- A contemporary, urban retelling of theic story, Carmen: A Hip Hopera follows the life of a police sergeant whose world is turned upside down when an irresistible woman enters his life. Through song, the star-studded cast tells the tale of their passionate romance and tragic demise. It's Moulin Rouge done hip-hop style!Running Time: 88 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:Â MUSICALS Rating:Â
Although Beyoncé Knowles is not yet 30, the sensual superstar has already succeeded on many levels: as a dancer, singer, composer, model, music producer, video director and actress. Like rap star/entrepreneur Jay-Z, with whom Beyoncé recently married, she has evolved into a businesswoman, who with her designer-mother, Tina Knowles, markets Beyoncé's personal fashion line, House of Dereon. The multi-talented, global entertainer lends her name and image to many commercial and philanthropic ventures. She is th! e spokeswoman for L'Oreal and appears in ads for Pepsi and Ford.
This biography tells the story of a young, talented woman's meteoric rise in the entertainment industry. From a shy, demure Catholic schoolgirl growing up in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé Knowles eventually morphed into the first African-American woman to win the Songwriter of the Year Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Pop Music Awards. The once-shy suburban schoolgirl has gone far beyond her original dream of becoming a first-rate musician and vocalist. With the assistance of her manager-fatherâ€"former Xerox executive Mathew Knowlesâ€"and as lead singer of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child (the world's all-time bestselling female group), Beyoncé has won 10 Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe nominations. Her albums have reached more than 20 million people worldwide, and she has become a cultural icon to music lovers everywhere as well as a role model for young wome! n. Author Janice Arenofsky gives students and general readers ! alike an insightful look at a music and fashion icon who has a unique niche in popular culture today. Complete with photos, a timeline, and a thorough bibliography.
OBSESSED - DVD Movie
Obsessed is one of those movies best described as “a stylish thrillerâ€: the characters are mostly young and gorgeous, with their white-collar gigs, designer duds, and fancy cars, and if there’s not much of substance to be found beneath those sleek, polished surfaces, well, who says a story must have a message to be entertaining? The comparisons to
Fatal Attraction (with its jilted would-be lover going all psycho on the object of her, uh, affections) and
Disclosure (with its reverse sexual harassment) are apt enough, but
Obsessed is a little different. For starters, unlike the character played by Michael Douglas in
Attraction, this film’s Derek Charles (Idris Elba) does little to encourage Lisa Sheridan (Ali Larter), the temp worker at his asset-m! anagement firm who gloms onto him like a lamprey sucking on its unwilling host; for another, Derek’s wife, Sharon (Beyonce Knowles), is no wallflower who stands idly and ignorantly by while her life is shredded by her hubby’s evasions and the increasingly crazed tactics of the woman who’s stalking him (it’s to the credit of director Steve Shill and screenwriter David Loughery that nothing whatsoever is made of the fact that Derek is black and Lisa is white). Still, the holes in the plot are big enough to drive several Mercedes sedans through. For one thing, Lisa’s fixation on Derek seems to come out of nowhere (if she has a past, we’re not told about it); what's more, even if Derek has broken his deal with Sharon not to have any female assistants (she was once one herself), it seems mighty extreme for her to kick him out of the house for
three months simply for not coming completely clean about his mostly-innocent dealings with Lisa. Still, the film man! ages to make the viewer feel Derek’s helpless desperation at! being t argeted by this manipulative nut job, and when Sharon finally confronts her family’s tormentor at the end (“You think you’re crazy? I’ll show you crazy!â€), the result is silly but somehow satisfying.
--Sam GrahamFrench edition of the highly anticipated 2003 debut album from Beyonce Knowles includes the hidden bonus track, 'Daddy' which appears on the US version as well, plus three additional bonus cuts, 'Work It Out' (Top 10 solo single from Austin Powers In Goldmember 3), 'Bonnie & Clyde '03' (feat. Jay-Z), & the French only track 'Bienvenue' (feat. 1AM). Sony.The perfect timing of Beyonce Knowles’ career moves continues with the release of her debut solo album.
