Village Voice's Scores

Select another publication »
For 11,162 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 40% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 56% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 7.6 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 57
Highest review score: 100 Hooligan Sparrow
Lowest review score: 0 Followers
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4,708 out of 11162
  2. Mixed: 4,553 out of 11162
  3. Negative: 1,901 out of 11162
11162 movie reviews
view
per page
  1. Smokin' Aces
    Carnahan does have an oddball sense of comic timing; what his picture lacks in hilarity it recuperates with a well-developed, albeit mumbling, sense of the absurd.
  2. The Man Who Invented Christmas
    The movie — based on Les Standiford’s novel — is pleasantly simpleminded, often assembled from parts of other movies.
  3. The Tribes of Palos Verdes
    Garner erupts and expectorates with winning zeal.
  4. This Is Where We Live
    Often threatening sentimentality yet never quite sinking into it, Josh Barrett and Marc Menchaca's This Is Where We Live benefits from the good taste of the filmmakers, whose appetite for understatement ensures that the picture maintains dramatic effectiveness and only rarely lurches into histrionics.
  5. The Matrix
    The cumulative effect is perversely deflationary: long before it's over, the film has flushed the paranoia from its system.
  6. The Railway Man
    It's heartening to have a tony war film about PTSD and forgiveness; it would be grander still to have one that dedicated itself more fully to examining the courage it would take to offer that forgiveness, rather than dash its energies upon the dreary cowardice of the crime itself.
  7. Fear X
    Perhaps a radical re-editing of Fear X-like Lynch did on “Mulholland Drive”-could rescue the film's workaday unease from the dread taboo of derivative weirdness. It's half a movie, but a half that hums.
  8. Sunset Edge
    The way the two story lines come together, involving paintball guns and morphsuits, is more mundane and less spooky than the tone up to that point suggests, but the point of Sunset Edge isn't really the surface narrative.
  9. The Glass Castle
    Destin Daniel Cretton’s adaptation of Walls’s book of the same name just often enough bursts to raucous life.
  10. Cowboys & Aliens
    Director Jon Favreau's experiment in genre crossbreeding - a Western-sci-fi mashup pumped full of inspirational all-in-this-together spirit - is a cute, crowd-pleasing idea, though more decadent than a revitalization of either genre.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Lottery Ticket
    The theme of this formulaic but vibrant ensemble comedy could best be described as a paraphrase of Biggie's well-worn credo: Mo' money, mo' problems-but mo' money, yeah, definitely.
  12. Live Cargo
    The need to tell a story and the desire not to collide in Live Cargo, the narratively uneven but visually exquisite debut feature from writer-director Logan Sandler.
  13. Jesus Henry Christ
    Making their screen debuts, young Spevack and Weinstein give the film's most natural performances and provide its little bit of warmth, but it seems time to petition Collette, a truly gifted actress, to take a long hiatus from playing bitter single moms.
  14. Jimi: All Is by My Side
    Whatever its flaws may be — and there are many — John Ridley's Jimi: All Is By My Side is compelling for one specific reason: It's more attuned to the women in Hendrix's life than it is to Hendrix himself.
  15. Texas Killing Fields
    The plot is a chaos of underdeveloped relationships and frayed loose ends, but every so often, Mann does something so right that it makes this seem less a matter of narrative disorganization than a commentary on the anarchy intrinsic to any investigation.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Interview
    The result, though anchored mostly to a single set cleverly sectioned by hammocks, curtains, and a kitchen bar, is the least concrete and most artificial of Buscemi's films.
  17. Wagner & Me
    Most of the time, though, Fry is an unabashed appreciator. He paws at costumes, thrills to touch Wagner's own piano, and looks right at the camera to apologize for being so excited. It's the light, charming touch absent in Wagner - and proof that both of the famous men referred to in the title benefit from each other's association.
  18. Frontrunners
    Suh shows herself ever-happy to settle for the shallow rewards of pop documentary. Depending on your level of fatigue with The Other Campaign, this may be good enough.
  19. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
    The sort of movie that believes coolness is next to godliness, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang trades heavily and successfully on Downey's unflappable likability.
  20. Habermann
    A World War II melodrama with a hook - affluent Germans as sympathetic victims - Habermann does a credible job of personalizing a period of the war largely unknown outside the Czech Republic.
  21. Last Weekend
    Last Weekend is too enamored of this nouveau riche household to be satirical, instead offering unexpected moments of genuine warmth as a calling card for goodness.
