Medium Salsa
03. Aug, 2007 
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El Cantante
Cant Stop The Music
Trailers & Mo
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Who is Héctor Lavoe? That is the question I had going into El Cantante… and it’s still the same question I have going out. While I may not have learned a lot about the man himself, I now know the dude created some sick sick jams. Even if you’ve never heard a note of salsa music in yer life, those lively tunes will be pulsating in your head for days after seeing this. And it’s the films’ love and appreciation of Lavoes’s music that saves this by the numbers musician’s rise and fall, by way of drugs, biopic
So what’s the problemo here? Well, it’s mos def not Marc Anthony, who follows up on his promising supporting work in Man On Fire by easily slipping behind those tinted sunglasses and into his first major lead role. OK, then what’s the illy on this pickle? It’s none other than Jennifer Lopez and her portrayal of Lavoe’s (beyond fargin annoying) lover Nilda, who goes by the name (which is almos mo annoying than her acting) ‘Puchi’. J-Lo’s moanin and groanin takes its toll on the viewer after about her second tirade. If it was only three tirades, then it wouldn’t be that much of an issue, but there’s about 7 zillion and 6 that follow. Regardless of the girl from the block’s antics, I still couldn’t be anti El Cantante, so ante up folks! Ole!
Found In Translation: ‘el cantante’ translates to ‘the singer’, which not so oddly enuff is the name of another movie about Lavoe that recently completed filming
Good Bad Company: others who share Lavoe’s death date of June 29th, ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle (1933), Paul Klee (1940), Jayne Mansfield (1967), Bob Crane (1978), Lana Turner (1995), Katharine Hepburn (2003) and this year, Joel Siegel
Not Ready For Prime Time Player: director Leon Ichaso first cut his teeth making short films for SNL, includin one about Gilbert Gottfried as the only bullfighter in NYC
John Grisham’s Jizzum (aka Verdict): Jeepers Worth A Peepers
until next thyme the balcony is clothed…
