The New York Times' Scores

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For 20,271 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: 9,377 out of 20271
  2. Mixed: 8,430 out of 20271
  3. Negative: 2,464 out of 20271
20271 movie reviews
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  1. Pete's Dragon
    This sentimental, nearly genteel movie demonstrates there’s a world of difference between invoking magic and conjuring it.
  2. Operation Chromite
    The wooden dialogue gives Liam Neeson little to do beyond bite on his corncob pipe and berate subordinates who dare question him. Still, in perhaps the only instance when this is a compliment, he’s no Olivier.
  3. Edge of Winter
    [A] competent but slight thriller.
  4. The Lost Arcade
    Part scrappy, part sweet and wholly enjoyable, The Lost Arcade is a love letter to a vanished piece of New York, and a little wish for the future.
  5. The Model
    Mr. Matthiesen seems as if he might have been trying to make an indictment of sexism and exploitation in the fashion world, but if so he doesn’t hit the theme nearly hard enough.
  6. Hell or High Water
    Furnished with faces as beaten as the vehicles the brothers drive and discard, Hell or High Water is a chase movie disguised as a western. Its humor is as dry as prairie dust...and its morals are steadfastly gray.
  7. Anthropoid
    It takes Sean Ellis’s World War II thriller Anthropoid a while to build steam, but once it does, hang on.
  8. Florence Foster Jenkins
    Ms. Streep is a delight, hilarious when she’s singing and convincingly on edge at all times.
  9. An Art That Nature Makes: The Work of Rosamond Purcell
    There are creatures fished out of formaldehyde, volumes flecked with rot, birds that have been hollowed out and stuffed, household tools battered beyond recognition. The effect of seeing all this is certainly haunting, but too beautiful to be morbid.
  10. Will You Dance with Me?
    This is not a picture about which extravagant claims ought to be made; it really is, in the end, an hour and change in a London disco in 1984. But as a page from an artist’s notebook, and a time capsule curio, it rates pretty high.
  11. Sausage Party
    You will come for the kind of humor promised in the title and the well-earned R rating, but stay for the nuanced meditations on theology and faith.
  12. Nine Lives
    The film, derivative (see “The Shaggy Dog” of 2006) and devoid of wit, is about that tiredest of kid-movie clichés, the parent who is too busy for his children and must be taught a lesson.
  13. The Tenth Man
    The Tenth Man, a modest charmer from Argentina, breathes considerable life into the rather trite scenario of a man discovering his religious roots, in part because it seems genuinely curious about the community in which it’s set.
  14. Olympic Pride, American Prejudice
    [A] deft and comprehensive documentary.
  15. Five Nights in Maine
    Maris Curran had plenty of opportunities to insert a cheesy plot twist into “Five Nights in Maine,” her delicate drama about loss and its aftermath. Yet she stayed true to her intentions, and the result is a believable character study that may not draw crowds but certainly challenges its two lead actors.
  16. Citizen Soldier
    The sense of danger is palpable, as is the sense of misery after the most dreadful scenes.
  17. The Brooklyn Banker
    Acting chops are occasionally on view — Mr. Sorvino and Mr. Proval play well together — but the plot is weak, the subplots tacked on.
  18. Front Cover
    Though too slight to be memorable, the gay romance Front Cover takes a gentle, thoughtful look at the intersection of ethnicity and sexuality.
  19. Bazodee
    The title, by the way, is Trinidadian slang for being disoriented or dizzy or just a little bit crazy, possibly because of romance. And you might go bazodee over that contagious soca beat.
  20. Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny
    Such an uncommon artist warrants a less conventional survey than this one.
  21. Neither Heaven Nor Earth
    On the most fundamental level, Neither Heaven Nor Earth is an impressive stunt, a horror movie masquerading as a film about the horrors of war. But its gravity and intelligence...make it something more.
  22. Little Men
    It’s a subtle movie, alert to the almost imperceptible currents of feeling that pass between its title characters.
  23. The Little Prince
    The voice casting and the visual representations of the characters the boy encounters on his journeys are superb.
  24. Suicide Squad
    Suicide Squad is a so-so, off-peak superhero movie. It chases after the nihilistic swagger of “Deadpool” and the anarchic whimsy of “Guardians of the Galaxy” but trips over its own feet.
  25. Tallulah
    The story in Tallulah sometimes strains credulity, but it’s beautifully told and acted.
  26. Shelley
    Maybe expecting a horror film to have a point is expecting too much. In any case, the two actresses give committed performances on the way to a veiled ending.
