Chicago Reader's Scores

  • Movies
Select another publication »
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
view
per page
  1. The Devil's Rejects
    The sadism of "1,000 Corpses" is ameliorated here by the addition of an action plot and open spaces, and the comedy is more skillfully played, mingling agreeably with Zombie's ardor for southern trash culture (the final showdown plays out to the strains of "Freebird," for heaven's sake)
  2. 9 Songs
    For a movie that consists almost entirely of real sex and real rock 'n' roll, 9 Songs feels remarkably conventional.
  3. The Edukators
    Though the story drags for the first hour, this becomes a solid character study once the principals arrive at their hiding place.
  4. Last Days
    A film about a junkie rock musician, played by Michael Pitt at his most narcissistic, doing nothing in particular for the better part of 97 minutes isn't my idea of either a good time or a serious endeavor.
  5. November
    This parallel-reality shtick would be OK if the gun violence weren't so awful--but staging a murder again and again for the sake of some undergraduate head game is no more defensible than using it to pump up an action flick.
  6. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
    Tim Burton finally fulfills the promise of "Beetlejuice" with this imaginative masterpiece.
  7. Wedding Crashers
    Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are enormously funny in this farce.
  8. God's Sandbox
    The lovers' seduction in the sand borders on laughable soft porn; later in the film, an act of genital mutilation (part of a prenuptial ritual) injects an unexpected note of terror that reverberates to the end.
  9. Happy Endings
    The sensibility is Southern California Witless, and the jokey intertitles that periodically take up half the 'Scope frames ("This is a comedy. Sort of.") are even more smarmy than the characters.
  10. The Warrior
    There's more than a nod to Sergio Leone in Kapadia's rugged wide-screen landscapes, minimal dialogue, and extreme close-ups, but there's scant humor to relieve the harshness, and though he has presence Khan is no Eastwood--or even a Mifune.
  11. The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror
    Directors Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy don't provide much analysis, instead telling the familiar stories of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
  12. Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus
    Made for the BBC, this travelogue of America's southern backwoods is both blessed and cursed by its fascination with the colorful--lively alt-country sounds and fancy word spinners like novelist Harry Crews.
  13. Dark Water
    Favors character development over rude scares, though given the narrow parameters of the genre, it's not really a worthwhile trade.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Fantastic Four
    Michael Chiklis (of the cop show "The Shield") steals the movie as the agonized Thing.
  15. The Beautiful Country
    The script, by newcomer Sabina Murray, is occasionally cloying as the naive hero falls for a bitter prostitute (Bai Ling), but its epic tale of two cultures tragically entwined is anchored by deep and elemental emotions.
  16. Murderball
    Exhilarating.
  17. Saraband
    The performances are perfectly distilled, but the traits I dislike in Bergman are all here -- self-pity, brutality, spiritual constipation, and an unwillingness to try to overcome these difficulties.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Chronicles
    The ironic twist at the conclusion of this chilling drama underscores the vagaries of human nature--and of the media.
  19. Rebound
    The funny-looking kids steal every scene from Lawrence, simply by virtue of being funny-looking kids.
  20. The Beat That My Heart Skipped
    It's more than a simple improvement, inverting some of the original's qualities so that the impersonal, well-crafted filmmaking remains lucid throughout.
  21. The World
    The title of Jia Zhang-ke's 2004 masterpiece, The World -- a film that's hilarious and upsetting, epic and dystopian -- is an ironic pun and a metaphor.
  22. War of the Worlds
    Newly updated but shamelessly hokey, Steven Spielberg's version of the 1898 H.G. Wells yarn about murderous invaders from outer space starts off as a nimble scare show like "Jaws."
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Tropical Malady
    A spellbinding, beautiful, enigmatic film with a mysterious, allusive two-part structure.
  24. Bewitched
    The special effects, for once, are witty rather than overblown, and director Nora Ephron, writing with her sister Delia, handles the material with some grace and confidence.
  25. Land of the Dead
    Romero's fourth entry, turns out to be his most conventional as an action thriller--though it's every bit as gory as the others and more clearly class-conscious.
  26. Rize
    Emotionally charged but not entirely honest documentary.
  27. Yes
    Beautifully composed and deftly delivered, it becomes the libretto to Potter's visual music, creating a remarkable lyricism and emotional directness.
  28. March of the Penguins
    Some of the eggs fail to hatch and some of the chicks die, and the parents' cries are painful to hear, though what they're really crying for is the future of their species.
  29. Lila Says
    Both lead actors are wonderful, and director Ziad Doueiri (West Beirut) artfully addresses the cultural and even spiritual dimensions of the story without losing sight of the lovers' tenderness and confusion.
  30. The Last Mogul
    Avrich offers a cogent appraisal of Wasserman's importance to the industry and duly notes the darker aspects of his empire (among them MCA's alleged ties to organized crime).
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »