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. Taken
    Neeson's better than this. You can't watch him here without thinking, Geez, every fight-choreography session could have funded "Love, Actually." This bash-the-door-down action scene likely took as long to film as "Kinsey." That gunfight required more stunts than all of "Schindler's List."
  2. Words and Pictures
    Words and Pictures doesn’t get the dunce-cap award, but it does lose points for feeling phony and contrived — especially during the moments when it appears overly proud of what it is.
  3. Jig
    Director Sue Bourne belabors the judges' final decision to such an excruciating length, it makes the whole movie feel a bit more cloddish than it should.
  4. 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.
  5. Savage Grace
    "Grace" may be based on a true story, but barely a moment in it feels real.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away
    The real stunner of Worlds Away is how it could afford to use so many Beatles songs.
  7. Little Ashes
    The story and performances (save for Matthew McNulty’s angry Luis Buñuel) are paint-by-numbers, with social upheaval and sexual adventurism as dramatic as an after-dinner mint.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Chappie
    Chappie is as subtle as a sledgehammer. The latest sci-fi action spectacle from “District 9” and “Elysium” director Neill Blomkamp is also sprawling, bombastic, deafening, ugly and ultra-violent.
  9. 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.
  10. The Barber
    What remains rote is how easily the fiend’s victims fall for his tricks. It’s almost as if they’ve seen too many movies like The Barber, and shaved away all common sense.
  11. Earth to Echo
    Earth to Echo is a copy of a copy. The movie feels less like a weak “E.T.” than a substandard “Mac and Me.” And you may not even remember the latter, a 1988 flop — the fate likely to hit this well-meaning but underwhelming effort.
  12. Grown Ups 2
    You know what you’re going to get, and that is, indeed, what Sandler delivers. It’s juvenile, it’s obvious and it’s crass. But with Sandler at the helm, at least it’s as easy to like as it is to forget.
  13. 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.
  14. V/H/S/2
    This sequel to last year’s surprise buzz-maker takes the same appreciative approach to scare-flick tradition: Take hipsters, mix into classic genre riff, goose until ludicrous; repeat. Not every try is successful, but as with any anthology, if you don’t like one, sit back and wait for the next.
  15. The Soloist
    It's hard to talk about The Soloist without falling into cliches, because this well-meaning but ham-handed drama is full them.
  16. Into the Storm
    Once Quale and writer John Swetnam get their generic setup out of the way, they can loosen up and treat the tornadoes like the villains they are. The effectively simulated storms, with their massive wreckage, start to feel like monsters stalking the heroes.
  17. Walter
    Crisply directed but inescapably pious and, worse, narratively poky.
  18. Amreeka
    Faour and Muallen give solid performances, but there are a few too many by-the-numbers moments.
  19. 6 Souls
    Along with Moore, all of them deserve some kind of credit for committing to a movie barely six souls will ever even see.
  20. Underworld: Blood Wars
    Blood Wars concludes with the threat of further sequels, but this is clearly one franchise that's been fully drained of its blood.
  21. What Happens in Vegas
    While Diaz and Kutcher make their clichéd characters as likable as possible, you can bet on this: Any movie named after an already-stale ad campaign isn't likely to gamble on the unexpected.
  22. South of the Border
    Unabashedly one-sided, this biography of Chávez - and several other Latin American politicians - does raise some valid concerns about what Stone calls the "manipulative power of the media." So it's too bad he's as guilty of partisanship as the right-wing outlets he reviles.
  23. Keeping Up with the Joneses
    In Keeping up with the Joneses, I was unable to focus on Hamm's comedic efforts, so interested was I in the ever-changing cinematography of his slick black hairstyle.
  24. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
    It's a big fat missed opportunity.
  25. Finding Amanda
    Tolan writes regularly for smart shows like "Rescue Me," but his best instincts deserted him when he set his sights on the big screen for the first time.
  26. Parker
    If you go in knowing what you're getting, you should come out relatively satisfied. Our hero vigorously beats up a parade of bad guys. Lots of bullets fly. There are a couple of decently plotted thefts. And to tell the truth, Statham's Southern accent is nearly worth the price of admission itself.
  27. 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.
  28. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
    It's all angst and no adventure, a lot of fury and little fun.
  29. Adventures of Power
    Mostly, though, you'll appreciate Grenier, who approaches this minor project with hilarious and generous abandon.
  30. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
    The cast gives it all a good go, and pip-pip and all that for noticeable intelligence and a bit of the old British satire. Yet Salmon Fishing takes patience and rewards with no bite.
  31. The Good Guy
    With its cash-flashing men and dirty-talking women, the movie already feels dated. But it wouldn't have been much fun five years ago, either.
  32. Cold Weather
    Unfortunately, the movie doesn't have enough going on to keep us engaged, but writer-director Aaron Katz has a confident style and a way with small moments.
  33. Love Is All You Need
    It’s a mystery as to how so much talent combined to create such a cynically superficial product.
  34. 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.