Dangerously in Love’s best music is wildly up-to-date, craftily designed for both maximum street acceptance and positioning as some of the most cutting-edge stuff on current radio. The brash first single, "Crazy in Love," melds Jay-Z with an unstoppable Chi-Lites horn sample, shape-shif! ting into something brand new. Collaborations with Outkast’s Big Boi and Sean Paul also prick up the ears, while changes of pace like "Be with You" and "Speechless" achieve their aim with credibility. The disc becomes far too ballad heavy in its second half, but the key stuff is the noise she brings.
--Rickey WrightIt must be a part of human nature to love drama. We never would have sold as many records -- and we never would have been this popular -- if our member changes did not happen. Up until that point, we were squeaky-clean nice girls who couldn't get on the cover of any magazines. --Beyoncé Knowles
They're beautiful, they're talented, they're bootylicious . . .
From first kisses and broken hearts to pillow fights and legal battles to losing friends and finding strength in God, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams share it all. Their example of survival has made Destiny's Child one of the most beloved, bestselling female grou! ps ever.
Here for the first time, the three share the strugg! les that have made them stronger, from Beyoncé's battles with weight loss and shyness, Kelly's coming to terms with growing up without a dad, and Michelle's triumph over grade-school bullies. They've grown up under the media microscope, and have had to deal with lineup changes and media rumors. Now they set the record straight.
The demands and drama, the schedules and scrutiny -- from the tour bus to the dressing rooms to backstage at awards shows, Beyoncé, Kelly, and Michelle talk about what it takes to be successful. Whether it's changing outfits in the rain, changing their hair color, or changing a name, they've done it.
Don't be mistaken, they're not a prefab group of young girls -- they're smart, independent women with a lot of soul. When these ladies had only minutes of studio time to work with Wyclef Jean to remix one of their songs, they didn't stress, they just started singing faster -- and the result was a unique sound that put them on the map. Everyone has caught ! on to the Destiny's Child groove -- Whitney Houston, Bono, and Michael Jackson have all given them props, and the King of Pop himself serenaded them with a rendition of “Bootylicious.â€
Beyoncé, Kelly, and Michelle take you behind the scenes of a video rehearsal at which Aaliyah rewound their practice music, to the set of Austin Powers 3, where a starstruck Beyoncé felt anything but foxy before auditioning for the part of Foxxy Cleopatra, and backstage at the Grammys, where a last-minute costume change fiasco nearly kept Michelle from going onstage.
With total honesty, these soul survivors not only dish the details of their past, but share their hopes, plans, and dreams for the future.A contemporary, urban retelling of the classic story, Carmen: A Hip Hopera follows the life of a police sergeant whose world is turned upside down when an irresistible woman enters his life. Through song, the star-studded cast tells the tale of their passionate romance and tr! agic demise. It's Moulin Rouge done hip-hop style!
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Featurette
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Recasting Bizet's classic opera as a musical tale in the 'hood,
Carmen: A Hip Hopera proves that the plot's not the thing. By retaining the story but jettisoning Bizet's individual musical numbers that propel the tragedy to its inevitable conclusion, this
Carmen founders on familiarity: it's just another soap opera about two lovers whose tryst proves fatal. Occasionally, the music quotes Bizet's famous themes, but most of the rapping and singing sound interchangeable. What makes this
Carmen worth seeing, however, is the scintillating performance of Beyoncé Knowles (of the trio Destiny's Child) in the lead role. From her first entrance in a dazzling red gown, Knowles shows off a vibrant, magnetic personality; the camera loves her, as her group's many music videos have shown, but they only hint at how impressively she holds the screen. Can she act? The jury's still out, but
C! armen: A Hip Hopera--however disappointing this hybrid is in most ways--showcases a compelling movie-star presence.
--Kevin Filipski
