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. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
    Alison Klayman's chronicle of Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei is so straightforward that one can't help wishing the subject would make his own, more complex cinematic self-portrait. But for now, Klayman has provided a valuable introduction to a man everyone should know.
  2. Searching for Sugar Man
    Rodriguez's story is almost inconceivable in an obsessively magnified, heavily hyped Internet era. Which makes it all the more important to be shared. Listen, be moved, and pass it on.
  3. The Watch
    Every summer needs a super-turkey. So barring anything in the next 30 days that's the second coming of "Howard the Duck," the witless, completely terrible "comedy" now called The Watch should win hands-down.
  4. Step Up Revolution
    Anyway. Here's what matters: The dance scenes are great. While no more revolutionary than the "political" plotline, the flash-mob concept does allow for more creative choreography than this series has seen in some time.
  5. Killer Joe
    What's most notable about this aggressively cynical project is how much talent it wastes.
  6. Ruby Sparks
    It often feels as if the filmmakers expect us to be equally seduced by Ruby's wide-eyed winsomeness. That's a shame, as we can sense the deeper film beneath the surface. Because Ruby remains conceptual, this ambitious project lacks the dimension of the similarly meta-minded Charlie Kaufman projects that apparently inspired it.
  7. Wagner's Dream
    The finished "Ring" cycle, a combination of "myth, science and legend" made to order as Wagner imagined it, was unique to every viewer's eye. The making of it will be spellbinding to everyone.
  8. 30 Beats
    Everything that goes around comes around, but the roundelay in 30 Beats comes off, well, a little square.
  9. Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai
    Deftly weaving double plotlines, gorgeous camera work, and deep compassion, Miike contrasts ritualistic "honor" with the truly honorable, as poor but noble squires face off against powerful lords cushioned by tradition and pride.
  10. The Queen of Versailles
    This is certainly an apt time to make a crowd-pleasing movie about rich villains, but Greenfield is not an exploiter - she's an artist.
  11. The Dark Knight Rises
    While director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale's epic of criminality and all-consuming conviction ultimately falls a bit short - missing, for instance, a villainous face a la Heath Ledger's Joker - their Batman trilogy ends with a suitably thrilling mix of guts and glory.
  12. Trishna
    With Trishna, his (Winterbottom) penchant for risks has once again paid off.
  13. Farewell, My Queen
    Whether accurate or not, it's certainly entertaining to watch regal intrigues through the eyes of lady-in-waiting Sidonie (Léa Seydoux). That Jacquot handles the action so lightly is a credit, considering that it takes place during some of the tensest moments of the French Revolution.
  14. Union Square
    Despite its problems, there's a touching sweetness at the heart of Nancy Savoca's intimate family drama about estranged sisters trying to reconnect.
  15. Red Lights
    A ghost-busting drama set in a world of mystics, mind-benders and various and sundry fake-psychic gobbledygook. But the weirdest thing is how all the fun gets lost in a bottom-drawer "X Files" story.
  16. Ice Age: Continental Drift
    Something has surely gone wrong when there is not a single moment in Ice Age: Continental Drift that equals the four-minute "Simpsons" short that precedes it.
  17. Last Ride
    Becomes too melodramatic and bleakly obvious. Weaving, though, as always, is never less than magnetic.
  18. Crazy Eyes
    This slovenly, self-indulgent riff on Charles Bukowski-like fringe-livers has all of the naked harshness of Bukowski with none of the poetry. At least Haas gives it a good shot.
  19. Starry Starry Night
    All the popcorn movies you're planning to see will still be at the multiplex if you wait another week. This shimmering beauty will be gone in a flash. Catch it while you can.
  20. The Pact
    For her part, Lotz carries the load with such briskly efficient confidence, it's no surprise to learn that she's already got several more movies on the way.
  21. Savages
    Stone relies on his leads to guide us into this hyper-charged inferno, and they fit his juiced-up approach like James Woods and Woody Harrelson did in Stone's equally hopped-up "Salvador" and "Natural Born Killers." He gets us high on what they're selling before it goes south.
  22. Collaborator
    Hartley fans will certainly see his influence, especially in dialogue and movement that are so precise as to feel choreographed.
  23. Katy Perry: Part of Me
    Perry may be the world's most high-profile tease, but she sure knows how to show us a good time.
  24. The Amazing Spider-Man
    Director Marc Webb's action-adventure is grounded in a recognizable reality, but is also full of thrills. It's dark and mysterious, but doesn't skimp on fun.
  25. Madea's Witness Protection
    While I fully support the appearance of a new Madea movie every six months, even Tyler Perry can't be bothered to take this setup seriously.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Neil Young Journeys
    Of course, the music is the thing and the sounds here earn Demme's reverence.
  27. Beasts of the Southern Wild
    Winds up feeling like a form of emotional tourism. The images recall Terrence Malick, but the film fills "atmosphere" into dry narrative holes where a story should reside.
  28. People Like Us
    Its hard sell wears you down and draws you in, even as you know you're being manipulated.
  29. Magic Mike
    For starters, it's a pleasure to see Matthew McConaughey - a gifted actor who can't hide his boredom in trivial work - finally settle into the role for which he was born.
  30. Take This Waltz
    Is there another actor working today whose face registers the extraordinary range of emotions Michelle Williams can display? Even in a film as false as Sarah Polley's Take This Waltz, her swiftly shifting expressions feel unerringly true.
  31. Ted
    True chemistry is hard to find. And by some stroke of movie magic - or sheer skill - Wahlberg and the bear make a pretty great team.
  32. Brave
    Gorgeously animated and featuring a tapestry of real-looking wonders, Brave is certainly a thing of beauty. But its emotional layers don't yield the same depth.
  33. To Rome with Love
    Much of the young cast - especially a miscast Page - make the oft-repeated mistake of saying Allen's dialogue as he might say them; the result is a lot of hyperarticulation, stammering and gesturing.
  34. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
    One of the year's most emotionally affecting movies.
  35. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
    This insipid mashup of history lesson and monster flick takes itself semi-seriously, which is truly deadly.
  36. The Last Ride
    Thomas offers particularly fine work, but the underwritten script, which relies too much on sentimentality, gives him little to do.
  37. The Invisible War
    Every adult who owes a debt of gratitude to American soldiers should see Kirby Dick's heartbreaking documentary about sexual violence in the military.
  38. Your Sister's Sister
    This film's only real stumble is its ending, which is so predictable it seems like a bit of a copout.
  39. That's My Boy
    As awful as most of That's My Boy is, it's sort of mesmerizing to see how Sandler - in a script credited to David Caspe - keeps his touchstones in place.
  40. The Woman in the Fifth
    Hawke works hard to solidify Pawlikowski's wispy ideas (which are adapted from Douglas Kennedy's novel).
  41. Americano
    Scenes of the director as a school-age boy in a Varda film are haunting, but end up simply sparking a desire to see Varda's work.
  42. Extraterrestrial
    Quirky, but infinitely more interesting than big-budget Hollywood cousins.
  43. Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
    This trip through the seminal performance artist's (often literal) body of work is sometimes too cozy, yet Abramovic might argue that objectivity is impossible if truth is the destination.
  44. Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap
    The faces and voices are endlessly compelling as they talk about what inspires them to lay down beats and recall the early days in New York. Ice-T, disentangled from acting, makes himself a fine focal point.
  45. The Tortured
    It's bluntly written, poorly shot and edited, and cruel without being clever.
  46. Rock of Ages
    Rock of Ages is an experience that will alternately leave you embarrassed and amused.
  47. Safety Not Guaranteed
    Delightful proof that money and fame have nothing on ingenuity and wit, Safety Not Guaranteed is worth a million meaningless blockbusters.
  48. Prometheus
    We are left, after all the propulsive action, with great turns by Theron and Rapace, and a tightly wound turn by Fassbender, whose eerie, poetically impish mechanical man might have burst from Bradbury's conscience.
  49. Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding
    Peace, Love and Misunderstanding has a place for everybody in its heart-of-gold band.
