New York Observer's Scores

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For 376 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 48% higher than the average critic
  • 1% same as the average critic
  • 51% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 6.6 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 55
Highest review score:
The Company You Keep
Critic Score 100
Lowest review score:
Cop Out
Critic Score 0
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 180 out of 376
  2. Mixed: 96 out of 376
  3. Negative: 100 out of 376
376 movie reviews
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  1. The Social Network
    This film transcends its trendy, obvious limitations with enough vitality and vitriol to make it as informative and breathless as it is entertaining.
    Read full review
  2. Zero Dark Thirty
    As a realistic political thriller about Americans in harm's way it is not half as suspenseful or entertaining as "Argo." We may never know the truth about how we found bin Laden, but I still believe what we do know makes a strong enough story on its own without Wonder Woman.
    • Metascore: 94
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    Amour
    Don't let Amour join the legion of "Best Films You Never Saw." I urge you to share its sweetness and wisdom, and learn something.
    • Metascore: 89
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    The Artist
    Get ready for a smash hit. Gimmicky but delicious, this is a valentine to the movies I promise you will cherish.
    • Metascore: 88
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    The King's Speech
    As the actor of the year in the film of the year, I can't think of enough adjectives to praise Firth properly. The King's Speech has left me speechless.
  6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
    The awesome effects take over where the plot used to be, and although this is the end, my guess is that it will fire the imagination for years to come. What fun to feel like a kid again. I had a marvelous time.
    • Metascore: 87
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    Wake in Fright (1971)
    Wake in Fright is the closest a movie can get to a primal scream.
  8. Moneyball
    This is a subtle, elegant and altogether triumphant film about a subject I thought I was tired of, told with an artistry and freshness that is positively thrilling.
  9. Lincoln
    Lincoln is also a colossal bore. It is so pedantic, slow-moving, sanitized and sentimental that I kept pinching myself to stay awake - which, like the film itself, didn't always work.
  10. The Kids Are All Right
    Some people might blindly and inaccurately accuse this movie of attacking family values, but it has exactly the opposite effect. Touching and funny in their upheaval, the people in The Kids Are All Right open the door to a brand new examination of family values that leaves you charged and cheering.
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    • Metascore: 86
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    Argo
    Argo is a triumph. It has tension, sincerity, mystery, artistic responsibility, entertainment value, technical expertise, a narrative arc and a thrilling respect for the tradition of how to tell a story with minimum frills and maximum impact. It's a great footnote to history, one of the best films of 2012 and a sure-fire contender on Oscar night.
  12. The Master
    Call The Master whatever you want, but lobotomized catatonia from what I call the New Hacks can never take the place of well-made narrative films about real people that tell profound stories for a broader and more sophisticated audience. Fads come and go, but as Walter Kerr used to say, "I'll yell tripe whenever tripe is served."
  13. Beasts of the Southern Wild
    Don't miss this one. A brave and inspired antidote to time-wasting mainstream movies, it is unlike anything you've seen before or will likely ever see again. In short, it is unforgettable.
  14. Restrepo
    A documentary so real and unflinching (and at times deeply frightening) that it's hard to watch, but it is one of those film experiences that you'll feel glad about getting through.
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  15. The Tree of Life
    Content to make movies for himself (Malick) that nobody else wants to see as long as he can find someone to foot the bill, he's also an iconoclast searching for significance. So am I, but not 138 minutes worth. Anyone seeking symmetry in this cinematic taffy pull risks emerging from it with a pretzel for a brain.
  16. Meek's Cutoff
    Who goes to the movies for 104 minutes of punishment? Where is John Wayne, now that we need him?
  17. Moonrise Kingdom
    The result, in the case of Moonrise Kingdom, is what I call transcendentally brainless - an after school special aimed at asinine adolescents over the age of 40.
  18. The Descendants
    The Descendants is a soap opera with Hawaiian shirts.
  19. Animal Kingdom
    Among the most gripping, well-paced, acted and directed, and generally thrilling of anything that I've seen (yet) this year.
    Read full review
    • Metascore: 82
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    127 Hours
    For a story about a man who cannot move, the ordeal unfolds at a pace that keeps you breathless.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    The Illusionist
    A true masterpiece of visual enchantment. One of the most original and unique geniuses in cinema today, Mr. Chomet directed, wrote, illustrated and composed the music for this holiday jewel, an homage to the sweet, sad melancholia of the legendary French comic Jacques Tati.
  22. The Deep Blue Sea
    It is quirky, dark, much maligned by feminists and too slow for some tastes, but it's a work worth seeing again, and Ms. Weisz is wonderful in it.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    Blue Valentine
    Blue Valentine is about real life, warts and all, over narrative conventions like action and plot mechanics. It is brutal, compassionate, beautiful in its ugliness and one of the bravest films of the year.
