Review Roundup: NICK AND NORAH, APPALOOSA, CHIHUAHUA
By Norm Schrager at October 5, 2008 | 10:33 pm | Print
This weekend brought a deluge of new releases — so many that Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna didn’t even finish in the box office Top 12 in its second weekend. With competition tough and economy even tougher, critics’ reviews have a greater effect on moviegoing. And I’m not just saying that.
With so many releases, I’ve picked these three at random (sort of). We’ll follow up later.
:: NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST
Rotten Tomatoes: 71 / 100
Metacritic: 64 / 100
filmcritic.com: 3 / 5
Michael Cera is quickly becoming the everyman of today’s 20-something set. He looks nerdy, sounds sincere, and has a pursed-lips shyness that makes him seem fairly helpless. In Nick & Norah, Cera plays a jilted puppy dog who connects with cool chick Kat Dennings (The House Bunny) one crazy club-hopping NYC night. Reviews are generally positive for this fun, sweet comedy — and the packed soundtrack is reminiscent of a time (the 1980s) when songs in movies were integrated into the story and memorable.
:: APPALOOSA
Rotten Tomatoes: 76 / 100
Metacritic: 63 / 100
filmcritic.com: 3 / 5
In Ed Harris’ second turn as director/star (the first was Pollock), he goes classic Western with this story about two guys (Harris and Viggo Mortensen) who fall into a thorny love triangle while protecting a town from a gruesome rancher. Appaloosa is a real good-ol’-days Western, true to the core of the genre. Those fans of more modern takes on the category (Unforgiven a perfect example) may be disappointed. Based on Robert B. Parker’s novel.
:: BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA
Rotten Tomatoes: 44 / 100
Metacritic: 43 / 100
Dogs talk. This was obviously developed when “Yo quiero Taco Bell” was on TV every 15 seconds, and someone at Disney had a weak “a ha!” moment. Sounds silly, but the voice actors are getting good reviews (Drew Barrymore, George Lopez, Andy Garcia).
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