Selena (1997)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Blistering performances.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

The film starts off right at the height of her career. 1995 was a big year for Selena. She had just won a Grammy the year before for Selena Live and had started working with the label to record her English album. As a Selena fan I enjoyed that the film humanized Selena and her humble upbringing. When she passed away, there were many negative rumors surrounding her death and the woman who killed her. This film does a great job in focusing on her talent and career. I gave this video a 8/10 for a few reasons. 1. Certain key elements in Selena's career were left out of the movie. For example, Selena y Los Dinos when they first appeared on the show Johnny Canales. Johnny Canales gave a young teenage Selena the opportunity to be featured on live television multiple times throughout her career. You can literally see her progression as a singer, dancer and even her fluency in Spanish. The moment and events leading up to Selena getting signed by Capital EMI Latin (now Universal Music) were also left out of the movie. *NOTE: In the deleted scenes of the movie it is shown how they received the news and their excitement of being signed with the label. Jose Behar (signed Selena) has said in multiple interviews how he came to discovering Selena y Los Dinos. He describes attending a TMA event in search for an artist to sign up. There is where he saw teenage Selena perform for the first time. Selena and the Dinos eventually did perform in Disney World. Referencing from the scene where young Selena optimistically believes in her dad's vision of the band making it and performing in big venues like Disney World. It would have been nice to have had that concert replicated in the movie. The concert that was recorded and titled "Selena Live" in 1993 was not featured in the film. That event was the most iconic and epic concert in her career. She won a Grammy the following year because of it. Her wardrobe for that concert was also very beautiful. She wore a purple rhinestone jacket/ boots and a bustier ( it is the inspiration of the official Selena wax figure at Madame Tussaud's Hollywood). 2. The way Selena and Chris actually met was far off than what the movie depicts. Read "To Selena with Love" by Chris Perez (Selena's Husband) and you will learn how they truly met and fell in love. The cast for the film was the best that anyone could ask for. Jennifer Lopez did an amazing job in acting, performing and capturing her charisma. Selena would have been an international star by now. We can only dream of what could have been.

Selena is a biographical drama about the life and career of the late Tejano music star Selena, a recording artist who was well known in the United States and Mexico before she was shot to death.It stars Jennifer Lopez as Selena.Edward James Olmos and Constance Marie co-stars.It was written and directed by Gregory Nava.This film concentrates on Selena's relationship with her family and her rise to fame, dealing only briefly with her tragic death. Abraham Quintanilla is a veteran musician who leads a family-based singing group, The Dinos. At a young age, he notices that his daughter Selena has a strong singing voice, and he works her into the act. However, as she grows older, Selena wants to establish her own musical identity; while her heritage is Mexican-American, her primary language is English, and her favorite artists are American pop acts like Donna Summer. While Selena and Abraham sometimes argue about the musical direction of the group, he always respects and supports her talent, and her blend of Tejano roots music and danceable pop rhythms soon sparks a revolution in Latin music. Selena later earns the wrath of her father when she becomes romantically involved with Chris Perez, a rebellious and long-haired guitarist hired to play with the group, but when they elope and Selena convinces Abraham that their love is sincere, Chris is welcomed into the family. After a long string of successes on the Latin charts and playing to a sellout crowd at the Houston Astrodome and a crowd of 100,000 at a stadium in Monterey, Mexico, Selena begins recording her first album in English, which is expected to make her a mainstream star. However, the fates decreed it was an album she would never complete.The movie surmounts its connect-the-dots approach to its heroine's life to create an appealing, energetic look at a too-briefly soaring musical star.Also,it is a simple story of hope and triumph, of one girl with the drive to succeed defying the odds and following her dream that could truly inspire the viewer to achieve their goals.Finally,Jennifer Lopez truly shines in her performance in the title role as she elevates the film immensely with her radiant and energetic performance.

I thought that Jennifer Lopez portrayal of Selena Quintanilla was nothing short of outstanding! Just how good it was can be seen at the very end where we see the real Selena Quintanilla and the likeness and movements that Ms Lopez carries off in the film can be seen in full. But there is much more to the film than a good impression. Jennifer Lopez goes through the full range of emotions and is very believable in every scene she is in. All the other cast members are also superb. My only criticism is why they changed the way she was actually shot? Selena Quintanilla was shot in a motel room and not on stage, but I guess this was done for dramatic effect?

This movie did NOT portray the real Selena nor her family. They are very inconsiderate people. Very money hungry. They will literally "hurt" someone for it as well. Being in the tejano business, you know every band (since it is such a small market). I know bands that were involved with the Q Productions, and every band has been burned in one way or another. They did not get any royalties what so ever, contracts were breached, and the list goes on. At a show in Amarillo, Selena refused to sign autographs and her 1 1/2 hour concert turned into 25 mins because the concert hall was only half full. She was not dedicated to her fans, (it was even written in the Amarillo Globe News the day after). The movie really makes her and her family out to be generous and tight-knit. In actuality, A.B and his father do not get along. Lots of curse words thrown at each other(I witnessed it first hand). Poorly made. Made only for the money that would generate.