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. The Maid
    Silva intends to keep us guessing, and it's fair to say he takes us in unexpected directions. But don't expect any flashy Hollywood twists. The surprises come from Catalina Saavedra's intense lead performance.
  2. The Ministers
    Does John Leguizamo need a better manager, or does he just have terrible taste in scripts? Because aside from voicing the "Ice Age" movies, he wastes too much time on misfires like this one.
  3. New York, I Love You
    Anyone who actually adores New York is unlikely to appreciate this disappointingly bland collection of shorts, which might as well have been called "Madrid, Te Amo" or "Cincinnati, You're the Best."
  4. Couples Retreat
    You'll have a few laughs, for sure. Just don't expect to enjoy yourself as much as everybody on screen.
  5. An Education
    Watch Mulligan's face as she goes from weary to awakened, and see it all come together.
  6. Adventures of Power
    Mostly, though, you'll appreciate Grenier, who approaches this minor project with hilarious and generous abandon.
  7. The Damned United
    Ultimately it's Sheen, finding new facets of his character in every scene, who shoots and scores.
  8. Good Hair
    There's plenty to appreciate in Chris Rock's rollicking documentary about what goes on when African-American women hit the salon.
  9. Trucker
    Writer-director James Mottern's drama has a lived-in feel, but is notable mainly for Michelle Monaghan's glam-less turn as Diane.
  10. Zombieland
    The action-comedy Zombieland works because it's played with an emphasis on the living, not the undead.
  11. The Invention of Lying
    Once it's high-concept plot kicks in, Gervais' hilariously self-deprecating persona is really all that keeps it grounded.
  12. Whip It
    It's that happiest of surprises: a multiplex movie that genuinely respects its young audience.
  13. A Serious Man
    The humor is sharp and so are the judgments, which pile on until the characters are nearly suffocated under the weight of so much disdain.
  14. More Than a Game
    The result would make an excellent inspirational video for aspiring players, but it's not quite ready for the pros.
  15. Chelsea on the Rocks
    Ferrera's shaggy tone, which fits the iconic building, gets irritating. Still, if you come for the stories, you'll stay for the company.
  16. As Seen Through These Eyes
    Helstein doesn't have to work so hard to remind us of her subject's gravity; the stories chronicled are chilling enough without embellishment.
  17. Fame
    Whether the young ensemble attains it remains to be seen. The standouts, though, are Naughton, Pennie and Perez De Tagle.
  18. Coco Before Chanel
    There are a select few artists who can take the same materials used by everyone else and create a masterpiece. Coco Chanel was one of them. Director Anne Fontaine is not.
  19. Surrogates
    The filmmakers were too busy throwing together potential blockbuster material to notice all the loose ends and gaping holes in logic. Which may, ultimately, explain why Willis looks so confused throughout. Maybe he, too, is straining to locate some intelligence amid all the machinery.
  20. Pandorum
    The movie soon turns into only a production-designed run-and-chase game, and our curiosity about what happened to Earth and the crew is teased and teased again until the movie’s big letdown of a reveal.
  21. Blind Date
    It's about watching two always-fine actors do a lot with very little.
  22. The Boys Are Back
    The performances save the movie from a treacly inevitability.
  23. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
    In his directorial debut, Krasinski doesn't seem to believe in his hideous men so much as he appears intimidated by them.
  24. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
    This desperate effort by ­professional frat boy Tucker Max may be the most dismal movie of the decade.
  25. Paranormal Activity
    A "Blair Witch"-y creepshow that owes a lot to Japanese horror.
  26. Capitalism: A Love Story
    Too bad its wide net ultimately results in diminishing returns.
  27. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
    Very likely the most fun your family will have this month.
  28. The Informant!
    Has two aces going for it: Soderbergh's poking at the maze­like holes in American business and Damon's whirling dervish performance.
  29. Love Happens
    Some may wonder why Jennifer Aniston keeps taking projects about single women unlucky in love. But the bigger question in Love Happens is why, with her pick of scripts, she chose one so utterly uninspired.
  30. Jennifer's Body
    Words and story are still the lifeblood of a movie, and Jennifer's Body is filled like a Twinkie with half-fleshed-out ideas.
  31. Paris
    Has a mature tapestry of characters, a welcome sense of humor and, most crucially, a lovely Juliette Binoche.
  32. The Burning Plain
    All the actresses, especially Theron, are appropriately haunted, but let's hope Arriaga's love of echoes, fate and coincidence has run its mopey course.
  33. Disgrace
    The film, unfortunately, hasn't the depth Malkovich brings to his performance.
