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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  1. The Incredibles
    The visual and emotional hues are darker [than previous Pixar films], and the focus rests more on middle age than coming of age. The adventures of a family of superheroes are likely to thrill and amuse children, but the film's more grown-up themes might go over their heads.
  2. Voices of Iraq
    A must-see for anyone still coming to terms with the chaos in Iraq.
  3. Enduring Love
    Haunting case study of a romantic obsession.
  4. Birth
    Begins like a penetrating exploration of love, grief and suffering and ends looking like a highbrow version of "Bride of Chucky."
  5. Saw
    The slasher scenes, though relatively few, are amazingly evocative for such a low-budget movie.
  6. Ray
    Foxx's complex performance and the filmmaker's willingness to look at the dark side place Ray safely out of the realm of typical Hollywood hagiography.
  7. Sideways
    Payne's little marvel.
  8. Stella Street
    By the time audience members start to get the joke, the film is already over.
  9. Undertow
    Loses momentum midway into the boys' journey.
  10. Hearts and Minds (re-release)
    The unnerving brilliance of the film owes to the director's skill at assembling information and allowing it to speak for itself.
  11. The Manson Family
    Hard, ugly and nasty yet a stylistically vigorous and often insightful piece of work.
  12. Lightning in a Bottle
    The end result is something like the best blues festival anyone could have thrown last year, although Lightning in a Bottle falls a fair piece short of its own lofty goal.
  13. Postmen in the Mountains
    Dreamy and deliberate.
  14. The Machinist
    The film presents a compelling portrait of mental illness, but looking at Bale may make audiences feel as though they're watching a documentary.
  15. The Grudge
    Shimizu can't quite pull everything together, trying to get off easy with a bargain-bin twist ending that most of the audience will see coming by the time the pile of corpses reaches double digits.
  16. Surviving Christmas
    Everything about it is manufactured -- the emotions are false, the sentiments are phony, and the story is a construction of mirthless silliness. It's a product, not a creative expression.
  17. Sex Is Comedy
    Annoying, soporific and singularly humorless.
  18. P.S.
    Goes disappointingly soft despite two dynamite lead performances.
  19. The Final Cut
    So fascinating and has so many implications that it balances out some real flaws in the story.
  20. Moolaadé
    Not always pleasant to watch.
  21. Being Julia
    A one-woman show.
  22. Shall We Dance
    Considering the talent on both sides of the camera and a story that worked beautifully the first time around, Shall We Dance? should have been a lot better than OK.
  23. Team America: World Police
    Surprisingly, the results are embarrassing. As puppetry, Team America is stilted. As satire, it's gutless and lazy. And as comedy, it barely delivers laughs.
  24. The Scandal
    Imaginative and properly wicked.
  25. Vera Drake
    Expansive, but succinct. Leigh tells a small story and doesn't try to make something huge of it.
  26. Around the Bend
    For the silent masses who cherish those "Hallmark Hall of Fame" specials, but wish they had just a little more profanity, the release of Around the Bend is occasion to rejoice.
  27. Vodka Lemon
    Director Hiner Saleem has created a magical movie that veers, even within scenes, from love story to tragedy to comic relief.
  28. Yes Nurse! No Nurse!
    A pleasant enough movie whose overt charm sometimes works against it.
  29. Go Further
    Actor Woody Harrelson is in his full activist mode in this low-key and loose documentary.
  30. Stage Beauty
    The film rarely matches Crudup's performance, appearing confused itself about whether it's farce or drama.
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