  50. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
    Madagascar 3 can't upgrade its own shtick, becoming a craven example of a fast-buck, no-fun family film.
  51. Bel Ami
    Though gorgeous to look at, the first feature from Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod has an undeniable void at its very center: an utterly blank leading man.
  52. Paul Williams Still Alive
    Kessler has indeed made a film about a fame-chasing narcissist in desperate need of attention. But that has nothing to do with the guy we came to see.
  53. Dark Horse
    Abe's day-to-day trials may eventually seem like cheap daytime TV, but Gelber and Solondz know how to nail the uncomfortably funny optimism shadowing American desperation.
  54. Lola Versus
    Don't be fooled by the indie trappings: despite its downtown vibe, Lola Versus is as clichéd as any Hollywood rom-com.
  55. Snow White and the Huntsman
    It's Theron who owns this film, imbuing her deliciously depraved Queen with furious pain and deep-seated fear.
  56. Crooked Arrows
    As the team gets in shape, a hot new ringer is brought in and the fallen son redeems himself - and director Steve Rash's movie wins us over.
  57. U.N. Me
    Is it all valid? Perhaps. Should the film's questions be addressed? Absolutely.
  58. High School
    The nearly unrecognizable Chiklis almost single-handedly saves the day.
  59. A Cat in Paris
    The charmless but harmless A Cat in Paris hits theaters yet doesn't enchant.
  60. Hide Away
    The film doesn't play games; it's basically just Lucas going through a short story-like period of reflection and redemption almost entirely without dialogue. It's not enough, but it is what this underappreciated actor does best.
  61. For Greater Glory
    The actor (Garcia), whose banked anger has been a secret weapon since "The Untouchables" 25 years ago, paints a fascinating portrait of a man moved by fate.
  62. Battlefield America
    Houston does his best with an unlikable character, and the young actors are appealing enough to keep us watching. The movie itself, however, is a mess.
  63. Wish Me Away
    This sympathetic documentary chronicles her decision to come out, which required a battle plan as extensive as the ones applied to the rest of her career.
  64. Oslo, August 31st
    Trier's voice and vision, are thrillingly unique. His ever-searching camera, which never stops moving, takes us into places we've never been, know too well and won't soon forget.
  65. Mighty Fine
    Boasting perhaps the most bored-sounding voice-over ever, this unexceptional drama imagines itself - much as its young heroine does - to be far more noteworthy than it actually is.
  66. OC87: The Obsessive Compulsive, Major Depression, Bipolar, Asperger's Movie
    Clayman, who co-directed with filmmaker friends, is fascinating company.
  67. Moonrise Kingdom
    Though not as impactful as Anderson's strongest works - including its adolescent cousin, "Rushmore" - "Kingdom" unfolds with an asymmetrical lyricism of its own.
  68. Men in Black III
    A solidly entertaining summer movie is always welcome, even if it can't quite claim to be out of this world.
  69. What to Expect When You're Expecting
    What you don't expect is how bad almost all of it is.
  70. The Samaritan
    The most charitable approach to this unfortunate diversion in Jackson's career would be to pretend it never happened. Now, who wants to go see "The Avengers" again?
  71. Hysteria
    While a delicate topic would seem to require a delicate touch, Wexler goes more for cheeky entertainment. To some degree, it works.
  72. Beyond the Black Rainbow
    Add two more stars here if zoning out to weirdo-dreamy, '80s public-access TV with a synthesizer soundtrack is your idea of midnight fun. Because this ambitious, but not uninteresting, failure has that in its DNA.
  73. Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog
    Yoichi Sai's movie may be a bit tough for young viewers, but it is gentle and illuminating.
  74. Polisse
    If you're the type who unwinds by watching "The Wire" or "Law & Order: SVU," you might appreciate this grim procedural drama from French actress Maïwenn. There's no denying its power: It took home the Jury Prize at Cannes last year. But for most, Polisse will be tough going.
  75. Mansome
    Think of Mansome as the equivalent of a $10 manicure: It'll modestly enhance your day without making any lasting impact.
