Chicago Sun-Times' Scores

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For 8,156 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 6.1 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: 6,085 out of 8156
  2. Mixed: 1,243 out of 8156
  3. Negative: 828 out of 8156
8156 movie reviews
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  1. Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley
    After spending a bit too much time taking us through the all-too-familiar chapters of Elvis’ career, from his embrace (and yes, appropriation) of Black music to his ascension to stardom to the Army stint to the movie career that turned him into a caricature, “Return of the King” soars in the final segments, as we see Elvis rise to the challenge and achieve greatness in the live-on-tape performance.
  2. The Piano Lesson
    The Piano Lesson is occasionally overwrought, yet proves to be a worthy adaptation of a classic play.
  3. Small Things Like These
    With Cillian Murphy’s quiet, almost small and yet grand performance carrying the story every step of the way, “Small Things Like These” is quite possibly the best movie I’ve seen so far this year.
  4. Heretic
    For the first 45 minutes or so of this well-filmed and creatively staged production, “The Heretic” flashes the potential to be one of the most memorably insane horror films of the year; unfortunately, it all comes crashing down via some increasingly outrageous, credibility-smashing twists and turns, and a disappointing reliance on well-worn horror movie tropes in the stretch run.
  5. Blitz
    In ways sometimes subtle and sometimes anything but, writer-director McQueen tells a story that on one level is a conventional tale of valor but is also a cutting commentary about how even as war-torn England was united in its staunch repudiation of Hitler, racism and classicism were all too commonplace in its own backyard.
  6. Juror #2
    There’s never a moment when the story lulls. Alas, it’s all just so … preposterous, due to that mistrial of a screenplay.
  7. Emilia Pérez
    With explorations of themes ranging from identity to forgiveness to corruption and fear and self-love, “Emelia Pérez” is one of the most creative and striking films of the year.
  8. Absolution
    Yes, it feels as if we’ve seen this movie before — but thanks to the suitably gritty and grainy, New England-set direction by Hans Petter Moland, the still-resonant star power of Neeson and a terrific supporting cast, “Absolution” delivers a punch with a sting all its own.
  9. Here
    This is a home run swing that results in a strikeout and a long trudge back to the dugout.
  10. Martha
    With the great American filmmaker R.J. Cutler (“The War Room,” “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”) delivering a briskly paced but thorough film that ticks off the many amazing chapters in Stewart’s life, “Martha” is one of the best documentaries of the year.
  11. Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
    The Boss is a poet with an axe, and sometimes an axe to grind — but whether he’s lamenting a tragedy or embracing the best of life, his works seem singularly American, through and through.
  12. The Line
    It’s not that we haven’t seen this type of frat-life social commentary before, but Berger and the outstanding ensemble infuse his film with a docudrama authenticity. This is a not a movie you can easily shake off.
  13. Venom: The Last Dance
    Venom: The Last Dance is dopey and silly and filled with familiar stock characters and well-worn tropes, but it’s almost never ponderous.
  14. Conclave
    There is much to admire about “Conclave,” but in the end, all of its lofty aspirations come tumbling down due to that poorly constructed Jenga tower of a plot.
  15. Allswell in New York
    Thanks in large part to the empathetic and layered performances by the terrific cast, we believe in these characters, and we’re hoping all will work out, even though we know that’s probably not going to be the case.
  16. Woman of the Hour
    This is one of the best crime thrillers in recent years, with Anna Kendrick demonstrating a strong set of storytelling skills and a keen eye for period-piece visuals in her directorial debut, while also turning in one of her career-best performances as the “bachelorette” who unknowingly chooses Alcala as her “dream date.”
  17. Rumours
    After an initially promising first half-hour, it’s a long and tedious slog to the finish line as we follow a group of paper-thin caricatures who are only mildly interesting and intermittently funny.
  18. We Live in Time
    With Pugh and Garfield delivering authentic, genuine movie-star performances, “We Live in Time” is an old-fashioned weeper, done with heart and originality. It’s a Movie We Think You’ll Like.
  19. Lonely Planet
    From the opening scene right until the wholly expected finale, Lonely Planet is pure romantic-drama escapism. It’s so thin that if the original material had been in book form, that book would have been a pamphlet.
  20. The Apprentice
    Most impressive of all are the performances by Sebastian Stan as the raw and ambitious younger Trump, and Jeremy Strong (the “eldest boy” from “Succession”) as the unconscionable Cohn. This is “The Art of the Deal” told as a Frankenstein dark fable.
  21. Daytime Revolution
    What IS remarkable, and kind of awesome, is that these confabs were beamed directly into the living rooms of some 40 million Americans via a rather unlikely platform: “The Mike Douglas Show,” a pleasant and mainstream daytime program aimed primarily at what we used to call housewives.
  22. White Bird
    If you’ve seen “Wonder,” it will add some depth and context to the viewing experience, but with the surehanded direction from Forster, the excellent script by Bomback and the strong performances from the veteran actors as well as the younger faces, “White Bird” flies quite well on its own.
  23. Salem's Lot
    Perhaps this story actually could have benefitted from the multi-episode series treatment, thus providing room for us to get to know more about these characters and their back stories, but as an old-fashioned scary vampire movie, “Salem’s Lot” serves its purpose.
  24. Saturday Night
    Even with a coked-up George Carlin (a spot-on Matthew Rhys) and the ubiquity of marijuana and the hard-R language, “Saturday Night” is a smooth and polished gem — a far cry from the spirt of raw anarchy permeating the birth of the series.
  25. Joker: Folie à Deux
    Ultimately, though, the sequel has very little new to say about Arthur Fleck and his place in this world, and the musical interludes start to feel like gratuitous self-indulgence rather than insightful and illuminating passages that advance or enhance the material.
  26. Lee
    As you can image, there are scenes that elicit shock and outrage, even after all these decades. However, it does make for a Familiar Viewing experience, as virtually every sequence in this impressively mounted and well-photographed docudrama is straight out of the standard-issue biopic playbook.
  27. Megalopolis
    From the unconvincing CGI to the meandering and convoluted storyline to the preachy messaging to the unfortunately hammy performances, “Megalopolis” is a most foul and unpleasant journey.
  28. A Different Man
    It’s a film that works almost too hard to surprise us; some late developments are so absurd they lessen the impact of the main story. Still, Schimberg is a unique talent who excels at delivering provocative work.
  29. Wolfs
    Not even the star power of Clooney and Pitt can elevate this beyond the level of a passable, disposable thriller.
  30. All Happy Families
    There’s not a single character in this film that doesn’t come across as authentic.
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