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| Carmen: A Hip Hopera
DVD Review |
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Order this DVD from
Amazon.com
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Carmen
- A Hip Hopera
(New Line Home
Entertainment)
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| DVD
Release Date:
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August
20, 2002
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Length:
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88 mins.
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| Rated:
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PG-13
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| Format:
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Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)
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Languages:
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English
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| Subtitles:
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English
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| Extras:
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The
Making of Carmen: An MTV Special, Select-a-song Feature
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A popular trend in movies for the last
few years has been the stylized remaking of classic stories for the
current young generation. This genre, if you would, has resulted in
such films as 10 Things I Hate About You and William Shakespeare's
Romeo + Juliet. We can now add Carmen: A Hip Hopera to the list.
Carmen is apparently the remaking of a classic story Carmen Jones
(which I have no knowledge about). It is the story of a beautiful
woman (Beyonce Knowles as the title character), who is so irresistible
that she catches the eye of Sgt. Derrick Hill (Mekhi Phifer). He soon
breaks his own engagement to be with her. However, he has his own
problems as his detective boss (Mos Def) has it in for Hill, and will
stop at nothing to bring him down. In the end, someone must pay the
ultimate price.
While I found Carmen to be a good story, I just didn't really find
myself into the movie. Maybe it is probably because I am not into the
whole hip-hop scene. I am sure people who like that will enjoy the
movie, with appearances by Wyclef Jean and Bow Wow among others. I was
really annoyed by Carmen's friends in this movie, they may as well
have been taken right out of the movie BAPS. The music segments tended
to get on my nerves too, much like Moulin Rouge. I found they stalled
the film rather than advanced the plot.
The movie is presented in both widescreen 1.78:1 format and fullscreen
format. It has stereo surround sound.
The special features cupboard is all but bare for Carmen. The is a
making-of featurette that was originally on MTV, with nothing that was
too informative. There is also a feature that allows the viewer to
select songs that appeared in the movie.
Carmen is not that bad a movie. However, given the fact that there are
almost no special features and that you can probably see it for free
on MTV or Much Music (it aired here in Canada the same night I popped
in the DVD), then you are better off finding it on TV than buying the
disc.
| The Movie: |
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4.5/10 |
| The
Extras: |
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1/10 |
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| Recommendation: |
See
It If It's Free |
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did you think?
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Sean
Cullin - Senior Editor
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