That's the question we all have to ask each time we choose a movie. There are so many things competing for our time, and there are so many movies to choose from, so we don't want to end up spending time and money on movies that leave us less than satisfied. Whatever your motivation in watching a movie, be it for mere entertainment, to get a laugh, to relax and not have to think, to learn something, to be provoked into thought or action or tears...whatever it is, at the last frame we want to feel like it was time well spent.
Every week the LA Times movie reviewers get to watch dozens of movies that are currently showing in the greater LA Region, the home of Hollywood. There are thousands of screens showing commercial and independent releases and a movie critic from the LA Times will get to see each and every one of them. Obviously they get to see some great movies, and a lot of movies not worth our time. The LA Times critics rank the movies they consider to be the best-in-class as "Critics' Choice". In prior years, they also used a "runner-up" classification known as "Also Recommended" which was abandoned from at least the end of 2007. Over the years I have found that movies in the "Critics Choice" lists have been mostly worthwhile movies to watch. Mostly these movies aren't Hollywood "blockbusters", but occasionally they are.
I began posting all movies that got "Critics' Choice" and "Also Recommended" awards at my website
ArikiArt under the
Independent and Art House Movies Recommendations section back in 2005. Since March of 2007 I moved the on-going list to this website.
If you're like me and wanting a way to quickly identify the best movies to watch, then use my site to do just that. Thanks to the LA Times Critics' Choice identification hopefully we can narrow down the movies we watch to those that are most worth our time.
By the way, to keep up-to-date with new movies added to the list, use the subscription links at the top of each page to either subscribe in a RSS-feeder, or by email alert.
John Corney
Set in spring 1994 in the volatile nation of Rwanda, the story inspired by actual events focuses on a young British teacher named Joe Connor (Hugh Dancy) serving a one-year residency at a technical school in Kigali. The school is run by a Catholic priest, Father Christopher (John Hurt), and is temporarily serving as a base for a U.N. peace force under the command of a sympathetic, if rigid, Belgian officer, Capt. Delon (Dominique Horwitz).