esquivel movie in the works !
dj lava lamp
heard today about an esquivel flik...the life and times kinda
thing...interesting thing is that john leguiziamo (sp ?) is set to
play juan garcia himself...anymore info on this ?
dave
Greg Clow
Thursday January 29 8:26 AM EST
Leguizamo Bandleader For 'Esquivel'
By Chris Petrikin
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - John Leguizamo is attached to star in the lead role
in a movie about Juan Garcia Esquivel, the famed Mexican bandleader who
pioneered space age bachelor pad music.
"Esquival" is set up at Fox Searchlight, the arthouse division of 20th
Century Fox, and will be written and irected by Robert Pulcini and Shari
Springer Berman, the duo behind the documentary "Off the Menu: The Last
Days of Chasen's."
Leguizamo, who will get a producer's credit, was seen last year in New
Line's "Spawn," and currently is starring in his one-man show "Freak,"
which makes its Broadway bow Feb. 12 at the Cort Theater.
"Esquivel" is set in the 1960s and will chronicle the life and career of
the Mexican composer, producer and band leader. His recordings were sprung
from obscurity in late 1994 when the Bar None label issued "Space Age
Bachelor Pad Music," a term that had been applied to the hi-fi music he
pioneered in the 1960s.
Coupled with reissues on other labels, Esquivel soon became the sultan of
exotica and was reinstated, as Variety had reported in the 1960s, "as
being to pop music approximately what Aaron Copland is to serious music or
what a John Coltrane is to jazz."
Born in Mexico in 1918, Esquivel moved to the U.S. in 1957 to record for
RCA Victor. His arrangements took full advantage of the stereo phenomenon
through bongos, glass-shattering brass, worldless vocals, sparkling
xylophones and steel guitar. As his arrival coincided with the birth of
rock 'n' roll, Esquivel was in essence the last great big band leader;
although he was able to work into the 1970s in Las Vegas and Reno
showrooms, he returned to Mexico, where he now lives, and retired in the
'80s.
He also arranged and wrote for television and film and his work has been
featured in more than 400 TV episodes.
Reuters/Variety
RLott
Admittedly, I'll be among the first in line to see this, but I have a couple of
concerns:
1) What's the drive behind the story? Esquivel hasn't lead a tortured-artist
life. There are no Richie Valens plane crashes. No Selena shootings. He just
made music, and he's still around, without the normal trappings experienced by
other musicians.
2) John Leguizamo???
Rod Lott
HITCH: The Journal of Pop Culture Absurdity
www.ionet.net/~twilken/HITCH
chef...@worldnet.att.net
And who will do the music? That's what I want to know.
Greg Clow
RLott <rl...@aol.com> wrote:
: Admittedly, I'll be among the first in line to see this, but I have a couple of
: concerns:
: 1) What's the drive behind the story? Esquivel hasn't lead a tortured-artist
: life. There are no Richie Valens plane crashes. No Selena shootings. He just
: made music, and he's still around, without the normal trappings experienced by
: other musicians.
Good question. I suppose it might focus a bit on his younger years when
his family was (IIRC) quite poor and he was a child prodigy of sorts. And
remember that this film is being produced by the "arthouse" division of
one of the major studios and probably won't have a massive budget, so they
won't have to play up any tragedy or anything to sell it to the masses.
Then again, Esquivel *is* getting on in years, so - as sad as it would be
- there's a chance that he could pass on before the film is released,
creating an instant market for it. :-(
: 2) John Leguizamo???
At first, I went "huh???". But then I pictured him with those glasses and
y'know, I can really, really see it. I think he'll be perfect.
Greg
RLott
>>>At first, I went "huh???". But then I pictured him with those glasses and
y'know, I can really, really see it. I think he'll be perfect. <<<
Maybe so.
At the very least, we can expect a good soundtrack album. (And if they screw
that up, there is no hope for Hollywood.)
H. Martini
chef...@worldnet.att.net wrote in article
<6b5p34$g...@bgtnsc03.worldnet.att.net>...
> And who will do the music? That's what I want to know.
Let's hope they do the wise thing and use Esquivel's original music. It's
available in pristine condition, there would only be the liscensing to
worry about.
Now, if I could only get that mental picture of John Leguizamo in "Spawn"
out of my head...
Cheers,
Martini
Greg Clow
Hey folks, lookie here - I think this is the first thread on a.c.l to go
beyond five messages! :-)
Let's see if we can keep things going and get some real action happening.
If my Roll Call post from a couple weeks ago hadn't already scrolled off
of my news server, I'd re-post it to attempt to get some conversation
going. Alas, it has departed, so I'll just summarize it:
If you're so inclined, please post a little introductory message. Name,
where ya are, where you like to hang out, fave music (lounger or
otherwise), fave drinks, etc., etc.
If someone is on a news server that doesn't spool quite so quickly, feel
free to snip & repost my original message where I ramble on about
myself...
cheers,
Greg
dj lava lamp
Greg Clow <sta...@interlog.com> wrote:
>cheers,
>Greg
hey all...let's keep this thread goin'...
dave's the name...i've had the pleasure of being at a few of greg's
parties here in toronto, and i must say, the martini's were flowing
and the esquivel was gliding off the cd player...
i have quite a large vinyl collection, just filled my 25th crate last
week..and a moderate cd collection...about 500+...
i must admit i wasn't into the "lounge thing" until around 1995,
so i'm by no means an expert...i've managed to gather about
150 really good weird and wonderful slabs of tasty vinyl...
in fact a friend of mine and i recently got together and burned a cd
of obscure nuggets that would get any party hopping...the likes of
floyd cramer, lionel vachon, zygmunt jankowski, lyra d'amoraes,
pepe dominguin, sherry mcbride, the list goes on...50 tracks including
spoken word hypnotists, sewing machine instructional records and
more...
(sorry, sounds like an add...)
anyways, some current favourites of mine...
jack arel - "gravure universelle" - a great collection of 60's and
70's "library music"...great instrumentation and a
fabulous combo of musique concrete ala perrey and
kingsley and funky jazzy lounge...great stuff...
montefiori cocktail - " raccolta no. 1" - this is on the irma label
out of italy...both frederico and
francesco do saxes, flutes, as well
as great grooves and breaks...
a great current lounge classic...
the covers of both crystal waters
gypsy woman and the star trek theme
are worth it...
suono libero - also on irma..a compilation of obscure 70's jazz funk
tracks from italian music libraries, need i say
more ?
dave