    What we're left with is a thoroughly mediocre, shrug-generating disappointment -- and one that certainly doesn't feel like it should have cost more than a third of a billion dollars to make and market.
  100. Snowden
    Stone's characteristic on-his-sleeve political views aren't the problem with the often-sleepy Snowden. Rather, it's that his film – the lag-prone script for which the filmmaker co-wrote with Kieran Fitzgerald – really doesn't tell us much that we don't already know. That'll certainly be the case for anyone who saw director Laura Poitras' Oscar-winning 2014 documentary "Citizenfour," a remarkable bit of filmmaking.
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