The New York Times' Scores

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For 20,278 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 46% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 49% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 4.2 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 61
Highest review score: 100 Short Cuts
Lowest review score: 0 Gummo
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9,380 out of 20278
  2. Mixed: 8,434 out of 20278
  3. Negative: 2,464 out of 20278
20278 movie reviews
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  1. Montana Story
    When Montana Story works, you are effortlessly drawn into a world — which allows you to go with the easygoing, realist groove — even as you’re taking stock of the artifice and waiting for the hammer to fall.
  2. Cold Mountain
    The result is a mountain of honest, nourishing corn, a lavish evocation of simplicity that, for all its showy sophistication, has an appealing emotional directness. For all its sweep and scope and movie-star magic, Cold Mountain is studded with fine small moments and deft supporting performances.
  3. I'm Glad My Mother Is Alive
    I'm Glad My Mother Is Alive is anything but the clichéd fantasy of a blissful mother-child reunion. Although there are hints of joy once they reconnect, the wounds are too deep, and the characters too complex.
  4. Something, Anything
    Examining a more generalized discontent through the lens of one woman’s pain, the writer and director, Paul Harrill, concentrates instead on the ordinary details that constitute a life and the way small choices nudge us toward larger ones.
  5. The Commitments
    Mr. Parker immerses his audience in a world in which popular art amounts to a communal high, a means of achieving identity and a great escape from the abundant problems of everyday life. As in Fame, he does this with a mixture of annoying glibness and undeniable high-voltage style. [14 Aug 1991, p.C11]
    • The New York Times
  6. Emergency
    Thanks to some good filmmaking decisions, Emergency is rife with tart observations about campus life.
  7. Flowers of Shanghai
    Lavish in its depiction of surfaces -- clothing, furniture, lighting fixtures -- Flowers of Shanghai proves deficient in its revelation of inner lives.
  8. Train to Busan
    Often chaotic but never disorienting, the movie’s spirited set pieces — like a wriggling ribbon of undead clinging doggedly to the last compartment — owe much to Lee Hyung-deok’s wonderfully agile cinematography.
  9. Me and Orson Welles
    Art is a fairy tale we choose to believe in, and this movie, a fiction confected about real people, is too good not to be true.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    For the Bible Tells Me So
    There is no denying that the film, however inelegant, fills a need. The inevitable DVD should be packaged in a plain cardboard sleeve, so that viewers can carry it in their pockets and, if confronted by a homophobe, hand it over and say, “Watch this, then get back to me.”
  11. Rocket Science
    The surest sign of the movie’s integrity is that it resists any temptation to build the story to a climactic debate.
  12. Mija
    An immersive, deeply empathetic look at what it means for first-generation Americans like Doris and Jacks to reclaim the right to pursue unpredictable dreams.
  13. American Sniper
    Less a war movie than a western — the story of a lone gunslinger facing down his nemesis in a dusty, lawless place — it is blunt and effective, though also troubling.
  14. Working Girl
    Working Girl is enjoyable even when it isn't credible, which is most of the time. The film, like its heroine, has a genius for getting by on pure charm.
  15. The Raft
    By setting Genovés’s words in counterpoint with the recollections of seven of the participants who are still alive, [Lindeen] reinterprets the experiment, finding meanings that the scientist missed.
  16. The Pirates! Band of Misfits
    The movie is a curiosity cabinet of visual pleasures but so breezy and lightly funny that you may not realize at first how good it is.
  17. The Price of Sugar
    Like most documentary polemics, it simplifies the issues it confronts and selects facts that bolster its black-and-white, heroes-and-villains view of raw economic power.
    • The New York Times
    • 73 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Mad Max
    Mad Max is ugly and incoherent, and aimed, probably accurately, at the most uncritical of moviegoers. [14 June 1980, p.13]
    • The New York Times
  19. Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suess
    Only ends up skimming the surface. But even the skimming is largely interesting and thought-provoking, and of course very bleak.
  20. Never Gonna Snow Again
    Utgoff is irresistibly compelling, instilling in his character a silent yet singular presence worthy of the “superhero” status that he ultimately acquires.
  21. China Blue
    A heartbreaking and meticulous documentary about life inside a blue-jeans factory in China.
