Austin Chronicle's Scores

Select another publication »
For 8,793 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: 4,786 out of 8793
  2. Mixed: 2,560 out of 8793
  3. Negative: 1,447 out of 8793
8793 movie reviews
view
per page
  1. A Dog's Way Home
    Some kids may find the whole affair traumatic, particularly when the poor pooch finds herself dehydrated and chained to a corpse in the wilderness. Then again, that’s nothing compared to those same kids’ parents’ recollection of a Disney flick in which a tearful boy must shoot his rabies-inflicted yeller dog in the end. Bless the beasts and the children.
  2. Allegiance
    The film boasts an insistent and unquestioning patriotism. What begins as a drama devolves by the halfway point into an overly long chase film, which only grows more and more boring.
  3. Lucía, Lucía
    Serrano's frequently mystifying device of having Lucía's cardboard psyche mess with the audience's minds is ultimately a confusing bore that detracts from what might have been a more eloquent (and interesting) take on middle-class midlife crises, telenovela-style.
  4. Extreme Measures
    Any sincere investigation of the situation's ethical dilemmas is hampered by a plot run amok with transparently nefarious evildoers and ever-more ludicrous complications, until it sputters to a conclusion and a thoroughly preposterous epilogue in which all animosities are neatly put to rest. Somebody call a doctor.
  5. Intermission
    In manipulating its many disparate characters to bump into each other and set plot lines in motion, Intermission walks a fine line between clever and contrived, with the scale tipping more often toward contrived.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Master of the Flying Guillotine (re-release)
    I'd be lying if I said this movie wasn't a hoot. Sure it's silly, but it's also campy, brainless fun, and just how often to get to see stuff like this on the big screen anyway?
  7. Janet Planet
    If you grew up in the 1990s post-hippie Massachusetts performance arts scene (as Baker did), Janet Planet may tug on your nostalgia, but you may not feel otherwise drawn to its ethereal qualities.
  8. The Yards
    Gray's direction is a languid thing, moving at roughly the speed of a maimed snail, and the cast never really gels.
  9. The Count of Monte Cristo
    More fun than Peter Hyams' "The Musketeer," and somewhat less so than "The Man in the Iron Mask," this is middling Dumas all the way.
  10. Catch and Release
    Now it's just another romantic comedy, neither terribly bad nor truly great, buoyed along on currents of hope and post-traumatic good cheer.
  11. Romance & Cigarettes
    As the songs pile up and the plot putters along, Romance & Cigarettes wears thin, like a moral for the titular addiction: Sure, there’s the sweet dream of that first drag, but a whole pack’ll do a body bad.
  12. The Unholy
    It’s a credit to Brown, Morgan, and Sadler that the story works at all. These actors maintain the illusion that The Unholy is a competent horror movie for far longer than it deserves. But in the end, there are just too many pieces missing to make this a coherent whole.
  13. Devil
    In the end, Devil feels like an ingenious short film pumped up for theatrical release. Shyamalan's story is sound, but the execution dragged me to hell and left me there wondering if his much-rumored sequel to "Unbreakable" was ever going to arrive.
  14. Not Fade Away
    Now that his passion project is out of the way, I look forward to seeing what Chase does next. He's sure to have his editor's pen back in hand by then.
  15. Return to Never Land
    It's neither the fulfillment of our worst fears nor the surprise of the week.
  16. Ready to Rumble
    I'm sorry. I laughed...There's something pleasurable about a comedy that has no pretensions about where it's coming from.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Pride
    Pride's story was etched in stone ages ago by mysterious movie powers beyond our understanding, and all the Staples Singers' songs in the world won't keep it from its appointed rounds.
  18. Far and Away
    There is a richness to Far and Away that seems wasted on its simple love story straight out of "It Happened One Night."
  19. Seducing Doctor Lewis
    This is director Pouliot's first film, so perhaps some of his excess cuteness can be overlooked. But then again, maybe not.
  20. The Legend of 1900
    A sumptuous ride with breathtaking scenes and a soaring musical score.
  21. Kinds of Kindness
    There’s an insufferable longwindedness to Kinds of Kindness, each installment dragging on beyond the point of patience. Watching becomes a chore, made heavier by Robbie Ryan’s often flat cinematography and the pacing created by Lanthimos’ longtime editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis.
  22. Lymelife
    Lymelife arrives with an impressive pedigree but, unfortunately, little originality.
  23. The Watcher
    Leaves me wanting to watch Tomei and company in something more worthy of their abilities.
  24. The Kid
    A lightweight, intermittently engaging comedy.
  25. Novocaine
    Given his lackluster performance, even Martin, who is no stranger to sardonic humor, seems unsure about the film's tone.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    War
    The action sequences are shot in close-ups and with such rapid editing, it’s nearly impossible to find a sense of rhythm let alone follow what’s happening.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Brain Donors
    Turturro-Nelson-Smith come across as nothing more than three strangers with an out of synch, watered-down routine that flounders as a pale imitation of their hallowed predecessors.
  28. The Ghost and the Darkness
    For all its noble intent, Hopkins' film falls flat halfway through, mired in bad philosophizing and too-beautiful killing fields, neither bark nor bite mean much here.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Black or White
    Black or White is a film all about matters of race that hardly matters at all.
  30. Shark Tale
    There’s a surprising lack of surprises in DreamWorks’ answer to Disney/Pixar’s runaway smash "Finding Nemo."
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »