Mr. Showbiz's Scores
- Movies
For 721 reviews, this publication has graded:
-
52% higher than the average critic
-
3% same as the average critic
-
45% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.3 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 58
| Highest review score: |
Critic Score
100
|
|---|---|
| Lowest review score: |
Critic Score
0
|
Score distribution:
-
Positive: 340 out of 721
-
Mixed: 241 out of 721
-
Negative: 140 out of 721
721
movie reviews
- By critic score
-
-
Critic Score 100
Unapologetically sentimental, this movie is certain to melt all but the hardest of hearts. -
-
-
Reviewed by
F. X. Feeney 100
Not only one of the best films of the year, it's one of the best films of the decade. -
-
-
Reviewed by
F. X. Feeney 100
It is one of the most beautifully staged American movies in a very long time. -
-
-
-
-
Critic Score 100
This brash, clever picture caught the attention of audiences after years of moribund product from the likes of Schwarzenegger and Stallone. -
-
-
-
-
Critic Score 100
No Hollywood film within recent memory has achieved such richness and originality of texture, such a compelling amalgam of passionate human drama and awesome technique. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 100
A new version of the greatest psychological mystery of all: love. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Cody Clark 100
Moviegoers of any (or no) religious persuasion can share in the simple satisfaction of his tense, well-spun murder mystery. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 100
Unfolds like quietly engrossing short fiction, reminding us that there are few things more pleasurable than being in the hands of a good storyteller. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 100
The film ends with a surprisingly upbeat coda. But Startup.com leaves us with a sense that our heroes' idealism will be forever lost. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 100
This historical epic about the "virgin queen" of England's early life moves with the crackling urgency of a contemporary political thriller. -
-
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 100
One of the year's best films, and certainly its most challenging so far: At more than three hours, watching it is less like consuming entertainment and more like living. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 100
No other movie released this year is as much of a filmgoing necessity as Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now Redux. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 100
Together is unabashedly about people who need people. The film's satiric skewering of '70s liberalism works because it feels emotionally authentic. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 100
The film is never less than a satisfying mix of compelling entertainment and social critique. The performances are uniformly superb. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 100
Stomps the summer movie competition with heart and humor. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 100
Ozon -- has finally hit a home run, and Rampling is his most remarkable RBI. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 100
Amid the chaos of this marvelous, uncategorizable film squirms one of the year's best performances. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Cody Clark 100
What sells Shrek is ultimately the full-bodied personality of its characters. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 100
A funny, frenetic, and often quite touching microcosm of the Big Apple life itself, essayed by a pitch-perfect cast and boasting authentic urban flavors. -
-
-
Critic Score 97
Though the film's subject matter is grisly, the electricity between Foster and Hopkins during their prison tête-à-têtes could power every maximum-security prison in this country. -
-
-
Critic Score 96
So intensely funny that the viewer must hang on every word: comic gems spill forth almost continuously. -
-
-
Critic Score 95
See L.A. Confidential. Be astonished at discovering anew how very, very satisfying movies can still be. And how fine that can feel. -
-
-
Reviewed by
F. X. Feeney 95
The Japanese title means chaos, and that is what is let loose when a powerful king foolishly tries to release the reins of power, in the hopes of enjoying a peaceful old age. -
-
-
Critic Score 94
Rereading Greene's book, one is struck anew by the absolute perfection of the film's casting. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 94
The one movie so far this year that every filmgoer should see, if only to get a big dose of what we've been missing from Hollywood. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 94
Traffic is a riveting, semi-documentary drama, and yet calling it that is a disservice to just how suspenseful and stylish an entertainment it is. -
-
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 93
So breathtakingly textural, so empathic in its images, that it transcends its context and achieves timelessness. -
-
-
-
Reviewed by
Cody Clark 93
Bird's movie neither panders to children nor sneers at them, and it beautifully, lucidly captures the giddy adventurousness of childhood. -
-
-
Reviewed by
F. X. Feeney 92
I've not stopped thinking about it -- weighing might-have-beens and alternative courses of action, as though remembering an actual event rather than a nimble, superbly-realized fantasy. That's a first-rate achievement. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 92
Normal ideas of truth, illusion, and representation are sent into the meat grinder, and the result is consistently disarming and beautiful. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 91
For the discouraged filmgoer, Erice's tone poem will be a ray of hope itself. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Cody Clark 91
