Samba Meu ao Vivo (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)Five BIG Stars!! Maria Rita is the award-winning young jazz and Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) diva, who carries the vocal and musical DNA of her mother, the late great Elis Regina, but quickly established her own vocal persona. Her debut CD Maria Rita stole the show at the 2004 Latin Grammys with multiple awards and she rips a few songs from that CD, as well as from the Segundo (Second) and Samba Meu (Samba Mine) CDs. This DVD shows she is in incredible shape, has a few new tattoos, and, having given up singing barefoot, now dances all over the stage in stylish heels and eye-popping dresses beyond her norm. For one who was thought to be the non-musical one of Elis' 3 children and who never sang a note in public until age 24, she returned from NYU graduation and a non-musical career in New York City to literally burst on the São Paulo, Brazil music scene blossoming into a true international star with an awe-inspiring repertoire that is deep and varied. (Milton Nascimento was rumored to have called her in New York saying ~"I don't know what you're waiting for, {you should begin singing}"~). She is backed up by an excellent group of cohesive musicians with a lot of rhythmic drive, some from her previous recordings: like bassist Silvio Mazzucca.
From gentle 'samba-canção' to thundering 'samba-school' batucadas to jazzy MPB, she puts on a singing-dancing virtuoso display of these great Brazilian musical forms, punctuated throughout by the unique sound of the 'cuica'. She sings a 20 song love-fest to a huge mosh pit that is so knowledgeable it sings the entire show with her. The 'best of the best' includes the incredibly beauty of "Trajectoria", the mega-hits "Cara Valente" (Brave Guy) and "A Festa" (The Party), "Corpitcho" ('Fine' Body), the Latin Grammy-winning "Caminho das Aguas" (Path of Waters), "Contra Otra" (aka Tell Me Another Story), and she nods to musical godfather Milton Nascimento on "Encontros e Despedidas" (Meetings and Farewells) and then nods to her namesake rock queen Rita Lee's song about the iconic lady "Pagu". Again, there are no Elis songs, a sign of great respect for her mother's legacy. All sung in emotionally vibrant Brazilian Portuguese, occasional English subtitles for some conversation in the 'extras', great cinematography. Bravo, Maria Rita!! My Highest Recommendation. Five ENJOYABLE Stars!!
(DVD-9 (region-free), 93 minutes, NTSC with Dolby Digital 2.0, 5.1, and DTS Surround. Extras: "making of" video, and two musical videos. One fleeting verbal "oops" in the first extra. It's high time for Warner Music Latina to give complete subtitled multi-language translations of songs and conversation (English & Spanish as a minimum) , as many other labels are doing on DVDs and liner notes. This would help expand her international fan base. Otherwise, this DVD is outstanding!)

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Maria Rita is known as one of the best musicians in Brazilian music. Following the success of her album Samba Meu, Maria Rita and Warner Music are excited to release Samba Meu Ao Vivo, the live concert performance of songs off the album and other songs that represent the best in her collection. Recorded live in Rio De Janiero in June, this DVD is one of the most anticipated releases of the year. The live concert demonstrates the powerful voice of this amazing singer.

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Woman on Top (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)Penelope Cruz sizzles in her role as Isabella, a charming and seductive chef in a small Brazilian seaside resort called Bahia. She marries Toninho Oliveira (played by Murilo Benecio) who is a initially a waiter and later the owner of the restaurant where she wows the customers with her spicey and delicious original meals. They marry and are ecstatically happy, except there is one issue which complicates their life: Isabella suffers from motion sickness. Unfortunately, her husband Toninho makes one *fatal* mistake due to his frustration based on this issue. When Isabella discovers Toninho's fatal mistake, Isabella chooses to embark on a journey. First, she pays homage to the goddess of the sea in Bahia before leaving on her trip to the USA. She had received many offers of jobs as a chef in the USA and chose to try out her luck in San Francsico ...
There, Isabella looks up her childhood friend, Monica, who lives an alternate lifestyle which provides some comical scenes in the film. Other interesting features are the flashbacks to their childhood when Isabella first developed her cooking skills and discovered her talent. In San Francisco, Isabella loses out on a fantastic opportunity to work in 5 star restaurant but amazingly this loss turns out to be a major advantage. She becomes the favorite chef at a cooking school and is discovered by a young television producer. He is enticed not only by Isabella's beauty but also by her delicious food. He sells the network on creating a cooking program where Isabella is the star ... naturally she is an instant success.
Meanwhile, Toninho is very lonely in Bahia. He is remorseful for his past behavior and makes some offerings to the goddess of the sea with the hope of reuniting with his wife. He flies to San Francisco and discovers that on a hugely popular TV cooking program , his wife is the main hot and spicey dish on display. He pursues her with highly creative efforts but she resists. In one nearly successful attempt to win her back, he provides the back up music for her cooking program. As executives often do, just when everything is going extremely well, they make some inane decision, in this case it is to change Isabella's television persona for the worse. The film is worth viewing to see the extreme and extraordinary results which alter her program - all with the goal of appealing to a broader spectrum of the audience.
This is quite an entertaining adventure where a major dilemma is resolved. One of the reasons the film is so effective is that Cliff, the local TV producer becomes a rival for Isabella's affections, just when Toninho is doing everything in his power to win back his wife for himself. This film is pure fantasy and pure entertainment. It is a pleasure to watch Penelope Cruz who sparkles in her role. Murilo Benicio is also a joy to view but his character is less well developed which is unusual given his popularity in Brazil and his highly skilled acting ability. Mark Feurerstein plays a believable TV producer. Harrold Perrineau, Jr is an amusing cross-dressing drag queen. Overall, the film is quite funny and finishes on a most positive and satisfying note. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

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When Isabella decides to break free from her rocky marriage and move to San Francisco, she discovers the perfect recipe for coming out on top - her own hit TV cooking show. But when her producer (Mark Feuerstein, What Women Want) falls in love and her ex-husband (Murilo Benicio) comes to town to win her affection back, who knows which man will end up on the bottom? Critics rave Woman On Top is "absolutely captivating" (Movieline) and "one of the most delightful films of the year!" (WNBC) Filled with passion and laughter, it's a spicy comedy about making relationships more delicious!

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