New York Daily News' Scores

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For 6,911 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 42% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 55% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 8.2 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 57
Highest review score: 100 Fruitvale Station
Lowest review score: 0 The Fourth Kind
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,885 out of 6911
  2. Mixed: 2,801 out of 6911
  3. Negative: 1,225 out of 6911
6911 movie reviews
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  1. All the Light in the Sky
    Marie is middle-aged and at a crossroads in All the Light in the Sky, a movie that feels the same way — listless and searching and on its way toward something good.
  2. The Past
    The Past is not as nuanced as its predecessor — and not as impactful, either. But this is still far more complex than most family dramas.
  3. The Selfish Giant
    Both leading actors are teenagers who’ve never acted before — and they are both phenomenal.
  4. Walking with Dinosaurs
    Yes, the film’s CG dinos look great tromping in the Alaskan wilderness, but children deserve better than such unchallenging fare.
  5. Her
    Will you relate more to the bitter, or embrace the sweet? The choice itself is Jonze’s ultimate gift to us: an invitation to leave his film ready to communicate, debate and, most crucially of all, connect.
  6. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
    Like the bloated channels it parodies, the movie stretches to find something to say, then settles for stupid.
  7. Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas
    Comedy characters change and grow. Sometimes, as we see in Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas, they become so much like old relatives that their edge is gone.
  8. Hours
    Most of the movie elicits tense empathy, which builds to a genuinely nerve-wracking sense of dread.
  9. Some Velvet Morning
    As an acting symposium, this is 83 minutes of Tucci exercises; never a bad thing. The wooden Eve does her best, but director/writer Neil LaBute unfortunately underwrote her character — by design, it would seem, given all that transpires.
  10. Liv & Ingmar
    If you’re only a casual observer of Bergman, you’ll find this documentary as inaccessible as his densest works.
  11. What's in a Name?
    What’s most surprising is that this talky dramedy was a massive smash at home in France, outearning blockbusters like “The Avengers.”
  12. The Unbelievers
    Holwerda’s film never bothers to conceal its fawning view of Dawkins and Krauss — or challenge their dogma. And there’s no need for empty celebrity cameos from fans like Cameron Diaz (“Knowledge is power,” she reveals).
  13. Saving Mr. Banks
    The slick but moving Saving Mr. Banks transcends its corporate pedigree to become a great Disney movie about making a Disney movie.
  14. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
    The cast, including Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly as warrior elves, is also excellent (though we don’t get even a glimpse of Andy Serkis’ Gollum). And individually, each escapade does hold its own thrills.
  15. Lenny Cooke
    This melancholy documentary shows how championship dreams can turn into a nightmare.
  16. Night Train to Lisbon
    Murder on the Orient Express, this ain’t.
  17. Inside Llewyn Davis
    An evocative vision of self-destruction, a gorgeously crafted time capsule, and a fantastic showcase for Oscar Isaac in the title role.
  18. The Last Days on Mars
    On the bright side, Robinson’s unlucky astronauts are played by Liev Schreiber, Elias Koteas, Olivia Williams and Romola Garai. All of these actors approach their potential demise with impressive conviction.
  19. Swerve
    Despite the revved-up start and a suitably dusty setting, the movie stalls almost immediately. The story is uninspired, Lyons looks lost, and Booth makes for a bland femme fatale. Clarke tries to inject some energy into the action, but even he seems to realize this ride’s going nowhere.
  20. Twice Born
    The tragic Balkan conflict of the 1990s is due for a sweeping, important and engaging cinematic remembrance. Twice Born wants to be that movie — a Bosnian “Doctor Zhivago” — but falls short.
  21. Tim's Vermeer
    The result is cool and semi-comical, but also serious.
  22. White Reindeer
    Throughout, Hollyman rings true . She’s heartfelt, freaked-out and never too way out.
  23. Out of the Furnace
    Like “The Deer Hunter” — from which it swipes its Keystone State milieu, its haunted veterans, and its self-endangerment metaphor — Out of the Furnace gets under your skin.
  24. Oldboy
    Leave it to Spike Lee to deliver one of the strangest, most off-putting movies for the Thanksgiving holiday.
  25. Frozen
    What’s crucially missing, however, is a hissable villain. Nor are there any memorable tunes, which is too bad given that Broadway star Menzel is playing Elsa.
