Music of the Heart (Miramax Collector's Series)
from Miramax
Why, you might ask, would Wes Craven direct a conventional biopic about Roberta Guaspari, a divorced mother of two who created an acclaimed music program in East Harlem's troubled school system? After all, Craven built his career on Freddy Krueger and the Scream trilogy, and you won't find razor-tipped gloves or a single drop of blood in Music of the Heart. All Craven has to do is provide a safe working environment for Meryl Streep (who earned an obligatory Oscar nomination), sublimate his deft directorial style, and surrender to the banalities of Pamela Gray's screenplay, which would've played more effectively on cable TV.
To be fair, Music of the Heart (partially inspired by the 1996 documentary Small Wonders) serves its purpose quite nicely. Streep is flawless in a non-showy role, and the story of Guaspari's celebrated violin training program provides the requisite rush of inner-city inspiration. As a fact-based companion to Mr. Holland's Opus, the film is less effective but similarly engaging; you'd have to be cold-hearted to dismiss it altogether. It's best when focusing on Guaspari's school program and the 10-year struggle to keep it alive; the drama falters when dealing half-heartedly with her tentative relationships, notably with a journalist (Aidan Quinn) who shies from commitment. And Craven? He seems content to direct by the numbers here, leaving inspiration on the screen while forfeiting his own. --Jeff Shannon
Two-time Academy Award(R)-winner Meryl Streep (1983 Best Actress, SOPHIE'S CHOICE; 1980 Best Supporting Actress, KRAMER vs. KRAMER) stars with Angela Bassett (HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK) in a heartwarming, acclaimed true story of how one woman's musical gift affected those who least expected it. A single mother with little more than talent and the determination to make a difference, Roberta Guaspari (Streep) overcame the skepticism of everyone who didn't think she should be teaching violin to students in a tough inner-city neighborhood. But even after a decade of ever-growing popularity and countless success stories, Roberta and her kids must rise to meet an even greater challenge: budget cuts aimed at shutting down her valuable program for good! Also starring Aidan Quinn (PRACTICAL MAGIC) and Grammy-winner Gloria Estefan in a stellar cast, this extraordinary story will inspire anyone who's ever thought their dreams were too far out of reach!
Elmopalooza!
from Sesame Street
Basically, this is a collection of songs from 30 years of Sesame Street, in which sweet Elmo and his Muppet pals are joined by David Alan Grier, Jon Stewart, Gloria Estefan, the Fugees, Shawn Colvin, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Grier (of the comically sour face) and Stewart (of the ironic smile) provide some funny stuff, and the Muppets share songs with the musical guests. This nonstop revue is a blast for parents as well as little ones. --Tom Keogh
Celine Dion - All the Way... A Decade of Song & Video
by Randee St. Nicholas
from Sony
It's clear from the live performances on All the Way... A Decade of Song & Video that Celine Dion's audiences adore her. And what's not to adore? She's beautiful, talented, and--corny as it sounds--seems really nice. This 90-minute compilation features 12 videos and five live songs illustrating the French-Canadian singer's transformation from a perky teen to a sophisticated international star. In the early '90s, Dion sang boppy tunes such as "Mislead" and "Love Can Move Mountains." The mid-decade Dion (decidedly sexier) is represented by "Because You Loved Me," "The Power of Love," and "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." Her soaring voice is powerful and poignant, reminding us why Titanic's "My Heart Will Go On" became such a huge hit. The compilation is ballad-heavy, but her last video of the decade, "That's the Way It Is," marks a welcome return to her earlier, sassier manner. --Dana Van Nest
For Love or Country - The Arturo Sandoval Story
by Joseph Sargent
from Hbo Home Video
For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story chronicles the life of a man torn between his home and his devotion to his music. In a Golden Globe-nominated performance, Andy Garcia portrays the gregarious, passionate, and obstinate Arturo Sandoval, the Grammy-winning Cuban trumpet player.
