G. Allen Johnson

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San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner
For 523 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 54% higher than the average critic
  • 1% same as the average critic
  • 45% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 1.7 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

G. Allen Johnson's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 67
Highest review score: 100 Fire of Love
Lowest review score: 0 The Out-Laws
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 345 out of 523
  2. Mixed: 83 out of 523
  3. Negative: 95 out of 523
523 movie reviews
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    • 81 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Close
    To watch Close is to be fully immersed in its finely detailed world suggested by Dhont and co-writer Angelo Tijssens; realized by Dhont and cinematographer Frank van den Eeden; and brought to life by the exquisite performances of its top-notch cast, led by Dambrine, De Waele, Dequenne and — as Leo’s mother — Léa Drucker. As its accolades suggest, it is one of the best films of 2022.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Warfare
    The incident depicted in Warfare may have happened nearly two decades ago, but the film seems as fresh as today’s headlines.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Tropical Malady
    An entirely unconventional, hypnotic, meandering film.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 63 G. Allen Johnson
    Happiness
    Solondz's greatest success is the pederast, heartbreakingly played by Baker...Had Solondz reached that apex in the other stories, it would have been a masterpiece.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Riders of Justice
    At its heart, it’s a darkly comic drama about a man trained to be a killing machine who must rediscover his own humanity before his daughter loses hers. Along the way, a family of quirky characters is formed.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 88 G. Allen Johnson
    The Eel
    In a way, The Eel is very much like Black Rain, and nearly as great. Both deal with an emotionally shattering aftermath, and both question mankind's ability to overcome its many weaknesses.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    The Scent of Green Papaya
    A movie to savor.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    The Croods: A New Age
    So there’s a lot going on here, and director Joel Crawford and his teams efficiently keep the story moving along. There’s a wonderful “Flintstones” versus “Jetsons” vibe, the characters are, as usual, appealing.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 25 G. Allen Johnson
    Chinese Portrait
    Chinese Portrait is a great art installation, but a thoroughly unsatisfying film.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 50 G. Allen Johnson
    The Chambermaid
    Shot almost entirely within a hotel, the film operates as a low-budget answer to “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón’s much-lauded film that also centers on the life of a domestic worker.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    A Thousand and One
    First-time feature director A.V. Rockwell, working from her own script, tells an epic tale in miniature.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 50 G. Allen Johnson
    28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
    Although more Fiennes is always a good thing, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple simply doesn’t have the solid storytelling or enthralling characters that its predecessor has.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Unrest
    Like many first-person medical documentaries — such as the recent “Gleason” — Unrest can be really hard to watch. Brea’s film, though, might be the beginning of hope for millions of sufferers who might see the film, and could be a conversation starter for additional funding into research.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Waves
    Waves is a movie that tears itself apart halfway through with an unspeakable act of violence, then miraculously heals itself. Whatever your reaction to this ambitious, boldly original and hard-hitting family drama, you could never accuse writer-director Trey Edward Shults of holding anything back. He leaves it all on the floor, as they say in basketball.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
    Invoking the seven deadly sins and the Ten Commandments, nearly everyone has something to confess. In that sense, this new “Knives Out” isn’t just a whodunit, but a who-didn’t-do-it — spiritually speaking.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles
    What makes it brilliant is that it demonstrates how universal this distinctly Jewish musical has become, how it has been embraced by many cultures and how it is still influential today.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Perfect Days
    Wenders structures the film episodically, so characters, such as a goofy co-worker, a homeless man and a suddenly appearing relative, come and go from Hirayama’s life. Thus the story relies on Yakusho to carry this movie, and that he does.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Four Daughters
    It is full of joy and laughter, as well as tears. It is about many things, among them sisterhood, the difficulties of parenting, processing trauma in a patriarchal society, and religious extremism. But most of all, it’s filled with life, and all the triumphs and pleasure, pain and disappointments that go with it.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 88 G. Allen Johnson
    Central Station
    Salles' solid narrative is only deceptively simple; there is a lot of dimension and depth to this gentle, sometimes painful portrait of two wanderers.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts
    Jeffrey Wolf’s exceptional documentary Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts seeks to tells its subject’s story in a deeply personal way, while also pulling back when needed to contextualize his work.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    3:10 to Yuma
    Directed with a touch both delicate and muscular by the great Delmer Daves, it's truly a Western for those who don't like Westerns, and will be treasured by those that do. [02 Jun 2013, p.Q21]
    • San Francisco Chronicle
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Ad Astra
    It’s a probing, searching movie by one of the medium’s best American directors whose reach, like his protagonist’s, exceeds his grasp.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    On the Beach at Night Alone
    On the Beach at Night Alone is really Kim’s film. Her performance won her the best actress award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, and she is in every scene, warts and all.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 50 G. Allen Johnson
    In the Company of Men
    An independent film so enamored of itself it refuses to have any fun.
    • 37 Metascore
    • 50 G. Allen Johnson
    In the Blink of an Eye
    In the Blink of an Eye proves yet again that Stanton is a dreamer, with an unshakeable faith in humanity. That’s not nothing.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 50 G. Allen Johnson
    Housekeeping for Beginners
    Stolevski obviously wants us to sympathize with these wounded characters who have been shunted aside by a cruel society, but that’s hard to do when they are so verbally cannibalistic.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Bergman Island
    One of the most playful films about cinema in recent memory, and even with its angst, is more joyful than any film Bergman made on the island.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Apocalypse '45
    Although much of the footage is unseen, perhaps the freshest part of Apocalypse ’45 is hearing the veterans debate whether the U.S. should have dropped the atomic bombs, and how America has progressed in the decades since.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    We the Animals
    Adapted from Justin Torres’ debut novel from 2011, Zagar’s bravura direction, with a visual style by cinematographer Zak Mulligan, is lyrical and poetic in an approach that would suggest Terence Malick, complete with wistful narration by the film’s young protagonist.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 63 G. Allen Johnson
    Dead Man Walking
    Troubling and troubled.
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