  35. Not Fade Away
    Mood is more important to Not Fade Away than anything, but writer-director David Chase, who turned mood into masterpiece with every season of "The Sopranos," allows nostalgic feeling to be the sole reason for this, his first feature film.
  36. The Girlfriend Experience
    Nowhere near as kinky or thinky as Soderbergh’s "sex, lies and videotape," Girlfriend pretends it has more on its mind than it really does.
  37. The Lady
    Any story about Suu Kyi's extraordinary life is worth seeing, simply to learn more about her. Even so, such a rare individual deserves a film that treats her not as a saint, but the remarkable, complex human being she actually is.
  38. Gemma Bovery
    The emotions are florid and the entanglements heated. But the film become preoccupied with, as Flaubert would say, the pettiness and mediocrity of daily life. Arterton, though, is plushly magnetic. She draws us in despite the overly lyrical atmosphere.
  39. Dinosaur 13
    Begins as a vibrant and uplifting tale about exploration and discovery, then quickly turns into a soul-crushing lament about bureaucracy and defeat.
  40. This Is 40
    There's a funny movie scratching at the edges of This is 40. Unfortunately, writer-director Judd Apatow sees himself as the John Cassavetes of Comedy, so every time that funny movie starts to emerge, Apatow tramples it with scenes of domestic irritation.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Club Life
    Club Life is a flat, disjointed drama that’s buoyed by a couple of good performances. Your mileage may vary depending on your interest in dance montages.
  42. xXx: Return of Xander Cage
    Diesel is the star (as well as a producer), in every scene. And he drags the film down with him.
  43. Legion
    Even if you overlook the lousy lighting, awkward editing, and uneven acting, there's so much talking -- and so little story -- that your mind is likely to wander.
  44. Death at a Funeral
    You must really love a movie if you decide to remake it just three years after its release. But unless you also intend to improve upon the first attempt, what's the point?
  45. Green Lantern
    The effects are so omnipresent it's like Reynolds' perfect hair is floating in CGI limbo. Yet when they need punch, as in a "Superman"-ish display-of-powers scene involving a helicopter, there's no flair.
  46. Good Deeds
    This film - like all the Madea-free dramas - could use more humor. Still, every Perry movie has its highs and lows. This time, the highs are a little higher, and the lows not quite so low. There is no faith-based message, but the moral is obvious: persistence pays off.
  47. Ricky
    Imagine a quietly creepy "X-Men" prequel -- in French -- and you have this odd little parable.
  48. 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.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Joy
    Joy is joyless.
  50. Machete
    So now we have a full-length Machete movie, and it turns out that, as usual, less is more.
  51. London Has Fallen
    Remember “Olympus Has Fallen”? This one is worse.
  52. Into Eternity
    Unfortunately, Madsen (a Danish filmmaker, not the American actor) has an approach to this rich topic that is repetitive and simplistic, as if he wasn't quite sure how to fill out even a brief feature.
  53. Viva Riva!
    Unfortunately, despite the sweaty, tense atmosphere, Viva Riva becomes derivative of the duller scenes in other gangster flicks.
  54. 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.
  55. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
    Give Lawrence credit for a seriously emotional performance, at least, and thanks to supporting actors Moore, Sutherland and a sly Woody Harrelson for adding color and comedy.
  56. Hits
    All the low-hum, behavioral buffoonery gets a bit tedious. Still, cheers to Cross for the satirical road he covers, even with all the potholes.
  57. Ong Bak 2
    The criterion couldn't be simpler: does a 20-minute martial arts battle featuring Thai superstar Tony Jaa sound like the ideal way to spend your time and money? If not, move on.
  58. Le Chef
    Daniel Cohen’s genial French comedy is as airy as a soufflé. Alas, it’s not nearly as satisfying.
  59. When in Rome
    Regardless of where its stars want to take it, all roads here lead to blandness and inanity.
  60. If I Stay
    The movie is designed not to explore the experience of illness, or first love, or adolescence, but merely to make us swoon, sigh, and sob.
  61. Phoebe in Wonderland
    So much of this irritating film from first-time writer-director Daniel Barnz feels like a writing exercise it's amazing Elle Fanning, in the title role, comes off as well as she does.
  62. Bedtime Stories
    Sandler's shambling Yogi Bear-ness will be the big appeal to holiday-vacation audiences.
  63. If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle
    A steady thrum of anger pervades this Romanian film even in its quietest moments, but the ending and captured-lost-boys setting ultimately fail to surprise.
  64. The Ledge
    Though Wilson tries hard, none of the actors - including Terrence Howard as the detective who unravels this story in flashback is able to overcome the script's considerable deficiencies.
  65. The Guilt Trip
    While the actors are appealing, their weirdly co-dependent characters aren't. And they don't learn enough to balance out the bland, intermittently irritating nature of their adventures.
  66. Family Affair
    Chico Colvard's tragic documentary is blunt and rather artless, but it does make for impactful, and deeply disturbing, viewing.
