San Francisco Chronicle's Scores

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For 9,317 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 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: 5,172 out of 9317
  2. Mixed: 2,659 out of 9317
  3. Negative: 1,486 out of 9317
9317 movie reviews
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  1. Naked
    The darker this visionary film gets -- and it gets very dark -- the less comic and the more chilling it becomes. At the same time, it grows more brilliant as a view of modern society poisoned by a battering incivility or cruel exploitation that, in Leigh's view, is played out most profoundly in gender conflict. When ''Naked'' isn't beaning your brain, it's twisting a screwdriver between the wires of your nerves. [28 Jan. 1994, p.C1]
    • San Francisco Chronicle
  2. Pure
    Solid if unspectacular.
  3. Equity
    In the end, what makes Equity an intelligent and honest movie keeps it from being a total crowd-pleaser.
  4. Rapt
    As thrillers go, Rapt is long on intellect and short on action, a virtue to some degree, though not entirely.
  5. Tenet
    It’s slam-bang action adventure that pretty much answers the question, “What if Christopher Nolan made a James Bond film?”
  6. Aquarius
    Aquarius has a lot of things on its mind, and sometimes the plot machinations in the last third seem a tad heavy-handed, almost as if they’re being piled upon a delicate character sketch.
  7. Pieces of a Woman
    What’s fascinating about Kirby here is that even when she appears to be doing nothing, she’s worth watching.
  8. Starred Up
    A potent and disturbing experience. Fortunately it’s much more, offering sharp performances and genuine drama.
  9. Supernova
    Writer-director Harry Macqueen puts the fate of his film on the shoulders of his two leads — Colin Firth as Sam, Stanley Tucci as Tusker — and both actors deliver some of the best work of their careers.
  10. The Hateful Eight
    Needless to say, if “Inglourious Basterds” and “Django Unchained” were too much for you, The Hateful Eight won’t be any easier. This is a big step beyond.
  11. Sommersby
    What sounded like an embarrassing blunder -- the romantic pairing of Richard Gere and Jodie Foster -- turns out to be surprisingly entertaining and persuasive.
  12. Dicks: The Musical
    It’s a deliriously demented LGBTQ+ riff on “The Parent Trap” about accepting love in all forms, repairing broken families and finding your true self, but it accomplishes all of that in the raunchiest way possible.
  13. Army of the Dead
    Snyder served as his own director of photography for the first time and, aided by terrific effects makeup and digital production design, he’s created a sprawling graveyard Vegas of detailed, decaying awesomeness.
  14. Chandni Chowk to China
    More important is to be in a silly mood yourself. Without that - without a complete suspension of disbelief - Chandni Chowk to China is a drag to sit through.
  15. Megamind
    Megamind, it turns out, is a villain to root for.
  16. Potiche
    It's funny, broad and never stops moving. It's made to please, and succeeds.
  17. Money Monster
    In a way it’s just another well-made thriller, but there are things here — currents captured, ideas frozen in time — that might make it more interesting as the years pass. For the time being, it’s good entertainment and deserves to be seen now.
  18. Sorry to Bother You
    As fresh as today’s newspaper — or a blog post — or a tweet from a minute ago. It’s a response to what is going on right now, and it feels like it, not only in content, but in form.
  19. The Fanatic
    So while The Fanatic isn’t doing anything particularly new, it knows exactly the movie it wants to be. There’s a trashy, pulp energy powering us through the efficient 88-minute run time — long enough to invest us in the stakes, short enough not to wear out its welcome.
  20. Little Men
    The movie is as interesting as spying on your neighbors during the most interesting 85 minutes of their lives.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Ivory Tower
    Most interesting, to me, is what happened at New York City's Cooper Union, which has charged no tuition since its founding in 1859. Due in part to mismanagement of funds, the school has announced it will start charging tuition, prompting the students to form their own Occupy Movement. This alone deserves a 90-minute documentary.
  22. Human Resources
    A rare film about the class and educational divide that can happen even within families.
  23. Life, Above All
    What matters most in this sad, sobering movie is not what anyone says; it's what goes unsaid for most of the running time.
  24. Once Upon a Time in the Midlands
    Charming family story.
  25. My Old Lady
    My Old Lady is affecting, even if many of the revelations and high-voltage speeches occur at predictable moments. But if you can look past this formulaic side, it's a movie worth seeing.
  26. Music and Lyrics
    Lawrence's take on pop music success is exactly right, satiric without being absurdist, and therefore a prize worth the effort.
  27. The Dig
    All of it works. All of it holds together, guided by the sure hand of director Simon Stone, who subtly imparts his sense of the story. His idea is that everyone involved mattered, and so we come away with an impression of an entire moment of time.
  28. Inspector Gadget
    While it is a spectacle of animatronics, digital graphics and other special effects, the actors are never overwhelmed by them as personalities.
  29. Dealt
    This is a movie that has lots of magic, in more ways than one.
  30. Young Goethe in Love
    So the situation is fraught, without being clear-cut; in other words, interesting.
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