  22. Family Portrait in Black and White
    Leaves a lot of questions unanswered, which is frustrating, but it gets high marks for honesty.
  23. Uncle Howard
    The movie is a deft sort of dual narrative.
  24. The Gods Must Be Crazy
    The Gods Must Be Crazy is so genial, so good-natured and, on occasion, so inventive in its almost Tati-like slapstick routines, that it would would seem to deny the existence of any racial problems anywhere.
  25. Milford Graves Full Mantis
    You can get a lot of facts about Mr. Graves and his discography on the internet (and I recommend you do). This movie gives you, well, the man’s heart, and it’s a beautiful one.
  26. The Hidden Life of Trees
    The documentary The Hidden Life of Trees uses the sensorial capacities of cinema to thrillingly visualize Wohlleben’s observations.
  27. Bill Nye: Science Guy
    In the film Bill Nye: Science Guy, Mr. Nye, the 1990s children’s-television personality with the signature bow tie, warns of “an anti-science movement” afoot in this country. And this delightful, revealing documentary, directed by David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg, offers evidence supporting that assessment.
  28. The Forgiveness of Blood
    Frustratingly, though, perhaps because he is an outsider and was concerned about appearing biased about another culture, about all that Mr. Marston does is chew on this clash, as if the repeated images of teenagers talking on cellphones next to a horse-drawn cart were a substitute for a strong filmmaking point of view.
  29. Funny Pages
    There’s nothing remotely cool about Robert or, really, Funny Pages. That’s because cool is entirely beside the point. What matters is a sensibility, a worldview — what matters is art.
  30. Obscene
    A warm, entertaining compendium of counterculture voices and literary landmarks.
  31. Indie Game: The Movie
    Along the way comes a bracing, honest confession about these interactive creations, voiced by one designer but no doubt applying to many more makers of all kinds: "I made it for myself."
  32. Declaration of War
    For all its quirks and tangents, Declaration of War feels entirely alive. This story of two people who transform fear into action is inspiring.
  33. Anaïs in Love
    What took a while to grasp is that it isn’t necessary to like Anaïs. What’s crucial is that you stick with her, that you listen to what she says and doesn’t say, that you look beneath the skittishness to get a handle on what drives this woman — that you see her for who she is.
  34. All Things Must Pass
    This movie makes you appreciate anew the one-on-one social dimension lost in the music industry’s headlong switch to digital downloads.
  35. The Clan
    The cleverest and most troubling aspect of the film is its empathy.
  36. L.I.E.
    At its best, L.I.E. offers a rich, dark, bitter slice of contemporary life. But the film's arty embellishments undermine its bleak vision, making it, in the end, a little too easy to take.
  37. Our Lady of the Assassins
    Couldn't have succeeded had it been cast with movie stars. Its authenticity derives not only from the streets on which it was filmed but also from its able Colombian cast.
  38. Beyond the Mat
    Wants to blend thrills and pathos, getting at the many sides of what is, as Mr. Blaustein describes it, a carny act.
  39. The Corporation
    The Corporation is a dense, complicated and thought-provoking film, but it simplifies its title character.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Not One Less
    A splendid, assured piece of storytelling.
  41. Space Cowboys
    One of the best entertainments this season has yet offered.
  42. Titanic Town
    In its harshly realistic scenes... it stirs your blood.
  43. Kill Zone 2
    If there’s one rewarding thing about many Hong Kong action directors, it’s that they rarely dawdle in getting to what fight fans have come for: bracing shootouts and high-impact fisticuffs and footwork.
  44. More Than Ever
    Directed by Emily Atif, this middlebrow drama showcases Krieps’s captivating blend of melancholic fragility and spiky tenacity, riding on the strength of its performers, including the Gaspard Ulliel in his final live-action role before his accidental death in 2022.
  45. Spider-Man: Homecoming
    The Vulture is a mess of prickly contradictions, only some of which seem intentional. His criminality, rage and perhaps his madness have been stoked by class resentment and Mr. Keaton, with his white-hot menace and narrowing eyes, makes him a memorably angry man, not a caricature.
  46. Prince Avalanche
    Mr. Green is too fond of these guys, and too respectful of the little bit of freedom they possess, to ensnare them in the machinery of a plot.
  47. The Man in the Moon
    Until its final reel, when it strains badly to accommodate an almost biblical stroke of retribution, The Man in the Moon is a small, fond film that achieves a kind of quiet perfection.
