I'm baaaaack! So, yes, I am still in Switzerland. I am drinking lots and lots of water. My skin looks tres fab. So, I saw this next film 'cuz I am a fan of JLO. That is really the only reason.

EL CANTANTE

Rated R

Length: 106 minutes

Director: LEON ICHASO

CAST: JENNIFER LOPEZ, MARC ANTHONY, VINCENT LARESCA, JOHN ORTIZ, MANNY PEREZ, NELSON VASQUEZ, ROMI DIAS, FEDERICO CASTELLUCCIO

Genres: DRAMA

Other Features: Color; interactive menus; scene access; audio commentary; featurettes.

Screen Format: Full screen 1.33:1

Closed Captioned
Language and Sound: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

Original Release Date: 2007

Well, the main thing I have to say 'bout this film is that it was WAY TOO FRIGGIN LONG!!! Don't ya know that if you cut out the bad parts you can save money and make a better film. But, hey, whadda I know? I am just a writer. So, JLO was okay. I liked her costumes, make-up and accent work. She gave some depth to a character that was badly written. She plays the wife of HECTOR LAVOE who was a PUERTO RICAN SALSA singer. He died from AIDS in 1993. MARC ANTHONY plays HECTOR. He was okay. They should have cast JAVIER BARDEM, but then they probably wouldn't have had the real singing. The music is really the best part of the film. I used to go to the SALSA clubs in LA and I wished I could have been able to do what the dancers could do. The story is interesting in that it is about a PUERTO RICAN SALSA singer who dies from AIDS. The story and the acting were just lukewarm and as I said before it is just way tooo long. When MARC ANTHONY was on the stage singing the movie flew by. He is a wonderful performer in that respect and the music was really, really good. I loved the part where a fan writes a song for him and then gives it to him and then HECTOR makes it his own. It was a great song. I enjoyed the history of it. A bit LA BAMBA-esque, but still worth the watch if only to watch the musical sequences. Oh, yeah and JLO's outfits. Also, what struck me was the impact he had on the PUERTO RICAN community. He apparently, put SALSA on the map. And well, who doesn't love that! If the film had not had JLO in it it probably would have been completely discarded, which is too bad. It had potential to be an amazing film, but due to the lack of a number of things it just ended up being a step above mediocre and honestly, I don't think that that is a true tribute to this man's work.

Toodles,

Mitzita