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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    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    They Cloned Tyrone
    They Cloned Tyrone can be heavy-handed times and runs a bit long, but the committed performances of its plucky triumvirate of stars go a long way toward the fun.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Bottoms
    Despite its outlandish conceits, it is grounded in sisterhood. As bloody as it is, the pain the girls dish out to each other is nothing compared to the trauma they’ve experienced.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Wasted! The Story of Food Waste
    In the face of this relentless nihilism, it’s quite an achievement that the new documentary Wasted! The Story of Food Waste is so darned entertaining and hopeful, as well as informative.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 25 G. Allen Johnson
    Jackass Forever
    So it’s not my bag, but I went into Jackass Forever with the best intentions.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 88 G. Allen Johnson
    East Is East
    May be the funniest movie about parental and spousal abuse ever made.
    • San Francisco Examiner
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Becoming Cousteau
    As the documentary was produced by National Geographic with the cooperation of the Cousteau Society, Garbus has access to some fabulous, colorfully restored footage, some of it never before seen, that makes this an eye-popping experience — in theaters especially.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Val
    The Val Kilmer we meet has been in the arena, realizes he has been lucky despite the hard knocks, and has now achieved what we hope is a lasting peace. His physical voice might be gone, but his inner voice still has much to say.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Suburban Fury
    A must-see documentary about not just a would-be assassin and moment in American history, but a snapshot of the Bay Area during turbulent times.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    40 Acres
    The depth of [Thorne's] characters, brought to life by a terrific cast, and tactile world building are what set 40 Acres apart. The setting feels authentic; you could imagine yourself living on this farm with this family.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Touch
    Ultimately, the film does its job with skill and heart.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    The Ghost of Peter Sellers
    It is quite simply one of the great “making of” documentaries of all-time — a short list that includes the George Hickenlooper-Eleanor Coppola documentary “Hearts of Darkness.”
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Place Vendôme
    Overall a well-played chess match of a movie.
    • San Francisco Examiner
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Will & Harper
    Will & Harper works best when the serious issues that confront trans people are openly discussed, from acceptance to mental health issues and the simple problems of daily living.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 88 G. Allen Johnson
    Shower
    A warm-hearted valentine to old traditions in China that are being obliterated by modern - and admittedly more efficient - technology.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 25 G. Allen Johnson
    Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn is provocative and irritating — and intentionally so. That makes it particularly annoying, because even as you’re provoked and irritated, you are also aware that writer-director Radu Jude wanted you to feel that way.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Beats
    The movie is predictable at times, but also winning, with a thumping soundtrack and smartly written characters. Ortega, with his Peter-from-“Office Space”-deer-in-the-headlights look, is the movie’s appealing center.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 63 G. Allen Johnson
    Down in the Delta
    POSITIVE vibes aside, Down in the Delta is fairly simple stuff, with acting that at times sinks to the dialogue-of-agreement level of those after-school specials a network used to run a while back. But it will go down in history as the first film to be directed by Maya Angelou, and it isn't a bad one at that.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 G. Allen Johnson
    The Fight
    It’s a well-made film in many ways but also frustratingly skin-deep for a news junkie like me.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    The Biggest Little Farm
    Climate change is never explicitly mentioned in the documentary The Biggest Little Farm, one of the year’s best films, but it hangs all over the deep, rich story of the Chesters, a pair of hardscrabble idealists who move from the concrete jungle of Santa Monica to start a 200-acre, sustainable farm from scratch.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Spaceship Earth
    After watching Spaceship Earth, which was completed before the coronavirus pandemic, one can’t help but think about the current experiment conducted by Biosphere 1. As smog clears across urban landscapes due to stay-at-home orders, the vision — and the warnings — laid out by Biosphere 2 remain relevant.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 G. Allen Johnson
    The World to Come
    Despite the terrific set design in The World to Come, the characters don’t feel at home in it; they do very little farm work, for example. Still, Waterston and Kirby do achieve an intimacy that operates as a warm fire warding off the chilliness around them. It’s too bad we were left out in the cold.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 25 G. Allen Johnson
    Urbania
    Quickly degenerates into a grueling piece of unpleasantness.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    School Life
    It’s a quiet film that almost slips by without notice.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Calle Málaga
    There are some heart-tugging scenes, but overall, this is the cinematic equivalent of a blissful weekend at the spa, a relaxing respite from the stressful news cycles of our times.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Love & Bananas
    Lek gives Love & Bananas humanity, but Bell’s personality and enthusiasm is contagious, inviting us into the film. We root right along with her.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Hoppers
    While Pixar doesn’t exactly alter the chemistry here, Hoppers is energetic and fun.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 G. Allen Johnson
    Wet Season
    As a woman struggling to define her own narrative, Yeo delivers a layered, heartbreaking performance. But she is ultimately ill-served by both the inertness of the story and Chen’s awkward approach to the material in the final half-hour (no spoilers here).
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 G. Allen Johnson
    Honey Boy
    Eventually, the imperfect Honey Boy — it could have used more from the older Otis; Hedges is almost wasted — achieves a raw, hard-won honesty.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Splitsville
    The linchpin is Johnson, who turns in a vulnerable yet confident performance as an always chill woman who might be too willing to make a relationship work, a role she’s mastered since starring in the “Fifty Shades” trilogy.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 100 G. Allen Johnson
    Fairyland
    Durham’s direction is sensitive and assured, and he does a great job mixing his location work with archival footage to create an authentic sense of what San Francisco was like during those times. This is not one of those movies that shoots in the city for two days then absconds to Vancouver for the rest of the shoot. This is a Bay Area movie through and through.
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