  24. Beginners
    The best thing about Beginners is the way it accepts every character in a nonjudgmental way.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    Django Unchained
    Exactly what you might expect from the fearless, controversial director of "Pulp Fiction" - it's overlong, raunchy, shocking, grim, exaggerated, self-indulgently over-the-top and so politically incorrect it demands a new definition of the term. It is also bold, original, mesmerizing, stylish and one hell of a piece of entertainment.
  26. Skyfall
    Bond is back, and so is high-octane entertainment.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    Midnight in Paris
    In a film so ripe with temptations for posturing, exaggeration and satirical overacting, nobody is anything less than natural, unpretentious and funny as hell.
  28. Silver Linings Playbook
    It's a slow, repetitive, meandering, mostly overacted little picture - perfectly agreeable but nothing special, and directed with a steamroller by David O. Russell. Go figure.
  29. Melancholia
    Melancholia is his latest pile of undiluted drivel, nauseatingly filmed by a wonky hand-held camera and featuring a crazy, mismatched ensemble headed by Kirsten Dunst, who won an acting award in Cannes last year for looking totally catatonic.
  30. True Grit
    The original western won John Wayne a puzzling and undeserved Oscar for finally falling off his horse. Don't expect the same miracle for Jeff Bridges. In the numbing hands of pretentious filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, history does not repeat itself in any way whatsoever.
  31. What Richard Did
    In one of the most wrenching performances I have seen on the screen in some time, it’s thrilling to watch a young actor with passion and charisma explore so many avenues of damage control with so much depth, allowing the viewer to grapple with an unsettling variety of personal emotions.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 50
    Senna
    Senna's accomplishments are impressive, but his story seems more suited to an ESPN special than a feature-length film.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    The Sessions
    The Sessions is fascinating, informative, engaging and heartbreaking stuff. Its easygoing, matter-of-fact tone makes it subtle and rewarding, not weird. Roses all around to all and sundry for one of the year's most captivating films.
  34. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
    It's all about personality and Joan's inimitable style, which fills every second of its 84 minutes.
    Read full review
  35. The Fighter
    These are characters so repulsive that it's hard to care what happens to them, but it's to the credit of a superb cast that you do end up caring.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    I Am Love
    I Am Love fuses the past with the changing future in a marvelous traditional narrative without a shred of the sloppy trends of contemporary filmmaking.
    Read full review
  37. Black Swan
    This exercise in hysteria is so over the top that you don't know whether to scream or laugh. Despite an emotionally gripping performance by Natalie Portman, it's nothing more than a lavishly staged "Repulsion" in toe shoes.
  38. Please Give
    At a time when every penny counts, where do they come up with the money to finance a movie this boring?
    Read full review
  39. The Dark Knight Rises
    Halfheartedly, I give The Dark Knight Rises - the third and final Batflick in the Nolan trilogy - one star for eardrum-busting sound effects and glaucoma-inducing computerized images in blinding Imax, but talk about stretching things.
  40. The Ghost Writer
    Has moments of heart-pounding suspense and brief glimmers of greatness, thanks to fine performances by Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan and Olivia Williams, but overall feels uneven, sprawling and strangely incomplete.
    Read full review
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 63
    The Imposter
    As a thriller, The Imposter is gripping. As a documentary, it provokes confusion and annoyance.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    Get Low
    Resonating with warmth and sardonic wit and containing a majestic performance by Robert Duvall.
    Read full review
    • Metascore: 76
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    Lore
    It’s a remarkable accomplishment.
  44. Flight
    My biggest problem with Flight is not the unanswered questions it raises, but the eleventh-hour epiphany just in time for a happy ending. Maybe I'm naturally cynical, but I simply don't believe that people are basically good at heart - and I don't buy into sudden salvation. Otherwise, Flight is one hell of an entertainment.
  45. Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Creepy and serenely suspenseful, Martha Marcy May Marlene is a riveting study in what it's like to escape from a physically, psychologically abusive cult, and how hard it is to return to normal life after being brainwashed.
  46. Margin Call
    As a movie, it's so tightly framed you gasp from claustrophobia. As a film of cryptic boredom, I cannot believe the actors were able to say their lines without cue cards.
  47. A Dangerous Method
    I can't imagine what attracted these two megahunks to such a bore.
  48. Rabbit Hole
    This meticulously nuanced, sensitively acted film version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by David Lindsay-Abaire gives Nicole Kidman her best role in years, and she chews it like raw steak.
  49. Submarine
    The movie knocks itself unconscious trying to be offbeat, but instead of cinematic heart, the director self-indulges in cinematic art, drowning the whole thing in freeze frames, slow-motion and color-coding, owing everything he knows to the worst of Jean-Luc Godard and Wes Anderson.
  50. Greenberg
    Mr. Baumbach has a knack for capturing real-life dialogue--particularly and hilariously how people tend not to listen to the person on the other side of the conversation.
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  51. Bernie
    It's a delectable slice of Southern Gothic humor, a side show of rednecks and Bubbas and Aunt Tooties.
  52. The Square
    For the Edgerton brothers and for their protagonists, The Square works on several levels, as it shows how far two people will go for love and profit--in more ways than one.
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  53. Side Effects
    What it turns out to be is a preposterous puzzle that fails every test under scrutiny, leaving the spectator with a “Huh?” that is meant to be uttered only while chewing gum.
  54. Inception
    I'd like to tell you just how bad Inception really is, but since it is barely even remotely lucid, no sane description is possible.
    Read full review
  55. Bully
    Lee Hirsch is certainly one who is making a difference. I endorse him and his brave, powerful movie and urge you to see it for yourself. You might leave Bully with rage, but you will not leave Bully with indifference.
  56. In Darkness
    In Darkness is gloomy and hard to take for a running time of 145 minutes, but it's an important film, related with deep conviction, and uncompromising in its understanding of the remarkable things members of the human race have done - to, for, and against each other - in the wilderness of war.
  57. Cyrus
    It still has a long way to go before the term Mumblecore (which sounds like a Harry Potter major at Hogwart's) can be confused with the term Class Act.
    Read full review
    • Metascore: 74
    • Critic Score 75
    Source Code
    The psychological payoffs outweigh any implausibilities. And what's the harm in logging off your network for a few hours to indulge in some good old-fashioned science fiction?
    • Metascore: 74
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    What Maisie Knew
    Acutely observed, subtly but sharply written and expertly acted.
  60. Rust and Bone
    Proving again that her Best Actress Academy Award for playing Edith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose" was no fluke, the marvellously sensual Marion Cotillard, with her wounded doe eyes and look of permanent unfulfilled longing, delivers another kidney punch as a double amputee in love with an illegal bare-knuckle fighter in the French shocker Rust and Bone.
    • Metascore: 73
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    The Impossible
    Put a staggering accomplishment called The Impossible, from Spanish director J. A. Bayona, at the top of the season's must-see list.
  62. The Forgiveness of Blood
    The result is a film of great humanity that reveals Albania as a primitive region struggling to bridge the gap between medieval European customs and the tide of progress.
  63. Declaration of War
    Although they are no longer together and are living their own separate personal lives, their story, fictionalized but still autobiographical, bonded them for life. Apparently, they are best friends whose dedicated collaboration was the only way they could tell this harrowing story. It's a brave effort any way you slice it.
  64. The Cabin in the Woods
    A creepfest so stupid it makes trashy slash-and-burn epics like "Humans Versus Zombies" and "I Spit on Your Grave" seem like Molière and Proust.
  65. In the House
    There are humorous intrusions (e.g., an art show at Jeanne’s gallery that includes Nazi symbols constructed from penises), and great performances throughout.
  66. 50/50
    Artificial, irresponsible, filthy and forgettable, it knocks itself cross-eyed trying to make you roar with laughter at chemotherapy, with the nauseating Seth Rogen milking most of the yuks. But a stoner comedy about cancer? I don't think so.
  67. Super 8
    The best thing about Super 8, by far, are the kids, all perfectly cast. The script does a much better job making them believable and real than the adults...The rest of the movie steals shamelessly from...
    • Metascore: 72
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    War Horse
    War Horse is a don't-miss Spielberg classic that reaches true perfection.
  69. Your Sister's Sister
    This three-hander has an honesty and a momentum that I found grudgingly rewarding.
  70. Shame
    Director McQueen shares no primal truths, offers no resolutions, and the movie seems pointless. It seems almost wicked to spread on all that enticement and titillation, and then throw the sandwich away.
  71. Tiny Furniture
    Lena Dunham makes a 98-minute home video seem like 98 days of hard labor.
  72. My Brother the Devil
    It’s far superior to what usually comes out of the British slums in the genre of gangland thrillers.
  73. Young Adult
    It's a fatiguing, low-key character study that drags along annoyingly and pleads for patience, but stick with it and you'll find the engrossing centerpiece performance by Ms. Theron a captivating reward that is well worth the effort.
  74. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    The great screenwriter Steven Zaillian's elaborate, convoluted script, so muddled that even after it's over you still don't know what it's all about, is a drawback - but the movie is a master class in sinister style, tense and deeply uncomfortable.
  75. Warrior
    It overcomes inescapable boxing and martial arts clichés and leaves you thoroughly sated, energized and wanting more.
    • Metascore: 71
    • Critic Score 88
    Sleepwalk with Me
    Laugh-out-loud funny and somewhat melancholic.