  76. Virginia
    The movie as a whole falls victim to a dewy kind of Tennessee Williams-itis, as Black plops too many wanna-be, colorful twists - imminent illness, botched robberies, fake pregnancies - into what is at heart a gently heartbreaking rendering.
  77. Battleship
    The worst humans-fighting-aliens movie I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of humans-fighting-aliens movies.
  78. The Dictator
    The easily offended will be appalled. The rarely offended may be appalled. But they'll have to stop laughing long enough to realize it.
  79. Murder Capital of the World
    Charlie Minn seems intent on educating the world about the crisis of violence occurring in Mexico. While his new film feels too much like a retread of "8 Murders a Day," which he released last year, it's still urgent enough to warrant a view.
  80. Where Do We Go Now?
    While the schemes occasionally seem strained, their desperate determination is never less than compelling.
  81. Tonight You're Mine
    It's hard to imagine this was his intent, but David Mackenzie's minor romp manages to make being a rock star look like a distinctly unglamorous affair.
  82. I Wish
    Kore-eda does extraordinary work with his young cast, who deliver gentle, natural performances in a beautifully told story of heartbreak and hope. Deceptively modest and utterly lovely, it's one of the most magical films about childhood I have ever seen.
  83. Girl in Progress
    A well-done, conscientious and funny little film that recalls "Clueless," only with more heart.
  84. A Bag of Hammers
    Woven amid the glib one-liners and contrived scenarios is an unexpected, and undeniably touching, sense of heart.
  85. God Bless America
    As both a comedian and filmmaker, Bobcat Goldthwait ("Shakes the Clown") has carved out a valuable spot as an idiosyncratic instigator. But even fans may be disappointed at how swiftly he undermines its own message here.
  86. Under African Skies
    Director Joe Berlinger mixes archival footage, concert scenes, interviews and present-day reunions to meld a harmonious, fair-minded, energetic and enlightening portrait of one masterpiece's moment in time.
  87. Dark Shadows
    Whether it works is a matter of taste, but the fact that Burton's revisit unearths enough fun while feeling like four films in one is testament to the source's seductive bloodline.
  88. Jesus Henry Christ
    It winds up just being annoying.
  89. Chronicling a Crisis
    As that description suggests, the film winds up a rather grim, often indulgent muddle. But it's also undeniably compelling.
  90. First Position
    Their devotion to their art is admirable, and the film gets under the skin, if never really in our blood.
  91. Last Call at the Oasis
    Oasis also takes aim at the bottled-water industry, entertainingly calling in psychologists to break down our fears of what is - or isn't - contaminating what we drink.
  92. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
    It's a shame, of course, that Madden brought the best to such an exotic Top locale without making the most of the opportunity.
  93. The Perfect Family
    While they have all the materials needed for a sharp satire, they're too timid to arrive at any real revelations.
  94. The Avengers
    Most impressive of all, The Avengers makes superhero movies new again - a colossal task indeed.
  95. Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story
    Have we come a long way since Wright's world was upended because he spoke undeniable truths? Watch this essential American story, and decide for yourself.
  96. Bernie
    Jack Black adds new depths to his slippery comic persona in Bernie, a movie that may not ultimately add up to much, but which is filled with wonderfully odd details of weird Americana.
  97. The Five-Year Engagement
    Blunt has never been more relaxed, and she and Segel have a believably warm chemistry. It's also nice to find a romantic comedy with so much respect for both its leads.
  98. The Giant Mechanical Man
    Grace, especially, gives a turn that could be a twerpy cousin to Tom Cruise's character in "Magnolia"; Fischer's dead-eyed responses to this Mensa-member/player who think he's book jacket-hot are priceless.
  99. Sound of My Voice
    Despite some tough-to-take moments, this challenging, smart movie is worth the trip.
  100. The Pirates! Band of Misfits
    The claymation visuals are charming, and an enthusiastic, if somewhat underused, cast works hard to sell the better jokes (though the funniest gag is a silent monkey butler).
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