  27. The Land
    As if to personify the movie’s whiplash-inducing split between gloss and grit, the singer Erykah Badu appears as a prostitute — and also contributes a duet with Nas, one of the executive producers, to the soundtrack.
  28. On the Silver Globe (1988)
    A certain amount of work is required to stitch together a sense of the plot, but as is often the case in Zulawski’s films, the story is less the point than an excuse, a loose temporal conceit holding together flights of visual invention, verbal extravagance and male and female nudity.
  29. Miss Sharon Jones!
    When [Ms. Jones] bounds onstage with a holler and a howl — and diction that nails every last word to the melody — it’s clear she deserves that exclamation point in the title. Even if the movie around her sometimes struggles to do the same.
  30. Lace Crater
    Ms. Burdge — all quicksilver emotion and exposed nerve endings — is an endlessly watchable focal point. Her character’s vulnerability, uncertainty and growing self-acceptance lend the movie a necessary gravity.
  31. Homo Sapiens
    Each individual shot creates a frisson of desolation that resonates far beyond the facile irony suggested by the movie’s title.
  32. Can We Take a Joke?
    The documentary Can We Take a Joke?, a one-sided look at a multisided issue, does a fine job of defending a comic’s right to perform incendiary material. It would be better if it also at least acknowledged the possibility that some jokes ought not be told.
  33. Ants on a Shrimp
    None of the concoctions left me salivating (a basic, I’d think, for any food porn), and the exercise seems silly if not decadent. But foodies with a refined palate might differ — de gustibus, after all — and other viewers can appreciate the manic creativity that drives Mr. Redzepi and his crew.
  34. Equity
    Equity pulls off a difficult balancing act with an elegance that should not be underestimated. It turns its unflappable gaze on a maddeningly complex reality and transforms it into a swift, clear and exciting story.
  35. Gleason
    Gleason is incredibly frank about Gleason’s physical suffering and the toll his terrifyingly implacable physical deterioration takes on his marriage.
  36. Into the Forest
    Ms. Rozema tries to build tension and sustain interest by thickening the atmosphere and layering on details rather than big incidents. Yet while she creates intimacy as well as interiority by visually closing in on each sister...the movie lacks urgency.
  37. Indignation
    Indignation might be dismissed as a small, exquisite period piece, but it is so precisely rendered that it gets deeply under your skin.
  38. Bad Moms
    If I could write sonnets, I would write one about Ms. Hahn, whose timing — she finds depths in that little pause before a joke crests — can turn laughs into howls.
  39. Jason Bourne
    The tedium, I would argue, is not incidental but essential, because this is not really a spy thriller or even a foot-chase and fist-fight-driven action movie, but rather a somber meditation on the crisis of the Gen-X professional in the throes of middle age.
  40. Hieronymus Bosch, Touched by the Devil
    The movie comes alive only when the camera lingers over the actual paintings and allows their power to speak for itself.
  41. Nerve
    For all its hints at imminent catastrophe, Nerve feels surprisingly tame.
  42. For a Few Bullets
    Even with the tongue-in-cheek tone, it’s impossible to overlook the exhausting series of contrivances, coincidences and sloppy filmmaking.
  43. Quitters
    Quitters is repellent but believable, which makes it a little scary.
  44. Hooligan Sparrow
    Hooligan Sparrow, which Ms. Wang also shot and skillfully edited, has the pulse of a mainstream thriller but without the pacifying polish and tidiness.
  45. Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party
    According to a certain interpretation of the auteur theory, a film’s value derives from the extent to which it communicates the personality and character of its director. Judged by that standard alone, I suppose “Hillary’s America” is some kind of masterpiece.
  46. Fight Valley
    Disappointing plot twists ensue in a climactic brawl starved for snappier choreography and editing.
  47. Summertime
    This is a film about the struggle for sexual freedom and women’s rights, and also about the power of region, class and custom in the lives of its characters.
  48. The Seventh Fire
    The betrayal of Native Americans by larger forces looms over this powerful movie without ever being explicitly discussed.
  49. 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.
  50. The Childhood of a Leader
    It’s a persuasive portrait of a monster-to-be, one etched in thrown tantrums and rocks, and heavily supported by an excellent cast that includes Robert Pattinson and Yolande Moreau as well as a driving score that occasionally threatens to upstage the movie.
  51. Don't Think Twice
    Don’t Think Twice, which has a warm heart, could have been a much nastier movie. Yet its disappointed show-business hopefuls dreading their expiration dates make no bones about their insecurities.
  52. Lights Out
    Spackling over any copycat cracks with strong acting and fleet editing, Lights Out delivers minimalist frights in old-school ways.
