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. Baggage Claim
    If you’re considering spending your hard-earned money on such bland fare, you should at least know what you’re getting: a rehash of every rom-com cliché imaginable.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Metallica: Through the Never
    One drawback: While the swooping and careening visuals capture the depth and darkness of an arena experience, the sound doesn’t. As burly as the acoustics in a theater may be, they’re spindly compared to the sucker-punch fans prize at an actual Metallica concert. Luckily — for its visuals alone — “Through the Never” has enough grit and power to deserve two fists up.
  3. Inequality for All
    The wonkiness is at a minimum and Reich delivers it with tales from his own life, since he’s the son of a dress store owner and a mom who helped in the shop. Essential viewing, no matter how you cut it.
  4. Morning
    The movie gets too claustrophobic, while its noble attempt to take on suffering remains laudable.
  5. We Are What We Are
    While ultimately gory — and a little dopey — this is no rowdy, exploitation-y, gross-out picture. This is a film where ambience, glossy imagery and performance are more effective than the splatter.
  6. Don Jon
    I’ll take messy, daring creativity like Gordon-Levitt’s over a formulaic fantasy any day.
  7. Jewtopia
    Even if we had never heard of Woody Allen or Adam Sandler, this schlocky effort would feel about as fresh as a week-old bagel.
  8. Thanks for Sharing
    Sometimes, less is more. Case in point: Thanks for Sharing, a film that’s a little too eager to be ID’d as a “sex addiction dramedy.” As a result, solidly grounded performances from almost all the cast members wind up playing second fiddle to navel-gazing.
  9. Prisoners
    Dano, Bello, Howard, Davis and Leo — the last nearly unrecognizable — are equally strong. Villeneuve, whose last film was the Oscar-nominated “Incendies,” uses them all perfectly, and Prisoners works best when it’s not what you thought it was going to be. But even on familiar ground, it’s hard to let go of.
  10. Men at Lunch
    Best of all, we take a trip back to Depression-era New York and grasp its resonance more than 80 years later. Delicious.
  11. The Short Game
    Some parents are mellow, and others have instilled emotional problems in their children. This less-than-illuminating work resembles the spelling-bee doc “Spellbound,” only with a promise of high-end endorsements and far more pampering.
  12. Generation Iron
    As narrated by Mickey Rourke and with appearances from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, the movie captures the men who mix “sports, entertainment, art and a way of life” — as the former Governator describes body sculpting. It’s their honesty that looms large.
  13. Battle of the Year
    It’s undeniable that the good-natured “Afterschool Special” vibe here plays to the film’s corny strengths, and the dancing is impressive. So much so that it’s almost impossible not to cheer during the final round.
  14. A Single Shot
    Who would have guessed that sex, drugs and double-crossing could be so unrelentingly boring?
  15. Rush
    Howard, whose previous tales of men in professional peril include the topnotch “Apollo 13” as well as “Backdraft” and “Cinderella Man,” works with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle to create a style in the racing scenes that makes the most of every angle. By the time the final lap of Rush starts, we’re up for the ride.
  16. Newlyweeds
    Despite the hard lessons learned, King seems to have a pretty deep appreciation for Lyle and Nina’s drug of choice — and you’ll probably enjoy the movie a little more if you feel the same. Just think twice if you’re planning to sneak some homemade brownies into the theater when you see it.
  17. Enough Said
    Enough Said doesn’t have the intimacy of Holofcener’s “Walking and Talking” or “Lovely & Amazing,” but it still cuts close the bone. Often so close we have to smile in self-defense.
  18. Mother of George
    Director Andrew Dosunmu’s film is big-hearted and rich, frequently using slow motion to underscore an artful intimacy.
  19. Naked As We Came
    A committed cast and pensive insights into family and self-expression help make this indie drama work.
  20. And While We Were Here
    Though the film plays like late-era Woody Allen — not necessarily a good thing — and Goldberg’s rambunctiousness is more annoying than liberating, there’s a serious depth of feeling here. Bosworth, thankfully, is attuned to that, and makes the most of it.
  21. Jayne Mansfield's Car
    This isn’t the sort of movie that defines anyone’s career, as “Sling Blade” once did. But in an industry averse to risk, passion projects — even uneven ones — are always welcome.
  22. Mademoiselle C
    As vanity projects go, this one’s unusually well-made — as any portrait of an iconic stylist ought to be.
  23. The Family
    It’s too bad we can’t take a hit out on The Family. This unexciting, unfunny would-be action satire is filled with Italian-American stereotypes, decades-old TV-style Mafia cliches, bits of business that never amount to anything and actors so much better than the hoary, one-joke material.
