An in-depth look into the life and work of musician Frank Zappa.... (Full plot summary below)
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An in-depth look into the life and work of musician Frank Zappa.
Leave your thoughts about Zappa.
| Chicago TribuneKatie WalshIn Zappa, this legendary artist’s uncompromising nature is bracing, bold and utterly refreshing. |
| RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiI found the film to be an engrossing look at Zappa and his legacy that nevertheless avoids the mere hagiography that films of this sort run the risk of embracing when not handled properly. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreAlex Winter’s Zappa is perhaps the most thorough Zappa screen biography to come along, and that’s acknowledging how hopeless the job of making The Compleat Zappa bio-doc is. |
| The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeKey to the success of the film is the editing, a pinballing assault of free association, claymation and gleeful profanity, which goes some way towards recreating what it must have been like to spend time inside Zappa’s head. |
| The Irish TimesDonald ClarkePerhaps overwhelmed by interviews, experimental movies and live footage, Winter allows few compositions to play at length. But the full man emerges in all his contradictions and confrontations. |
| The TelegraphTim RobeyAn assortment of myths are exploded in Zappa, the baggily engaging docu-portrait directed by Bill & Ted star Alex Winter. |
| TheWrapSteve PondAs Zappa makes clear, Frank Zappa spent his whole career keeping himself unique, often to his credit and occasionally to his detriment. Winter’s movie does the same, in a way that does justice to a guy who’s not easy to do justice to. |
| Washington PostAnn HornadayZappa gives its subject his well-earned due within the rock firmament. But even more valuable, Winter gives Zappa pride of place among the most important composers of the 20th century, sharing some extraordinary performances of his little-known classical work. |
| Boston GlobeTy BurrZappa also gently touches on Frank’s contempt for the general run of humanity, not just Tipper Gore and other members of the Parents Music Resource Center. He spoke witheringly of his appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” where the cast made fun of his lifelong no-drugs stance. |
| VarietyOwen GleibermanIt’s a multimedia immersion, filled with rare footage of Zappa from his teenage years on and assembled with the loving dexterity we’ve come to expect from Alex Winter as a filmmaker. |