  53. Don't Worry Baby
    Despite an implausible ending devoid of consequence, “Don’t Worry Baby” benefits from tidy editing, cinematography and, most of all, the presence of the seasoned Mr. McDonald and Ms. Balsam. Their nuanced authority — and the vibrant Manhattan backdrop — make the trip worthwhile.
  54. Ice Age: Collision Course
    The movie’s actual entertainment value rises considerably during the dialogue-free sequences.
  55. Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
    Serviceably, at times awkwardly, directed by Mandie Fletcher, the movie skews softer than the series at its barbed best, partly because the celebrity culture that once provided such rich material has become just another ratings opportunity for the Kardashians.
  56. For the Plasma
    For the Plasma is a film with no shortage of ambition, taste (Maine looks great in 16-millimeter) or ideas. It’s a shame those ideas are so incoherent.
  57. Star Trek Beyond
    The nerd in me wants a bit more rigor, a bit more plausibility underneath the exuberant fakery. Maybe in the next episode.
  58. Free to Run
    Free to Run prefers nothing more than an easy jog down memory lane.
  59. Garnet's Gold
    Approaching the story for the traditional trappings — narrative, action, even logic — is to ensure disappointment. But look to it for beauty and lyricism, and you may find a deeper satisfaction.
  60. Equals
    It is so vague, cliché-ridden and devoid of surprise and suspense that once you grasp its premise, watching it is like leafing through a design magazine kept in a refrigerator.
  61. How He Fell in Love
    We bend over backward to find joy in this movie, but, like eager yogis striving to achieve an impossible asana, we just can’t do it.
  62. Outlaws and Angels
    The sensibility is more grindhouse gore than spaghetti western, perhaps hoping to mine the same vein as Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight,” but lacking Mr. Tarantino’s lively dialogue and wicked sense of humor.
  63. Lucha Mexico
    Lucha Mexico often plays less like a character study than like a simple promotional effort, with repetitive platitudes.
  64. Phantom Boy
    Instead of maintaining an effervescent fizzle, Phantom Boy too frequently sputters piffle.
  65. Café Society
    It is, overall, an amusing little picture, with some inspired moments and some sour notes, a handful of interesting performances and the hint, now and then, of an idea.
  66. Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru
    By restricting himself to showing how well Mr. Robbins does his job, Mr. Berlinger mainly reveals how narrowly he has done his own.
  67. Don't Blink - Robert Frank
    You leave with a vivid sense of the man’s living presence and a reasonably thorough account of his life, work and associations. Given the sheer volume and variety of the work in question, this is an impressive achievement.
  68. The Infiltrator
    Robert is not a Shakespearean figure like Walter White, but the film at least grants him the moral stature of an incorruptible man risking his life in a dangerous job. The Infiltrator is still a good yarn that, when it catches its breath, allows Mr. Cranston to convey the same ambivalence and cunning he brought to “Breaking Bad” and “All the Way."
  69. Ghostbusters
    Sliding into theaters on a river of slime and an endless supply of good vibes, the new, cheerfully silly Ghostbusters is that rarest of big-studio offerings — a movie that is a lot of enjoyable, disposable fun.
  70. Indian Point
    Ms. Meeropol is steadfast in providing both sides of the story. That’s admirable, yet it can come across as uninvolving.
  71. Men Go to Battle
    The filmmakers’ bold pushback against the rigid formality of the genre they draw upon doesn’t always deliver. With the exception of Ms. Korine, the performers often seem to have a hard time shaking off the aura of the contemporary. Nevertheless, there’s much of value here.
  72. The Debt
    Slow and sincere, The Debt bites off more plot than it can dramatically chew, its characters — especially the go-between played by the excellent Argentine actor Alberto Ammann — diluted by political maneuvering.
  73. Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
    Effective topical entertainment, we are reminded, rarely comes without creative conflict.
  74. Fathers and Daughters
    The spectacle of actors of the quality of Russell Crowe, Aaron Paul, Janet McTeer, Octavia Spencer and Jane Fonda earnestly struggling to wring eye moisture from hammy, flat-footed dialogue (credited to Brad Desch, an unknown), while maintaining some dignity, is depressing proof that an actor is only as good as his or her material.
  75. Captain Fantastic
    It’s left to Mr. Mortensen, who can make menace feel like vulnerability — and turn vulnerability into a confession — to keep the movie from slipping into sentimentality. He’s the most obvious reason to see it, although Mr. Ross’s insistence on taking your intelligence for granted is itself a great turn on.
  76. Zero Days
    Zero Days has a similarly balanced outlook along with a critical political viewpoint that avoids hysteria and demagogy. Its strongest protest is against what Mr. Gibney sees as the dangers of excessive American secrecy.
