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. Louder Than Bombs
    A quiet, restrained drama, Louder Than Bombs works a little like a photographer itself, changing its focus, showcasing scenes from different points of view, rearranging the order of the images.
  2. Cedar Rapids
    Its appeal comes almost entirely from the cast members, who appear genuinely excited to invite us to their party.
  3. At the Edge of the World
    A documentary with too much dead time between the arduous tasks at hand, never grabs a viewer because -- sad to say -- it's too dull.
  4. Who Gets to Call It Art?
    The film's appeal is for the eyes. Because Henry got to call it art, it's on display once again.
  5. Happy Christmas
    Each viewer is likely to connect with a different character initially, but don’t be surprised if you switch allegiances several times before the story ends.
  6. Strayed
    Beautifully shot, and graced with another winning performance from the lovely Beart, Strayed nevertheless fails because the relationship between Odile and Yvan never makes us feel the sexual passion it implies.
  7. Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie
    As a look at how we got from there to here, “Evocateur” is one for the time capsule.
  8. Chalk
    If Chalk had been made by Christopher Guest - an obvious influence - it would get the attention it deserves. Packed with sly jokes, hilarious performances and sad truths, the movie will probably become a cult classic among educators.
  9. Warm Water Under a Red Bridge
    Maintains a light, dainty tone despite the heavy-handed metaphor, but in crossing the Pacific to the U.S., it is bound to leave most viewers dry.
  10. Lars and the Real Girl
    Working with a doll can't be easy, but Gosling actually makes it feel emotionally real. A scene where he shares an imaginary dance with Bianca, with his eyes closed and a beatific smile on his face, is by itself worth the price of admission.
  11. Boy
    Waititi retains his quirky style, but it feels meaningful here, a valid effort to explore the difficulties in coming of age during tough times.
  12. Tears of the Black Tiger
    Director Wisit Sasanatieng uses every trick imaginable to create surreal postmodern nostalgia. Has he wound up with pure camp, or a cult classic? As he clearly understands, the best B-movies are both.
  13. Thumbsucker
    It's Pucci - who's already won a couple of acting prizes on the festival circuit, including Sundance - who steals the film with a wonderful performance blending the awkward innocence, vulnerability and pain of being a teen.
  14. Inglourious Basterds
    A fairy tale about the infinite power of film, it boasts all his swaggering trademarks: rapid-fire dialogue, gleeful violence, endless cultural references. But it's the sharp-eyed deliberation that makes the greatest impact.
  15. Never Let Me Go
    A film more moving than most but not as devastating as it should be.
  16. Babel
    A powerful movie that should win all the year's ensemble acting awards. Pitt has never done better dramatic work, Blanchett is as convincing as always, and - in introducing themselves to American audiences - veteran Mexican actress Barraza and Japan's Kikuchi are revelations.
  17. The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans
    The film is an exasperating bore.
  18. Unstoppable
    It takes a little while to pick up speed, but once Tony Scott's Unstoppable starts moving, it becomes a lean, efficient action flick.
  19. 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.
  20. Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Nightclub
    With its carefully-chosen soundtrack, funky animation, and enthusiastic interviews, Dean Budnick's affectionate documentary pays apt tribute to Wetlands, a local landmark that closed in 2001.
  21. Undercover Brother
    Satires like this tend to throw a lot of stuff at the wall, and in Undercover Brother, a surprising amount sticks.
    • New York Daily News
  22. Girlhood
    Garbus spent three years patiently mining for beauty in the ugliest of environments. The remarkable result stands as a challenge to anyone who would have seen only the worst and walked right by.
  23. Dung che sai duk
    Only in its final scenes do the usual WKW themes emerge in full bloom, but purists shouldn't miss it.
  24. Revolutionary Road
    As a whole, Sam Mendes' film of Revolutionary Road comes close but falls short of capturing Richard Yates' terrific novel.
  25. Live Free or Die Hard
    The action in this fast-paced, hysterically overproduced and surprisingly entertaining film is as realistic as a Road Runner cartoon.
  26. Up for Grabs
    Michael Wranovics' documentary replays this sorry chapter in all-American greed in glorious detail.
  27. The Beautiful City
    Like most Iranian films, it's a shaggy-dog story that builds so slowly you don't see the quietly shattering climax coming.
  28. Palo Alto
    Instead of falling into exaggerated exploitation, Coppola always stays true to the essence of adolescence — that sense of waiting, reacting and then waiting some more.
  29. The Opposite of Sex
    Opposite attracts with its wit.
    • New York Daily News
  30. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
    There's far more to this groundbreaker who built an empire in the face of formidable challenges. So why would you miss it? Go already.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Lion
    This amazing true story with remarkable performances by Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman and newcomer Sunny Pawar has, like the title would suggest, a blend of brute force and elegance.
  32. The September Issue
    When it's all over, we still don't know who Wintour really is.
  33. Fresh Dressed
    Early on, the doc is lively, with witty animation. As the music and the fashion trickle up, both getting more polished and produced, the film also settles down. It’s still interesting, just not as much fun.