  24. Wadjda
    This resonant film, detailing struggles in a far-flung place, represents world cinema in the classic sense.
  25. Good Ol' Freda
    Truth is, only hard-core fans of the Fab Four — granted, that’s a lot of people — will find themselves enthralled by this memo-by-memo account of the woman who spent 10 years handling the Liverpool lads’ mail. Others may be only mildly interested.
  26. Blue Caprice
    Director Alexandre Moors turns the project into something of an art film, requiring patience for repetitive editing and slow-burn scenes before the movie ultimately works itself under your skin.
  27. Insidious: Chapter 2
    Comes upon a few quirky solutions and movie-ripoff scares before settling into a kind of coma.
  28. A Teacher
    Writer-director Hannah Fidell’s somber drama of an illicit romance earns credit for being a serious discussion of a tabloid-rich topic, but the movie runs out of places to go.
  29. Populaire
    This frisky late-’50s-set French comedy about a competitive typing contest hunts and pecks a bit for fun after its story gets rolling, but it’s visually vibrant throughout.
  30. Hell Baby
    Evil babies aren’t exactly fresh meat for parody. Then again, there’s hardly a laugh in this whole hellish thing.
  31. Adore
    Though Fontaine makes sure the beaches are sun-dappled and the women’s shared house comes off like a sandy paradise, the movie is like the early-’80s groaner “Summer Lovers” with wrinkle lines. Hooray for the freedom and beauty of older women — a demographic that deserves better than the deplorable Adore.
  32. Touchy Feely
    Only DeWitt looks at home, but Shelton allows “Touchy Feely” to be so wishy-washy that we can never get a hold of the star, or the movie.
  33. Winnie Mandela
    Any urgency the movie has comes from co-star Terrence Howard, a firebrand of an actor who can’t be contained by a paint-by-numbers script.
  34. Riddick
    The story feels like quicksand. Riddick, which couldn’t even qualify for proper summer movie placement, moves like Martian molasses and can’t present an action scene to save its life. You’ll wish you had Uncle Martin’s ability to speed people — not to mention awful movies — up.
  35. Afternoon Delight
    Kathryn Hahn gives an outstanding performance in what is ultimately a not-very-amazing movie.
  36. Passion
    With no heat at all and a woefully disjointed cast, De Palma’s danse macabre never catches fire.
  37. The Lifeguard
    The Lifeguard is one of those deceptive movies that, to its credit, winds up being about more than just an easy-to-describe tagline. In this case, that line would be: “Woman goes back to hometown, sleeps with high school boy.”
  38. Getaway
    What Getaway needed most is enough juice to get to the finish line, narratively speaking. Because while jumping into the car is great, the fun dies fast if there’s nowhere to go.
  39. Our Nixon
    Pieced together, these behind-the-scenes moments are a thrill for history buffs. From the moon landing to the resignations, this is raw Nixon.
  40. American Made Movie
    You’ll never buy an inexpensive T-shirt without feeling guilty again. At least not after seeing Nathaniel Thomas McGill and Vincent Vittorio’s thorough documentary, which explains something you already know — American manufacturing is dying.
  41. I Declare War
    There’s social commentary in all of this, but it takes a back seat to a surprisingly compelling narrative of the two combating teams.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    One Direction: This Is Us
    The most telling quotes in the new One Direction documentary “This Is Us” don’t come from any member of the band. They come from their parents, who, at various times, carp about their kids’ trajectory from the moment they were put together on “The X Factor” back in 2010.
  43. Closed Circuit
    The big twist to Closed Circuit is stated in the film’s TV ads, so even the element of surprise is lost. There may have been the making of a juicy, episodes-long BBC series here, but as it is, there’s barely any juice at all.
  44. The Frozen Ground
    What’s more depressing: that John Cusack chose the junky, un-exciting serial killer drama The Frozen Ground as his latest step away from John Cusack-y roles, or that Nicolas Cage chose to, at long last, be as un-Cage-like as possible?
  45. Short Term 12
    Short Term 12 wraps up with one of the most touchingly memorable last moments of any film this year. Despite a title that’s hard to recall, this brief but resonant movie sticks with you.
  46. The Grandmaster
    Wong’s visual grandeur is, as ever, all-encompassing.
  47. The World's End
    Some inner logic may not hold up under the sober light of day, but this unusual action-comedy has the loosey-goosey feel of something that can’t miss, like a soused round of bar pool. The final triumph: In a summer full of capes and masks, beer-bellied Frost tears off his shirt à la the Hulk. It’s this season’s best superhero moment.
