Variety's Scores

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For 17,810 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 52% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 44% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.4 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 63
Highest review score: 100 IMAX: Hubble 3D
Lowest review score: 0 Divorce: The Musical
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9,150 out of 17810
  2. Mixed: 7,023 out of 17810
  3. Negative: 1,637 out of 17810
17810 movie reviews
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  1. Instructions Not Included
    Instructions Not Included is a sporadically amusing but unduly protracted dramedy that slowly — very slowly — devolves into a shameless tearjerker during its third act.
  2. Tokyo Waka: A City Poem
    “Waka” refers to an ancient form of poetry still widely popular today, and helmers Haptas and Samuelson, through their serene lensing and fluid editing, propose a visual thread linking the past to the present “as the crow flies.”
  3. Ass Backwards
    Ass Backwards proves that no amount of comic talent can shine — or raise a chuckle — in the absence of even halfway decent material.
  4. Riddick
    An improbable but very enjoyable sequel that recaptures much of the stripped-down intensity of Diesel and director David Twohy’s franchise starter "Pitch Black."
  5. American Milkshake
    Milkshake sucks all the flavor out of a tasty premise.
  6. Winnie Mandela
    Decently acted despite screenplay shortcomings.
  7. Salinger
    It’s difficult to get past the film’s restless, ill-fittingly bombastic style.
  8. My Father and The Man In Black
    Holiff Sr.’s extensive audio diaries and taped phone conversations with Cash give authentic voice to the film’s otherwise stodgy re-creations of this true odd couple’s stormy relationship.
  9. La Maison de la Radio
    Two minor problems in the closing reels hold the film back from instant-classic status.
  10. Il Futuro
    Even though mood trumps character psychology, the entire cast provides mesmerizing, evocative performances.
  11. Labor Day
    To the extent that Adele’s hunger for affection resonates with audiences, what emerges is a powerful — if implausible — romance.
  12. Rush
    Not just one of the great racing movies of all time, but a virtuoso feat of filmmaking in its own right, elevated by two of the year’s most compelling performances.
  13. 12 Years a Slave
    Though the film brims with memorable characters, the show ultimately belongs to Ejiofor, who upholds the character’s dignity throughout.
  14. 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film
    A documentary as messy as the movement it tries to portray, 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film possesses energy, passion and about a dozen documentaries inside it yearning to breathe free.
  15. Prisoners
    A spellbinding, sensationally effective thriller with a complex moral center.
  16. We Are What We Are
    That We Are What We Are steers just shy of silliness even at its most outrageous is in large part thanks to a committed cast of non-disposable character actors.
  17. Getaway
    Easily one of the dopiest major studio releases since Elie Samaha got out of the business.
  18. Gravity
    The director’s long-overdue follow-up to “Children of Men” is at once a nervy experiment in blockbuster minimalism and a film of robust movie-movie thrills, restoring a sense of wonder, terror and possibility to the bigscreen.
  19. Closed Circuit
    [A] slick, smarter-than-usual conspiracy yarn.
  20. Willow Creek
    In angling for suspense, this low-budget stunt relies a bit too heavily on our suspension of disbelief.
  21. Devil's Pass
    It’s cheesy enough fun while it lasts, but in the Harlin pantheon, it isn’t a patch on “Deep Blue Sea.” Then again, few things are.
  22. Wampler's Ascent
    Resolutely sappy and sometimes amateurish, the briskly paced doc remains heartfelt and direct about the same admirable mission Wampler had in making the climb.
  23. Savannah
    Despite an effective Jim Caviezel, this anecdotal drama never rises above the level of lightly likable.
  24. Go Grandriders
    Hua Tien-hau’s sentimental, conventionally inspiring film offers good-natured insights on the importance — and the difficulty — of living life to the fullest at any age.
  25. Bastards
    Even at its most opaque, Bastards always exerts a dreamlike pull rooted in Denis’ rhythmic layerings of image, sound and music.
  26. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
    A ludicrous, borderline-nonsensical supernatural concoction with a slightly redeeming sense of its own silliness.
  27. One Direction: This Is Us
    The film’s central fivesome prove charming pallbearers throughout the film, which alternates between inspired and insipid as it hits its hagiographic marks.
  28. Standing Up
    Director D.J. Caruso offers a practical solution to the issue of adolescent bullying, as its two young protags respond to a case of vicious hazing not with despair or retaliation, but through teamwork and character-building.
  29. Escape from Tomorrow
    Escape From Tomorrow is a sneakily subversive exercise in low-budget surrealism and anti-corporate satire.
  30. Drew: The Man Behind the Poster
    The director commissioned Struzan to paint the one-sheet for his debut, “Sexina: Popstar P.I.,” and while this sophomore effort is no masterpiece, it’s far more deserving of Struzan’s talent.
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