  22. Cézanne et Moi
    The film gains power in the final third...one wishes Thompson had chosen to view the great artist's lives through the eyes of the women who loved (and tolerated) them
  23. Stealing Cars
    Emory Cohen's performance elevates juvenile-detention-center drama Stealing Cars above the level of disturbing cautionary tale.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Youth
    Though director Ratnam keeps this actioner running MTV-smoothly, his global pop style is both complemented and bested by composer A.R. Rahman (Lagaan, Bombay Dreams), whose electronic soundtrack grafts chunky post-hip-hop beats onto the quickly evolving sonic norms of subcontinental cinema.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
    Already a top-selling DVD thanks to PR support from moveon.org, numerous media outlets, political blogs, and even Doonesbury, Outfoxed argues that Fox News's pro-Republican bias is top-down.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Kites
    Not even the incoherent mish-mash of plot (mostly faux Sergio Leone by way of Tarantino and Rodriguez, with periodic car-flipping chase sequences) can entirely dim the appeal of this match-up between a blue-eyed Punjabi and a blue-eyed Mexican of almost equal comeliness.
  27. Bad Education
    There's something dull and evasive at the film's center--for one thing, contrary to its festival buzz, Bad Education tiptoes around the issue of priesthood pedophilia; lovelorn gazes are as desperate as it gets.
  28. Pieta
    After establishing a central parent-child relationship rife with wacko biblical undertones, the director finds nowhere to take his story except into standard vengeance territory.
  29. Lilting
    Khaou creates a compelling tension between Whishaw's stricken, almost febrile performance and Cheng's stubbornly dignified one.
  30. The Hoax
    To its credit, The Hoax isn't glib--it doesn't chalk up Irving's moral vacuum to anything a bad mommy or daddy did. But there's no other point of view either; the film suffers a fatal equivocation over whether to frame him as a prankster or an American tragedy.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Isn't This a Time! A Tribute Concert for Harold Leventhal
    Engaged but measured hagiography.
  32. May in the Summer
    May in the Summer's biggest obstacle is Dabis, who isn't a strong enough actress to sell the subtle humor.
  33. Bubot Niyar
    Observing the close relationships they develop with clients, the openly gay Heymann becomes, both hilariously and wistfully, part of a community that possesses in spades what's missing in his own life--the gift of happiness and living well in unfriendly surroundings.
  34. Special ID
    All the performers are supremely entertaining while dealing or defying horrible deaths... but Yen unfortunately lacks the kind of charisma that can elevate a genre film to a higher level of satisfaction.
  35. Dinosaur
    Dinosaur amounts to 80 minutes of discouraged Cretaceous trudging, punctuated by the occasional fight or stampede and one pyrotechnic coup: a truly thrilling meteor shower.
  36. The Sea
    Baltasar Kormákur's wacky version of "King Lear," set in an Icelandic village where virtually everyone plays the fool.
  37. Berlin Syndrome
    As Berlin Syndrome proceeds, however, we start to feel like we’re drowning in atmosphere, and it gets harder and harder to stay interested in what happens next.
  38. A Fragile Trust
    While mostly well made, and certain to serve as a handy précis for the J-school set, A Fragile Trust is more a soiling reminder than a revelation for anyone already familiar with Blair's case.
  39. Intrepido: A Lonely Hero
    Amelio might just be trifling around, and sometimes that's how the film feels — rudderless and unsure of its own purpose. If fuzzy thematic thrust doesn't bug you, however, the essence of Albanese as a shrugging everyman for post-debt-crisis Europe may be its own reward.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Chimpanzee
    Throughout, narrator Tim Allen shuttles between a jokey primer on chimp society and a basic play-by-play during the more action-packed scenes - the constant stream of explanation often detracts from the heart-of-the-jungle sights and sounds on display.
  41. The Wall
    For all its stellar nature photography, its low hum of suspense, and Gedeck's raw and affecting performance, the film often feels like an illustrated audiobook rather than narrative drama.
  42. The Oregonian
    Reeder has stated that he intends for The Oregonian to be "an art film" and not the horror movie it appears to be on the surface, but he's not above upping the gross-out factor in the final reel or creating scream-filled aural landscapes so piercing that one's spine ripples. Artfully.
  43. Up at the Villa
    The Haases, whose previous films ("Angels and Insects," "The Music of Chance") evinced a remote, unfussy sensibility, are a poor fit for the melodramatic contortions that the story demands.
  44. Danny Says
    Toller's film is narrated entirely by Fields via a series of lengthy recorded interviews that unwind jerkily, like a misshapen bolt of yarn over hundreds of still photos, Super-8 footage, and hand-drawn animations.
  45. One Last Thing...
    Angarano and Mabrey bring something special to the proceedings, and they make it work.
  46. The One I Love
    Some of the surprise works, but the final gotcha won't getcha.
  47. The United States of Football
    [Pamphilon] won't wow you with his skill behind the camera, but you'll likely still find yourself nodding your head in frustrated agreement.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Footloose
    Nothing in Footloose comes close, in this respect, to the best moments of Brewer's previous, vibrant if uneven films "Hustle & Flow" and "Black Snake Moan," but this heartfelt retread of a notably thin popcorn property does come alive during an illicit dance-off.
  49. Mid-August Lunch
    Watching this lauded but fatally slight comedy of manners about a middle-aged Italian who finds himself caring for four spunky old dames, it's hard to believe writer, director, and star Gianni Di Gregorio also co-wrote the bloody mafia hit "Gomorrah."
  50. Kill Zone 2
    Dizzily entertaining when the knives, bullets, and feet are flying, and sometimes painfully melodramatic during the interim exposition.
  51. Passage to Mars
    Passage to Mars is almost apologetic about being stuck on our world; to make up for it, it continually cuts to digital explorations of Mars itself, while Quinto asks more haunting questions. It's a thrill to see so careful a re-creation — and some actual footage — of Martian geography.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Asperger's Are Us
    The team's own comedy is an acquired taste. You'll appreciate these dudes for making the effort to literally break out of their comfort zones in order to change people's views on autism. However, there is a strong possibility you may not laugh at or with them during this whole doc.
  53. Can't Stand Losing You: Surviving the Police
    A staid rock 'n' roll museum piece.
  54. Presenting Princess Shaw
    It's a mistake, I think, that the movie never addresses the fact that a camera crew is following Shaw around.
  55. White House Down
    Often, the hilarity is indisputably intentional. If you think you'll laugh and clap, try it; if you know you'll hate it, you're right.
  56. The Possession of Michael King
    After a promising start, rote possession imagery eventually becomes the focus, culminating in a by-the-numbers ending.
  57. Them
    The characters in Them are paper-thin: They're mere props to be manipulated by co-directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud, who want nothing more than to scare you sh--less in what, with its nonstop chase sequences and booby traps, often comes off as a live-action video game.
  58. Velvet Goldmine
    After a most promising beginning, Velvet Goldmine's progress grows increasingly labored, stumbling around the structural roadblocks Haynes has erected in its path.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Yes Men
    Though at times the film is snortingly funny, too much of the humor here rests on presupposed opinion about globalization.
  60. The Idol
    Unfortunately, as Mohammed approaches his goal, Abu-Assad goes all in on archival footage.... That backfires.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Invisible
    It disposes with social concerns and lets the individuals speak for themselves--and the regrets, rationalizations, and jerry-rigged morality they express are often fascinating.
  62. The Hurricane
    Far too tepid.
  63. An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
    It feels like a rushed journey through a vital, many-pronged debate.
  64. Red
    The movie's escalating series of tit-for-tat revenge ploys becomes a bit tedious even at 95 minutes, but Cox and a rich (if not always well-served) supporting cast that includes Tom Sizemore, Amanda Plummer, and Robert Englund keep it more than watchable throughout.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Art & Copy
    Yet however stirring these vintage campaigns and their graying creators may be for ad junkies and nostalgists, Pray fails at analysis: His film is simply a tribute.
  66. The Painter Sam Francis
    For aficionados, the evidently rare footage of Francis squatting on hairy thighs, scampering ahead to stay intuitive before intellectual, will justify the film.
  67. That Guy Dick Miller
    That Guy Dick Miller is a cheery and likable film, one that bops along the surface of its story with lots of interviews, too-quick film clips, and spazzy-quirky-tootling music meant to let us know how fun all this is.
  68. Monkey Kingdom
    The moment-to-moment inventions are great fun, but the larger narrative inventions are less inspired.
  69. The Protector 2
    Director Prachya Pinkaew's hectic editing and breakneck pacing turns the action spastic, and his lack of interest in anything approaching coherent drama renders the proceedings one long showcase for its lead's Muay Thai combat skills. Luckily, those are considerable.
  70. D.E.B.S.
    Aims for a mix of "Heathers" wit and "Batman" TV-show camp.
