Tito Puente Movies

Filmmaker Fernando Trueba was introduced to Latin jazz in the 1980s, when he was beginning his career as a director, and he has since become a devoted fan of the music. After employing noted jazz artists to score some of his films, Trueba took his love of the music one step further with the documentary Calle 54, in which he gathered together a number of his favorite Latin jazz artists for a series of interviews and performances at the Sony Music recording studios in New York City. The artists include two pioneering Latin jazz stars, percussionist Tito Puente and horn player Paquito D'Rivera, as well as father-and-son piano duo Bebo Valdes and Chucho Valdes, Gato Barbieri and his tenor sax, the New York-based ensemble Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band, and veteran pianists Chico O'Farrill and Eliane Elias. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Three of the world's most gifted filmmakers offer their own unique perspectives on love and lust in this omnibus film. The initial episode, "The Hand," was directed by Wong Kar-Wai, and tells the story of Zhang (Chang Chen), a young, virginal dressmaker's assistant who finds it difficult to control his desire when he is sent to the home of Hua (Gong Li), a beautiful and refined prostitute, for a fitting. Steven Soderbergh directed the film's second story, "Equilibrium," in which Nick Penrose (Robert Downey Jr.) spends a session with his analyst (Alan Arkin) discussing a recurring dream of a beautiful naked woman in his apartment, but he keeps wandering off on tangents about alarm clocks and hair loss. Finally, Italian virtuoso Michelangelo Antonioni brings his short story The Dangerous Thread of Things to the screen, a story of a jaded couple, Christopher (Christopher Buchholz) and Chloë (Regina Nemni), whose relationship comes to a crossroads when both husband and wife become infatuated with the same woman, Linda (Luisa Ranieri). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A Spanish language version of this program is available. Great musicians come together to perform salsa, mambo and improv works. ~ All Movie Guide

Trumpet legend Dizzy Gillespie was one of the most influential figures in two schools of jazz -- with his friend and collaborator Charlie Parker, he was one of the first proponents of be-bop, and later brought the rhythms of African and Latin music into the lexicon of American jazz. Rhythmstick is a performance video which features a stellar line-up of jazz players -- including Art Farmer, Tito Puente, John Scofield, Charlie Haden, Flora Purim, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, and many more -- paying homage to Gillespie and his musical legacy, with Diz himself sitting in on two numbers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Born in New York in the '60s, salsa is a hip grooving fusion of jazz, pop, and traditional Latin melodies. Filmed in 1979, this video offers a documentation of the scene as it existed then, featuring performances by such stars as Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, and Celia Cruz. Besides being a performance video, this tape is a documentary about the roots of this exciting brand of dance music, transporting viewers back to Puerto Rico to investigate salsa's birth in the rituals of Santeria, a fusion of Animism and Catholicism. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide

New York art dealer Arne Glimcher took his first crack at film directing with this florid, high-energy romance about two brothers who flee Cuba in the early 1950s to make it as musicians in the United States. Cynthia Cidre wrote the literate screenplay adapted from Oscar Hijuelos's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. Cesar (Armand Assante) and Nestor Castillo (Antonio Banderas) are popular musicians on Havana's club circuit, but when they make enemies of the wrong people, they are forced to leave for New York City, the moody Nestor leaving behind his true love. In New York, the brothers work as meat-cutters during the day as Cesar tries to organize a band and make inroads into the lively New York music scene. Soon, as The Mambo Kings, they get club bookings and Cesar falls in love with a sharp-tongued cigarette girl, Lanna Lake (Cathy Moriarty), and Nestor with the beautiful Delores Fuentes (Maruschka Detmers), who wants to be a teacher. Cesar concentrates on singing and managing the band, while Nestor plays the trumpet and writes emotional songs of love. All seems to be going well until Cesar antagonizes the moneymen on the Latin nightclub circuit and they finds themselves playing bar mitzvahs. But after they're discovered by Desi Arnaz (Desi Arnaz Jr.), the group is prominently featured on I Love Lucy. Their popularity soars and they cut a successful album called "Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love." Cesar is glorying in his success, but Nestor is disappointed and longs to return to Cuba. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Springfield energy tycoon C. Montgomery Burns (voice of Harry Shearer) has never been one to endear himself to his fellow citizens, but his public image sinks even lower than usual after oil is discovered on the grounds of the local elementary school. While Principal Skinner (also voiced by Shearer) plans massive improvements for the school -- including buying a new crystal slop-bucket for Groundskeeper Willie (voice of Dan Castellaneta) and hiring Latin jazz great Tito Puente as a music teacher -- Burns instead finds a way to tap into the oil well, adding to his already bulging bankroll and forcing massive cutbacks for the school. The after-effects of Burns' actions prove to be widespread -- the local retirement home collapses, leaving Grampa Simpson (also voiced by Castellaneta) with nowhere to go, while Moe (voice of Hank Azaria) is forced to close his tavern due to toxic fumes, and Bart (voice of Nancy Cartwright) is angry after his dog is injured by a blast of crude oil. Meanwhile, Homer (also voiced by Castellaneta) begins to snap when Burns is unable to remember his name, and the few citizens not already furious with Burns are out for his blood when he constructs a giant shield that prevents the sun from shining on Springfield. When Mr. Burns is shot after a town meeting, the question isn't "Who would want to kill the richest man in town?" but "Who wouldn't?" "Who Shot Mr. Burns (Part One)," the cliffhanging finale of the sixth season of The Simpsons, first aired on May 21, 1995. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

On this release, Latin music king Tito Puente takes his act north of the border to perform before an enthusiastic Montreal audience. The man and his bland deliverseven numbers including "Oye Como Va", "On Broadway", "Stella By Starlight", and "Morning". ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide