Chicago Reader's Scores

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For 6,312 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 42% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 56% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 4.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 60
Highest review score: 100 I Stand Alone
Lowest review score: 0 Old Dogs
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,983 out of 6312
  2. Mixed: 2,456 out of 6312
  3. Negative: 873 out of 6312
6312 movie reviews
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  1. Three Monkeys
    Strikes an impressive balance between the gathering tension of its noirish plot and the philosophical implications of the characters' compromises. That balance slips in a morose and dreadfully lethargic third act, but before Ceylan goes all Kiarostami on us this is a substantial European entry in a genre that American filmmakers can't seem to master anymore.
  2. 12 Angry Men
    Mechanically written, but within its own middlebrow limitations, it delivers the goods.
  3. The Wild Thornberrys Movie
    Screenwriter Kate Boutilier provides plenty of sharp patter, and Paul Simon contributed the catchy song "Father and Daughter."
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wake in Fright (1971)
    A Conradian parable of a man succumbing to the wild, the film is remarkable for its raw, pointed depiction of human behavior.
  5. Away We Go
    The episodic structure works to the movie's benefit, highlighting the eccentric supporting characters and allowing Mendes to smoothly downshift from hilarity to sadness.
  6. Enter the Dragon
    Ripping entertainment overall, with just enough meat for amateur sociologists.
  7. The Polar Express
    The story offers lessons in faith and self-esteem; the darker passages of the child's journey are countered by shimmering, cascading beacons of light; and fine period detail adds to the nostalgic glow.
  8. Dr. No
    All of the elements of the formula are there, but in pleasing moderation.
  9. Duma
    This is superior family entertainment--warm, thoughtful, and connected to the landscape.
  10. The Way Home
    The plot of the picture is familiar, but it's realized with such delicacy and affection for the characters that it seems as fresh and warm as its verdant setting.
  11. Jesus' Son
    I don't much like movies about junkies...but this is easily the liveliest and most inventive I've seen since "Drugstore Cowboy" (1989).
  12. Shine
    The high-powered drive of both the storytelling and the music is riveting.
  13. Walk the Line
    As the star-crossed couple, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon contribute all their own vocals, and their soapier scenes together reminded me of no less than the 1954 "A Star Is Born."
  14. The Cabin in the Woods
    Because the first narrative is so crushingly generic (which turns out to be the point), most of the amusement derives from trying to figure out what the second one is all about. I'm not sure I ever did, but the climactic one-two punch of special-effects chaos and meta-movie chin stroking should have the fanboys trembling with delight.
  15. Lethal Weapon 2
    The movie overall may be routine, but Donner gives it some spark and polish.
  16. Moonstruck
    The broad Italian family humor gets so thick at times that you could cut it with a bread knife.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
    The animators have re-created equine movement and behavior with uncanny verisimilitude.
  18. À Tout de Suite (Right Now)
    Absorbing thriller.
  19. Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie
    I wondered if the movie would end with a round of knock-knock jokes, but instead there's a hilarious trash-talking session with the four guys sitting around gutting one another like fish.
  20. Demonlover
    It's gripping and provocative, making effective use of Charles Berling and the music of Sonic Youth, though I wish it were a little less indebted to David Cronenberg's "Videodrome."
  21. Cop Land
    The movie's no roller-coaster ride, but there isn't a boring moment either.
  22. Hoodlum
    Duke is a superb director of actors, and, as in "Deep Cover", Fishburne manages to suggest a lot with a deft economy of means.
  23. 10 Things I Hate About You
    Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith's script has its witty moments, and some of the secondary characters--such as Larry Miller as the father and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell as an irritable teacher--are every bit as quirky as the leads.
  24. For a Few Dollars More
    Leone's artful editing of close-ups to communicate the characters' spatial relationships is always a pleasure, and here he unveils his stylistic signature—extreme close-ups of the characters' eyes—as Van Cleef surveys the villain's wanted poster.
  25. Poetry
    The premise of this South Korean import may call to mind that of another, Bong Joon-ho's recent suspense film "Mother," but Poetry is another bird entirely: true to the title, writer-director Lee Chang-dong is principally concerned with rendering emotions that seem inexpressible.
  26. Enchanted
    Disney goes meta in this witty, exuberant musical comedy whose parody and nostalgia serve a sweet and affecting romance.
  27. Ted
    MacFarlane gets an impressive amount of comic mileage from having a plush toy talk like a Boston low-life, though for gut laughs nothing compares to the brutal, frantic, and completely wordless fight scene between Wahlberg and his little buddy in a cheap hotel room.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Footlight Parade
    One of the best of the Warner Brothers showbiz musicals (1933), with James Cagney turning in a dynamite performance as an enterprising producer, and Busby Berkeley contributing some of his most engaging and bizarre production numbers.
  29. I am Cuba, the Siberian Mammoth
    Absorbing and intelligent.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Woman in the Fifth
    Unlike most literary adaptations this one actually conveys the pleasure of fiction, lingering suggestively on small details of character and place. The movie casts such a seductive air of mystery that the resolution feels anticlimactic, yet there's plenty to enjoy along the way.
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