Peter Hartlaub

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San Francisco Chronicle
For 573 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 48% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 49% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 9.8 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Peter Hartlaub's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 56
Highest review score: 100 Alien
Lowest review score: 0 The Smurfs 2
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 246 out of 573
  2. Mixed: 189 out of 573
  3. Negative: 138 out of 573
573 movie reviews
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    • 34 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    Big Momma's House 2
    The result is an incredibly disorganized movie with a few funny scenes -- most of which are revealed in the commercials.
    • 34 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    10,000 BC
    Completely ridiculous, but fun to look at.
    • 34 Metascore
    • 75 Peter Hartlaub
    21 and Over
    Writer-directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore find a nice balance between the over-the-top high jinks and an emotional core, which unexpectedly crystallizes relatively late in the movie.
    • 34 Metascore
    • 50 Peter Hartlaub
    Safe Haven
    It's Valentine's Day! Unrealistic romantic expectations are in the air! And Safe Haven does the unrealistic romance thing pretty well.
    • 34 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    Ice Age: Collision Course
    The Ice Age screenwriters seem to be making up the rules as they go along, distracted by tired side plots to give the other characters a reason to exist in the film.
    • 34 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    Point Break
    The makers were clearly paying attention to the smaller details. But somehow, they missed all the big things that made the first Point Break a memorable escapist film of its time.
    • 34 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    Undead
    At best a little boring and at worst stomach-churningly offensive.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 50 Peter Hartlaub
    Full of It
    Better than a lot of teen comedies.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
    Yes, the life expectancy of a chipmunk maxes out at 10 years in captivity. So biologically, we must be coming toward the end of this franchise. That’s not the type of thing a critic looks up when filmmakers make more of an effort.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 50 Peter Hartlaub
    The Grudge 2
    There are fun distractions, but it's easy to focus on the flaws.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    Blood and Chocolate
    Not since "An American Werewolf in London" in 1981 reset the standard for man-to-wolf transformations has anyone tried to get away with special effects as pitiful as the ones in this movie.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    There Be Dragons
    Dragons may have seemed less out of place three decades ago, but it would have been a bad movie then as well. It's filled with clumsy transitions and erratic performances, and tied together by an awkward framing device.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 50 Peter Hartlaub
    Love Happens
    Delivers all the pain, melodrama and redemption that fans of the genre demand.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 50 Peter Hartlaub
    Code Name: The Cleaner
    Although the finished product isn't great, it's more akin to a bad Steve Martin movie from the 1980s than bad Pauly Shore from the 1990s. We mean that as a compliment (sort of).
    • 33 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    The Haunting in Connecticut
    Contains so many insults to the audience's intelligence.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
    Every moviegoer will have his own breaking point, when The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones surpasses the mundane and enters the ridiculous.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    The Shack
    The Shack is unshakable in its religious message, and that’s admirable in a cynical world. But viewed objectively as cinema, it’s just not a very good film.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    The Brothers Solomon
    Had a lot of promise, but ultimately isn't very funny.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    Transformers: Age Of Extinction
    Imagine if instead of creating new music, a recording artist kept putting out the exact same album, just playing the songs a little louder each time. That's what it feels like watching Transformers: Age of Extinction.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 50 Peter Hartlaub
    I Love You, Beth Cooper
    Isn't a terrible addition to the teen coming-of-age party movie catalog. It just feels dated.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 50 Peter Hartlaub
    The Hills Have Eyes II
    It's not fun to watch.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    Independence Day: Resurgence
    The sequel is even more silly, and much less fun.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 50 Peter Hartlaub
    G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
    It's hard to deny that the first two-thirds of G.I. Joe is an enjoyable film, especially when graded on the curve of lowered expectations. Compared to other big-budget movies out this summer, it's pretty mediocre.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
    Plodding and unfunny.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 50 Peter Hartlaub
    Warcraft
    The dialogue is so earnest that its lack of humor becomes a source of humor in itself. The acting is so primal that you’ll swear a porn sequence is about to break out.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    In the Mix
    May be a good tactical move for the artist's career, but it's a bad movie.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 0 Peter Hartlaub
    Silent Hill
    Silent Hill has plenty of bad acting, bad dialogue and a confusing plot -- all of which become exponentially more painful when the movie goes on forever.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 25 Peter Hartlaub
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    The narrative is a mess, and the overly long action sequences are easily forgotten.
    • San Francisco Chronicle
      • Posted Aug 7, 2014
    • 31 Metascore
    • 0 Peter Hartlaub
    Show Dogs
    Show Dogs is really bad, even for a talking-dog movie.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 50 Peter Hartlaub
    Hellboy
    This Hellboy has story problems, with too much exposition and not enough character development. “Stranger Things” actor David Harbour, seemingly a perfect choice for his ability to project melancholy and a luggish humor, isn’t given enough time to do either of those things.
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