  48. You're Next
    Combining the dysfunctional family reunion and the home invasion thriller, You’re Next tries, somewhat valiantly, to add new twists to the usual bloody horror-flick shenanigans. But aside from a few fresh chords, it’s same-old, same-old.
  49. Drinking Buddies
    Drinking Buddies is full of relatable dilemmas, guileless moments of kindness and character-based humor.
  50. Savannah
    Savannah should win some sort of award for most amount of times you’ll ask, “They roped that guy into this turkey, too?”
  51. Scenic Route
    The first half of Scenic Route is basically a filmed play, and not an insightful one. The more surreal second half takes on a moodier edge, but the switcheroo ending is cutesy to the point of annoying. Fogler impresses with some brooding edge, but neither he nor the location photography is enough to recommend you join him on this doomed trip.
  52. Una Noche
    The energy, thrum and heartache of modern Havana keep this teen drama afloat when it just as easily could have drifted into cliché waters.
  53. Thérèse
    Audrey Tautou trades in Amelie’s wide-eyed sprite look for le sourpuss in this sober yet fascinating take on aristocratic social mores between the wars.
  54. The Trials of Muhammad Ali
    This full, footage-rich documentary shows respect for the social, legal, political, religious and pugilistic battles of the former Cassius Clay.
  55. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
    This one is by far the worst of the “Twilight” copies. And when that bunch includes “The Host” and “I Am Number Four,” that’s saying something.
  56. Austenland
    The missed opportunities in Austenland are more numerous than dowry-less sourpusses at a ball in a Jane Austen novel.
  57. Drew: The Man Behind the Poster
    A colorful account of the life and art of the recently retired Drew Struzan, whose amazing poster work from the 1970s onward still delights cineastes and casual observers.
  58. Cutie and the Boxer
    Watching Ushio Shinohara and his wife Noriko make their art, we’re reminded of how much life is inside even the most abstract of pieces.
  59. This Is Martin Bonner
    This contemplative drama draws strength from day-to-day ordinariness and a terrific lead performance from Paul Eenhoorn, yet sadly falls short.
  60. Jobs
    Entertaining and smart, with a great, career 2.0 performance from Ashton Kutcher.
  61. Ain't Them Bodies Saints
    The shadow of Terrence Malick falls hard across this Texas crime drama, a beautiful-looking prose poem that starts strong but winds up with nowhere to go.
  62. Lee Daniels' The Butler
    A singularly full-hearted and moving film.
  63. Inch'Allah
    Though Inch’Allah — which translates to “God Willing” — has good performances and fine location photography, its irresponsible attitude towards terrorism goes too far.
  64. Kick-Ass 2
    The meta-satire hits you over the head until not just your Spidey sense is tingling.
  65. Paranoia
    Paranoia’s twitchiness is like an actual twitch: it’s contrived and clunky, and you forget it in an instant.
  66. The Crash Reel
    What complicates and deepens Crash Reel, though, is that Walker doesn’t simply wag her finger like Mom telling you not to run with scissors.
  67. The Patience Stone
    Farahani — seen in “Body of Lies” and “Chicken With Plums” — is equally vibrant in a performance, and a film, that dares us to listen.
  68. I Give It a Year
    I Give It a Year has all the outrageous, embarrassment-based moments you’d expect from one of the creators of “Borat.” Indeed this film has one of the best charades gags ever. But there’s plenty of sweetness and charm, too. You root for both bride and groom, and cheer when they finally say, “I don’t.”
  69. Blood
    While hardly reinventing the wheel, Blood works best as a tone poem, with unspoken passages detailing a hard life.
  70. In a World...
    It’s hard to imagine the lives behind the voices that are part of the movies. But In a World ..., the debut feature from actress-turned-writer-director Lake Bell, not only gives the people who do movie voice-overs a closeup, it savvily and wittily uses what we hear as a metaphor for what we are.
  71. Planes
    Little ones will stay engaged, but any kid old enough to fly unaccompanied will probably search for other in-flight entertainment.
  72. Zipper: Coney Island's Last Wild Ride
    Zipper captures the erasing of one of New York’s most unique stamps by cartoon businesspeople with dollar signs for eyeballs.
  73. The Good Son: The Life of Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini
    The film winds up as a chronicle of uneasy forgiveness.
  74. Lovelace
    While “Lovelace” falters a bit, it remains a memorable, unflinching indictment.
