Austin Chronicle's Scores

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For 8,778 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 41% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 57% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 6.7 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 58
Highest review score: 100 The Searchers
Lowest review score: 0 Gummo
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4,774 out of 8778
  2. Mixed: 2,557 out of 8778
  3. Negative: 1,447 out of 8778
8778 movie reviews
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  1. The Avengers
    Fans of all that has come before (excluding Roger Corman's premature-ejaculation version of "The Fantastic Four," natch) will weep tears of giddy joy at how crowd-pleasingly cohesive – and ridiculously fun – this film is.
  2. The Raven
    It is, in a word or two, everything that Poe's tales and poems were not: interminable and picayune.
  3. Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale
    What Warriors of the Rainbow may have going for it most of all is Chin Ting-Chang's dreamy cinematography, which presents the native Seediq amid the sultry jungle greenery that brings to mind the absurdly lovely flora of James Cameron's Pandora.
  4. Safe
    Enough already with the pointless gun battles that litter Safe like spent syringes in a shooting gallery. No matter how spastically you edit them, you'll never top John Woo's early work, or, for that matter, Sam Peckinpah's. Aim higher, even if it means fewer hits.
  5. The Pirates! Band of Misfits
    Better use should have been made of the voice talent provided by Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek, and Lenny Henry than the meager cameos their characters have. But no one here needs to walk the plank.
  6. Goon
    Put on your best Southie accent and say it with me: This film is wicked fahwkin' retahded and I loved it.
  7. The Five-Year Engagement
    Stoller and Segel don't shy away from rational, relatable adults, which may be an unsexy selling point for a romantic comedy, but that attention to authenticity elevates the likable, low-stakes The Five-Year Engagement.
  8. Delicacy
    Comedic actor François Damiens mines but never mocks Markus' awkwardness, thereby creating a winning portrait in decency. His tracing, with the ever-luminous Tautou, of the slow bloom of new love is a thing of understated beauty.
  9. Damsels in Distress
    Stillman inserts chapter headings and written asides into the proceedings, but none of it helps explain what is before us. The authorial voice in Damsels in Distress lacks definition.
  10. Bernie
    Jack Black redeems himself (for Gulliver's Travels, among other things) with a subtly quirky performance that's one of his personal best.
  11. Chimpanzee
    By film's end, you'll wish they tossed Allen in the rainforest and left him for the leopards to snack on.
  12. Think Like a Man
    The relationship advice is all fairly boilerplate, much like the film itself, but these actors have made this a bankable romcom.
  13. Last Days Here
    As depressing as it may sound on paper, directors Argott and Fenton have crafted a deeply disturbing but equally moving documentary.
  14. Marley
    Most striking is Macdonald's deft use of music and Marley's lyrics (many of them obscure) to illustrate the film's points. So thoughtful is this counterpoint that it almost makes up for Macdonald never showing any one song in a complete performance.
  15. The Lucky One
    The chickiest flick you're likely to see this season. Depending on your taste in romantic fare, you'll either find it toe-curlingly dreamy or ploddingly predictable.
  16. Lockout
    The space prison set-pieces get the job done; only in the film's terrestrial bookends does this nuts-and-bolts action film show its rust.
  17. The Three Stooges
    A work of near-existential pointlessness. It's true to the anarchic, silly spirit of the original clowning, but there's very little else to it.
  18. Blue Like Jazz
    The primary problem with Blue Like Jazz is that there is no believable character development.
  19. The Cabin in the Woods
    The horror-movie clichés form the backbone from which the film's humor and creativity emerge. This Cabin may not be the Parthenon, but it's definitely a place to worship the gods of horror.
  20. Footnote
    This is a film that skims the surface layer of politesse from human interactions and reveals us as the blustering bundles of ego that we all are.
  21. The Kid with a Bike
    How the Dardennes, time and again, turn gritty, mundane subjects into transcendent moments of honesty and truth is one of the great cinematic wonders.
  22. October Baby
    October Baby earns points for the originality of its protagonist but it has no chance of preaching to anyone but the choir.
  23. Touchback
    Touchback may accurately be called cornball hokum by some, but it's nevertheless a well-made film filled with heart and soul (and Snake Plissken).
  24. Mirror Mirror
    This is fussy filmmaking, overly made-up (the costume mandate seems to include the buzzwords "coffee filters," "croquembouche," and "Day-Glo paint") and bereft of wit.
  25. Undefeated
    Even though the film relies on many of the clichés of the form, Undefeated is a masterfully crafted work that honestly scores a touchdown.
  26. The Salt of Life
    This Italian import may have greater resonance for the men of Casanova's native land than it does internationally, but it definitely hits on truths infrequently addressed in the movies.
  27. The Hunter
    Dafoe, as expected, is magnificent in the taciturn role, but the film tends to falter when he's not out stalking, combining as it does elements of family drama, environmental outrage, and outright suspense.
  28. Boy
    Like his previous feature, "Eagle vs Shark," Taika Waititi's Boy tells a mere wisp of a story, yet both films are filled with compelling characters, situational color, knowing observations about youthful behavior, and quirky bits of oddball and fantastical humor.
  29. The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye
    True love is never having to say goodbye … because when you look in the mirror, there s/he is.
  30. American Reunion
    Of course, if you loathed the first film, this one probably won't do much to change your mind. But fans, and I count myself among them, of the Weitz brothers' unexpectedly enjoyable original will find themselves in a familiar and perhaps comforting place … filthy language, risqué situations, die-hard friendships, and all.
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