San Francisco Chronicle's Scores

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For 9,306 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 2.1 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: 5,162 out of 9306
  2. Mixed: 2,658 out of 9306
  3. Negative: 1,486 out of 9306
9306 movie reviews
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    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Europa
    Zentropa is a film in sunglasses and a black beret, melodramatic and formidable. It took me two viewings of the movie to realize that a compelling story emerges when its surreal settings, harsh lighting, macabre characterizations, dreamlike images and cartoonishly stilted performances are set aside. [26 Jun 1992, p.G5]
    • San Francisco Chronicle
  2. 21 Jump Street
    This film is even better if you come in with no spoilers and low expectations.
  3. Redbelt
    Entertaining in a pulpy kind of way, like the fight films of the 1930s and '40s, and more accessible than most of Mamet's movies.
  4. Vodka Lemon
    Director Hiner Saleem has created a magical movie that veers, even within scenes, from love story to tragedy to comic relief.
  5. A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile
    The film falters a bit near the end, when it dwells on the romantic fallout of the affair, but all in all, “Amina” is an enterprising movie that makes this Internet story cinematically engaging.
  6. Selah and The Spades
    An interesting movie that doesn’t completely satisfy, but its central character lingers in the mind.
  7. Fair Game
    Watts is the movie's soul, thoughtful and deep-revolving.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Jodhaa Akbar
    Indian director Ashutosh Gowariker, who won an Oscar nomination for "Lagaan," usually knows how to tell a good story. Here, however, he seems overwhelmed by the sheer weight of history.
  9. World's Greatest Dad
    After leading the audience into some very inky satire, Goldthwait backs off.
  10. Guncrazy
    Though the film makers would probably like us to regard Guncrazy as a commentary on alienation in the '90s, in the end the picture isn't about much more than its own style. But this commitment to style and the movie's peculiar emotional honesty make it more than a self-conscious genre piece. [05 Feb 1993, p.D1]
    • San Francisco Chronicle
  11. The Deepest Breath
    McGann, whose 2016 documentary “Revolutions” explored the women’s roller derby scene in Ireland, spins a compelling yarn about two fascinating people, although she doesn’t go much below the surface.
  12. Circle of Friends
    Young Benny has a nice smile, and she and Jack seem like pleasant people, but in the end (and in the beginning and in the middle) it's hard to get worked up about them.
  13. Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
    Teen Titans never reaches that sweet spot where adult and kid humor align in a single gag.
  14. Romantics Anonymous
    The word "delightful" is thrown around so much that it often means nothing. Movies that truly have the capacity to delight - that amuse and lift the spirits and create a warm feeling - are rare. Romantics Anonymous is one of those rare delights.
  15. Dying to Know: Ram Dass & Timothy Leary
    Dying to Know: Ram Dass and Timothy Leary is a love story, but not in a physical sense; instead, the love here thrives in the spiritual realm, an intimacy that makes this biographical documentary quite appealing.
  16. The Drop
    Hardy's performance takes a little bit of the sting away from seeing Gandolfini perform on a big screen for the last time. As irreplaceable as Gandolfini may be, it's invigorating to see a young actor elevating to similar heights right before your eyes.
  17. The Company Men
    Solid performances, and a sincere faith in the dignity of the average working stiff, save it from getting too preachy.
  18. Chicago 10
    The movie's effectiveness is distorted by its hero-worship of the Chicago defendants.
  19. The Wild Thornberrys Movie
    It all adds up to a cheekier "Lion King" on a lower budget. But what you miss in spectacle you will make up in laughs.
  20. Goyangileul butaghae
    Nicely performed by a quintet of actresses, but nonetheless it drags.
  21. Divided We Fall
    Audiences will talk about how satisfying this movie is.
  22. Kill Bill: Vol. 1
    It boggles the mind that after six years of silence, all Tarantino has to offer is this garbage.
  23. Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
    Played by likable newcomer Jamie Sives, who resembles Colin Farrell without the scowl, Wilbur grows on you the same way this offbeat movie does.
  24. Martha
    Stewart’s impact is evident within the first hour of “Martha.” That’s a good thing, because the younger audience this film might be targeting lacks the patience for another hour of Cutler’s photo parade, no matter how extraordinary his subject.
  25. One Life
    This is what Hopkins has been showing us for decade after decade: the deepest, rawest and most tortured feelings of private, dignified men. His is nothing less than a glorious cinematic legacy, and the miracle is that he keeps building on it.
  26. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
    Handily beats back the evils of boredom.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Fear(s) of the Dark
    The result is more lyrical than frightening - and there are some misses mixed in with the hits - but it's well worth checking out.
  28. A League of Their Own
    A serious weakness for corn isn't Marshall's only problem. She's got a gift for comedy and she brings out the best in many actors, but she's juggling too many elements here -- baseball, a huge cast, a 1940s milieu -- and never finds a consistently satisfying tone or rhythm. [1 July 1992, p.E1]
    • San Francisco Chronicle
  29. Happiest Season
    Everyone in the movie is excellent, everyone is tonally spot-on, and no one has a single bad moment – which is another way of saying that Clea DuVall, best known as an actress (“Veep,” “Argo”), is a real director. She has made one of the best Christmas movies of the millennium.
  30. Get Duked!
    Doff is a music video guy who’s made a deceptively well-crafted feature debut here. While Get Duked! may lean on stupidity too much for some tastes, it’s nevertheless that rarest of movie creatures: a smart dumb comedy. Perhaps they can only be spotted in the Scottish Highlands these days.
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