Selena Movie

Selena, the person, is now "Selena," the movie. Two years after the tejano superstar was slain in a Corpus Christi motel, her image reappeared before an adoring hometown crowd last Friday, one in a series of benefit premieres before the big-screen homage opens nationwide on Friday. Braving an unseasonably cool south Texas night, more than 1,000 fans clustered outside Cinemark's Tinseltown USA, while 500 others paid $100 each to watch the film with the cast and members of Selena's family.

"Selena," the film about the slain tejano singing star, was the big winner at the 1998 American Latino Media Arts Awards on Sunday, grabbing honors in four categories including best movie of the year. Also honored for their work on the film were stars Jennifer Lopez and Edward James Olmos and director Gregory Nava.

As a tejano music star, Selena was surrounded by her family. Her brother played in the band and wrote and produced many of her songs; her father managed the group and its Texas recording studio. Now, eight months after she was gunned down in a Corpus Christi hotel, the singer's family members are trying to keep her memory alive--on their own terms. They have authorized a movie biography to be written and directed by Gregory Nava ("El Norte," "Mi Familia").

Cesar Chavez, who organized the United Farm Workers union, staged a massive grape boycott in the late 1960s to dramatize the plight of America's poor farmhands, and later became a Gandhi-like leader to urban Mexican-Americans, was found dead Friday in San Luis, Ariz., police said. He was 66. --L.A. Times, April 24, 1993 Perhaps now they can bring the story to the big screen.

Heralding it as a grand finale, EMI Latin today will release the soundtrack for the upcoming "Selena" movie, which represents the last previously unreleased recordings by the slain tejano superstar. "This is basically it. This is the last of the catalog," said EMI Latin President-CEO Jose Behar, who produced the album with Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. "It's no accident. We could have released some of these songs earlier, but we wanted them for the movie."

"Selena," the film about the slain tejano singing star, was the big winner at the 1998 American Latino Media Arts Awards on Sunday, grabbing honors in four categories including best movie of the year. Also honored for their work on the film were stars Jennifer Lopez and Edward James Olmos and director Gregory Nava.

Cesar Chavez, who organized the United Farm Workers union, staged a massive grape boycott in the late 1960s to dramatize the plight of America's poor farmhands, and later became a Gandhi-like leader to urban Mexican-Americans, was found dead Friday in San Luis, Ariz., police said. He was 66. --L.A. Times, April 24, 1993 Perhaps now they can bring the story to the big screen.

'For your consideration." That one phrase, as brief and subtly ingratiating as the maitre d' at Indochine, filled the trade papers earlier this year once the conga line of little gold statuettes began dancing in Hollywood's collective conscience. In the Jan. 10 edition of the Hollywood Reporter, that phrase was bannered across the seductively serene features of Elizabeth Pena, touted for a best supporting actress Oscar nomination.

"This is the concert," says filmmaker Gregory Nava, "that Selena never lived to give." The performance, intended as a poignant fantasy of a promise unfulfilled, is being presented on the stage of the beautifully restored Majestic Theater in downtown San Antonio. Hundreds of volunteer extras--many of them fans of the tejano music superstar--are filling the auditorium.

Martin Bernheimer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning music and dance critic who recently left his longtime post at The Times, is interviewed on KCRW-FM's (89.9) "Politics of Culture" today at 4:30 p.m. . . . Libby Weaver starts work today as weekend anchor for the syndicated newsmagazine "Extra," replacing Maureen O'Boyle, who is preparing to host a daytime talk show. Weaver has been a senior correspondent on "Extra" since August. . . .

Selena, the person, is now "Selena," the movie. Two years after the tejano superstar was slain in a Corpus Christi motel, her image reappeared before an adoring hometown crowd last Friday, one in a series of benefit premieres before the big-screen homage opens nationwide on Friday. Braving an unseasonably cool south Texas night, more than 1,000 fans clustered outside Cinemark's Tinseltown USA, while 500 others paid $100 each to watch the film with the cast and members of Selena's family.

'For your consideration." That one phrase, as brief and subtly ingratiating as the maitre d' at Indochine, filled the trade papers earlier this year once the conga line of little gold statuettes began dancing in Hollywood's collective conscience. In the Jan. 10 edition of the Hollywood Reporter, that phrase was bannered across the seductively serene features of Elizabeth Pena, touted for a best supporting actress Oscar nomination.

Heralding it as a grand finale, EMI Latin today will release the soundtrack for the upcoming "Selena" movie, which represents the last previously unreleased recordings by the slain tejano superstar. "This is basically it. This is the last of the catalog," said EMI Latin President-CEO Jose Behar, who produced the album with Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. "It's no accident. We could have released some of these songs earlier, but we wanted them for the movie."

"This is the concert," says filmmaker Gregory Nava, "that Selena never lived to give." The performance, intended as a poignant fantasy of a promise unfulfilled, is being presented on the stage of the beautifully restored Majestic Theater in downtown San Antonio. Hundreds of volunteer extras--many of them fans of the tejano music superstar--are filling the auditorium.

As a tejano music star, Selena was surrounded by her family. Her brother played in the band and wrote and produced many of her songs; her father managed the group and its Texas recording studio. Now, eight months after she was gunned down in a Corpus Christi hotel, the singer's family members are trying to keep her memory alive--on their own terms. They have authorized a movie biography to be written and directed by Gregory Nava ("El Norte," "Mi Familia").

Keeping up with James Franco isn't easy. He can currently be seen in theaters as the Wizard in “Oz the Great and Powerful” and as an outrageously scary-funny rapper-gangster named Alien in “Spring Breakers.” In the last few weeks, Franco has promoted both films while pursuing his wide-ranging outside artistic and academic pursuits.  He released multiple music videos, including one starring the infamous filmmaker and author Kenneth Anger,...

Joie Davidow heard about the one-day conference at the eleventh hour. But to know Davidow--the woman behind Si, a new national lifestyle magazine for Latinos--is to know that she moves fast-- muy fast--and is not one to miss an opportunity. So here she is, at the crack of dawn, plugging her publication at an industry--as in movies, music and mass media--confab called Latin Heat. Davidow, Si's president and publication director, is trying to generate some heat of her own. At $2.