  26. Homefront
    A disappointing mess of a genre flick.
  27. Black Nativity
    The movie doesn’t weave religion into the familiar structure of a comedy or melodrama. Instead, everything works in service to the sermon at the core. For most audience members, that will either be the primary draw or an inescapable drawback.
  28. Philomena
    The movie wouldn’t stand for much of anything without such an effective team to represent the equivocating.
  29. The Christmas Candle
    This odd Dickens-meets-Sunday-school movie is as artless as the setup is muddled.
  30. Narco Cultura
    The dissection and discussion, though well-intentioned, winds up lifeless.
  31. Everyday
    Filmed — patiently, beautifully — over that same length of time, the film’s day-to-day aches are quiet and lovingly rendered.
  32. Cold Turkey
    Writer-director Will Slocombe presents a familiar buffet, but there’s good stuff to pick over.
  33. Weekend of a Champion
    Looking for something unusual to see this weekend? Try this cool time capsule, which premiered in 1972 and then disappeared for decades.
  34. Bettie Page Reveals All
    Why does the movie waste so much time on empty adoration from celebrity fans and skim past the significant tragedies that contributed to her complex life? Parental neglect, sexual assault, severe mental illness — all of these factors shaped the woman Page became. But perhaps even today, no one wants to consider the sadness behind her 1,000-watt smile.
  35. Delivery Man
    Most important, he’s got Vaughn, whose mix of silliness and sincerity is an ideal anchor for the broad premise. Vaughn is one of those actors who tends to autopilot his way through too many mediocre projects. When he goes all in, though, it’s impossible to resist his charm.
  36. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
    The good news is it comes very close, and does it without sacrificing its soul. Despite its sense of been-here-slayed-that, director Francis Lawrence expertly delivers thrills, ideas and spectacle.
  37. Charlie Countryman
    We could have lived without another ’90s-influenced exercise in gritty wonderment. But thanks to a perfectly-matched lead, Shia LaBeouf, the movie makes enough impact to justify its existence.
  38. The Best Man Holiday
    The movie ends with a setup for another sequel, which will undoubtedly be embraced by fans. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait another 14 years to see it.
  39. Sunlight Jr.
    Empathy for the all-too-real plight of the working poor drives this heavy but bold indie. Sadly, though, it falters under the weight of too much drama.
  40. Nebraska
    Capturing family on film — the real rhythms of family, with all the annoyances, awkwardness and affection — is tough. Tougher still is wrestling a story around the murky emotional waters of Midwestern relatives. Yet one needn’t be cut from that cloth to see the hilarious beauty, and the beautiful honesty, in Nebraska.
  41. Dear Mr. Watterson
    The deeply private, intensely ideological and undeniably brilliant Watterson would make an absolutely fascinating subject. But director Joel Allen Schroeder has no access to him. So instead he talks a lot about how much he loves “Calvin and Hobbes” and then invites other fans to do the same.
  42. The Great Beauty
    Sorrentino’s dazzling tribute to Roman indulgence is a bittersweet, slightly surreal epic.
  43. How I Live Now
    A frosty-eyed, imperturbable actress in “Atonement,” “Hanna” and “The Host,” Ronan is at least able to sell Daisy’s new focus while the movie loses its own.
  44. The Wind Rises
    The movie’s spell is solid, even if it doesn’t soar to the heights it could.
  45. Go for Sisters
    It’s Ross, however, who really makes a lasting impact. Someone should snap her up for a series — and soon.
  46. The Armstrong Lie
    There’s so much more to this story — as any number of articles about the people he wronged attest — but this time, Gibney never really gets in gear.
  47. Birth of the Living Dead
    This documentary is basically a glamorized DVD extra, but it entertains as it details the anecdote-rich production history of “Night of the Living Dead” and, most crucially, its enormous impact.
  48. The Motel Life
    While this gritty indie is light on plot, the world of bars, casinos, hospitals and gallows humor is real and heartbreaking.
  49. Great Expectations
    Director Mike Newell’s rich take on the story is a fine introduction for new viewers.
  50. Medora
    Andrew Cohn and Davy Rothbart’s doc, exec-produced by Steve Buscemi and Stanley Tucci, is one more sad, serious eulogy for a way of life.
