|
1/4
|
58%
|
John Dies at the End (2013) |
"
Nobody cares about John."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Feb 7, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
——
|
Shanghai Calling (2013) |
"
Throughout there are jokes that feel like in-jokes, about Chinese customs and business practices, but viewers will catch on, just as a visitor might, and start to get the feel of things."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Feb 7, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
86%
|
Side Effects (2013) |
"
It's a gripping, maddening and thoroughly satisfying thriller, made with artfulness and integrity."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Feb 7, 2013
|
|
1/4
|
24%
|
Identity Thief (2013) |
"
"Identity Thief" is not only not funny. It's negative funny. It's short on laughs, but it will disturb and annoy."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Feb 7, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
78%
|
Warm Bodies (2013) |
"
We're left with a setup that guarantees only 15 minutes of wholehearted enjoyment, followed by 80 minutes of intermittent mild amusement."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Feb 1, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
36%
|
Stand Up Guys (2013) |
"
If you don't think Al Pacino still has it in him, this is a welcome chance to be proved wrong."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Feb 1, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
49%
|
Bullet to the Head (2013) |
"
In "Bullet to the Head" violence is abrupt, shattering and consequential. It's not for laughs. It's graphic and unsettling, and it makes us feel uneasy, as we should, about the world the characters inhabit."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Feb 1, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
79%
|
Quartet (2013) |
"
Hoffman, in his directorial debut, has crafted a hopeful movie with a warm atmosphere, but one that's realistic, too."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Jan 24, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
63%
|
Mama (2013) |
"
"Mama" is skillfully made, and although Chastain is the best thing in it, she's not the only thing in it."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Jan 17, 2013
|
|
1/4
|
59%
|
The Last Stand (2013) |
"
"The Last Stand" is the movie equivalent of an idiot who, to avoid scorn, starts acting like an even bigger idiot, so as to get in on the joke, too."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Jan 17, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
26%
|
Broken City (2013) |
"
In the end, Wahlberg knows what he needs to know and takes sober satisfaction in a job well done. And the audience knows everything, too, but is less satisfied."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Jan 17, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
32%
|
Gangster Squad (2013) |
"
Director Ruben Fleischer leans hard on the violence card, but with little return in the way of excitement, and at the expense of character and story."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Jan 10, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
93%
|
Amour (2012) |
"
"Amour" is also unforgettable and one of a kind, two hours of torment that, in the end, you will probably not regret."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Jan 10, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
83%
|
Your Sister's Sister (2012) |
"
Movies that start well and end badly occur often enough, and yet even knowing that is no preparation for what happens to Your Sister's Sister."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Jan 8, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
93%
|
Zero Dark Thirty (2013) |
"
One of the most innovative and best made films of the past year. Every now and then, even Dick Cheney gets to like a great movie."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Jan 3, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
70%
|
Les Misérables (2012) |
"
At the heart of the "Les Misérables" movie was a good idea that just didn't work out this time. The idea was that the actors should sing their songs live on camera."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 28, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
60%
|
My Worst Nightmare (2012) |
"
[Huppert] can't get laughs where there are none, and she can't buy a laugh in the movie's second half."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 28, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
50%
|
Promised Land (2013) |
"
"Promised Land" is a fine place to start appreciating Matt Damon, who always makes it seem as if everybody else is acting and he's just going through the movie being natural."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 28, 2012
|
|
4/4
|
89%
|
Django Unchained (2012) |
"
"Django Unchained" is the most consistently entertaining movie of 2012."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 25, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
81%
|
Rust and Bone (2012) |
"
"Rust and Bone" is a tough movie about tough people for a tough audience. So prepare to get roughed up a little."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 20, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
62%
|
Jack Reacher (2012) |
"
An average action film, made slightly better by Cruise, and more bizarre by Herzog, and more watchable by Pike, but still within the average range, a silk purse that still says oink."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 20, 2012
|
|
1/4
|
51%
|
This is 40 (2012) |
"
The real problem with "This Is 40" is its lack of truth, that Apatow wanted to express something about married life, and it eluded him."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 20, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
80%
|
The Impossible (2012) |
"
Bayona's skill is evident from the movie's first moments."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 20, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
37%
|
The Guilt Trip (2012) |
"
Something rare: a warm and insightful comedy about a mother and her grown son."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 18, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
95%
|