  48. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
    It contains amusing jokes and has an old-fashioned impulse to tug at heart strings.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The GoodTimesKid
    Mr. Jacobs's approach is descended from a long line of minimalist filmmakers, from Jacques Tati ("Monsieur Hulot's Holiday") up through Jim Jarmusch ("Mystery Train"), but The GoodTimesKid dances, like Diaz, in its own sweet style. It doesn't get to the point because getting there is the point.
  50. Watergate
    Ferguson’s narrative is so dense and complicated, and at the same time so dramatic, suspenseful and clear, that it absorbs all of your attention.
  51. The Grandmaster
    The Grandmaster is, at its most persuasive, about the triumph of style. When Ip Man slyly asks “What’s your style?” it’s clear that Mr. Wong is asking the same question because here, as in his other films, style isn’t reducible to ravishing surfaces; it’s an expression of meaning.
  52. Election
    By the end, Mr. To has proven himself to be a genre hack of uncommon intelligence and soul: a first-rate entertainer who can thrill you into thinking.
  53. The Scandal
    Given that Untold Scandal is, like its predecessor, an epic story of spreading displeasure, the director's ability to keep it from feeling petty is a major feat.
  54. Golden Slumbers
    Golden Slumbers has a tendency to wallow in its romanticism, not to the point of trivializing its history, but definitely dropping off into somnolence.
  55. Germans & Jews
    Part psychology seminar and sociology course, “Germans & Jews” finds its sharpest insights as it examines the stress of communication, when both sides are so hyper-aware of the past that it hinders what’s said in the present.
  56. Wet Season
    Wei Lun comes off as one-dimensional in his brash, immature pursuit of Ling, yet their illicit relationship is portrayed in an anti-sensationalist light, blurring the lines between maternal and romantic love.
  57. Out of My Mind
    The director, Amber Sealey, and the strong cast keep things grounded, though, honoring the serious undercurrents while having some fun.
  58. The Bibi Files
    Beyond the videos, the movie takes a thorough, methodical approach to laying out the case against Netanyahu, even if few of its arguments are new.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mata Hari
    George Fitzmaurice, the director, has told his story in an intelligent and restrained fashion.
  60. Gran Torino
    Mr. Eastwood is also an adept director of his own performances and, perhaps more important, a canny manipulator of his own iconographic presence.
  61. Honey Boy
    One could watch Honey Boy musing that it must be nice to have someone finance a movie of your 12-step qualification. That assessment is actually too generous.
  62. The Killer
    The character is boring and so is this movie, but like the supremely skilled Fincher, who can’t help but make images that hold your gaze even as your mind wanders, Fassbender does keep you watching.
  63. My Name Is Pauli Murray
    Indeed, Murray’s story is a remarkable — and extensive — one that the filmmakers stuff into an hour and a half that feels like a dull and disorganized PowerPoint lecture.
  64. Audrie & Daisy
    Audrie & Daisy is strongest when it investigates what it regards as shortcomings of justice, for reasons technical and implied.
  65. The Ivory Game
    While more information on the animals and their ecosystems is needed, the stakes described here are immense, as is the sorrow over majestic creatures massacred only so that their tusks can be made into baubles.
  66. Ocean Waves (1993)
    In its sensitivity and attention to detail, Ocean Waves makes itself into something special, and kind of magical, and so proves very much a Ghibli gem.
  67. Mr. Roosevelt
    Ms. Wells is appealing onscreen and is a smart writer. She gives Emily some good zingers.
  68. Little Feet
    Rising above a minuscule budget with ladles of charm and a tender poignancy, Little Feet is a quixotic poem to youthful resourcefulness.
  69. The Major and the Minor
    A bountiful comedy-romance.
  70. Splitsville
    Covino and Marvin continue to forge a distinct comic sensibility — and, what’s rarer these days, they know how to make the camera work for the humor. Their knack for sight gags and staging in depth would shame the makers of the recent “Naked
  71. Folktales
    There is poetry as well as deep affection in their close-ups of people and dogs, and lessons for any age in the way students tumble off their sleds and get right back up.
  72. Something You Said Last Night
    One can only watch Renata, and this film, do so little for so long before yearning for more than naturalism and tenderness to drive the slice-of-life story.