This HBO film shows how Sandoval's life in revolutionary Cuba is affected--beginning in the early 1970s--by his zeal for his music and by the limits placed on him by his homeland. Representing his torn loyalties are Dizzy Gillespie (the enigmatic jazz musician played by Charles S. Dutton) and Sandoval's wife, Marianela (played by the beautiful Mia Maestro). Gillespie embodies the freedom to follow one's dream, while Marianela represents family loyalty and the ideals of the Castro revolution. Yet, the same regime his wife embraces forces Arturo to play government-imposed music instead of the jazz that he loves. Sandoval travels the world, and while the Cuban government profits from his success, he is exposed to a freedom that eventually draws him to the difficult and life-changing decision he and his family feel compelled to make.
Against a backdrop of beautiful scenery and exceptional music, For Love or Country provides a harsh depiction of revolutionary Cuba, its outmoded lifestyle, and the restrictions placed on its people. --Mindy Ruehmann
VH1 Divas Live
by Michael Simon
from Sony
Once an appellation reserved for high-flying operatic stars, the diva has gone mainstream in recent decades, mirroring pop music's post-rock recovery of glitz, glamour, and theatrical hyperbole. Where once there was but a handful of pop divas, fans can now find a growing legion of contenders, a trend underscored by this 1998 cable special originally produced for VH1. The show's producers start with the title's high concept (five divas, one stage!), add an admirable if shrewd charity hook (the better to recruit platinum stars without prohibitive fees), and provide fans with an otherwise straightforward revue, interspersed with introductory cameos from film and television actresses.
For the starring quintet's fans, VH1 Divas Live is hard to disparage: Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain, and Mariah Carey provide the requisite combination of beauty, high-ticket sartorial glamour, and stage drama, and their brief sets hew to their biggest hits. Beyond that common formula, these four do diverge somewhat, Dion and Carey most closely following the mannered tradition of the prima donna, Estefan (who, between songs, admits her bemusement at inclusion) offering an earthier and less calculated variant, and the nominally country-oriented Twain rounding out the headliners as a diva-in-the-making, perfectly packaged if vocally more modest.
Still, it's the show's "old timers" who remind us of what's too often missing from today's diva--the emotional largesse that fans crave, and an underlying sense of true worldliness. The fifth featured diva, Aretha Franklin, has never achieved conventional glamour, but what she offers in vocal power and career prestige enables Lady Soul to cast a long shadow across the entire show, even when her actual performances are duets or ensembles. And Carole King, also along for duets and ensemble spots, is even less to the diva manor born, a quintessential singer-songwriter even when draped in an elegant black suit, but her longstanding credibility likewise translates to pole position here. --Sam Sutherland
Roots of Rhythm
by Howard Dratch
from New Video Group
Latin music has always been a fixture in American popular culture, but its history reflects centuries of change and complexity from diverse sources. Roots of Rhythm, an incredible three-hour film originally shown on PBS in 1997, traces the development of this exciting musical genre, going back 500 years across three continents. Hosted by the famed Caribbean American entertainer Harry Belafonte, the film begins in West Africa, in the villages that ring with the ancestral anthems of sacred Yoruba beats and bata drums. The focus shifts to Spain, where modern-day troubadours sing their haunting, Moorish-tinged ballads and Gypsies dance their heated flamenco dances. Those musical influences are brought together by the transatlantic slave trade in the island of Cuba, where enslaved Africans and Spanish immigrants mixed and melded each others' music into a myriad of new, hybrid creations like the rumba, tumba francesa, danzon, and mambo. Belafonte quotes a poet who said, "Cuban music is a love affair between the African drum and the Spanish guitar."
