Chicago Sun-Times' Scores

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For 8,158 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 73% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 25% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 6 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 71
Highest review score: 100 Falling from Grace
Lowest review score: 0 Jupiter Ascending
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6,087 out of 8158
  2. Mixed: 1,243 out of 8158
  3. Negative: 828 out of 8158
8158 movie reviews
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  1. I'm Not Scared
    I'm Not Scared is a reminder of true childhood, of its fears and speculations, of the way a conversation can be overheard but not understood, of the way that the shape of the adult world forms slowly through the mist.
  2. All the Queen's Horses
    Kudos to director Kelly Richmond Pope for applying just the right mix of “What the Heck?” whimsy and respectful, serious reporting to this incredible tale.
  3. Headhunters
    It's not often a thriller keeps me wound up as well as Headhunters did. I knew I was being manipulated and didn't care. It was a pleasure to see how well it was being done.
  4. Our Souls at Night
    About half the scenes in Our Souls at Night consist of Jane Fonda and Robert Redford simply talking to one another. Those scenes are more exhilarating, more intoxicating and more memorable than many if not most gigantic action sequences in big-budget movies.
  5. About a Boy
    We have all the action heroes and Method script-chewers we need right now, but the Cary Grant department is understaffed, and Hugh Grant shows here that he is more than a star, he is a resource.
  6. The Lodge
    This is a scary movie that loves other scary movies.
  7. Green and Gold
    Directed with grace and grounded style and a keen eye for outdoor visuals by Anders Lindwall, and filmed in beautiful Door County, Wisconsin, this is a warm and authentic slice of farm life, with magnificent work by the 80-year-old Craig T. Nelson, who looks every inch the world-weary Wisconsin farmer.
  8. The Babadook
    This is the scariest movie of the year.
  9. The Big Town
    The story is predictable, but the style had me on the edge of my seat.
  10. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
    Just about perfect for its target audience, and more than that. It has a great look, engaging performances, real substance and even a few whispers of political ideas, all surrounding the freshness and charm of Abigail Breslin, who was 11 when it was filmed.
  11. Red Rock West
    Red Rock West is a diabolical movie that exists sneakily between a western and a thriller, between a film noir and a black comedy.
  12. Silver City
    The movie's strength, then, is not in its outrage, but in its cynicism and resignation.
  13. Columbus
    [Kogonada] is a work of transcendent beauty, where words are key, but imagery even more profound.
  14. Duane Hopwood
    A wise and touching film with a lot of love in it. I may have given the wrong impression: It's not entirely about drinking, it's just entirely about a drinker.
  15. Pretty Woman
    The sweetest and most openhearted love fable since "The Princess Bride."
  16. Pi
    The seductive thing about Aronofsky's film is that it is halfway plausible in terms of modern physics and math.
  17. Bottle Shock
    Bottle Shock is more than the story. It is also about people who love their work, care about it with passion and talk about it with knowledge.
  18. American Gigolo
    The whole movie has a winning sadness about it; take away the story's sensational aspects and what you have is a study in loneliness.
  19. Hateship Loveship
    Kristen Wiig’s performance in the unfortunately titled Hateship Loveship is so beautifully muted it takes a while to appreciate the loveliness of the notes she’s hitting.
  20. Sunshine State
    Sayles' film moves among a large population of characters with grace, humor and a forgiving irony.
  21. A Map of the World
    The movie is not tidy. Like its heroine, it doesn't follow the rules.
  22. What They Had
    There’s something quite beautiful and quite melancholy and sometimes achingly relatable about the tone of writer-director Elizabeth Chomko’s lovely and memorable What They Had, which is based in part on the Chicago-born Chomko’s own family history.
  23. Amélie
    A delicious pastry of a movie -- You see it, and later when you think about it, you smile.
  24. Freeway
    It seems aimed at people who loved "Pulp Fiction'' and have strong stomachs. Like it or hate it (or both), you have to admire its skill, and the over-the-top virtuosity of Reese Witherspoon and Kiefer Sutherland as the girl and the wolf.
  25. Little Women
    Director Gillian Armstrong finds the serious themes and refuses to simplify the story into a "family" formula. "
  26. My Dead Friend Zoe
    Some of the resolutions of this myriad of conflicts and issues are perhaps a bit too tidy, but this is a richly layered and truly moving set piece, with a smart and insightful screenplay and great performances from the ensemble cast.
  27. Chico & Rita
    The music is terrific. Idania Valdes dubs Rita's sensuous, smoky singing voice, and the film is essentially constructed as a musical.
  28. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
    Mike Hodges' gritty new film noir I'll Sleep When I'm Dead begins in enigma and snakes its way into stark clarity.
  29. Oculus
    Oculus is one of the more elegant scary movies in recent memory.
  30. MaXXXine
    So yes, “MaXXXine” is sometimes more style than substance. Still, amid all the clever inside jokes and Easter eggs, writer-director-producer-editor West delivers a masterfully paced horror film set against the dichotomy between actor-turned-politician Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America” and the reality of 1985 Hollywood and its grimy, exploitative, misogynist underbelly.
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