San Francisco Chronicle's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
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:
9305 movie reviews
  1. P.S.: It stinks.
  2. Clever and enjoyable.
  3. A welcome throwback to family-friendly PG moviemaking.
  4. Steep begins to feel a mite in need of tighter editing. In truth, the film will appeal primarily to skiers, while others may get a bit, well, snow-blind.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    What looks good on paper contracts doesn't guarantee results. Stylized but spasmodic, this "Sweeney" seems more interested in distancing than captivating an audience.
  5. For pure, uncomplicated enjoyment, it's the movie to see right now.
  6. A movie that features a cartoon rodent eating his brother's feces, and do you really need to know more about this update of Ross Bagdasarian's iconic musical creation?
  7. If you want lots of Will Smith and industrial-strength special effects, the movie delivers.
  8. The terseness of Hosseini's prose has been replaced by the sentimentality of the director's approach.
  9. Lush and heartfelt, but compelling only in fits and starts.
  10. Oliver Twist" meets "A Clockwork Orange" meets a reckless abandonment of credibility.
  11. May be far from perfect, but the big question is why you're sitting in a movie theater watching it instead of cuddling up at home with the remote in one hand and a steaming toddy in the other.
  12. The stories are harrowing, and because they are delivered by living, breathing witnesses, they move us in deep ways that the archival footage, for all its horror, cannot.
  13. An unforgettable examination of a host of dark impulses.
  14. The movie's onslaught of psychobabble is the annoyance most likely to ruin your evening. Imagine getting stuck on a ski lift with Dr. Phil for nearly two hours.
  15. Has a wicked sense of humor.
  16. A confluence of perfection in every aspect of the film.
  17. By the end, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly achieves a victory over difficult material, but celebrating that fact doesn't preclude recognizing the story is not a natural for movies and remains an uneasy match.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    While trying to establish whether a conspiracy took place, the film attempts to solve the enigma that was Lee Harvey Oswald.
  18. At first, the technique seems gimmicky, but finally it's as compelling a perspective as any to understand how these men passed through agony to some sort of peace.
  19. The right mix of humor and horror and with not even a shred of sentimentality.
  20. Wallows in bleakness and settles for sentimental gestures.
  21. Gripping and ultimately poignant thriller.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 25 Critic Score
    An inane musical melodrama.
  22. Adams does offer quite a turn: Portraying a version of Disney's Snow White, she owns the character, down to every warble and twirl.
  23. Not a spectacular movie, but the action scenes are well shot, there's no shortage of R-rated gore and the plot moves along quickly enough to mask the fact that the whole endeavor is completely ridiculous.
  24. Anyone can make a bad movie, but it takes a good filmmaker to make one as bad as I'm Not There.
  25. While it's riveting throughout, The Mist is a bit bloated.
  26. It's warm, witty and alive, with a fantastic cast and a belief in its characters that transcends its formulaic tendencies.
  27. A lightweight and sentimental exercise that succeeds at little except maybe inspiring the viewer to go out and find a decent curry.

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