The Playlist's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
For 4,829 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 56% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 41% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.8 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 67
Highest review score: 100 Days of Being Wild (re-release)
Lowest review score: 0 Oh, Ramona!
Score distribution:
4829 movie reviews
  1. It’s far from a perfect, or even great, film, but 1945 is certainly both commendable and recommendable. It has something to say about complicity of everyday people in the crimes of society, and says so in a fairly quiet, methodical, unassuming (if a bit obvious) way.
  2. Although the film depicts a fledgling psychopath salvaging roadkill with his bare hands, soaking them in acid in order to collect their bones and finding himself flirting with murderous intentions on several occasions, Meyers’ drama is paradoxically humane and affecting — a direction few thought was possible when deliberating the essence of a real-life monster.
  3. It’s one of the most refreshing and satisfying Marvel movies in some time, precisely because its willing to do many things that Marvel hasn’t done before.
  4. It’s fun, has two engaging actors giving two fantastic performances, and may even scare you once or twice (though I kinda sorta doubt it).
  5. Ultimately, Thank You For Your Service is commendable and, well, serviceable. But it’s more of an honorable discharge rather than something you fete with medals of esteem.
  6. Through its fine performances, considerate direction and character-focused writing, Only the Brave goes above your average biopic to present something that’s poignant and endearingly familiar, letting Kosinski provide that hard-wrought emotional impact lost in his previous films, while still allowing him to showcase his talents for visuals and location.
  7. What is, at its outset, a rather charming film about the world-famous card mechanic Richard Turner and the obstacles he has overcome, winds up being a searching study of the painful nature of coming to terms with your own vulnerabilities.
  8. At its heart, Jane is powerful feminist statement about a woman’s passion for and dedication to her career in the face of structural opposition.
  9. With some films, you can tell where one or two things went wrong — perhaps a decision in script, or a performance that’s off base — but The Snowman is the rare movie where for every choice, there was a better way to go.
  10. 1922 is a ghastly slow burner, not the kind where nothing happens until the last ten minutes, but rather the kind that layers minor incident upon minor incident until they tally up to something major.
  11. This is an imperfect, if entirely beautiful, film.
  12. Through sheer force of filmmaking will and mediation on what it means to be self-aware, Villeneuve’s towering picture still manages to inspires awe and contains profoundly beautiful moments.
  13. Characters make a lot of absurdly dumb decisions in this movie.
  14. Beautifully shot, touchingly performed and delivered with a thrillingly atmospheric sense of place, Heartstone lets us meditate on these themes during that long last summer, when childhood seems like it’s going to extend, agonizingly, forever, only for it to be snapped abruptly away like a shout on the wind.
  15. In its deeply affecting final moments, where Linklater beautifully folds the movie’s threads and themes, Last Flag Flying coalesces into a poignant portrait of honor, the bonds of brotherhood and coming to terms with mortality.
  16. There’s no shortage of “Goodfellas” wannabes out there, but American Made is a serviceably entertaining one with consistent action and hearty chuckles along the way.
  17. Gerald’s Game is a symphony of suspense and scares, spiked with just the right amount of gruesome gore.
  18. Though undeniably watchable...Mateo Gil’s film fails to rise above the well-trodden genre film language nor does it meaningfully contribute to its central existential questions on mortality .
  19. Ninjago is mildly entertaining, and kids should find it pleasurable enough, but it’s missing that special spark, the kind of joyful flicker that compels children to ask for the movie on DVD at Christmas
  20. Lucky is a film perfectly nuanced for Stanton but executed in its full potential by none other — it’s a sobering portrait dedicated to one of cinema’s greatest actors.
  21. Vaughn’s film is overflowing with big set pieces, but all those epic action sequences amount to a running time clocking nearly two and a half hours – and not much else. Like fireworks, they’re awe-inspiring while you’re watching, but there’s little left to marvel at after the show’s over.
  22. Professor Marston And The Wonder Women tackles one of the most curious chapters of comic book history with an overly classy sheen.
  23. Victoria & Abdul is a movie that flirts with exploring prejudice, cultural tension, power, and religion, but never really consummates the ideas. At best, it tries to humorously dismantle the absurdity of empires and royalty, but that’s about as subversive as it gets.
  24. Trier crafts a drama that is sublimely ambiguous, austere and also deeply sad and heartbreaking.
  25. Stronger feels genuine and certainly has the right intentions, but never converts to something truly enlivening.
  26. Gilroy has fashioned a character study that has moments that are incredibly well written.... What’s extremely disappointing is that the screenplay’s through line is simply not that interesting.
  27. The Mountain Between Us isn’t a bad movie, overall. The scenery’s gorgeous, the two leads are enormously appealing, and nothing about the dialogue or visual style particularly grates. This is an easy picture to watch… and to root for, in a way, because it’s so rarely overbearing. But it’s only ever mildly engaging.
  28. Sorkin’s swordsman-like pen continually keeps the picture engaging; his knack for one-liners and absurd dialogue detail remains finely attuned.
  29. Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House couldn’t be more timely, yet those parallels never quite resonate.
  30. It’s a lovely, gracious, soul-satisfying thing.

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