  34. 35 Shots of Rum
    There is never a shortage of options if you're looking for an intimate foreign drama about family bonds. But the eloquent insights of director Claire Denis stand alone.
  35. Bright Star
    There's nothing exceptional about Jane Campion's historical biography, but it's a sufficiently lovely tale to suit romantics with a taste for intimate period dramas.
  36. Not Forgotten
    None of it makes any sense, but it is just nutty enough to provide a few (entirely unintended) laughs.
  37. No Impact Man: The Documentary
    The efforts of Beavan's clan are so extreme that they spark some interest, but their environmental commitment feels a bit too self-serving to have the impact that's clearly desired.
  38. I Can Do Bad All by Myself
    Perry also spices things up with two of his most reliable fallbacks: music, and Madea. Having packed his cast with singers, he allows them all a moment to shine, with songs that deliver his patented lessons (trust in yourself, trust in others, trust in God).
  39. The Other Man
    A movie needs to announce if it's playing games. Pulling the rug out from under a viewer is fine for whodunnits and psychological thrillers and the usual suspects. But a supposedly grown-up drama like The Other Man ought to have scruples about where it plans to take you.
  40. 9
    Shane Acker's underwritten but beautifully animated debut is both an ode to technology and a warning against it. Perhaps unintentionally, the film itself echoes those themes.
  41. Crude
    Corporate inhumanity Berlinger ferociously exposes.
  42. Walt & El Grupo
    This slickly packaged bit of Disneyana would probably work best as an attraction at Epcot.
  43. Gamer
    What the movie needs more than anything else is a fast-forward button.
  44. Extract
    The entire cast, in fact, seems to be having fun, with Affleck and Koechner cheerfully stealing each one of their scenes. And the jokes come often enough to leave us consistently amused and occasionally delighted.
  45. All About Steve
    Since Bullock coproduced this masochistic venture, it seems she buys into the idea that fluffer-nut ditziness is what she does best. Except it isn't.
  46. Amreeka
    Faour and Muallen give solid performances, but there are a few too many by-the-numbers moments.
  47. Black Dynamite
    Just like the movies it parodies, this one feels over long before it's actually done.
  48. Rashevski's Tango
    The central metaphor of dance, though, is forced, a standard-issue cliché about dancing away problems.
  49. Tickling Leo
    Throughout, Davidson's intentions are honest but become lost in a haze of overly familiar story beats.
  50. American Casino
    The movie's lack of Michael Moore-style dynamism has a dulling effect. What saves it is the human face it puts on the crisis, and its indictment of corporate greed.
  51. Unmade Beds
    Overly familiar but endearing nonetheless, this coming-of-age indie from Alexis Dos Santos is most likely to appeal to those who recognize themselves in the story's lost heroes.
  52. The Final Destination
    If you like your gore hardcore, you'll want to head straight for "Halloween II." But if you're happy to ease around a slightly smaller track, look no further.
  53. 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.
  54. Big Fan
    The movie gets repetitive, and when it calls an audible and goes somewhere unexpected, it pulls back quickly. Too bad.
  55. The September Issue
    When it's all over, we still don't know who Wintour really is.
  56. We Live in Public
    A snapshot of several New York eras that coincide with the Internet's growing pains, We Live in Public focuses on entrepreneur, party-thrower and dot.com bubble participant Josh Harris.
  57. St. Trinian's
    Anyone with a fondness for the midcentury cartoons and films that inspired this scrappy comedy will appreciate the latest trip to the titular British boarding school.
  58. Play the Game
    If you love Viagra jokes, look no further. Otherwise, stay home and find yourself a "Golden Girls" marathon.
  59. Halloween II (2009)
    Despite the limitations inherent in the genre, it actually delivers.
  60. Taking Woodstock
    Something of a traffic jam--even with his usual restraint, Lee couldn't recount a key moment of the '60s without a blurry parade of personalities--and also lullingly dull.
  61. Shorts
    Provides just enough smart, silly fun for families desperately seeking an easy (and air-conditioned) escape from hazy August humidity.
  62. Post Grad
    Bledel brings a sweet, steady presence, but this sort of minor project is a step backwards. It's high time she graduated on to bigger and better things.
  63. 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.
  64. Fifty Dead Men Walking
    Sturgess is solid and Kingsley predictably sneaky, but the atmosphere -- scurries through the Catholic/Protestant border, tense stand-offs, spontaneous riots -- is what's genuinely gripping.
