Cadillac Records - In the tradition of Ray and Walk the Line, Cadillac Records chronicles the rise and fall of an American musical institution, namely the fabled Chess Records, which launched the careers of Etta James, Muddy Waters, and Chuck Berry among others. The film stars Jeffery Wright, Mos Def, and Beyonce Knowles, who all actually sing in the movie. Critical response has been mostly mixed. Some critics like Robert Wilonsky of the Village Voice criticized the film for being formulaic and being sloppy with history: “There doesn’t seem to be a single fact contained within writer-director Darnell Martin’s ham-fisted fiction, which renders pre-rock musical history as yet another downer soap opera”. Other critics, like Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, looked past these faults, writing, “‘Cadillac Records’ is an account of the Chess story that depends more on music than history, which is perhaps as it should be.” And Rafer Guzman of Newsday praises the film for departing from the familiar story-telling style of previous musical biographies like “Ray”: “Fast, crisp and lively, the film packs a half-dozen stories into two hours with little time for melodrama or sermonizing. The dialogue is quick and sharp; short scenes make powerful points.”
Punisher: War Zone - There have been two previous attempts at adapting The Punisher, Marvel’s long-running comic book series, but they both proved to be resoundingly awful. Judging from the critical response, this latest go-round doesn’t look especially promising either. Most reviewers complained about the film’s, well, punishing amount of violence, like the Orlando Sentinel’s Roger Moore: “[The] Punisher stabs, blows heads off, impales and shoots maybe 244 or so villain-victims. Judge, jury and executioner with extreme prejudice, he locks and loads and locks and loads again. He tosses a bad guy into a glass recycling machine. Love that squishy, slice-and-dice sound effect? Get used to it. Bodily fluids and the sounds they generate are a big part of this gory and wholly unsatisfying slasher film.” Even sympathetic critics like Luke Y. Thompson of SF Weekly describe the movie more as a guilty pleasure than the next “Dark Knight”: “‘Punisher: War Zone’ is like a [Steven] Seagal movie on crank, only with ‘Friday the 13th’ bogeyman Jason Voorhees in the lead.” So if you like your movies with an extra helping of graphic violence and stomach-turning effects, “Punisher: War Zone” might be for you.
Frost/Nixon - In limited release this week is director Ron Howard’s silver screen adaptation of the Tony-winning play “Frost/Nixon.” This film has garnered heaps of critical praise, and you can expect it to fare well in the upcoming awards season. David Ansen from Newsweek raves “On Broadway, Peter Morgan’s ‘Frost/Nixon’ made for a deliciously smart and dramatic mano a mano. The surprising news is that ‘Frost/Nixon’ works even better on screen.”
Also opening in limited release
Nobel Son - about one very dysfunctional family, a couple criminals, and a pile of Nobel Prize cash. Though many critics praised the cast, including Alan Rickman, most reviewers like Alonso Duralde of MSNBC trashed the film: “‘Nobel Son’ was one of my most unpleasant film going experiences of 2008 (and in a year like this, that’s saying something).” Also in selected theaters this week are “Local Color“, “Let Them Chirp Awhile,” and “Ciao.”
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