This joyous romp is no mere new groove, it's a live wire -- 110 volts of pure holiday cheer. -
-
-
Critic Score 90
One of those special movies whose freshness and vitality are so bounteously infectious, your humble reviewer wishes everyone had the pleasure of discovering it brand-new and undescribed. -
-
-
-
Critic Score 90
It's the awesome, metaphysically charged spectacle of man doing terrible things to man within the multicolored and multifarious cathedral of Nature. -
-
-
Critic Score 90
The result is a film that is as witty, astute, and romantic as its timeless subject. -
-
-
-
-
Reviewed by
F. X. Feeney 90
It's a film which aims to persuade us of its truth without props or signposts--and it does so with unforgettable beauty. -
-
-
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 90
Her (Cheung) gorgeously sad face and slow, lithe frame are the movie's hammer and chisel. One shot of her walking away from a rented room down a hallway is, all by itself, twice the movie of anything else currently in theaters. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 90
This is what Woody Allen movies might be like if they were not ruled by narcissism, pretentious point-scoring, cheap observations, and Woody's peculiar speech patterns. -
-
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 90
A must-see for avid fans and a welcome primer for nascent hip-shakers everywhere. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 90
Cho is raw, uncensored, and side-splittingly hilarious. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 90
John August's script is exciting, witty, original material, and this film's got the talent to match. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 90
A profoundly moving human drama, a quasi love story about two lost men who form an unlikely friendship. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Cody Clark 90
The execution is crisp and the fundamentals are solid. Like its protagonist, Finding Forrester got game. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 90
Election is a bracingly intelligent adult comedy that shrewdly captures adolescence. -
-
-
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 90
That rarest of independent films -- it's risky and exciting. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 90
The most heartfelt tribute to women -- specifically, actresses -- he's (Almodovar) ever made. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Cody Clark 90
The best kind of summer blockbuster -- the kind that makes you immediately crave a sequel. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 90
Will take you by surprise as a romantic, fast-paced, entertaining spectacle that deserves to earn back every penny spent to produce it. -
-
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 90
Intelligently written, sharply directed, and beautifully played. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 90
The Truman Show is one of the films for which the '90s will be remembered, and it is not to be missed. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 90
It's the funniest, saddest performance of the year in a film of uncompromising wit and heart. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Cody Clark 90
This wildly imaginative thriller is a futuristic head trip you most definitely want to take. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 90
Easily the best directorial debut of the year, and possibly the most mature and haunting film to ever come out of Scotland, Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher is a throat-catching masterpiece of lyricism, observation, and stone-cold realism. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 89
Maddin's movie is, frame for frame, the densest and most spectacular (albeit cardboard-cheap) film playing anywhere. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 89
Director Roger Michell ("Persuasion," "Notting Hill") has made his finest film to date. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 89
Suzhou River might be more pulpy than profound, but it still sings its old song better than we've heard in years. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 89
Easily the year's most trying, tormented, and thrilling movie ordeal. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 89
Even if the great debate that pits artistic integrity against corporate compromise doesn't thrill you, see Cradle Will Rock anyway. It's marvelous, provocative entertainment; art for art's sake. -
-
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 89
A technologically marvelous animated movie that's just as funny and inventive as the first, but also more emotionally engaging than most live-action films. This is clearly a sequel in name only. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 89
An ingenious, incredibly entertaining, Rorschach-blot meta-comedy based on a spec script (by first-timer Charlie Kaufman) that is completely unlike anything anyone has ever seen before. -
-
-
Critic Score 88
Leaving Las Vegas may not be a top choice for an upbeat outing, but there's something oddly poetic about the simplicity of Ben's mission and Sera's acceptance of it. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 88
Though frequently brutal and off-putting, Beautiful People is a must-see. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 88
A fitting tribute to these displaced children because it so simply and elegantly personalizes their place in the most horrific chapter of 20th-century history. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 88
An intensely involving, Ibsen-esque human drama populated by complex, sympathetic heroes. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 88
