San Francisco Chronicle's Scores

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For 9,303 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: 5,160 out of 9303
  2. Mixed: 2,657 out of 9303
  3. Negative: 1,486 out of 9303
9303 movie reviews
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  1. They
    Perfectly acceptable, perfectly bland, competently acted but by no means a scary horror movie, in which "they" are coming to get people.
  2. Extreme Ops
    Part of the appeal is that it's so bad it's good: The story is ridiculous. At other times, it's just plain good: There are ski and snowboarding scenes, plenty of them, that are beautifully filmed and exhilarating to behold.
  3. Solaris
    A ponderous and dreadful film.
  4. Eight Crazy Nights
    You've never seen a movie go from awwwww to ewwwww so fast.
  5. Die Another Day
    The new movie lacks something, a special something. It's a quality that has characterized some of the best of the first 19 Bond movies: extravagant ludicrousness.
  6. Personal Velocity: Three Portraits
    A hit-and-miss affair, or, to be more precise, a miss (story one), hit (story two) and break even (story three) affair.
  7. The Emperor's Club
    A substantial examination of character, morality and destiny.
  8. The Quiet American
    A smart and literate effort with a few weaknesses.
  9. Talk to Her
    This is Almodovar's stab at serious drama, and the result is bizarre and affecting but also unsettling in ways that the filmmaker may not have intended.
  10. Friday After Next
    The jokes are sophomoric, stereotypes are sprinkled everywhere and the acting ranges from bad to bodacious.
  11. The Way Home
    A sweet, unabashedly sentimental tale.
  12. Standing in the Shadows of Motown
    Catches magic on the screen -- a behind-the-curtain peek at some of the world's best-loved music, straight from the cats who made it happen.
  13. Interview with the Assassin
    The movie's storytelling is limp, and writer-director Neil Burger's ultimate unwillingness to commit to a point of view -- was this guy really the assassin? -- seems artistically chicken-hearted.
  14. Half Past Dead
    About as weak a movie as can be made without actively trying.
  15. The Crime of Padre Amaro
    Conveys the character of this tiny, insular community through richness of detail.
  16. Ararat
    This is a heartfelt piece, and while passion alone can't carry a movie, it sure helps. Ararat is uneven because Egoyan couldn't tell it smoothly.
  17. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    Scenes that should have been cut are included, so as not to disappoint anyone. What could have been a small, sweet and genuinely scary film is instead a full hour too long and many millions too fat.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 25 Critic Score
    Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet
    For the most part this is a dull, dour documentary on what ought to be a joyful or at least fascinating subject.
  19. The Bread, My Sweet
    A touching, sophisticated film that almost seems like a documentary in the way it captures an Italian immigrant family on the brink of major changes.
  20. Far From Heaven
    If it's ultimately a failure -- and I think it is -- it's still worth seeing, because it's the most ambitious and magnificent failure in recent memory. That, in a sense, qualifies it as a certain kind of "good movie."
  21. 8 Mile
    A "Rocky"-like tale of determination and long odds that will appeal even to those who are turned off by most rap music.
  22. The Flip Side
    Despite its technical defects and negligent production values, The Flip Side will probably appeal to a Filipino-American audience.
  23. Femme Fatale
    Sexy and passably entertaining, with a plot that's too clever by half.
  24. Strange Fruit
    Takes a fascinating look at the origins and impact of a ballad that's been called "one of ten songs that changed the world."
  25. Treasure Planet
    The Disney cartoon roots are in there somewhere, but this is an oil painting come to life.
  26. The Weight of Water
    Involves two mysteries -- one it gives away and the other featuring such badly drawn characters that its outcome hardly matters. But the picture looks great.
  27. Tully
    Exceptional.
  28. Love in the Time of Money
    Neither original nor presented in a convincing way.
  29. Daughter from Danang
    Superb documentary.
  30. The Santa Clause 2
    A nice little holiday movie.
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