Selena

This is a biopic of Selena Quintanilla-Perez (Jennifer Lopez). Back in 1961 Corpus Christi, Texas, Abraham Quintanilla faced racism from the whites on the one hand, and rejection from the Mexican community of their 'white' music on the other hand. He (Edward James Olmos) settles down in Lake Jackson, Texas raising a family. He starts a family band despite objections from wife Marcela (Constance Marie). Then he starts a restaurant and quits his job again against Marcela's wishes. He keeps pushing the kids especially young Selena even when the restaurant goes under. He's a true stage dad. She falls for hired guitarist Chris Perez (Jon Seda) and gets married in secret.

Jennifer Lopez comes in after 30 minutes. It's fine because the childhood story is actually good, and they've got the great Edward James Olmos holding it together. EJO is truly amazing. Jennifer Lopez shows that she has the acting chops. Writer/director Gregory Nava has made the standard biopic. It's sweet. The family drama is good. They don't push anything outrageous. The killing is relegated to the back and Yolanda Saldivar isn't explored that deeply.

I remember seeing this film when it came out in theaters; needless to say, it has significant nostalgic value for me. Still, now that I'm older, I can take my rose colored glasses off and see it for what it realistically is. It has its flaws, it can be a bit corny in some scenes, but this was a late 90's film after all. The acting is great, all these actors/actresses really took the time to study the people they were portraying. Olmos is a convincing Abraham, the actor playing A.B. doesn't get much screen time considering he played a big part in Selena's career (writing the songs & producing) but when he does come out, he's very good. The actor playing Chris is great as well, got his shy mannerisms down.

I can honestly say, this is a movie that J.Lo does well in. Remember this film is the one that boosted her to stardom. See in this film she's playing Selena, she had to do Selena's mannerisms and act out Selena's personality as best as she could. She succeeds, if she didn't, she wouldn't be the woman you know her as now. It's true when they say that J.Lo needs to be grateful to Selena for her career. Why did J.Lo shine in this role ? Because she wasn't playing herself (like she does in 90% of her other, cheesy films) she had to play someone else and had to do it properly. She's a convincing Selena, even does her laugh really well, so it's hard to imagine anyone else do the role but I'm looking forward for the Netflix series nonetheless.

One thing that slightly disturbed me as I got older is how the family was so quick to releasing a biopic of their daughter, she had just passed away in 1995. The film has that rushed feeling to it (pacing is one of the flaws in this film) and it makes you wonder why the Quintanillas were so bent on having their version of things told and their version alone. I don't know you guys, I love Selena, but her family seems a bit shady sometimes.

If another film is made about Selena, I hope it's based off Chris' book and the Quintanillas don't block it from happening, again.

Not expecting to enjoy this movie, I was very pleasantly surprised. Jennifer Lopez, Edward Olmos and the rest of the ensemble cast do a marvelous job in bringing the close-knit Quintanilla family to life. The screenwriters and director skillfully lead the viewer from the father's failed attempts at rock 'n roll in the early 60s through Selena's childhood and her eventual rocket to the top of the Tejano music charts as a young woman. Thankfully her murder is not addressed as a major plot item, its almost irrelevant. And the concert scenes are fantastic. Its Selena's voice and Lopez does an incredible job. Definitely worth a rental regardless of your musical tastes.

Selena is the true-story of Selena Quintanilla-Perez, a talented young Mexican singer, who was discovered by her own father at the age of 10. Selena had everything going for her, a good family, whom she was very close with, a great husband, loads of fans and of course her music career that kept getting stronger. Selena had even won a prestigious Grammy award for Best Mexican/American Singer and was the most popular Latin singer at that time. Until, all that was taken away from her, when at the age of 23 in 1995, Selena's 'friend' and fan club manager, Yolanda Saldivar murdered her, after Selena had confronted Yolanda about money, she had stolen.

I'm one of the many people out there who only heard about Selena in the last couple of years. I can't remember where I first heard of her. The internet, maybe, but the things I did hear were all good and she sounded like a very talented and popular young singer and of course I was really shocked to hear about how she died.

I was really interested to watch the movie Selena and when I finally got to watch it, I thought it was really great. It tells you the whole story of Selena's life, from when she was just a young girl, to her meeting guitarist Chis Perez and secretly getting married to him, we see her singing at sold-out concerts, all the wonderful fans she had and not only that but we find out that Selena was planning to have kids and she was just about to release her first English language album, all until she was she was terribly murdered. I thought the end of the movie, where there was real footage of the real Selena, was beautifully done and it was great to see clips of the real Selena singing at her concerts, meeting her fans and just having fun with her family, friends and husband.

I thought the whole cast in the movie were great, Jennifer Lopez played Selena really well and deserved any award she received or got nominated for. The rest of the cast including, Edward James Olmos, who played Selena's father and Jon Seda, who played Selena's husband Chris Perez did really well too.

After watching the movie and hearing Selena, (Jennifer Lopez was lip-synching to Selena's voice. I thought that was good too.) I am going to get hold of some of Selena's music. I hope her memory will live on forever. Selena, the movie is highly recommended. Whether you're fan or not, see it.

'Selena' tells the fascinating story of the late Selena Quintanilla, the first famous female tejano singer. In her short life, with the support of her parents and husband, the vivacious young Selena lived the dream of every girl. Nava does a fine job of telling the story. He shows us how happy Selena was with her life (even though there were ups and downs) and she lived it to the fullest. In her short 23 years she achieved what would take a lifetime for some. This was a life that wasn't a waste because Selena knew hot to live life.

But the best thing about 'Selena' is Jennifer Lopez. Those were the days when Lopez acted her heart out on screen as has also been apparent in 'Out of Sight' and 'Blood and Wine'. Not only that, but Lopez looks stunning. Many prefer the way she looks today but in 'Selena' there's an innocence and honesty about her beauty and this coupled with her natural and spirited performance is a delight to watch. The supporting cast that includes Edward James Olmos, Jon Seda and Constance Marie are all very good too.

I loved the way the soundtrack was used in the film and it brings a lot of energy to the story. The cinematography is quite good but I did not like the 3 split screen.

Even though we know the tragic fate of Selena, this film reminds us that it's more important to live a big life than a long life. Make full use of what you have and take your chance. That's what Selena did. She was loved by her friends and family and won the hearts of millions. Strongly recommended.