42 Up is filled with truth and poignancy as these people reflect on their first half of their lives, their goals, ambitions, and how they, for the most part, succeeded in reinventing them. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Cody Clark 88
Crowe's script is a thing of wonder, and he again proves himself to be an outstanding director of actors. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 88
Especially timely in light of the current escalation in Palestinian-Israeli aggressions, but this is one sad story that would pack a staggering punch in any political climate. -
-
-
Critic Score 87
Blessedly free of candy-box prettiness, cloying gentility, and anything else that might dishonor its deeply felt, sensitively observed memoir. -
-
-
Critic Score 87
The final reel of Rosetta is like nothing else ever filmed, and it would be wrong to describe it. -
-
-
Critic Score 87
What evolves among them is a kind of realistic fairy tale, sustained by the sweet gravity and guttural, deadpan minimalism of Thornton's performance. -
-
-
-
Critic Score 87
Though modest in scale, this romantic gem constitutes yet another superb leap in the evolution of Figgis' career. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 87
Lusts for a feel-good ending the material doesn't comfortably provide. One can't help wondering how dismal Jerry and Dorothy's life together will be after the credits roll. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 87
Moodysson's teen protagonists are more complex than both the high school stereotypes (the nerd, the jock, the beauty queen) in films like "American Pie" and the self-absorbed philosophers on "Dawson's Creek." -
-
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 86
A superb, wise, and witty Taiwanese film about being single and what to do about it. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 86
Russell has combined pathos, terror, and black comedy with a dollop of Hollywood feel-good patriotism to make one of the best studio efforts this year. -
-
-
Critic Score 85
Complaints? None, except perhaps a wish for more length, and a little more depth. -
-
-
Reviewed by
F. X. Feeney 85
Byrne is a stand-up poet the way some actors are stand-up comics. His innate depth prompts The Usual Suspects to transcend its own cleverness--and this is the movie's smartest, least predictable surprise. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 85
If you haven't seen his (Crudup's) work before, Jesus' Son could be the one that makes you his biggest disciple. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 85
The most poignant (if hard-hitting) depiction of childhood to show up this year. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 85
A uniquely personal, vibrant mosaic of the American dream, and like a dream, it evaporates beautifully before our eyes. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 85
There are only a handful of great music documentaries ... but Temple's film deserves a place in the canon. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 85
A hilarious and utterly faboo documentary...you'll be begging for more. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Larry Terenzi 85
Tucci has crafted a poignant remembrance of a bygone era, and a touching examination of the responsibilities of creativity. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 85
It's the sum of things not spoken, things too painful to express, that's the heart of this quietly moving drama. -
-
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 85
Captures the emptiness of small-time lives as evocatively as Peter Bogdonavich's "Last Picture Show." -
-
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 84
Dumont's movie has virtually nothing wrong with it -- aside from the fact that it drives people crazy. Take the leap, but expect no answers. Just like life, as they say. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 84
An explosive experience...and you have to love the movie's rabid energy and lust. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Cody Clark 84
Combining a seething physicality with enough weary nobility and tightly checked rage for a dozen wronged heroes, (Crowe) provides the movie's vital center of gravity without looming over his co-stars. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 83
The man (Apted) behind the excellent "7 Up" series has put a human face to science, making the seemingly abstruse both accessible and easily relatable. -
-
-
-
Critic Score 82
A smart, sometimes pissingly funny romantic comedy that is also oddly unmoving and predictable in spots. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Kevin Maynard 82
This is certainly the best studio movie of the new year to date, and Douglas might even be remembered at next year's Oscars. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Cody Clark 82
The plot that propels them (Pitt, Roberts) along separate story lines is both unusually character-driven and a hoot. -
-
-
Reviewed by
F. X. Feeney 81
Has such perfect pitch in small matters that, as it builds, it proves no less capable in tackling bigger issues--and what begin as chuckles become deep belly laughs. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 81
Topsy-Turvy is flawless, borne along by a savagely witty screenplay that Leigh directs like the gears of a clock. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 81
Lacks scope and doesn't resonate grandly as a portrait of an American underbelly like Morris' earlier works do. But it still packs a wallop. -
-
-
Reviewed by
Michael Atkinson 81
Easily the best millennial movie, Don McKellar's Last Night is also the only one to use the idea of apocalyptic end-time as a vehicle to explore the absurdity of human desire. -