  34. Beeswax
    Fans of Andrew Bujalski's previous mumblecore movies are the likeliest audience for his latest, a modest, slice-of-life indie that doesn't quite live up to his ­earlier efforts.
  35. Cinderella Man
    Without Crowe and Paul Giamatti, this movie would have little in its corner.
  36. The Last Lions
    Riveting, especially since these animals' population has horrifyingly dropped from 450,000 to 20,000 in a half-century.
  37. The Cooler
    When you realize The Cooler is not a comedy but a dark and violent love story, it's hard to reconcile its premise with its mood. The saving graces are the performances of William H. Macy as Bernie and Maria Bello.
  38. Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt
    it's Van Zandt's family that provides the film's most memorable moments.
  39. Frontrunners
    Frontrunners is a lot rougher than Nanette Burstein's recent, similar documentary, "American Teen," and its comparable lack of gloss is both an asset and a flaw.
  40. Head Games
    Director Steve James ("Hoop Dreams") has a worthy message, but never makes the case that he needs an entire documentary to deliver it.
  41. Duplicity
    This is a role that the Julia Roberts of 1999 couldn't have played, and that's fine. The one we have here is much better.
  42. The Painted Veil
    The Painted Veil may begin too slowly, but it also ends too soon.
  43. It
    Most of the scares are well earned, as Muschietti mines horror tropes effectively, but there’s also a stretch where the film really turns into a circus.
  44. Funny Games
    Denying us any catharsis, Haneke becomes a stern, finger-wagging lecturer; he seems to mean his movie as punishment, conveniently forgetting his own role in the crime. [11 March 1998, p.38]
    • New York Daily News
  45. Peepli Live
    Peepli Live may not consistently hit the mark, but it's savvy and humane, which goes a long way.
  46. Digging for Fire
    The cool cast includes casual drop-ins from Sam Rockwell, Melanie Lynskey and Sam Elliott. The actors give off the feeling that we’ve wandered into the middle of a conversation among friends. This being a Swanberg movie, that’s kind of what is happening, complete with tiny epiphanies and people you want to hear keep talking.
  47. Black Gold
    Some documentaries are so well-made they transcend the nature of their subjects. This is not one of them.
  48. Cold Souls
    Giamatti is one of the few guys who could take a joke about a chickpea-sized soul and make a meal of it.
  49. The Sleeping Beauty
    Breillat, seemingly inspired as much by C.S. Lewis and Hans Christian Andersen as by original author Charles Perrault, doesn't really make the most of her subversive premise.
  50. Life During Wartime
    You will find a few glimmers of humanity in Todd Solondz' latest exercise in acerbic observation. But Solondz continues to mistake judgment for honesty, and empathy for weakness.
  51. The Unknown Known
    Intoxicating, and at times maddening, to watch.
  52. Monster's Ball
    This movie hyperventilates with pessimism to the point of perversity.
  53. Ride with the Devil
    The best movie I've seen this year.
  54. The Ignorant Fairies
    Though predictable and a bit of a soap opera, Ferzan Ozpetek's Italian drama is saved by the tremendous appeal of its stars, Margherita Buy and Stefano Accorsi.
  55. Small Time Crooks
    Allen was out of his element in creating characters who feel like East Coast cousins of the Clampetts, and his dialogue has never been more banal or forced.
  56. Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel
    While plenty of talking heads turn up to offer breathless praise, it's no surprise that the preeminent words of wisdom are, thanks to copious archival footage, Vreeland's own.
  57. White Reindeer
    Throughout, Hollyman rings true . She’s heartfelt, freaked-out and never too way out.
  58. Out of Africa
    Out of Africa is still an absolute knockout. It provides such an enchanting glimpse of the paradise that Dinesen tragically lost that audiences will completely understand her other grand passion for Africa itself.
  59. Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me
    Fans will want to replay the extensive archival footage over and over. Newcomers are more likely to pause halfway through, search out the superlative soundtrack, and immerse themselves in the music that inspired this rare, fall-and-rise story in the first place.
  60. The Avengers
    Most impressive of all, The Avengers makes superhero movies new again - a colossal task indeed.
  61. Venus in Fur
    Polanski views things so mischievously that the naughtiness is neutered long before sniveling Thomas is tied to a pole. He’s a captive not only to Vanda, but also to all the dull, reductive mind games.
  62. Beirut
    Pike is terrific, and Hamm has a credibly bleary, weary look. The movie’s ambitions are worthy. But it rarely turns its action into real excitement, or moves past cynicism into insight. It’s the spy movie that leaves us in the cold.
  63. Nurse Betty
    A black comedy that features Renee Zellweger as the most adorable psychiatric-trauma victim ever.
  64. Imelda
    There's no question she's a smart cookie, but as she herself says, "There's a thin line between smart and crazy."
  65. This Divided State
    If there's anybody left who believes in free discourse, the students were clear winners.
  66. There's Something About Mary
    A shocking and hilarious triumph.
    • New York Daily News
  67. Hide Your Smiling Faces
    This gem captures the unpredictability of a kid’s long summer day.
  68. Bad 25
    Michael Jackson fans will love Spike Lee's look back at the making of a classic, even if the extensive collection of clips and contemporary interviews - which could have used a firm edit - feels more suited to DVD.
  69. Joshua
    Terrifically sneaky psychological thriller, which takes great pleasure in watching carefully constructed family values come tumbling down.
  70. Forgiving Dr. Mengele
    It's clear that Kor's goal is to keep people talking, and thinking, about impossibly difficult subjects. And there's no debating her success in that regard.
  71. The Last September
    Saga too arty for own good.
  72. The Girl Next Door
    A fascinating fly-on-the-wall documentary.
  73. The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
    One of the most inventive, funny and ultimately tragic coming-of-age movies in years.
    • New York Daily News
  74. Chronicle
    Chronicle is an energetic hodgepodge that tweaks familiar conventions just enough to seem fresh. Forget the X-Men - these are iHeroes.
  75. Arthur Christmas
    All of the actors' vocal performances are spot-on, including McAvoy's gentle Arthur, Nighy's salty GrandSanta and Ashley Jensen's cute stowaway elf Bryony, a chipper little pixie that would make Rudolph's pal Hermey proud.
  76. Into the Woods
    Loyal fans of the Sondheim original may feel a bit let down themselves. There’s much to love here. But working with original “Woods” writer and Sondheim collaborator James Lapine, Marshall tones down the crucial dark shading in some places and has trouble with pacing in others.
  77. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
    It's a stinking good time - for the kids, at least.
  78. Predestination
    Predestination may have the trippiest, weirdest take yet on the time-travel concept.
  79. Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone
    There's as much social history of L.A.'s racial divide as there is appreciation for the band's big, genre-crossing sound. It all comes together for a rollicking chronicle of verve and nerve.
  80. Eyes Wide Shut
    Ultimately, Eyes Wide Shut doesn't rank among Kubrick's best work.
  81. The Last Winter
    Among cautionary tales of gloom-and-doom, it may out-gore Gore, but it doesn't entertain.
  82. Le bossu
    It revives an innocently pleasurable genre - shades of Burt Lancaster and Errol Flynn - that combines lusty adventure, humor, the great outdoors and satisfying storytelling without having to concoct it in a special-effects lab.
  83. Sunshine State
    Though his latest, Sunshine State, shows Sayles usual literary care, it's a very slight work compared with such cinematic tomes as "Lone Star," "Matewan" and "Eight Men Out."
    • New York Daily News
  84. The Eyes of Tammy Faye
    Only the most hardhearted would fail to be swayed by Messner's surprising strength, and -- dare I say it -- irresistible charm.
  85. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
    Not quite as funny as it wants to be. Mostly, it's just silly. But as always, the Coens are entertaining themselves first.and their quirky individuality has served them and their fans well so far.
  86. People Say I'm Crazy
    In this candid, fascinating film, Cadigan has the will - and the family support - to defeat his demons. It's clear that for him, the ending is only the beginning, but it's filled with hope.
  87. Go Tigers!
    The movie clearly portrays how the glory and salvation of being a team hero is ephemeral.
    • New York Daily News
  88. Solitary Man
    Michael Douglas in Solitary Man, has all the tools of the man who plays him at his disposal. At times in this often engaging, occasionally meandering movie, that's enough to score.
  89. 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.
  90. Talk to Me
    Despite being abandoned in the late going by his director, Cheadle gives one of the year's most fully realized performances, and Henson is a revelation.
  91. The Birth of a Nation
    There is nothing safe about The Birth of a Nation.
  92. Even the Rain (Tambien la Lluvia)
    More serious-minded than expected, with a unique and savvy point of view.
  93. William Eggleston in the Real World
    Refreshingly offbeat documentary.
  94. Steal a Pencil for Me
    If Michele Ohayon's absorbing documentary didn't provide the proof, you'd never believe the story she tells about Holocaust survivors Jack Polak and Ina Soep.
  95. Friday Night
    It is driven by the finely expressed -- if nearly mute -- performance of Lemercier. We learn a lot about this woman and her emotional state from Lemercier's subtle body language. As for Lindon's Jean, well, it's enough that he's there and doesn't require batteries.
  96. Zero Day
    A speculative re-enactment of the 1999 Columbine slaughter, told from the point of view of two suburban high school nihilists as they videotape themselves preparing for the last and "best day" of their lives.
  97. Collateral Damages
    The final image of the snow-covered landfill, having consumed the debris, provides a kind of closure for Sauret. But for the firemen, the nightmare continues.
  98. The Seven Five
    Director Tiller Russell sometimes get sidetracked — a dangerous thing in a story that already has a lot of twists, turns and off-ramps. But it’s a story you have to hear, from the guys who lived it and may never live it down.
  99. The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden
    How anyone could make such an uninvolving movie out of such a fascinating subject remains its own inexplicable mystery.
  100. Patriots Day
    It works so hard to evoke a sense of teary patriotism it leaves behind a grimy feeling.
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