San Francisco Chronicle's Scores

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For 9,305 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: 5,161 out of 9305
  2. Mixed: 2,658 out of 9305
  3. Negative: 1,486 out of 9305
9305 movie reviews
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  1. 21
    A movie with an irresistible premise that ultimately collapses around the whole issue of motivation. Until it does, this is a thoroughly entertaining picture.
  2. Chapter 27
    An uncomfortable ride.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Cool School
    Takes its title from an early Artforum article that described the sleek aesthetic of the then-new Southern California art.
  4. My Brother Is an Only Child
    A provocative character study and portrait of the times.
  5. Priceless
    Stop laughing long enough, and you'll see that it's a picture about compromised lives and love for sale. But no one who watches Priceless will stop laughing for that long.
  6. Stop-Loss
    Clearly, Peirce's motives are pure. She's not using the "stop-loss" issue as a wedge to make the government or the administration look bad. She's using it to dramatize an injustice and to advocate on behalf of the soldiers.
  7. Backseat
    Almost gets its right.
  8. Alexandra
    In the hands of visionary filmmaker Alexander Sokurov, this simple material makes for a haunting drama about war, generational relationships and the human condition.
  9. Shotgun Stories
    An austere rural landscape, festering hatred, class tensions, terse dialogue - these are common currency in indie movies these days. Shotgun Stories uses them all, but manages to stand out from the crowd.
  10. Drillbit Taylor
    Another dreadful, not-funny Owen Wilson movie, in which Wilson is the best thing.
  11. The Grand
    The performers don't really seem at the top of their game here.
  12. The Hammer
    Nothing groundbreaking, but there's an easy charm in the movie.
  13. Shelter
    Features a superb performance in the lead role, a strong supporting cast, very good cinematography and, most of all, emotional authenticity.
  14. Meet the Browns
    There are a few laughs and some touching moments, but nothing you couldn't get by watching episodes of "Good Times" and "Little House on the Prairie" back to back.
    • 37 Metascore
    • 38 Critic Score
    Shutter
    Fans of J-horror (for Japan, where the genre was born; its conventions have since spread to South Korea and Thailand) will find Shutter familiar; others may just doze.
  16. Boarding Gate
    Call it a victory of conviction over substance, but when Argento is onscreen, you look at her - not because she's good, but because she's there in a way nobody else is.
  17. Love Songs
    A surprisingly joyous musical.
  18. Planet B-Boy
    Infectiously energetic.
  19. Irina Palm
    Sam Garbarski's use of slow-motion shots is pretentious, and he paces the film too slowly. But he captures the seedy side of London, giving you a feel for Soho during the day when sunshine exposes a cheap gaudiness.
  20. Under the Same Moon (La misma luna)
    Although based on a fictional story, it has the feel of truth and is a vivid reminder of the hell Mexicans put themselves through to live in the United States, even illegally.
  21. Never Back Down
    A junior version of "Fight Club," only with no movie stars and different moves.
  22. Sleepwalking
    A slow-moving family drama guaranteed to induce a nap if not somnambulism.
  23. City with No Mercy
    Has a solid story, which keeps things interesting during the quiet moments when nobody is getting kicked in the head.
  24. Funny Games (2008)
    Just because it's a conscious commentary on other vile, useless, pointless cinematic exercises doesn't make it any less vile, useless and pointless.
  25. Blind Mountain
    A potent drama from Yang Li, one of China's Sixth Generation filmmakers noted for the stark realism and documentary feeling of their work.
  26. 10,000 BC
    Completely ridiculous, but fun to look at.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Bank Job
    A brisk, entertaining crime thriller.
  28. College Road Trip
    Relies on slapstick scenes that are neither essential nor especially clever.
  29. Married Life
    It's a drama with elements of black comedy and suspense, European in feeling but American in attitude. Just for fun, it's set in 1949, an era of glamour, of Hitchcock and of husbands even more clueless than they are today.
  30. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
    Frothy and exuberantly entertaining - in part because of the sexual innuendoes - it's the best romantic comedy so far this year.
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