San Francisco Chronicle's Scores

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For 9,302 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 52% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 46% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.2 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 63
Highest review score: 100 Mansfield Park
Lowest review score: 0 Speed 2: Cruise Control
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5,160 out of 9302
  2. Mixed: 2,656 out of 9302
  3. Negative: 1,486 out of 9302
9302 movie reviews
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  1. Bread and Roses
    Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty draw everything in simplistic, overstated terms. The good guys are pure and spunky, the bad guys bellicose and one-dimensional, the conflicts stripped of nuance.
  2. A Knight's Tale
    More often than not, it's fun.
  3. Pavilion of Women
    This version is a well-meant but corny distillation -- a whole lot of bombast and phony exaltation in the name of entertaining enrichment.
  4. Under the Sand
    This is Rampling's film, and she's never less than surprising, never less than a revelation.
  5. Time and Tide
    At its most compulsive, this is the only action flick you'll need this summer.
  6. The Mummy Returns
    Suffers from the bloat common to sequels.
  7. One Night at McCool's
    A shamelessly dumb movie.
  8. Driven
    Even if his (Stallone) own star may be fading, the popularity of car racing is enormous. These fans are not likely to be disappointed by Driven.
  9. The Golden Bowl
    Impeccably mounted, nicely scored and beautifully written.
  10. Town & Country
    The movie's not bad enough to be world-ending, merely clumsy.
  11. The Luzhin Defence
    When the film sticks with the eccentric comedy of a highborn woman attracted to a preoccupied genius, it works splendidly. When it strays into melodrama, it is as ill-equipped as Luzhin.
  12. The Low Down
    If the movie sometimes seems not to come to much either, it does have something to say to those patient enough to stick with it.
  13. The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm
    Damning.
  14. Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles
    The no-sweat clunkiness of the detective plot becomes kind of charming.
  15. Harry Is Here to Help
    A steady undertow of sex gives this French thriller a scintillating surface.
  16. Freddy Got Fingered
    The film is like watching Ozzy Osbourne bite the head off a rubber bat -- it's only almost heinous.
  17. The Center of the World
    One pities poor Molly Parker, a fine actress who was somehow persuaded to disrobe for this degrading and dispiriting Wayne Wang film.
  18. Lakeboat
    A must-see for Mamet fans.
  19. The Circle
    It's a startling, speedy, gracefully executed indictment.
  20. Bridget Jones's Diary
    A triumph for all involved.
  21. Josie and the Pussycats
    What should have been 90 zippy minutes of jingling, giggling, winking fakery adds up to only about 20 minutes of fun.
  22. Kingdom Come
    Most of the right laughs in most of the right places and some unexpected ones thrown in.
  23. Chopper
    It's Eric Bana, a popular Australian stand-up comic, who justifies our interest with a dazzling performance of blunt humor, unpredictability and an edge of menace.
  24. Joe Dirt
    Knows its audience and doesn't stint on the flatulence jokes, poop jokes, leg-humping dogs and moments of homo-panic.
  25. The Girl
    Numbingly dull and repetitive.
  26. Just Visiting
    Amusing enough.
  27. Beautiful Creatures
    Remains exciting, even as we laugh at the amateur-night antics of the women.
  28. The Day I Became a Woman
    Graceful compositions and slow, easy pacing.
  29. Along Came a Spider
    Relentlessly bland.
  30. Pokémon 3: The Movie
    Pokemon is over.
  31. Shadow Magic
    A pleasant but conventional film.
  32. Booye kafoor, atre yas
    A feat of droll, refractive, melodramatic self-portraiture.
  33. Blow
    It's an honest portrayal, but it leaves the audience stranded, without the emotional hook of a character we can care about.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    All Access: Front Row. Backstage. Live!
    Never gets near the soul of today's pop music.
  35. Amores Perros
    There's a seething moral core in Amores Perros that uses the canine savagery as an entre to human brutality.
  36. The Tailor of Panama
    Anyone expecting a flashy Bond-style fantasy is going to be disappointed.
  37. Someone Like You...
    It's a romantic comedy with insights into sex and relationships that are old and obvious.
  38. Spy Kids
    It's entertaining and inoffensive.
  39. Tomcats
    Offers only tired jokes, grimace-worthy physical comedy and bad, bad acting.
  40. The Brothers
    Less like watching a movie than it is like being accosted by one.
  41. Heartbreakers
    Lacks the kind of rhythm and snap to make it work -- and allows this fitfully entertaining romp to dribble on way too long.
  42. Say It Isn't So
    In the same genre as the Farrellys' "There's Something About Mary" and "Dumb and Dumber," only lousy.
  43. Too Much Sleep
    The movie is as modestly unpretentious as David O. Russell's "Spanking the Monkey."
  44. Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale
    The film underscores the paradox in this man's life: the split between the mild-mannered New Yorker and the fearless vagabond who joined an Arakmbut hunting raid.
  45. Memento
    Bound to be talked about, debated and eviscerated far more than it's understood.
  46. Enemy at the Gates
    At times, the sight of reserved English actors slapping, hugging and acting all Russian looks bizarre, though one casting choice is prime: Bob Hoskins has the ideal air of impish menace in the featured role of Khrushchev.
  47. The Dish
    A quirky character study of the four-man team, led by Sam Neill as the crew leader who seems surrounded by an aura of sadness but is so dedicated that he's not above lying to Houston to buy time when something goes wrong.
  48. Kissing Jessica Stein
    Charming and witty, it's also somewhat clumsy.
