Variety's Scores

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For 17,847 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: 9,172 out of 17847
  2. Mixed: 7,036 out of 17847
  3. Negative: 1,639 out of 17847
17847 movie reviews
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  1. Aliens in the Attic
    Performances are unremarkable but acceptable pretty much across the board, and the vocal talents -- particularly Thomas Haden Church as the belligerent Tazer and Josh Peck as the lovable Sparks -- are well cast.
  2. Good People
    Both stars are in agreeable if uncharacteristically muted form, doing little to distinguish Genz’s pic from any amount of formula-following filler in the same B-movie ballpark.
  3. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
    A Civil War-era actioner of questionable taste and historical accuracy but surprisingly consistent entertainment value.
  4. Orphan
    Teasingly enjoyable rubbish through the first hour, Orphan becomes genuine trash during its protracted second half.
  5. VooDoo
    Nearly two decades after the original “Blair Witch,” it’s a mystery why any filmmaker feels the need to be “purist” about the found-footage format when it’s been done to death.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    RoboCop 2
    This ultraviolent, nihilistic sequel has enough technical dazzle to impress hardware fans, but obviously no one in the Orion front office told filmmakers that less is more.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Beast Within
    There does come a time when Clemens has to get out of his body and get on with being a bigtime monster. Thanks to Thomas R. Burman’s make-up effects, this sequence actually creates chills as the boy’s head bubbles and bursts and his skin pops and stretches.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Goodbye Charlie
    Even by delving into fantasy for its wildly implausible premise this picturization of George Axelrod's not-so-successful 1960 Broadway play doesn't come off as anything but the mildest type of entertainment.
  9. The Last House on the Left
    If the original could be accused of having a real point (even a subtext), the uninspired redo has none whatsoever.
  10. Dating & New York
    While following a typical rom-com pattern isn’t inherently unpleasant, the movie’s wink-wink insinuations that it’s going to take things in a novel direction, followed by its embrace of the very clichés it’s poked fun at, makes it feel disingenuous and stale.
  11. Persuasion
    Cracknell approaches the project with confidence and a clear (if clearly derivative) vision. Her compositions are striking and swooningly romantic at times, though she has a curious idea of Anne Elliot.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Fire in the Sky
    A truly harrowing sequence in the final reel fails to save Fire in the Sky, an otherwise prosaic approach to the gee-whiz genre of UFO aliens snatching a human specimen for examination.
  13. Next
    What starts out as a mildly diverting thriller blows itself to smithereens in the final reel.
  14. Celsius 41.11: The Temperature at Which the Brain... Begins to Die
    Preaches purely to the converted.
  15. High Tension
    Deftly juggles gore and suspense, and punchline holds an intellectual frisson or two for fans of gender-role speculation, but basically this is one more horror pic on the distinguished road already trodden by "Texas Chain Saw Massacre," "Maniac" and the like.
  16. The House That Jack Built
    The House That Jack Built, however, only rarely achieves that level of disturbing poetic awe. The film lopes along in a way that’s grimly absorbing yet, at the same time, falls short of fully immersive.
  17. Love Hard
    With its prevailing sentiments on dating in the digital age feeling more than a decade old, and themes centered on honesty and shallowness ringing hollow, this feature is fairly forgettable.
  18. A Little White Lie
    Director Maren doesn’t trust Shannon to convey this inner monologue via his performance — just one example of the film’s plodding lack of wit or sophistication.
  19. Take Me Home Tonight
    A pleasant-enough all-in-one-night comedy, featuring a protagonist facing the classic "Graduate"-like existential dilemma of post-college paralysis.
  20. Bel Ami
    "I had no conception of the depths of your emptiness!" a character shrieks in Bel Ami, and her words take on an unintended resonance as addressed to Robert Pattinson in the lead role.
  21. Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming
    It’s the fastest, funniest “Madea” movie in quite some time.
  22. The Boy
    Despite the assiduous grinding of plot mechanics by William Brent Bell (“The Devil Inside”) and scripter Stacey Menear, the movie never fully distracts its audience from the inherent silliness of its premise...and, as a result, is more likely to elicit laughs and rude remarks rather than screams and rooting interest.
  23. Fluke
    It takes some time, but ultimately “Fluke” turns into a charming, positive message story about love of life in whatever form it assumes.
  24. Godspeed
    A little less chatter and a little more splatter might have improved Godspeed, an initially intriguing but finally overwrought tale of murder, retribution and quasi-religious fanaticism set in the land of the midnight sun.
  25. Heavyweights
    There's never been a remotely significant summer camp film, and Disney's Heavyweights does nothing to advance the genre. Far worse, this yarn about an adolescent fat farm is shameful in its execution and content.
  26. Cheaper by the Dozen
    This new adaptation’s noteworthy commentary on poignant, timely issues is often eclipsed by predictability, superficial character development and inconsistent pacing.
  27. Tennessee
    Ultimately, nothing can save this pic from the warm fuzzies.
  28. Night Teeth
    The dark-side-of-the-L.A.-club-scene premise has potential, but the movie turns out to be a cut-and-paste thriller without any night-world bloom to it.
  29. Big Daddy
    While the loyal male-teen aud core will not be disappointed with the spate of gags just for them, story contains solid date-movie material.
  30. The Roads Not Taken
    The movie is an exasperating puzzle with most of the pieces missing.
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