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MOVIES / ON DVD / CRONICAS
Cronicas

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Cronicas (2005)

72%
67%
86%
N/A
N/A
N/A
72 %
Reviews Counted: 71 Fresh: 51  Rotten:20 Average Rating: 6.7/10
 
Consensus: An unsettling and absorbing cautionary tale with John Leguizamo playing an unscrupulous TV reporter who uses the medium to further his own goals. An unsettling and absorbing cautionary tale with John Leguizamo playing an unscrupulous TV reporter who uses the medium to further his own goals. more
 
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Theatrical Release: Jul 8, 2005 Limited
Box Office: $138,868
Synopsis:
The hot and humid village of Babahoyo, Ecuador is besieged by an elusive serial killer. The police have no clues but this mystery has become an obsession for Miami-based tabloid television reporter Manolo Bonilla (John Leguizamo) who is convinced breaking this story will make him a star.... [More]
The hot and humid village of Babahoyo, Ecuador is besieged by an elusive serial killer. The police have no clues but this mystery has become an obsession for Miami-based tabloid television reporter Manolo Bonilla (John Leguizamo) who is convinced breaking this story will make him a star. Bonilla has traveled to the remote village with his producer, Marisa (Leonor Watling) and cameraman, Ivan (José Maria Yazpik) to cover the story for the tabloid TV show "One Hour With The Truth". Manolo has dubbed the killer as the "Monster of Babahoyo" on the show and is determined to uncover the killer's true identity. Tension in the town reaches a boiling point when Vinicio Cepeda (Damián Alcázar), a poor traveling salesman, accidentally runs over a child, and an angry mob led by the child's father, Don Lucho (Henry Layana), attacks him in the streets. Both Vinicio and Don Lucho are arrested. Manolo, who happens to be present during the incident, interviews both men inside a jail teeming with violence. Vinicio tells Manolo that he has information about the "Monster," but in exchange for it, he wants Manolo to do a story exposing his unjust arrest to sway public opinion. After checking out Vinicio's information, Manolo immediately suspects that Vinicio himself could be the killer, but chooses not to tell the corrupt local authorities; he'd rather use the information to make a great story for his show. How far will Bonilla go to get his story? Where is the line between a journalist revealing the truth and inventing it? How powerful is the media? Palm Pictures and Anhelo Productions present CRONICAS, written and directed by Sebastián Cordero (RATAS, RATONES, RATEROS) and produced by Alfonso Cuarón (HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN) and Jorge Vergara (Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN) and Guillermo del Toro (HELLBOY), Bertha Navarro and Isabel Dávalos. The executive producer is Frida Torresblanco. Cinematography by Enrique Chediak. Music by Antonio Pinto. --© Palm Pictures [Less]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: John Leguizamo, Leonor Watling, Alfred Molina, Damián Alcázar

Director: Sebastian Cordero
Screenwriter: Sebastian Cordero
Producer: Alfonso Cuaron, Jorge Vergara, Guillermo Del Toro
Composer: Antonio Pinto

DVD Info

Release:

Nov 8, 2005

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region (unknown)
  • Keep Case

Audio:

  • Surround Sound 5.1 English

Additional Release Material:

  • Aleternate Endings
  • Director's Commentary
  • Featurette
  • Trailers
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Previews

DVD Rom Features:

  • Weblinks

Text/Photo Gallery:

  • Photo Gallery

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image

Proceeds breathlessly and hysterically towards a story that in the end, seems to have hardly left the finish line.

Full Review | Comment
05/24/07 06:53 AM
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press
Ratings Image

A blunt instrument of a tale, with considerable emotional impact.

Full Review | Comment
03/01/07 03:36 AM
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International
Ratings Image

full review in Greek

Full Review | Comment
10/03/06 09:41 AM
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses
Ratings Image

Sebastián Cordero puede respirar tranquilo. Ha seguido su impactante primera película Ratas, Ratones y Rateros con una aún mejor.

Full Review | Comment
05/02/06 06:57 PM
Flavio J. Arosemena
Doncinema.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
12/24/05 03:45 AM
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

...thoroughly underwhelming and surprisingly dull.

Full Review | Comment
12/06/05 07:51 PM
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Ratings Image

A riveting exploration of good and evil where the line between the two is unclear.

Full Review | Comment
11/01/05 03:15 AM
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Nothing in this would-be thriller grabs you by the throat, never mind reaches down to your guts.

Full Review | Comment
10/07/05 02:16 PM
Janice Page
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Leguizamo tackles his first Spanish-language role with considerable aplomb.

Full Review | Comment
09/30/05 01:55 PM
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
09/26/05 03:16 AM
Onion AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

As good a commentary on our present media age as you're likely to find.

Full Review | Comment
09/23/05 03:32 PM
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
Ratings Image

This suspenseful film and its star are as sharp as razors as they delve into the dark corners of life.

Full Review | Comment
09/22/05 03:15 AM
Lindy T. Shepherd
Orlando Weekly
Ratings Image

[Helmer] Cordero tries to humanize his monster and, as such, takes the wind out of Cronicas’s sails.

Full Review | Comment
09/11/05 01:38 PM
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews
Ratings Image

Ecuadoran filmmaker Sebastian Cordero certainly has style to burn and has some intriguing opinions on the news media, though he could have left out some of the more melodramatic plot elements.

Full Review | Comment
09/09/05 02:49 PM
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Ratings Image

What should be the movie's strength, the mano-a-mano psychological sparring between Manolo and Vinicio, fizzles out with a dispiriting and easily anticipated ending.

Full Review | Comment
09/09/05 08:11 AM
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
Ratings Image

An ambitious social-commentary melodrama that works about half the time -- until it engages in the very behavior it sets out to condemn.

Full Review | Comment
09/08/05 02:45 PM
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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a gritty story about a reporter who gets carried away by his ego while he believes he is pursuing the greater good

Full Review | Comment
09/01/05 02:07 PM
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com
Ratings Image

Cordero paints his villain with more points to ponder than his protagonist.

Full Review | Comment
08/30/05 02:46 PM
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews
Ratings Image

We've seen this cautionary tale before, and the outcome, while chilling from an ethical perspective, is almost a foregone conclusion.

Full Review | Comment
08/26/05 11:38 AM
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times
Ratings Image

The hit-and-run destructiveness of the rapacious media is nothing new, but Cordero gives his cynical take a unique setting and a queasy climax.

Full Review | Comment
08/25/05 06:01 PM
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Cronicas Trailer
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News

RT Interview: "Crónicas" Director Sebastián Cordero
posted by Scott Weinberg November 09, 2005
It played in just over 100 theaters back in July, so you can be forgiven if you haven't heard a whole lot about...

Around the Network

• Cronicas at Rotten Tomatoes
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• Cronicas at AskMen
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