  73. Results
    The triumph of Results is that it pretends to be loose, lazy and lived-in when it’s actually disciplined, hard-working and in almost perfect shape.
  74. Cars
    Both in its ingratiating vibe and bland execution, Cars is nothing if not totally, disappointingly new-age Disney.
  75. Appropriate Behavior
    For all its disorganization and lack of an ending or even a sense of direction, Appropriate Behavior is alive. The screenplay is packed with smart remarks, clever and unpredictable turns of phrase that knock you off balance.
  76. Saving Banksy
    [A] fascinating documentary.
  77. Fairyland
    This moving film’s sense of hometown pride is subtle but apt.
  78. Slay the Dragon
    Slay the Dragon is not short on outrage, and just because some of this material is not new doesn’t mean it’s not worth repeating.
  79. Witching and Bitching
    Known for his genre pastiches, the director, Álex de la Iglesia (“El Crimen Perfecto”), rarely lets the pace flag, and the buddy comedy, gross-out humor and horror elements make for a harmonious mix.
  80. Erin Brockovich
    The feel-good movie of the year.
  81. Zombieland
    A minor diversion dripping in splatter and groaning with self-amusement.
  82. Red Satin
    The movie rides on Ms. Abbass's serenely confident performance. As Lilia metamorphoses from a shy housebound widow into a woman calmly rejoicing in her body and her sexuality, Ms. Abbass marks her character's every blush and hesitation in the process of letting go with a winning delicacy and sweetness.
  83. Alias Betty
    Such an accomplished piece of filmmaking that it interweaves enough characters and themes to fill three movies.
  84. By the Time It Gets Dark
    By the Time It Gets Dark has clearly been thought through, but it’s so cryptic that it cries out for, if not perfect explanations, perhaps footnotes. It’s so conceptual that it offers little for those not in sync.
  85. Julieta
    Julieta is scrupulous, compassionate and surprising, even if it does not always quite communicate the full gravity and sweep of the feelings it engages.
  86. Ferrari
    Mann shoots this lunatic race from every conceivable angle — with cameras in and out of cars, bearing down on drivers’ faces, agitatedly hovering midair — creating an immersive, visceral intimacy that, as engines whine and thunderously roar, you feel in your bones.
  87. Antz
    Antz works best just showing off its prodigious voice talent.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Lookout
    Mr. Frank’s screenplay for The Lookout was long considered one of Hollywood's great unproduced scripts. The end product doesn't justify that buildup...Still, there's a lot to like here, and the film's bleak setting and empathetic tone add interest to what could have been a by-the-numbers affair.
  89. News of the World
    This isn’t a bad movie. The problem is that it’s too nice a movie, too careful and compromised, as if its makers didn’t trust the audience to handle the real news of the world.
  90. Big
    Big features believable young teen-age mannerisms from the two real boys in its cast, and this only makes Mr. Hanks's funny, flawless impression that much more adorable. This really is the performance to beat.
  91. Summer Pasture
    For all the hardship they endure, this intimate dual portrait, directed by Lynn True and Nelson Walker, with Tsering Perlo, suggests that their lives are neither more nor less fulfilled than those of any highly stressed upper-middle-class Americans.
  92. Whores' Glory
    Quietly powerful but dispiriting documentary, which compares the world's oldest profession as practiced from place to place.
  93. Good Boy
    This is assured horror filmmaking. Heartbreaking too: Anyone who’s held a pet as comfort from pain or despair should have tissues at hand.
  94. Planet of Snail
    Above all, this beautifully photographed documentary is a poetic meditation on refined sensory perception.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Girl
    If, however, you can tune out even a little of the background noise, you’ll find an immersive, empathetic film that speaks the language of tolerance without getting preachy.
  96. The Hangover
    But true to its title, The Hangover goes down smoothly enough and then kicks you in the head later on, when you start to examine the sources of your laughter.
  97. The Square
    The Square is ultimately a long version of Christian’s rambling apology, ostentatiously smart, maybe too much so for its own good, but ultimately complacent, craven and clueless.
  98. They Drive by Night
    For fanciers of hard-boiled cinema, They Drive By Night still offers an entertaining ride.
  99. The Club
    There is power in this vision, but it can also feel forced, almost mechanical.
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