  51. The Book Thief
    The movie’s strong sense of empathy, enhanced by several noteworthy performances, ought to engage most viewers.
  52. Thor: The Dark World
    Thor: The Dark World may not be thunder from the movie gods, but it is — shock! — an entertaining journey into mystery, action and fun.
  53. Free Birds
    Children, of course, won’t notice the political subtext. But do be prepared for them to exit the theater demanding that you make only Tofurkey in the future.
  54. Aftermath
    What keeps the film so fascinating is how even its protagonists are greatly flawed. While certainly upsetting, Aftermath takes a look at the dangers inherent in an abundance of truth.
  55. The Broken Circle Breakdown
    This movie has one of the finest final scenes in a movie this year and, if there were justice, Baetens would break out as an international star.
  56. Big Sur
    But with Kerouac declaring that “the only thing that matters is the conceptions in my own mind,” we’re still left waiting for the filmmaker who can take us there.
  57. Last Love
    Not much happens in Sandra Nettelbeck’s intimate family drama, but its well-drawn connections between lonely souls make an impact nonetheless.
  58. Diana
    You certainly won’t learn anything of interest about the Princess of Wales in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s misguided new biopic. But Diana can be declared a success in one regard — its vacant inanity serves to remind us of the perpetual indignities forced upon this unlucky Lady.
  59. Dallas Buyers Club
    If Woodroof is the movie’s guts, Rayon is its heart, and Leto (TV’s “My So-Called Life,” “Alexander”) is stunningly perfect, even when the story veers ever so slightly into expected territory.
  60. Last Vegas
    Though coming off at times like Adam Sandler’s “Grown-ups,” only with Oscar winners, Last Vegas is a genial little comedy for the crowd it’s intended for.
  61. Man of Tai Chi
    The fights are strong (though the 49-year-old director’s are slo-mo), and the surface is calm. Say “Whoa!” if you like, but it’s cool.
  62. Casting By
    A look into one of the most invisible, and crucial, of cinematic disciplines. Using the seminal casting director Marion Dougherty as a subject, the film walks us through the intricacies of casting, with insight from Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Robert Redford and others.
  63. About Time
    What makes the calculated sentimentality palatable is Curtis’ intelligent assurance as he guides us through each step. It’s a gooey indulgence, to be sure, but one that will please anybody with a cinematic sweet tooth.
  64. Ender's Game
    Ender’s Game, the book, may have a special place in pop-lit. The movie, however, is as special as a migraine.
  65. Capital
    Sex is plentiful, but the lust is for paydays. This is territory covered far more vibrantly in “Margin Call,” yet director Costa-Gavras (“Z,” “Missing”) still has good, old-fashioned indignation to count on.
  66. I Am Divine
    More than just a one-name star of pop culture’s alternative history, Divine’s story — terrorized by bullies, embraced by the outré, where he finds a home — stands for “all the outsiders,” as Waters says (between hilarious anecdotes).
  67. Bastards
    An oblique, by-design and frustrating drama, Claire Denis’ film about a man’s mysterious suicide and its repercussions is creepy, but finally too vague.
  68. Spinning Plates
    Given that his subjects are so inspiring, surely Levy could have spiced up his storytelling with a bit more creativity.
  69. The Square
    The historically essential document they’ve created here pulses with an immediacy that will leave you simultaneously enlightened and stunned.
  70. The Counselor
    Ultimately, this dull tour of a thieving, primal underworld is just a lot of high-talking hogwash.
  71. Blue Is the Warmest Color
    Overlong and dramatically thin.
  72. The Fifth Estate
    What a letdown it is to see this spellbinding, era-defining story tamed into such stodgy submission.
  73. Kill Your Darlings
    As for Ginsberg himself: Should we be more impressed that Radcliffe so confidently portrays an actual icon, or that he banishes all memories of the fictional one he’s portrayed before? Both accomplishments suggest that he’s got real talent, and a future that’s already taking him well past Harry Potter.
  74. 12 Years a Slave
    McQueen has made a film comparable to “Schindler’s List” — art that may be hard to watch, but which is an essential look at man’s inhumanity to man. It is wrenching, but 12 Years a Slave earns its tears in a way few films ever do.