  49. Simon Magus
    The film has a persuasive murkiness and one extended mythopoetic final sequence that's almost moving in its silence.
  50. When Brendan Met Trudy
    It's a winning little movie about two people who get together, though they have no business getting together.
  51. 15 Minutes
    The picture is more impressive as it goes along, revealing a symmetry of construction underneath the rudiments of a thriller.
  52. Get Over It
    Breaks the formula for teen romances. Martin Short, as the vain and zany drama teacher, does not disappoint.
  53. Blow Dry
    At least a half monty.
  54. The Gleaners & I
    Varda's subject matter is surprisingly rich, but it's her own energetic, curious nature that gives the film its snap.
  55. Me You Them
    Needs to be seen and savored.
  56. Hit and Runway
    For a little while, comedy ensues.
  57. The Caveman's Valentine
    A wildly implausible thriller.
  58. See Spot Run
    Brutally dumb canine comedy.
  59. The Mexican
    Thank God for James Gandolfini.
  60. Series 7: The Contenders
    This gory parody hits television where it hurts -- and draws blood. It will bring joy to the heart of anyone who hates TV.
  61. Monkeybone
    Too grotesque for children and just too silly for their parents.
  62. Last Resort
    A must-see.
  63. 3000 Miles to Graceland
    An overstuffed, underfed numbskull movie.
  64. The Widow of Saint-Pierre
    The director has concocted a tragedy that actually feels tragic.
  65. Too Tired to Die
    Light entertainment that doesn't quite work. The film has too many scenes that meander, and the picture's offhandedness begins to seem less like clumsy charm and more like pointless vamping.
  66. Company Man
    At least one chapter in the yet-to-be-written book "When Bad Movies Happen to Good People" belongs to the folks of Company Man.
  67. Down to Earth
    Beatty's "Heaven Can Wait," released in 1978, was a comic fantasy about a near-death experience. This new version is a near-life experience.
  68. Sweet November
    Neither a masterpiece nor a remake of one, but its wistfulness is infectious, and its melancholy mood lingers for days.
  69. Recess: School's Out
    It's fun, it's kind of somber and it succeeds in making you think about how you might be squandering middle age.
  70. The Price of Milk
    A whimsical modern fairy tale.
  71. Bad Company
    Talk about disturbing.
  72. Hannibal
    The picture is willfully gross, fundamentally stupid and in no way worth the discomfort of watching it. Yet it may be the most well-crafted piece of garbage this year.
  73. Signs & Wonders
    Nossiter's premise is good, and he intrigues us with stylish conceits, but he makes a crucial casting error. Alec ought to be someone we care about.
  74. Saving Silverman
    The movie can barely muster the bravery to be even "Dude, Where's My Car" stoopid.
  75. The Taste of Others
    Wonderfully original comedy.
  76. The Invisible Circus
    Even at her most nihilistic, Cameron Diaz is about as menacing as a boozy college cheerleader.
  77. The Million Dollar Hotel
    Gutter romance meets metaphysical thriller.
  78. Valentine
    Valentine isn't scary, but it is unsettling; not ultimately satisfying, but arresting in the moment.
  79. Head Over Heels
    It's as close to nothing as anything could be while still being something.
  80. In the Mood for Love
    Wong denies us the satisfaction of resolution, but in sharing his mastery of cinema, and his gift for conveying mood, desire and vivid emotions, he's more than generous.
  81. Nico and Dani
    Sweet and harmless -- a beach movie in more ways than one -- but it doesn't run awfully deep.
  82. Trolösa
    Much of the film is so wrenching there's no time for idle thoughts.
  83. Sugar & Spice
    It means to be knowing and cynical but is just callow.
  84. The Wedding Planner
    Manages to do the impossible: It makes Lopez bland.
  85. The Amati Girls
    We all know how actors overact when they play Italians, and we all know how actors overact when they play brain-damaged characters, so just imagine Knight's performance as a brain-damaged Italian American.
  86. The Pledge
    Sets off depth charges of the psyche.
  87. Snatch.
    There's talent here, but for directing, not writing. If Ritchie wants to last, he's going to have to allow somebody else to write his screenplays.
  88. Panic
    Not the kind of movie anyone will remember at Oscar time. But no one who sees it will forget it.
  89. Antitrust
    Taps into a fear hitherto unexplored by cinema: fear of Bill Gates.
  90. Double Take
    Decidedly lowbrow.
  91. Save the Last Dance
    The result is more like an epic "After School Special" -- preachy, runny and oddly warm.
  92. Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes
    Disarmingly intelligent if scattered documentary.
  93. Chunhyangdyun
    Chunhyang is an extravagantly beautiful movie that many viewers are going to love and others are not going to be able to sit still for. That's their problem.
  94. The Claim
    It overcomes some patchiness to turn into a rich emotional experience, ranging in degree from fire to ice.
  95. Shadow of the Vampire
    Dafoe never reverts to campy, movie-monster gestures but seems liberated, consumed by his character, inspired to give a performance that's intuitive and otherworldly.
  96. Traffic
    Explosive entertainment, with the tension and volatility of its subject matter.
  97. All the Pretty Horses
    An elegiac, visually hypnotic film about love, honor, reverence for nature and the loss of tradition.
  98. Thirteen Days
    Fascinating in its depiction of presidential leadership in action.
  99. An Everlasting Piece
    This is a funny novelty, no denying it.
  100. Malèna
    Qualifies as director Giuseppe Tornatore's second full-fledged masterpiece. His first: "Cinema Paradiso."
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