In America, this love affair bloomed in New York, where Cuban and African American jazz musicians like Machito, Mario Bauza, and Dizzy Gillespie melded mambo rhythms to bebop, creating Latin jazz. Belafonte then brings us to the dazzling timbales master Tito Puente and vocalist Celia Cruz, who reigned as the king and queen of salsa, the stateside version of Cuban dance music that emerged in the '60s. The film offers revealing interviews and music clips with many Latin music stars, including Gloria Estefan of Miami Sound Machine and Panamanian Rubén Blades. The rare archival footage features Dizzy Gillespie's 1948 number "Manteca," bandleader Xavier Cugat's "Gypsy Mambo," and a cartoon clip of Donald Duck doing "Tico Tico." After watching this engaging and encyclopedic film, you'll never dance to Latin music the same way again. --Eugene Holley Jr.
Long before World Music became a record store staple, Americans were singing along to the sweet sounds of Celia Cruz and dancing to the rhythmic beats of Tito Puente.
Harry Belafonte hosts this globe-trotting, star-studded celebration tracing the history of the popular sounds we call Latin music, from tribal celebrations in African jungles to Cuba's wild carnivals and New York City's hottest nightspots.
This critically acclaimed production highlights an incredible array of dancing and musical performances from world-renowned stars including Gloria Estefan, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Desi Arnaz, Celia Cruz, Ruben Blades, Isaac Oviedo, King Sunny Ade and many more.Don't miss this celebration of the explosive sound that has the whole world dancing.
DVD Features: Interactive Menus; Scene Selection
Gloria Estefan - Live in Atlantis
by Marty Callner
from Sony
Safe from the Start
by Rob Reiner
from Parents' Action for Children
Hosted by Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan shows parents and caregivers how to keep children safe from accidental injuries starting at birth. Learn how to avoid potential hazards and make your child's environment as safe as possible, both inside and outside the home. The video provides useful information about: car seats and car safety, childproofing at home; feeding and food safety; toy safety; sleep and bedtime; bathroom hazards; and safety outside the home.
From the I Am Your Child video series, produced by actor/director Rob Reiner and Parents' Action for Children.
Gloria Estefan: Don't Stop!
by Mo Fitzgibbon
from Sony
Ray Charles - 50 Years in Music
from Image Entertainment
A 1991 concert performance by Ray Charles filmed in Pasadena, Calif., with rehearsal footage, interviews, and bonus songs.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: CHARLES,RAY
Title: 50 YEARS IN MUSIC
Street Release Date: 11/08/2005
Genre: BLUES
It's possible, likely even, that Ray Charles put on a few poor or at least perfunctory performances in his career, but 50 Years in Music isn't one of them. Combined with his sheer talent, the man's natural ebullience and joy at playing music were enough to transcend the restrictions of any given scene--in this case, an antiseptic concert hall filled with a glamorous crowd barely visible beyond the footlights. In fact, if there's any significant drawback to this 90-minute show, recorded in 1991 in Pasadena, California, it's that there isn't enough Ray. Days before his 60th birthday, he showed up to deliver versions of a few of his standards ("What'd I Say," "Busted," "Georgia On My Mind," "America the Beautiful"), along with some less usual fare (the country-tinged "Just for a Thrill," the bluesy "Can't Keep a Good Man Down"), imbuing every tune with a freshness one might have thought impossible, given how many times he'd performed them. But there's a lengthy mid-show stretch when Charles isn't even onstage, and classics like "Your Cheatin' Heart," "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "I Got a Woman" are performed by Randy Travis, James Ingram, and Michael McDonald respectively; good singers all, but not in a league with Brother Ray. Meanwhile, three duets yield mixed results: Ray and Stevie Wonder mesh superbly on "Livin' for the City" and Willie Nelson relaxes with the star on "Busted," but the egregious Michael Bolton damn near ruins "Georgia" with his ear-shattering, over-the-top emoting. And the presence of Tevin Campbell (a young Quincy Jones protégé who comes on like a more wholesome version of Michael Jackson) and Brit band the Brand New Heavies, neither of whom performs a song that has anything to do with Ray Charles, is merely baffling. 50 Years in Music is just fine as tributes go, but as the late attorney Johnnie Cochran might have put it, "If you've got Ray, let him play." --Sam Graham
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