  67. Trouble the Water
    Filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal utilize the footage Kim and Scott Roberts had taken throughout the disaster, showing how residents suffered, survived and came together to help when official assistance let them down.
  68. The Escapist
    The splintered viewpoints help with the monotony, but from the taunting of new inmates to the cell-block sadist, we've gone through all this before, right down to the final twists.
  69. Triple 9
    When the story does wrap up, it's all too little, too late, and far too long. Which given everything stuffed into it, just leaves the super-sized Triple 9 triply disappointing.
  70. My Life in Ruins
    Director Donald Petrie doesn’t have much to brag about here, but at least he gives us some nice scenery to look at.
  71. Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club
    This is a film about catharsis and camaraderie, not logic. For some, that — and a chance to see characters the movies often ignore — will be enough to join the club.
  72. Bullet to the Head
    Like Stallone, director Walter Hill is also far from his heyday ("The Warriors," "48 HRS.," "Streets of Fire"), but the old-guy camaraderie behind the scenes is evident. Despite the movie being based on a graphic novel, no one adds extra flash here just to appease the kids.
  73. The Time That Remains
    Unfortunately, the stylistic repetition and intensely one-sided viewpoint only undermine his (Suleiman) goal.
  74. There Be Dragons
    History can be an equalizer, so director Roland Joffe ("The Killing Fields," "The Mission") makes sure saints and sinners all get painted with the same uninteresting brush in this fact-based drama.
  75. What If
    Anyone looking for a date-night flick will be inclined to fall for Michael Dowse’s aggressively adorable What If. Just be warned: The single-minded determination to win you over may wind up pushing you away.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Flock of Dudes
    The supporting characters are lifeless vessels in a movie that fails to break away from the traps of the hit-or-miss romantic comedy genre.
  77. Roman de gare
    The story's Hitchcockian plot loses steam quickly, though Pinon's salty presence keeps things from getting totally bloodless.
  78. The International
    The International almost seems like a Monty Python spoof on spy-game thrillers in which the phrase "secret agent" is constantly replaced by "banker," resulting in lines like, "...If I die, 100 other bankers take my place."
  79. The Purge: Election Year
    After three disturbingly violent films, this may be a concept that deserves to be purged.
  80. 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.
  81. Dealin' with Idiots
    There simply isn’t enough here to sustain an entire movie.
  82. Sin City: A Dame To Kill For
    The sequel to one of the most visually striking movies of the last 10 years continues the graphic novel-inspired landscape of its predecessor. But the characters don’t click, and the action feels dull.
  83. Upside Down
    Its compelling conceit is immediately weighed down by leaden execution.
  84. Brake
    While we're meant to feel claustrophobic, we're not supposed to fight boredom, which kicks in quickly.
  85. Begin Again
    Knightley does fine work, but she’s been miscast. Her innate sophistication undermines the movie’s intentions right off the bat. We never believe her as Greta.
  86. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
    Like a creaky Vegas act desperate to please, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is so eager you can’t help wanting to like it. But you also can’t help wondering if something better is playing in the theater next-door.
  87. All In: The Poker Movie
    All In lays down some interesting hands but sometimes can't raise the stakes, though "Rounders" star Matt Damon lends a bit of celeb flash.
  88. Deepsea Challenge 3D
    Seeing unexplored parts of our natural world in state-of-the-art 3-D is great. Listening to James Cameron explain how wonderful he is, while we see all that, is not.
  89. Love, Marilyn
    This well-intentioned but clumsy attempt to get into the head of one of the 20th century's most famous women remains full of hot air.
  90. 2 Days in the Valley
    The film's confused moral sense is summed up by the contrast between the Aiello and Spader characters. Though both are professional killers, Aiello is somehow coded as "good" because he takes time to make pasta, and Spader is "bad" because he plays mildly kinky games with his mistress (imposing South African model Charlize Theron). [27 Sept 1996, p.43]
    • New York Daily News
  91. Peeples
    Director Tina Gordon Chism, who also wrote the screenplay, seems to have relied pretty strongly on Perry for guidance. In particular, she rejects any notions of subtlety, either in the comedy or the weirdly heavy-handed messages about masculinity.
  92. Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
    Full of unenlightening snippets and blithe but banal asides, what the movie is missing is edge.
  93. Pioneer
    This one can't handle the pressure.
  94. Kung Fu Panda 3
    Once upon a time, Black's charisma might have been enough to carry the movie.
  95. Musical Chairs
    In truth, Musical Chairs is so simplistic it almost feels like a first film.
  96. 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.
  97. Charlie St. Cloud
    Though it was directed by Burr Steers, Charlie St. Cloud feels more like a misguided collaboration among Nicholas Sparks, M. Night Shyamalan and Billy Graham.
  98. 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.
  99. Casino Jack
    The trouble starts with the casting. The usually reliable Kevin Spacey never quite gets a handle on Abramoff, an Orthodox Jew devoted to unorthodox business methods.
  100. The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
    Melancholy, often muddled documentary.
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