Sparkle
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.95 You Save: $2.02 (34%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Sparkle
Movie Review: What Can I Do? Buy This DVD!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I thought for sure this DVD would be released in 2001 for a 25th year anniversary. When that year can and went, I figured 2006 would be the year of release for the movie's 30th year anniversary. Oh well, at least the DVD is finally being released.
The release of this movie in 1976 was a big deal in Detroit, because it was the movie debut of Detroit native Lonette McKee. She even attended the Detroit premiere! Her reviews were great, and she had appearances on many talk shows afterwards--including Dinah Shore's. On one show, she expressed disappointment that an album featuring the songs as sung by her, Irene Cara, and others in the movie wasn't released, but thanked Aretha Franklin for recording an album featuring the songs from the film. She was later cast as Ali's wife in the movie 'The Greatest', but later quit after creative differences with the director. She was then cast as one of the female co-stars in the hilarious 1977 movie 'Which Way Is Up?' with Richard Pryor (who had taken McKee under his wing and who she was rumored to have been dating). Her next big movie role was in 'The Cotton Club' in 1984, where she played a Cotton Club girl who later passes for white to get gigs in higher-paying clubs. Other roles include Haley's tv movie 'Queen' (where she played a slave who passes for white) and Oprah Winfrey's tv movie 'The Women of Brewster Place' (where she played a lesbian school teacher fearful of losing her job if her sexuality became known).
Back to 'Sparkle'...One of my all-time favorite movie characters is the tall, sexy, strutting, long-haired, high-yellow, gum-chewing, I'm-hot-and-I-know-it Sister! McKee owns the movie, and the three girls in red dresses singing "Hooked On Your Love" is a screen classic! Irene Cara is the perfect choice for the sweet, innocent Sparkle. Many often joke about pretty Dwan Smith's Delores character--mainly because she looks so unlike her supposed sisters in the film ("she was adopted"..."Effie had an affair with a black man when Delores was conceived"). But she is great as the tough, proud middle sister. Then there's Tony King as the villian Satin, and Philip Michael Thomas as the good guy Stix. (Hmmm...should I address the color complexion issue? How the lightest of the girls is considered the "prettiest girl in Harlem", how the darkest guy is the evil bad guy, and how...no, forget it! Lets just enjoy the movie!)
I love that the DVD is a 2-disc set!! I assume this means that we will get many special features! Cast interviews? Deleted scenes? A 'the making of...' documentary? Can't wait to see!
Movie Review: Sister and the Sisters **SPARKLE** and the movie Shines!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love the movie SPARKLE and I'm so glad I finally bought the DVD.
Named as the precursor and inspiration to the Broadway musical Dreamgirls (and eventually movie Dreamgirls (Two-Disc Showstopper Edition)), the film is about a group of friends--three of them sisters--and the different paths their lives take as they deal with life in the Harlem ghetto in the late 50s and 60s.
Don't let the cutesy title fool you; SPARKLE is a dark drama about pain and joy, and the nearly impossible task of trying to lift one's life out of poverty. There are some fantastic musical numbers and the dresses are fab, but this is far from the glamorous "Dreamgirls."
Fantastic songs and score by Curtis Mayfield punctuate the drama on screen and the dark lighting creates a stifling atmosphere that puts the viewer smack dab in the middle of poverty...where the only light shines is on the performer up on the stage.
The transfer to DVD is gorgeous! It's about time this cult favorite was released on DVD.
It also includes the trailer narrated by Casey Kasem and includes a separate CD from the Aretha Franklin album Sparkle: Music From The Warner Bros. Motion Picture..
The bonus CD contains 5 out of the 8 songs that were on the album/CD. Songs not on the bonus are:
JUMP
I GET HIGH
ROCK WITH ME
One note about the soundtrack: I really wish they would add the original vocals from the movie (done by Irene Cara, Lonette Mckee and Dawn Smith) to the soundtrack. Don't get me wrong, I love Aretha but the arrangements are so different on some songs that I don't like it.
And beside, Cara and Mckee sound wonderful, particularly Cara's solo on "Precious Lord Take My Hand." Oh well, I guess we can't have it all!
Movie Review: A Lost Gem Is Found
Summary: 5 Stars
It is like going into a music store, flipping through the used CD rack and finding an unopened classic you wanted for years, but had forgotten about until you see it.
Sparkle was released in 1976 and chronicles how three sisters defeat the long odds of living in 1950s America and become an "overnight" music sensation. But they ultimately find much too late that stardom has its own set of destructive demons that will lay to waste careers and fragile lives.
Sister (Lonette McKee), Sparkle (Irene Cara) & Delores (Dwan Smith) are initially billed as Sister and the Sisters, but the DVD title provides you a pretty good tip on who ends up as the most famous of the trio. Philip Michael Thomas (Stix) puts in a solid performance as the love interest of Sparkle.
The Curtis Mayfield score and the bonus 5-track CD from Aretha Franklin easily covers the cost of the set.
The story moves swiftly in its 98 minutes and tackles issues like racism, sexism and chemical & physical abuse from a female perspective. And let's be real, the pressures on women in the recording industry are intense; look to a survivor like Mary J. to get that true picture.
A planned remake has had its own real-life tragedy. The death of Aaliyah (slated to play Sparkle) in 2001 postponed production plans. The project was shelved around 2003, though Raven Symone was scheduled to play the lead role.
From being the inspiration for the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls, to finally making it to DVD due to the success of the movie Dreamgirls, it appears that Sparkle - though it came first - will remain somehow linked with the stage & screen projects it helped create.
Movie Review: Sparkle is still all that
Summary: 5 Stars
I rented Sparkle back in the early 90s on videotape and immediately fell in love with the story and the music, if not the quality of the video. It didn't matter, though. I had to have a copy of this movie! I ended up with my own video of Sparkle, which I lent to a friend, and never saw it again.
Was I glad to see this DVD version! I wish the producers would have taken the time to clean up the video quality, if they could have, and made the sound better, done some special features. . .
but again, Sparkle, the story overcomes all the technical difficulties. It's almost like a home movie that captures a miracle in a remote corner of the room.
Curtis Mayfield's genius is on full display in this one. It has just enough music for a music lover, just enough action for an action lover. It is that perfect balance for my husband and me.
And even in that poor video quality, the beauty of the three main characters in particular just shines through. It is a rare movie that shows such diversity of black beauty.
It is hard to believe that this is Lonnette McKee's first movie--she shines so brightly throughout, and the earnestness and innocence of Irene Cara just pulls you in.
This DVD is a must have.
Movie Review: It's about time!
Summary: 5 Stars
Many fans of this 1976 musical have awaited its' release by the genuises at Warner Bros. We can only hope that the release has some added features: remastered sound, digital enhancement, cast & crew commentary, etc. Fans of the film always recall how the vocals in the film were performed by the cast (Lonette McKee had a few albums released around this period), while the best-selling Curtis Mayfield soundtrack was voiced by Aretha Franklin! Tony King gives a chilling performance as this movies' villain, Satin. He has one particularly disturbing scene where he physically abuses Sister (portrayed wonderfully, I might add by Lonette McKee) I recall, when seeing this film at the old State Lake theater in Chicago, how the audience cheered loudly at the films' climax (!) when Stix arrives in time for Sparkle's Carnegie Hall (!!) appearance. I've noticed when this movie has been telecast on cable (HBO, TV One) at how dim, grainy and spotty the print has become. Lets hope this release has been given the respect it's due by restoring it to original glory. Maybe this release will generate other great soundtrack releases from this period ("The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh", for one, comes to mind) as well.