Change Your Image
cameo-kirby
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in American Cinema (2001)
Good overview of the subject but no Tito Guízar?
This was well done but it could've been much longer. My big complaint? How do you make a documentary about Latinos in Hollywood and not mention Tito Guízar? He was under contract to Paramount Pictures in the 1930s and at Paramount he was featured in English language films and he also starred in films made in Spanish at Paramount for the export market. He was often on American screens from 1935 to 1950. Guízar was well known to American audiences as he had his own radio shows beginning in the early 1930s on CBS and NBC which led to his screen appearances. He was one of the original singing cowboys on screen and he was one of the performers responsible for the surge in popularity of Latin music in the U.S. in the late 30s/early 40s. They should've included a clip of him in the film somewhere. His omission is puzzling since Guízar WAS interviewed for the project. The interviews for the film are at the UCLA archive.
The producers should consider revisiting this material. It could easily be a mini-series with episodes dedicated to The Silent Era, The Latin Lover, The Sidekick, The Music Makers, The Good Neighbor Policy, The Latin Ladies, The Character Actors, etc. Basically an expanded version of the 2002 film.
Joe's Apartment (1996)
Great Musical Sequences
When I read that someone had made a musical with singing & dancing cockroaches in a filthy apartment I was surprised. That the movie tanked didn't surprise me. I finally saw it and I loved it. Too funny. The musical scenes are great. Whoever planned them out knows a lot about musicals and what makes a song work on screen. The homage to "Footlight Parade" and the Esther Williams aqua spectaculars (aka the song in the toilet bowl) proves it. Great special effects. I wouldn't show it to small kids though-I did and they cried-the bugs freaked them out. Showed it again 6 years later to the same kids and they laughed and laughed. Very imaginative and the musical numbers are better than a lot of what has had some mainstream critics soiling themselves over in recent screen musicals.
How Chicago Rocked the 60's (2001)
Good Show
This segment of "Chicago Stories" on WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" tells the story of the garage bands from the Chicago area that had a lot of hit records in the mid-60s. My only complaint is that it's way too short. As WTTW described it: It all began when the Beatles landed in America, on February 7, 1964. Their arrival heralded the beginning of the "British Invasion," and rock and roll would never be the same. American teenagers listened to their transistor radios or 45 rpm records, and it seemed as though every young, white high-school-age male wanted to start a band. Soon, new rock and roll groups were coming together, playing in garages, basements and living rooms all around Chicago. It was a time when record labels were still based in Chicago, and two local AM radio stations, the powerful WLS (890) and WCFL (1000), fought each other for the young audience. The two 50,000 watt powerhouses did their best to support area bands on their way up, by giving them airplay. Once a group took the major step of actually recording a song, they might make it onto WLS' "Silver Dollar Survey," the official scorecard of top 40 hits, or later, WCFL's Sound 10 Survey. Chicago in the mid-1960s was a place where dreams could, and did, come true. Soon, these bands and their hits were climbing the national charts, with such songs as "Kind of a Drag," "Sugar and Spice," "Gloria" and "Things I'd Like to Say." For the bands that were part of Chicago's Golden Age of Top 40, there's the satisfaction of knowing their music has stood the test of time. Their records are still played on "oldies" stations everywhere. And they all have great affection for their fleeting time in the national spotlight, and their flirtation with the west coast show biz scene. But no matter where they go, Chicago will always be home. End quote-If memory serves this featured the musical groups The Buckinghams, The American Breed, The New Colony Six, The Cryan Shames, The Ides of March, The Shadows of Knight & Chicago. This salute to local bands made good was long overdue. Someone should expand this into a longer special. The locally produced R&B/Soul music scene (Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Butler & The Impressions, Chi-Lites, Five Stairsteps, Rufus "featuring Chaka Khan", Minnie Riperton, etc.) is worthy of its own special as well.
A Matter of Time (1976)
Do it Again
I saw this when it first came out and haven't seen it since. I do remember that some of it was typically Minnelli-beautifully composed and gorgeous, other parts were obviously stock footage and not very attractive at all. The whole film had a disjointed air to it which wasn't surprising since it was well known before the movie was released that "the powers that be" took the film out of Minnelli's hands in post-production. What a shame-even if the film wasn't first rate I certainly would've preferred to see Minnelli's version. I vividly remember the "Do it Again" number. I thought it was beautifully done and the equal of Minnelli's work in his heyday. I've never seen it included in any of the documentaries on Minnelli's work and it should be. Just because the movie as a whole isn't perfect it doesn't mean that some parts aren't worthwhile.