  77. Shadow Dancer
    Not everything from Ireland travels as well as the whiskey. Like mud-thick porridge, Shadow Dancer, another dreary, confusing conspiracy thriller about the Irish “troubles,” is one of them.
  78. Like Crazy
    Unlike most alleged Hollywood rom-coms, Like Crazy is delicate, uplifting and definitely worth investigating.
    • Metascore: 70
    • Critic Score 25
    The Last Circus
    By the time the end finally comes, there's no relief. You're left with the vague recollection of an interesting movie you were watching before you got kidnapped and subjected to over an hour of torture porn starring a fat, sadistic clown.
  80. Sleep Tight
    Sleep Tight is a creepy - but highly effective and superbly made - horror movie from Spain in which the monster is spine-tinglingly human.
  81. Heartbeats
    Director Dolan gets the feeling of emptiness so right that anyone who has ever known the heartbreak of a crushing affair can easily identify, even with subtitles.
  82. The Skin I Live In
    Surreal but disappointingly drab, it's still not the best Almodovar in years. Despite the usual Almodovar plot twists, kinky sex and themes of sexual identity reversal, gender bending and mad desire, the cult auteur has gone off the tracks and lost his compass.
  83. Rampart
    The film works because of Mr. Harrelson's magnetism.
  84. Contagion
    I found Contagion both flawed and fascinating, but it's not an entertainment.
  85. Life During Wartime
    What some critics praise as astute and compelling, I find juvenile and fraught with hysteria. There's no arc here, no real pathos, and the direction is like watching snow melt on the side of a road.
    Read full review
  86. Sightseers
    Sightseers is a morose, unsettling blend of pathology for sport and murder for laughs.
  87. Solitary Man
    Solitary Man comes on the heels of last year's "A Serious Man" and "A Single Man," so it's small wonder that confusion reigns. But this film, co-directed by David Levien and Brian Koppelman (who also wrote the screenplay), is the best of the three.
    Read full review
  88. The East
    A good cast and the speed-dial theme of eco-terrorism should really add up to a film of more substantial mind over matter than the dull, talky and ultimately pointless espionage thriller The East.
  89. Fair Game
    Fair Game is an important exposé of corrupt political power gone toxic. It's good enough that it deserves to be better.
  90. The Company Men
    Enhanced by superb writing and direction and nuanced performances by an ensemble of great actors, and enough take-home food for thought to keep the mind and senses totally focused from start to finish, The Company Men is pretty damn close to as good as it gets in a disappointing year at the movies.
  91. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
    What will happen to the man-boy when he's all man and can no longer slouch about in baggy pants and hoodie sweatshirts with perpetually flushed cheeks?
    Read full review
  92. The Exploding Girl
    There is no hope on the horizon for movies as leaden as The Exploding Girl.
    Read full review
  93. Bullhead
    I can tell you only that this is a film unlike anything I've seen before-harrowing, haunting and sordid. Be forewarned, it is not for the squeamish. But take a chance and you will be rewarded with a work of nightmarish force that is unforgettable.
  94. Crazy, Stupid, Love.
    What to say about an uphill slog called Crazy, Stupid, Love? It's not nearly crazy enough to clear the clogged arteries of summer comedies, and when the love appears, it's in all the wrong places. Oh well, at least they nailed the stupid part.
  95. Potiche
    Ms. Deneuve has been directed by everyone from François Truffaut to Roman Polanski, but she has gone on the record saying she has a special rapport with Mr. Ozon (the 2002 film "8 Women" remains a classic). He brings out such a loopy delicacy in her that she shines-a charming, witty centerpiece from start to finish.
  96. We Need to Talk About Kevin
    This is the most unwatchable horror movie masquerading as social comment I have seen this year.
  97. Kisses
    The kids make stunning debuts, but their accents are thicker than porridge, rendering a good 90 percent of the dialogue so unintelligible that it might as well be in Swahili. Some subtitles are provided out of necessity, but not enough.
    Read full review
    • Metascore: 68
    • Reviewed by
      Rex Reed       100
    The Place Beyond the Pines
    I think you’ll find it as fresh, original and breathlessly exciting as I did.
  99. Haywire
    Haywire makes no sense whatsoever, which should come as no surprise. It's the latest brainless exercise in self-indulgence from Steven Soderbergh, whose films rarely make any sense anyway.
  100. A Late Quartet
    Playing the cello is such a pleasant change of pace that he (Walken) eventually grows on you, scene by scene, proving for the first time since his role as Leonardo DiCaprio's troubled father 10 years ago in "Catch Me If You Can," that he really can act. He - along with the rest of the elegant cast - keeps A Late Quartet in tune when it threatens to go flat.
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