  75. Elysium
    Unfortunately, Elysium devolves. It doesn’t address the ramifications of making everyone healthy for eternity, or what it is on Earth they’re making or digging up that fuels whatever economy is left on the space station. For such a well thought-out premise, there’s not a mention of how capitalism works in this futureworld.
  76. We're the Millers
    The “Millers” script — it took four writers to cobble together something that seems so slight — hits too many obvious notes between the moments when Aniston can strut her stuff.
  77. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
    There isn’t even an actual sea of monsters in “Sea of Monsters,” unless you count some fish guts.
  78. The Canyons
    The Canyons has more in common with Schrader’s opulent immoral tableaux “The Comfort of Strangers,” “Auto Focus” and “The Walker” than with his other work (including the script for “Taxi Driver”). It’s weaker than those, though, and less biting.
  79. Rising from Ashes
    Filmed over six years, “Ashes” is joyous and uplifting, full of spirit, memorable athletes (including Olympian Adrien Niyonshuti) and remarkable achievements, both big and small.
  80. The Artist and the Model
    Much like “La Belle Noiseuse,” the 1991 Jacques Rivette film it resembles, this contemplative drama washes over you.
  81. Cockneys vs Zombies
    The oldsters are feisty — a gun-totin’ granny is played by Pussy Galore herself, “Goldfinger’s” Honor Blackman — but the shtick’s as flat as old ale. It is bookended, though, by two seriously great songs.
  82. Europa Report
    Finally, a found-footage thriller that merits, and expands on, this irrationally popular format.
  83. When Comedy Went to School
    Think you know all about comedy? This thorough, funny and thoroughly funny chronicle of the Catskills Mountains resorts — that is, the Borscht belt — will still teach you a thing or two.
  84. The Spectacular Now
    The focus in James Ponsoldt’s affecting, intelligent drama is a pair of teenagers, and in them is so much complexity and heart that this casually paced gem feels rich in scope. They’re two of the most carefully created figures on screen this year, and yet their normalness takes us by surprise.
  85. 2 Guns
    Pure charisma is sometimes the best special effect. That’s what Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg bring to 2 Guns, and after a season full of superhero duds, they deliver a crucial dose of cool.
  86. The Smurfs 2
    Unlike that earlier live action/animation hybrid, however, which had a cheery, almost campy New York fashion-industry setting, The Smurfs 2 is mostly loud and unfunny.
  87. The Time Being
    Despite the movie’s flaws, Cicin-Sain does show considerable confidence for a first-time writer and director.
  88. The To Do List
    Everyone thinks sex is easy to do, but that doesn’t mean they’re good at it. The To Do List is exactly that type of movie, one that thinks a sex-obsessed version of a John Hughes comedy by its very nature is hilarious. It’s not, but there are still some things to like here.
  89. Stranded
    The kind of middling thriller you might stop to watch if you came across it on cable, director Roger Christian’s “Alien” knockoff is presumably only in theaters because Christian Slater’s contract demanded it.
  90. Blue Jasmine
    The way she (Blanchette) anchors this superb dramedy is a thing of beauty.
  91. The Wolverine
    Good thing the Aussie star has the role down to a science, since the rest of The Wolverine is a howler.
  92. R.I.P.D.
    It's nothing special. Which sort of makes it a loser all the way 'round. Expect a sad afterlife for it on cable.
  93. Broken
    There’s little doubt that the obvious parallels between this dark coming-of-age drama and “To Kill a Mockingbird” are deliberate. But while they are undeniably overreaching, director Rufus Norris has adapted Daniel Clay’s young adult novel with a sensitivity that will appeal to teens and adults alike.
  94. Nicky's Family
    Hokey reenactments of the war years do the film no favors, but it’s worth sticking them out to witness a humanity that never could be faked.
  95. Still Mine
    If last year’s searing old-age tragedy, “Amour” — or 2006’s bravely blunt “Away From Her” — weren’t digestible enough for you, perhaps this mild romance will suffice.
  96. The ROMEOWS
    For the most part, we sit in on the conversations as good-natured, ordinary guys — all graduates of Brooklyn College in the ’50s — reminisce.
  97. Dealin' with Idiots
    There simply isn’t enough here to sustain an entire movie.
  98. Girl Most Likely
    Bening and Dillon are equally misused, and the rest of the cast is frankly just annoying. Like Imogene’s early promise, Girl Most Likely is likely to be forgotten quickly. The sooner the better.
  99. Blackfish
    An extraordinary, must-see examination of what humans do to killer whales so that these amazing creatures can become one more entertainment.
  100. The Act of Killing
    Can’t-look-away stuff, though it’s tough to believe your eyes and ears.
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