The Central Park Five (2012) |
"
"The Central Park Five" is worth seeing, both for the ways it's timeless and for the ways it encapsulates an era."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 13, 2012
|
|
1/4
|
65%
|
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) |
"
If you loved the earlier films, these are moments you will hold on to, but they're very few, and they're not enough."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 13, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
38%
|
Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) |
"
Just think of it as a movie about a friendly, sick old man who can be quite a handful, and put the real FDR out of your mind."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 13, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
96%
|
In the Family (2012) |
"
To see it is to sit there for long stretches amazed at how clumsy, fake and misguided it is. But then, five minutes later you might easily be riveted and moved by its awkward brilliance."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 7, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
20%
|
Lay the Favorite (2012) |
"
"Lay the Favorite" is a small and not particularly ambitious movie, but it's pleasing and exceptionally well made."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 7, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
4%
|
Playing for Keeps (2012) |
"
For a trifle - one that probably looked like one on the printed page, too - "Playing for Keeps" somehow attracted a strong cast."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Dec 6, 2012
|
|
0/4
|
37%
|
The Collection (2012) |
"
There's a bad movie every week, but it takes a special one to make you start anticipating the decline of Western civilization."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 29, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
75%
|
Killing Them Softly (2012) |
"
There is not one moment in the film that doesn't represent the director's carefully considered thought, whether we're talking about acting values, camera placement, sound or style of presentation."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 29, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
64%
|
Hitchcock (2012) |
"
An entertaining, economical and thoroughly enjoyable glimpse into a familiar artist's creative process."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 22, 2012
|
|
2.5/4
|
88%
|
Life of Pi (2012) |
"
A movie that can't be dismissed because there is too much in it but can't be embraced because it's all spread too thin."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 21, 2012
|
|
1/4
|
11%
|
Red Dawn (2012) |
"
Unfortunately, the characters are so programmatic, the premise so ridiculous and the situations so far-fetched even if you accept that premise that no energy can be built, and the little that's there can't be sustained."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 20, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
89%
|
A Royal Affair (2012) |
"
"A Royal Affair" is an engaging and entertaining film, one that might have been great, if only the history were different."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 15, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
92%
|
Silver Linings Playbook (2012) |
"
It's a strain to care about Pat, and it's impossible to believe in his world."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 15, 2012
|
|
1/4
|
63%
|
Anna Karenina (2012) |
"
Wright made the movie he wanted to make, and he made it well. It just wasn't worth making."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 15, 2012
|
|
1/4
|
48%
|
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012) |
"
It's a movie so dull you might start yanking on your own head after about an hour."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 15, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
68%
|
This Must Be The Place (2012) |
"
The movie replaces emotional precision and intellectual honesty with syrupy sincerity and insistence."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 8, 2012
|
|
4/4
|
47%
|
The Details (2012) |
"
"The Details" is not just entertaining, but potentially useful."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 8, 2012
|
|
4/4
|
90%
|
Lincoln (2012) |
"
Lincoln has been an oracle, and now, in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," as portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis, he is a man."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 8, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
92%
|
Skyfall (2012) |
"
"Skyfall" is a different kind of Bond movie, one that works just fine on its own terms, but a steady diet of this might kill the franchise. One "Skyfall" is enough."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 8, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
73%
|
A Late Quartet (2012) |
"
For those willing to enter this world and pay attention, "A Late Quartet" provides distinct and uncommon satisfactions."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 1, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
78%
|
The Bay (2012) |
"
Like a "Blair Witch Project" for thinking adults, one that's scary in two distinct ways. "
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 1, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
78%
|
Flight (2012) |
"
It's 150 minutes long, goes by in a shot, and for at least 135 minutes, it's a thoroughly engrossing experience."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Nov 1, 2012
|
|
2/4
|
33%
|
Chasing Mavericks (2012) |
"
"Chasing Mavericks" moves as fast as a runner in waist-high water and wears out its welcome."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Oct 25, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
94%
|
The Sessions (2012) |
"
It sends viewers out of the theater with a heightened sense of the physical and a real feeling for all the things that sex means in human life."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Oct 25, 2012
|
|
3/4
|
65%
|
Cloud Atlas (2012) |
"
Enormous in length and scope, a film whose purpose doesn't even begin to come into focus until two hours in."
—
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted Oct 25, 2012
|