  71. Land of the Dead
    Romero's fourth-grade dialogue doesn't help matters, but anyone seeking out the latest achievements in cranial ruptures, spewing-blood gouts, and ground-beef spillage need look no further.
  72. The Score
    Perhaps awed by the congress of Method men, director Frank Oz stands back as his actors phone it in.
  73. Real Steel
    Based very loosely on a short story by "I Am Legend" author Richard Matheson, Real Steel in fact comes closer to road-bonding movies featuring children and hesitant papas: "Paper Moon" or "Over the Top," say.
  74. Angels & Demons
    Angels & Demons is still no more than another treat for whacked-out male conspiracy theorists.
  75. One Life
    Beautiful slo-mo, up-close-and-personal cinematography abounds, as does an aggravating desire to turn its many subjects (and their plights to survive) into reflections of mankind.
  76. Woman in Gold
    What Woman in Gold has over nonfiction portrayals is emotion, and director Simon Curtis (My Week With Marilyn) milks every scene for its heart-tugging potential.
  77. Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards
    Manolo might be a hard sell to moviegoers who aren’t already interested, but for fashion enthusiasts, it’s an enjoyable confection.
  78. Deli Man
    Chinese and Italian cuisines in America recall the traditions of homelands to which their practitioners can return. Not so with the Jewish traditions of Eastern Europe that inform delicatessens; those communities were destroyed in the Holocaust. This is one of the themes of Deli Man.
  79. The Story of Luke
    The Story of Luke is a charming little film in need of a bit more grit.
  80. little man
    Guaranteed to polarize audiences. Is her insistence on taking every measure possible to save little Nicholas heroic or monumentally self-serving?
  81. Nurse Betty
    Betty sustains her character, the movie fails to maintain its own.
  82. Me Without You
    Essentially humorless, Me Without You manages some pleasing textures all the same.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Catfish
    Whether you think Catfish is fact or fiction, it certainly taps into something true: the basic, common need to believe that what feels like love is real.
  84. Birth
    If Birth succeeds more as a source of visual and aural enthrallment than as supernatural narrative, it's largely because the final third hovers uncomfortably between the mystical and the earthbound.
  85. Melinda and Melinda
    Neither comedy nor tragedy, the movie is closest to genteel soap opera.
  86. Wolf
    It's refreshing that director Jim Taihuttu is more interested in the humdrum goings on of those who split their time between illegal and legitimate activities.
  87. Separate Lies
    Fellowes's larger goal seems to be making sympathetic characters of Anne and Bule, who for all their lovey-doveyness never emerge as much more than rich twits à la "The Great Gatsby."
  88. Beloved/Friend
    More exciting and truthful than most better-looking films dare to be.
  89. Lola
    Like a Hollywood fairy tale, Lola is always threatening to turn into a musical. Its edge as a film comes from the fact that it never quite does.
  90. Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer
    Gere jabbers amusingly, and there's something touching in his Norman's persistence.
  91. No God, No Master
    Green's historical diligence proves rewarding... But the movie, shot largely in Milwaukee in 2009, can still be dry.
  92. Black Rock
    The story and its violence are deeply silly, but there's something nervy and upsetting that distinguishes the film's incidental excitement.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Light It Up
    Unexpectedly satisfying feel-good agitprop.
  94. Happenstance
    Being French, the film at least has indelible details -- something a Hollywood remake would fix but good.
  95. Red Obsession
    The doc affords us a look into a world rarely seen by the lumpenproletariat, though we could have done with fewer aerial/time-lapse shots and more history.
  96. Call for Help
    Etziony and Hanuka's on-the-fly footage suggests that DIRT's desire to help in Haiti was noble, but that its success in making a difference was minimal at best — thus leaving the film feeling primarily like a critical snapshot of how dysfunctional Western humanitarians often use overseas crises for their own ends.
  97. Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
    The resulting experience could very easily be described as off-putting -- which well suits the uneasiness of the subject.
  98. Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago
    Driving both the filmmaker and her subjects is wonder and wanderlust. Their enthusiasm for the Camino is contagious, and it might make you drop everything and head for Spain.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Reviewed by
      Ed Park
    Happy Accidents
    The leads smooth over the plot holes endemic to all 4D fables, making the movie more than mere déjà vu.
  100. Becoming Jane
    Becoming Jane turns into a presentable Harlequin romance, with hurdle after hurdle succeeded by an eleventh-hour turnaround.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »