Variety's Scores

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For 17,837 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 2.3 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: 9,166 out of 17837
  2. Mixed: 7,034 out of 17837
  3. Negative: 1,637 out of 17837
17837 movie reviews
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  1. Giuliani Time
    Chock-a-block with incisive commentaries both pro and con, pic's sole drawback is its quick finish on that fateful September day without updating Rudy's subsequent rise and fall.
  2. The Omen
    Will a movie that scared the bejezus out of moviegoers 30 years ago pack the necessary wallop and carnage to satisfy fans of blood-soaked modern horror? The answer is a qualified yes.
  3. An Inconvenient Truth
    A straightforward record of the lecture Gore has toured for years, juiced by elaborate graphics. An excellent educational tool, picture may prove an awkward fit for theatrical distribution.
  4. Stagedoor
    By turns comical and compassionate.
  5. Coastlines
    A melodramatic step backward for writer-director Victor Nunez after his last two pictures, the first-rate "Ruby in Paradise" and "Ulee's Gold."
  6. Bombón: El Perro
    A natural crowd-pleaser.
  7. Waist Deep
    Waist Deep packs considerable energy and style into its tale of an ex-con forced back into a life of crime to rescue his kidnapped son. Yet the kinetic direction and occasional sly humor can't disguise the tale's banal brutality or pump much excitement into its routinized pileup of shoot-outs and car chases.
  8. Strangers with Candy
    A pic that will delight the previously converted, but, as film is just as hit-and-miss as the series was.
  9. The Blood of My Brother
    Made with access to the Mehdi Army and embittered citizens the Western news media -- or even the CIA -- might envy, producer-helmer-lenser Andrew Berends creates a revealing insight into the war in Iraq from the locals' POV.
  10. The Great Yokai War
    Odd blend of the truly cheesy with a few genuine f/x makes for a cutesy if not exactly thrilling spectacle.
  11. Kill Your Idols
    Doesn't have the crossover appeal of recent music-themed docus like "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster," but could find worshippers as a micro-niche release.
  12. You, Me and Dupree
    A middling third-wheel comedy elevated a couple of notches by the ineffably weird charms of Owen Wilson.
  13. Time to Leave
    Francois Ozon's Time to Leave reps one of the helmer's most straightforward, but perhaps least interesting pics.
  14. Mad Cowgirl
    The point is not very clear, but there's an impressive weirdness to Mad Cowgirl that elevated it above more strained attempts at transgressive cinema.
  15. Shadowboxer
    Admirably jostles and upends the fatigued killer-for-hire genre.
  16. Scoop
    After the accomplished smoothness of "Match Point," it's back to more ragged form in Scoop, despite the almost identical posh settings, and the return of Scarlett Johansson as leading lady.
  17. Snakes on a Plane
    Snakes on a Plane is exactly the sort of tasteless, utterly depraved, no-nonsense sluts-and-guts extravaganza it was meant to be.
  18. Conversations with Other Women
    The battle of the sexes is restaged to clever but inconsequential effect in Conversations With Other Women. Very much a case of old wine in a new bottle.
  19. Factotum
    Arguably one of the best adaptations of Bukowski's work, even compared with Bukowski's own script for 1997's "Barfly," deadpan timing and ace perfs bring out the morose humor and surprising warmth in the often miserabilist scribe's voice.
  20. Hollywoodland
    First-time scripter Paul Bernbaum's framing story, designed to stir up suspicion that George Reeves was a murder victim rather than a suicide, unfortunately proves far less intriguing than does the melancholy tale of a limited actor reaching the end of the line during a transitional period in Hollywood.
  21. Crank
    Videogamers who've been itching for "Grand Theft Auto: The Movie" can tide themselves over in the meantime with Crank, a down-and-dirty actioner that follows a rugged antihero trying to outrun death by keeping his adrenaline flowing.
  22. Idiocracy
    A satire for its time. What Judge is less sure of here than in his previous, perfectly pitched live-action comedy "Office Space," is how to build a complete movie around his key ideas.
  23. The Protector
    Boasting the same refreshing avoidance of CGI and wire work as "Warrior," slickly made production (largely by the same team) is more consciously aimed at the international market, with its Australian setting and multilingual dialogue.
  24. Rolling Family
    The film has humanity to burn, but its loose structure makes it hard to connect with the multiple characters.
  25. The Black Dahlia
    "Chinatown" it ain't, not in any department. On its own level, however, new pic generates a reasonable degree of intrigue.
  26. Confetti
    Picture is reminiscent less of Richard Curtis' romcoms and more of Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, with a dash of early Mike Leigh.
  27. Checking Out
    A slight but lightly amusing sitcom-style comedy, strongly recalls dinner theater fodder of three decades ago.
  28. Flyboys
    Lovingly and knowledgeably made by director Tony Bill, who got his pilot's license as a teenager, pic nonetheless has a lightweight, airbrushed feel; despite the brutal dogfights and inevitable deaths, there's little gravity or resonance.
  29. The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros
    An unusually low-key Filipino drama whose neo-realist air generally triumphs over the script's violent, tearful contrivances.
  30. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
    Writer-director Montiel creates a movie of many parts that don't always congeal. Mix this with the many meaty scenes and a roster of often exceptional actors and the effect is one of a fabulous acting showcase more than a wholly finished work.
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