Variety's Scores

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For 17,777 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: 9,133 out of 17777
  2. Mixed: 7,008 out of 17777
  3. Negative: 1,636 out of 17777
17777 movie reviews
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  1. Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie
    No cuddly, funky "Pokemon" pocket monsters populate this pic; this game is for the big kids, rife with a ruthless tone, heightened violence and cold calculation. However, fans will put up with a dull tale to finally see their obsession on the bigscreen.
  2. Cowards Bend the Knee or The Blue Hands
    Ultimately, psychotically inventive pic is a formidable addition to the ever-evolving Maddin oeuvre.
  3. Danny Deckchair
    Thanks to amiable lead performances from Miranda Otto and Rhys Ifans, this not very original Aussie comedy about a man making a fresh start in life is a pleasant enough time-waster.
  4. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
    Too blandly insubstantial to expand its appeal beyond its target demographic.
  5. Bang Rajan
    Visceral and sweat-drenched, but also attaining a genuinely epic stature in its final reels.
  6. Last Life in the Universe
    It recovers from an opening that's a little oblique to grow progressively more seductive as the two lost central characters become entwined.
  7. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
    The film lacks the accompanying media spotlight that boosted the Moore release and therefore appears unlikely to reach beyond a liberal audience with an already vehement aversion to Fox News' partisan coverage.
  8. Stander
    Takes a notorious true story about a loyal soldier-turned-bank robber, and pumps it up into charged if uneven entertainment.
  9. Code 46
    An intriguing but only partly successful co-mingling of film noir and sci-fi.
  10. Little Black Book
    Lacks so much as a single fresh idea; it lacks an entertaining way of presenting its stale ideas, too.
  11. Open Water
    A tour-de-force thriller that deftly transforms its low-budget limitations into spectacular assets.
  12. Collateral
    Occupying a dramatic, philosophical and sensory twilight zone that casts a considerable spell, this intensely focused piece soars not only on the director's precision-tooled style but also on the outstanding interplay between leads Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.
  13. L'autre monde
    First hour is an often gripping look at the realities of modern Islam ("You can do anything you want, as long as it's not in public," says a soldier's wife), before silliness takes over.
  14. They Came Back
    An interesting if overly earnest look at what would happen if cemeteries just emptied out one fine morning.
    • Variety
  15. Festival Express
    An instant ancillary classic for music fan.
  16. Gozu
    Unclassifiable cult figure Takashi Miike's films invariably have their share of weirdness and perversity, but Gozu arguably outweirds all previous efforts in the prolific Japanese director's eclectic canon.
  17. Thunderbirds
    The story rarely gets fired up to "maximum thrust," to use the rocket-speed parlance of its heroes.
  18. The Village
    A watchable film for awhile that unravels in a muddled last act likely to send many opening-weekend filmgoers home head-scratching and grumbling.
  19. Intimate Strangers
    Consistently entertaining exploration of how much -- or how little -- is required to overcome obstacles to self-actualization should be welcome wherever auds crave a good story told with nuance and flair.
  20. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
    Gleefully upends expectations and delivers an energetic comedy tracing two guys'all-night search for the perfect White Castle burger.
  21. The Manchurian Candidate
    Structurally and thematically similar to John Frankenheimer's original but entirely different in style, feel and nuance, this political thriller about a brainwashed soldier being positioned for the White House provides a delectable network of dramatic tripwires that teases the mind and quickens the pulse. This is brainy popcorn fare.
  22. Proteus
    Proteus has enough erotic and exotic content to win back some of the arthouse viewers previously beguiled by Greyson's "Lilies." But pic lacks that gem's lush aesthetics and impassioned complexity, ending up a tad remote.
  23. The Burial Society
    Screen chemistry and production crackle are lacking from this "Usual Suspects" wannabe.
  24. Daughters of the Sun
    A plea for attention to despicable conditions of female servitude in contempo Iran.
  25. She Hate Me
    A scabrous, provocative and often funny social satire about the American dream, Spike Lee's flawed but fascinating She Hate Me addresses everything from corporate malfeasance to the African AIDS epidemic, barely catching its breath in-between.
  26. Garden State
    Feels too piecemeal and ultimately inconsequential.
  27. Los Angeles Plays Itself
    Los Angeles may be the most photographed city in the world, but it has never have been captured with such complex layers of meaning and fascination as in Thom Andersen's remarkable Los Angeles Plays Itself.
  28. Orwell Rolls in His Grave
    A marvel of passionate succinctness.
  29. This Old Cub
    More a slavish tribute than objective portrait. As a result, competent but innocuous Feature begins to overstay welcome at the 60-minute mark.
  30. Catwoman
    The lure of Halle Berry as the leather-clad feline should help this mangy misfire claw out a decent opening before a quick slink to DVD.
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