Portland Oregonian's Scores

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For 3,654 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 63% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 34% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.7 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 68
Highest review score: 100 Caesar Must Die
Lowest review score: 0 Summer Catch
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,408 out of 3654
  2. Mixed: 966 out of 3654
  3. Negative: 280 out of 3654
3654 movie reviews
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  1. Boyhood
    The revelation is Arquette. While the focus is on Coltrane and how he grew up onscreen, it's Arquette that's at the center of this incredible journey. She puts herself out there year after year, getting knocked down and getting up stronger. Her final scenes have the power and heartbreak every parent knows -- it's all about holding a child's hand, then letting it go.
  2. The Conformist
    Thirty-five years since its debut, The Conformist is still a stunning, challenging, transporting film.
  3. Sweet Smell of Success (re-release)
    Can a film so expertly capture the odious and bitter that it becomes deliciously, disgustingly beautiful? Yes, if that film is 1957's Sweet Smell of Success.
  4. Army of Shadows
    The protagonists have subsumed their identities to the collective, and they rise and fall in their hearts as the collective prospers or suffers. Their effort is absurd, but their intent is pure. Watching it evokes a combination of pity for their naive idealism and awe at Melville's uncanny brilliance.
  5. The Rules of the Game
    There's so much to say, but let this suffice: See it; it's a sweet taste of the best of what cinema can do. [16 Mar 2007, p.28]
    • Portland Oregonian
  6. Pan's Labyrinth
    Del Toro presents one dazzling visual spectacle after another.
  7. Ran
    In many respects, it's Kurosawa's most sumptuous film, a feast of color, motion and sound: Considering that its brethren include "Kagemusha," "The Seven Samurai" and "Dersu Uzala," the achievement is extraordinary. [01 Dec 2000, p.26]
    • Portland Oregonian
  8. The Third Man
    It's an exciting experience, dazzling and entertaining and thought-provoking. I saw it at Cinema 21 last week and immediately wanted to see it again. I couldn't, so I started researching and read everything I could about it. It's truly great.
  9. Rififi (re-release)
    But the human elements -- jealousy, anger, weakness, fortitude, loyalty, vengeance and honor, all acted out by a resolutely realistic cast -- make the movie extraordinary.
  10. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
    A grueling film in both technique and subject matter.
  11. The Adventures of Robin Hood (re-release)
    Is it a silly movie? At times, yes. Is it creaky and blatant and obvious? Quite often, absolutely. But should you miss it in this splendidly colorful restoration? Not on your life.
  12. Spirited Away
    Miyazaki is a genius, and this film is a masterpiece; go see it.
    • Portland Oregonian
  13. Killer of Sheep
    Having heard tell of its wonders for decades, I found the actual movie less transporting than I'd been led to expect. It's clearly a brilliant debut.
  14. Breathless
    The glory of "Breathless" lies less with its narrative, though, than with its style, a self-conscious blend of drawn-out conversational scenes and rapid-fire cuts of action. [14 Dec 2001]
    • Portland Oregonian
  15. 12 Years a Slave
    Telling Northrup’s story, McQueen gives a grand tour of the institutionalized sadism and astonishing inhumanity ubiquitous in the slave economy.
  16. Ratatouille
    Hilarious. And more proof that Pixar is in a class of its own.
  17. Gravity
    Gravity isn’t as ambitious as “2001,” but then, what is? It is, however, absolutely a worthy successor, a masterpiece of hard science fiction, and the movie to beat at this point for next year’s cinematography and visual effects Oscars.
  18. Beauty and the Beast
    Beauty and the Beast is so funny, exciting and suspenseful that its obvious moral (appearance can mean nothing; it's what's inside that counts) is engaging rather than perfunctory. [22 Nov 1991, p.15]
    • Portland Oregonian
  19. The Social Network
    Shot to shot, scene to scene, The Social Network nearly never puts a foot wrong or, really, does anything to make you feel less than compelled.
  20. Amour
    While what's on screen is unsparing and clinically presented, the underlying, almost invisible humanity and artistry of the film inspire rather than depress.
  21. The Hurt Locker
    Episodic and, at times, overwrought. And occasionally its deliberate opacity becomes too cloudy. But the things that shine through are remarkable. War is indeed Hell, it tells us, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing if you're filled with demons.
  22. Zero Dark Thirty
    Viewers looking for a propagandistic take will be disappointed, but even those who doubt the overall framework and existence of the so-called War on Terror should appreciate this thrilling tale of the hunt for the world's most wanted man.
  23. A Separation
    It happens to be splendidly acted and to be poised, as a narrative, on a knife's edge (the final shot, at a great moment of indecision, is utterly haunting). But, chiefly, it's a portrait of an essential and sympathetic human dilemma, and in that it's both real and timeless in ways that transcend borders, cultures and languages.
  24. La Dolce Vita
    Films don't get more essential than this.
  25. WALL-E
    It's a justifiably G-rated film, but parents may have some 'splainin' to do.
  26. His Girl Friday
    The play is hilarious, and Hawks enlivened it with his famous staccato direction. He gives no breaks for viewers to laugh without missing the next line. The brilliant dialogue comes so thick and fast that you almost have to tape the film to get it all. So, do. [31 Mar 2000]
    • Portland Oregonian
  27. Carol
    The experience of watching Carol is like being pulled into a different place, real and not real, like the best movies, like being in love.
  28. Mr. Turner
    A movie as bold and deep as a Turner landscape, as sharp as light on water.
  29. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
    A spell-binding, engaging and often breathtaking work in which exquisite sets, costumes, photography and music combine with top-notch acting and out-of-this-world fighting scenes.
    • Portland Oregonian
  30. Inside Out
    Inside Out expands the possibilities of animation. It's also a hilarious ride that delights the eye, the mind and the heart.
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