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. In the Fade
    There is a numbness of loss that resonates throughout the film’s subsequent revenge narrative that deepens and heightens the material to depict a portrait of a person who literally has nothing to live for.
  2. The Final Year
    The deepest frustration is that Barker had seemingly unrestricted access to one of the most revolutionary and skilled White House offices of the postwar era, yet the end result is like condensing an entire season of "The West Wing" and cutting out all the best monologues.
  3. BPM (Beats Per Minute)
    The film is historical yet its characters are fictional. Well-captured is the controlled chaos of some of the political actions.
  4. Maze Runner: The Death Cure
    The Death Cure is at its absolute best when something’s getting blown up, or a plan is being hatched to blow something up: Series director Wes Ball is aces with action, and almost as effective with the procedural steps to get to said action.
  5. Small Town Crime
    Small Town Crime is so engrossing in its optimistic darkness that it screams for the further pulpy adventures of Mike Kendall. Hawkes imbues him with the beat-down appeal of a Sam Spade or a Jim Rockford.
  6. Forever My Girl
    This bland romance doesn’t take its own advice. It’s all water, no whiskey.
  7. 12 Strong
    There's a reason why Afghanistan is called the graveyard of empires – a phrase repeated throughout 12 Strong, a depiction of one of the first and most unequivocal victories of the U.S. war against the Taliban and al Qaeda.
  8. Proud Mary
    A studied but silly misfire from the director of the abysmal London Has Fallen that attempts to walk the walk without ever actually being a movie genre fans, or much of anyone else for that matter, would want to see.
  9. The Post
    Some have remarked that The Post is the story of Kay transforming into Katharine Graham, which is pretty on the mark.
  10. Paddington 2
    As sequels go, Paddington 2 is up to the challenge. It’s neck and neck, or paw and claw as to which is the better, so why not just watch both back to back?
  11. The Commuter
    The Commuter is exactly the kind of post-"Taken" aging-action-star part that Neeson could do in his sleep, and while he’s not exactly dozing through the script, it lacks his normal grizzled fire and drive.
  12. Phantom Thread
    What sets Phantom Thread apart is that it isn’t an apologia, or an exorcism. It’s a Valentine. The heart, after all, is our strongest muscle.
  13. Insidious: The Last Key
    By turns entertaining, incomprehensible, goofy, and even on occasion unnerving.
  14. I, Tonya
    A riveting piece of cinema, successfully utilizing all the things that screenwriters are supposed to avoid: voiceovers, direct address, unreliable narrators. It also looks gorgeous, thanks to cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis and production designer Jade Healy.
  15. The Other Side of Hope
    Dry, ironic humor is also one of the primary ingredients of The Other Side of Hope, and one of Kaurismäki’s signature elements.
  16. God's Own Country
    What writer/director Lee (himself from hill farming stock) catches is that their passion is welded in pragmatism. Homophobia, xenophobia, bigotry, and callousness all float beneath the surface here, but as quiet subtext. This is the silence of the hills, where three words are volumes.
  17. Father Figures
    One of the most inexplicably awkward comedies of the last few years.
  18. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
    Kasdan injects this all with vigor and breezy humor.
  19. The Greatest Showman
    As the bombastic musical numbers vie to outdo each other (in one scene, lovebirds Efron and Zendaya appear to be auditioning for Cirque du Soleil), the song-and-dance man gets lost in the scenery, his charisma overwhelmed by director Gracey’s misguided preoccupation with razzle dazzle at full throttle.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Pitch Perfect 3
    Although I do think PP fans will be satisfied with the finale, let’s hope this is the last redux for these pitches.
  21. Molly's Game
    The main draw here, besides the nature of the high-stakes poker milieu, is Jessica Chastain.
  22. Downsizing
    Dense with captivating ideas and visual feats, Downsizing is a packed offering whose oversized ambitions may outstrip its accomplishments.
  23. Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
    If the storytelling technique is a little prosaic, the subject matter is more than sufficiently engrossing.
  24. All the Money in the World
    A surface viewing of the film makes it feel like this is one of Scott’s lesser magnum opuses but on closer inspection this is a story that’s all but contemporaneous given its through-line of amoral acquisitiveness.
  25. Call Me by Your Name
    As for words? The script gives Stuhlbarg – a character actor who elevates everything he’s in – the monologue of a lifetime, which he delivers sotto voce, all kindness. And that is perhaps the prevailing note of Call Me by Your Name – of kindness, of tenderness.
  26. Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
    While Abrams peddled name recognition, Johnson understands that the classic characters have to reignite the torch before they can pass it on, and gives both Leia and Luke defining moments.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Darkest Hour
    I tried to imagine what it would be like watching this movie if I were unfamiliar with the source material. The story may be a bit strange, but certainly no less touching. That’s the thing about classics: Each reiteration, if done properly, puts us closer to the story at heart.
  28. Ferdinand
    While Ferdinand isn’t a train wreck by any means, it does come off as an also-ran in a year now dominated by the truly marvelous "Coco."
  29. Just Getting Started
    Abysmal, unfunny, and ultimately, completely unnecessary.
  30. The Shape of Water
    A romance of fantastique proportions, a cautionary tale that revels in throwing caution to the wind, and a de facto monster movie with loose but loving ties to director Jack Arnold’s classic "Creature From the Black Lagoon" and Cocteau’s "Beauty and the Beast," del Toro’s latest is a masterpiece of compassion and insight into the (in)human condition and the transformative power of love.
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