  75. Escape Plan
    As the unpredictable, mischievous inmate with the unlikely name of Emil Rottmayer, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s sidekick role in Escape Plan may make audiences weep for the films we missed out on while he made speeches in Sacramento.
  76. All Is Lost
    Redford will surely earn a well-deserved Oscar nomination for this role, to which he commits with unerring dedication. But the real star is writer/director Chandor, whose painstaking approach is exquisite in its spare integrity.
  77. Carrie
    Where Sissy Spacek seemed otherworldly and haunted in De Palma’s film, Moretz (“Hugo,” “Kick-Ass”) is sadder. She’s a terrific young actress.
  78. Paradise
    Ultimately, Paradise is a tiny version of a saint’s journey among sinners, an immature conception. Peramb-you-later, Lamb.
  79. 2 Jacks
    Shabby on the surface and indulgent at its core.
  80. I'm in Love with a Church Girl
    There is no reason a film with an agenda can’t also be engaging or thought-provoking. But what we have here is not so much a movie as a blunt Sunday sermon.
  81. Escape from Tomorrow
    Moore shows promising ingenuity in shooting parts of the movie covertly, within the notoriously restrictive Disney World resort. But his script never takes the same sort of risk.
  82. The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete
    Michael Starrbury’s astute script draws us in slowly, depicting the realities of Mister and Pete’s lives in progressive reveals.
  83. Machete Kills
    Machete Kills? “Machete Bores” is more like it.
    • New York Daily News
      • Posted Oct 10, 2013
  84. Romeo & Juliet
    This version is never rough, nor rude, nor boisterous, but for first-timers, perhaps wisely and slow is the way to go. There will be time enough for them to discover cinema’s superior adaptations anon.
  85. I Will Follow You Into the Dark
    Rare is the film so ineptly made that it barely deserves the dignity of a review. Which, on the one hand, makes this slapdash horror romance somewhat unusual. On the other, however, you’re wasting valuable time just reading about it.
  86. Broadway Idiot
    The movie can’t help feeling like a vanity affair — a shot of novocaine, instead of a letter bomb.
  87. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane
    Despite early promise for a semi-interesting examination of teenage obsession, the film devolves into a standard, and not thrilling, body-count builder. And the “twist” ending is one of the more annoying in recent memory.
  88. As I Lay Dying
    Alas, the split-screen compositions, slow-motion effects, pensive closeups and prosthetic teeth can’t distract from what’s missing: Faulkner’s pointed but deeply buried observations of the human condition.
  89. CBGB
    As a film, the result is static, like Ang Lee’s similarly muddled “Taking Woodstock.”
  90. All Is Bright
    Giamatti and Rudd banter with appeal, but Melissa James Gibson’s lackluster script doesn’t offer either much to work with.
  91. Concussion
    Concussion is a melancholy affair which keeps its lead character at a distance, making for somewhat frustrating viewing. But the reserved tone also makes this movie worth an afternoon visit.
  92. Parkland
    Perhaps it’s inevitable that the movie works best not while we’re watching fictional recreations, but when we see real footage or hear actual broadcasts.
  93. Five Dances
    Though the film’s untested cast struggles with the drama, and the sketched-out story is often banal (there are several amateurish calls-to-mom scenes), the presentation of a specific city subculture is etched from the heart.
  94. The Summit
    Interviews with survivors fill us in on the personalities of the lost, but the background of K2, with archival footage from 1954, is equally gripping.
  95. Linsanity
    This nothing-new-here documentary presents basketball’s onetime celebrity point guard in unguarded moments. But the result is banal and fawning, with Lin coming off as a pious, charmless subject.
  96. Gravity
    A thrill ride with a brain.
  97. Runner Runner
    This is the kind of movie that, in order to puff itself up, quotes Meyer Lansky, Napoleon and Native American sayings. But according to Hoyle — as poker players would say — the film really just does boilerplate Hollywood drama.
  98. A.C.O.D.
    Scott, Winstead and Howard are charming, while Poehler, O’Hara and Jenkins have a grand time bickering. Since Zicherman doesn’t ask much of us in the first place, they make it easy enough to commit.
  99. Captain Phillips
    The most gripping based-on-fact film so far this year.
  100. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
    Cloudy 2 is loud, weird and chaotic — just as kids like it.
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