  77. Cell
    Dated, despondent and pretty much a disaster, Cell plays like a series of nods to other science fiction-horror hybrids, notably “The Matrix” (1999) and Philip Kaufman’s 1978 remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
  78. Our Little Sister
    Seeming to wander through small incidents and mundane busyness, it acquires momentum and dramatic weight through a brilliant kind of narrative stealth. You are shaken, by the end, at how much you care about these women and how sorry you are to leave their company.
  79. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
    Witless, soulless, often amateurish and filled with product placements (nice going, Coors), the movie has nothing going for it other than some wasted talent.
  80. Cold War 2
    It is a summer sequel worth its salt, a brisk exercise in suspense and high-gloss mayhem.
  81. The Secret Life of Pets
    The Secret Life of Pets is adequate animated entertainment, amusing while it lasts but not especially memorable except as a catalog of compromises and missed opportunities.
  82. Under the Sun
    The movie raises disquieting questions, including a few that Mr. Mansky might not have meant to.
  83. The Innocents
    Blistering.
  84. Microbe and Gasoline
    Time and again, Microbe and Gasoline risks cuteness without going overboard. Too easily taken for granted, its accomplishment is its ability to gaze steadily with warmth but minimal sentimentality at the world through unjaded 14-year-old eyes.
  85. Roseanne for President!
    Fascinating.
  86. Marauders
    Marauders lays out a scenario in the first 40 minutes or so that, oddly enough, makes you think “this is not an entirely uninteresting premise for a thriller.” But after that, things devolve into “this is extremely far-fetched” and, finally, “this is goofy.”
  87. Life, Animated
    Belaboring the cartoon connection, the director leaves the family struggles that enrich Mr. Suskind’s 2014 book of the same title stubbornly veiled.
  88. Carnage Park
    Its dialogue would probably fit on a couple of sheets of paper. But it sure is creepy, in a throwback sort of way.
  89. The Purge: Election Year
    The Purge: Election Year takes itself just seriously enough to provide the expected measure of fun — a blend of aggression, release and relief. A lot of people die, but no one really gets hurt.
  90. Our Kind of Traitor
    The director Susanna White makes a lot of strange choices, including the dark, fussy visuals best described as stained-glass noir. As an Expressionist choice, it doesn’t make much sense. Then again, neither does much of Our Kind of Traitor, which has loads of twists and all the ritualistic pessimism you expect, but none of the political and moral outrage that might have elevated this genre story into a le Carré one.
  91. The BFG
    There are delights on display, but not many surprises...The BFG is a different kind of movie, and Mr. Rylance’s face and body have been enhanced and distorted by digital sorcery, but his unique blend of gravity and mischief imbues his fanciful character with a dimension of soul that the rest of the movie lacks.
    • The New York Times
      • Posted Jun 30, 2016
  92. The Legend of Tarzan
    The Legend of Tarzan has a whole lot of fun, big-screen things going for it — adventure, romance, natural landscapes, digital animals and oceans of rippling handsome man-muscle. Its sweep and easy pleasures come from its old-fashioned escapades — it’s one long dash through the jungle by foot, train, boat and swinging vine — but what makes it more enjoyable than other recycled stories of this type is that the filmmakers have given Tarzan a thoughtful, imperfect makeover.
  93. Independence Day: Resurgence
    The lackluster, at times abysmal writing wouldn’t much matter if Resurgence popped visually or featured a charismatic star who could lift a movie as effortlessly as Will Smith did in the first feature.
  94. T-Rex
    You don’t have to be a boxing fan to be awed by Claressa Shields, the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the sport. But if you are, you’ll still be knocked out.
  95. The Kind Words
    Humor creeps in from strange sources, including a seller of funeral packages and a march through a Paris graveyard. And while not every motivation is clear, subtext isn’t everything in a movie as complex and satisfying as this one.
  96. Yarn
    It isn’t perfect — it’s a little too airy and artsy in spots — but still, thread and string should be jealous.
  97. From This Day Forward
    In marriage and parenthood, one size doesn’t fit all. Marcia’s words at the wedding about surmounting differences speak volumes about love’s adaptability.
  98. Breaking a Monster
    What’s troubling is the film’s slow and steady exposure of a music business machine that gobbles up individuality and spits out a sellable package.
  99. Les Cowboys
    Unfolding with a reticence that’s occasionally confusing, Les Cowboys presents a suggestive, almost abstract take on terror and the generational toxicity of bigotry.
  100. The Duel
    The Duel has a few ideas and a glint of politics but is largely characterized by its perplexing shifts in tone and unpersuasive story turns.
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