The New York Times' Scores

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For 20,335 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: 9,412 out of 20335
  2. Mixed: 8,455 out of 20335
  3. Negative: 2,468 out of 20335
20335 movie reviews
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  1. Summer of '42
    Robert Mulligan's Summer of '42 is a memory movie, written, directed and acted with such uncommon good humor that I don't think you'll be put off by its sweet soft-focus, at least until you start analyzing it afterwards.
  2. The Silent Twins
    Whatever is or isn’t broken about the twins remains a secret, but June and Jennifer’s story is played by Wright and Lawrance with the thoughtful consideration these real-life women deserve.
  3. White Noise
    There is something detached about the film, a succession of moods and notions that are often quite interesting but that never entirely cohere. White Noise is an expression of sincere and admirable faith. I just wish I could believe in it.
  4. Chevalier
    That this movie — directed by the Canadian filmmaker Stephen Williams and written by Stefani Robinson — leans too mightily on romance to the detriment of exploring more fully his genius feels like a missed opportunity.
  5. Digger
    Its terse David and Goliath conflict doesn’t yield satisfyingly punchy results.
  6. Cocoon
    The softness lacks detail, the butterfly metaphors lack originality, but the movie is pleasant, a balmy introduction to adult feelings of desire and belonging.
  7. Dark Passage
    Indeed, it is in the bizarre contacts of Mr. Bogart with shady characters such as those played by these well-directed actors that Dark Passage achieves tension and drive. Perhaps he should be given more time with them.
  8. A Magnificent Life
    There’s more to love in the details than in this overloaded sprint through history, which the film frames from the perspective of an aging Pagnol as he talks to a phantom version of his younger self and attempts to begin writing his memoirs.
  9. The Score
    The film is besotted by its own cleverness. The overwrought dialogue clashes with the rest of the movie’s naturalism. But Smyth’s very point is that ordinary folk have the right to strive for poetry — and his shaggy sincerity wins out in the end. With this promising ditty as his debut feature, the filmmaker introduces himself as a voice to be heard.
  10. Julie
    There is one mark of distinction: Mr. Stone has shot much of this film along the beautiful California seacoast in the vicinity of Monterey. That makes it easy to look at. Indeed, it makes it thrilling, at times.
  11. Anything's Possible
    Unlike its lead characters, Anything’s Possible never quite figures out if it wants to be distinctive or just another kid at school.
  12. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
    Our world so hauntingly echoes Collins’s fictions that the film, shot last summer, moves us to spend its gargantuan running time reflecting on contemporary headlines, mourning the generational tragedy of anger and fear begetting anger and fear.
  13. I'm Charlie Walker
    It’s Charlie’s wife, Ann (Safiya Fredericks), who provides the movie’s voice-over. Her account has a mythmaking undercurrent but is also the film’s deft way of celebrating Black love and family.
  14. Small Town Wisconsin
    Mueller’s direction is patient and sensitive, the cast is accomplished and committed, and the picture’s comedic aspects sometimes earn a chuckle. But Small Town Wisconsin is not sufficiently distinctive to rise above the standard-issue cinematic contemplation of the arguably poignant state of the white male American screw-up.
  15. Civil: Ben Crump
    “Civil” yields fewer insights than hoped. At times, the neat documentary feels nearly as tailored as Crump’s suits.
  16. Loving Highsmith
    Most of her exes’ memories stop short of being psychologically insightful. Strung together, however, these tender confidences shape an outline of a woman who never trusted anyone with her heart.
  17. Moon Garden
    Only after Emma’s circumstances get worse — the poor dear is knocked comatose — do things onscreen improve.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Battle Beyond the Stars
    There is a lot of stirring music on the soundtrack, and a fair amount of amusement in the audience. The special effects aren't bad, either.
  19. My Name Is Sara
    The film is sharp at illustrating how Sara is never totally safe, and how survival requires improvising again and again.
  20. Orphan: First Kill
    The sheer derangement of its plot and a bizarre casting gambit make it more interesting than standard straight-to-streaming schlock.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
    Good color, handsome photographic effects and a submarine to end them all make Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea a mildly diverting but far from memorable screen plunge.
  22. Testament
    Miss Littman, who directed and was co-producer of Testament, gives its individual scenes a very realistic air, even if the film's overall conception is sometimes strained.
  23. The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s American Pie
    The movie really comes alive when it is recreating the recording session for the song, showing how the ace studio keyboardist Paul Griffin transformed the tune with his energetic gospel-style piano.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Pollyanna
    Like its sub-teen, "Glad Girl" heroine, this visit with Pollyanna is pleasant and unlikely to hurt or excite even the small fry.
  25. Mack & Rita
    Directed with some unexpected beats by Katie Aselton, the comedy captures a bit of the esprit de girlfriends of HBO’s “Insecure,” but borrows too giddily from the Nancy Meyers rom-com catalog of upscale homes.
  26. Thunderbolts*
    The only sure thing is that Pugh deepens the material, investing Yelena with real feeling and a lightly detached ironic sensibility that’s reminiscent of Downey’s Stark. Pugh is the best thing to happen to Marvel in a while.
  27. The Fantastic Four: First Steps
    To help us buy in, the film mostly relies on the polish of this retro universe and its premium cast (who turn in uneven performances, save for Moss-Bachrach), along with one’s faint familiarity with the iconography of the heroes, to do the legwork. But those pieces sometimes are sufficient to keep this a smooth-enough ride that can even be periodically thrilling.
  28. Free Chol Soo Lee
    Free Chol Soo Lee is somewhat dry and, as criminal-justice documentaries go, sadly familiar when it strays from Lee’s unique and grim perspective, which includes details of his struggles with prison life and depression.
  29. Blue Island
    The past-present parallelism is provocative, but it also seems faintly superficial — a way of eliding distinctions and streamlining history.
  30. Out of the Past
    The style is still sharp and realistic, the dialogue still crackles with verbal sparks and the action is still crisp and muscular, not to mention slightly wanton in spots. But the pattern and purpose of it is beyond our pedestrian ken.
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