  65. Five Minutes of Heaven
    Early scenes set up the tragedy, but the majority of Oliver Hirschbiegel's movie is set in a TV studio where the two eventually face each other, and the tension, unfortunately, quickly becomes stagey.
  66. My One and Only
    The movie is filled with fun '50s Americana.
  67. Passing Strange
    The beginning is awkwardly earnest, but the play matures considerably while retaining its youthful energy and enthusiasm
  68. World's Greatest Dad
    Sadly, once the movie shifts gears, it becomes a timid "Donnie Darko."
  69. X Games 3D: The Movie
    Unfocused and underwhelming.
  70. Still Walking
    An usually insightful rendering of an ordinary family, Hirokazu Kore-eda's contemplative Japanese drama is the sort of movie that makes its greatest impact long after you've seen it.
  71. District 9
    A memorable, monstrous fable that's consistently gripping.
  72. Ponyo
    Trippy in the right way, and wholly enchanting.
  73. The Time Traveler's Wife
    The cozy sentimentality in The Time Traveler's Wife is the only thing that grounds it. Mostly it's just featherheaded.
  74. The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
    The oh-so-out-there mentality earns some chuckles, but that, along with Piven's preening, gets very trying. A hard sell is still a hard sell.
  75. It Might Get Loud
    Few of the parts harmonize ­properly, leaving us with provocative fragments rather than an electrifying whole.
  76. Bandslam
    Best of all is newcomer Connell, the kind of charismatic kid who would have been cast in "Freaks and Geeks" ten years ago.
  77. Earth Days
    Even with all the inconvenient truths exposed, Stone's film is still, sadly, inescapably crucial.
  78. Spread
    Although Kutcher deserves some ­credit for trying to spread his professional wings, it quickly becomes clear that he's in over his head.
  79. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
    There's a way to do this kind of thing (Just witness Hasbro's other toy-turned-dumb movie franchise, "Transformers"). G.I. Joe, though, hasn't got a kung fu-grip on what it is.
  80. Julie & Julia
    Streep is the most important ingredient in this recipe.
  81. Paper Heart
    While Cera is adorable, Yi’s faux ­naiveté is overplayed and her philosophical musings are underwhelming. But you won’t soon forget the real-life couples she interviews.
  82. A Perfect Getaway
    The result isn't deadly dull, but it does turn what should have been a most dangerous game into a basic scenery-chewing contest.
  83. 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.
  84. 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.
  85. I Sell the Dead
    Low-budget, grubby and gleeful, but with a nice sense of style and apparently an endless supply of dry ice. Points deducted, though, for a too-easy alien-corpse joke.
  86. Funny People
    Gets old fast.
  87. Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!
    What's cool and always kicky is seeing a country's irreverent movie trash being treated with such, well, reverence.
  88. The Ugly Truth
    A movie without a moment of truth to be found.
  89. G-Force
    What it is, really, is a trainer film, meant to prep the world's youngest ticketholders for the day when they're old enough to help turn Bruckheimer's bigger movies into blockbusters.
  90. Orphan
    Orphan doesn't add much to the genre except, disturbingly, a fetishistic bent that's creepy in the wrong way.
  91. The Answer Man
    This two-bit echo of "The Accidental Tourist" is a preachy pill that wastes the genial, funny Jeff Daniels and the criminally underused Lauren Graham.
  92. In the Loop
    One of the sharpest satires in years.
  93. Shrink
    Spacey is the film's primary draw, but the cast is uniformly solid -- a crucial asset when the screenplay and direction are not.
  94. (500) Days of Summer
    A romantic comedy that feels like real life.
  95. A Woman in Berlin
    Unfortunately, Färberböck never gives us reason enough to sit through such unremitting punishment. Though the story is based in truth, an emotionally removed Hoss feels more like a symbol than an actual person, while her detached narration keeps us at further remove.
  96. Death in Love
    Challenging and thoughtful, but is also, like its characters, a prisoner of its own anger.
  97. Homecoming
    As ineffectual police work and broken feet stack up, the silliness gets out of hand.
  98. Off Jackson Avenue
    While Montias' actors do their best, even good intentions have limits. Still, it never feels false. And remember, even Martin Scorsese (born in Queens) had to start somewhere.
  99. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
    As for the ever-impressive supporting cast, neither a delightfully befuddled Jim Broadbent nor a wild-eyed Helena Bonham Carter can upstage Alan Rickman, who again proves invaluable as the slithery Prof. Snape.
  100. Somers Town
    A small but important film about small but important lives, the latest drama from Shane Meadows further confirms that more people should know about this gifted director.
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