6B
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/The Charlotte Post
Thursday November 13, 1997
King movie one of season’s best
Continued from SB
speech pattern and manner
isms. With the salt-and-pepper
fright wig, Rhames is nearly
the spitting image of King.
But it’s Rhames immense tal
ent as an actor which makes
his performance so memorable.
He plays King with a street
savvy which makes the charac
ter nearly likable. The perfor
mance is at times tempered
with humor. Watching him
explain the history of the word
mutherf-—r to a pastor and his
wife is as funny as it is profane.
And when the character turns
ruthless, Rhames is just as
believable. He seems to have
absorbed King’s persona and
lets it ooze out in this stunning,
possibly Emmy-nabbing, per
formance.
The acting is first rate
throughout. “Family Matters”
Darius McCrary gives a career
defining performance as
Muhammad Ali. He looks like a
young Ali and acts like him. He
has the voice down, but it
waivers at times. There are
also some continuity lapses. Ali
is aged outside the ring but
looks basically the same while
inside. Still, McCrary passes as
the champ with flying colors.
Vondie Curtis-Hall (“Chicago
Hope” and “Dream Girls”) is
wonderful as r&b singer Lloyd
Price, King’s business partner.
It was Price who introduced
King to Ali. He also came up
with the wild hairdo while pro
moting the “Rumble In The
Jungle” fight. Curtis-Hall is
cool, laid back, playing Price
with an understated since of
pride.
Jeremy Piven (Hank
Schwartz), David Keith
(Herbert Muhammad), Danny
Johnson (Larry Holmes),
Loretta Devine (Constance
Harper), Bernie Mac (Bundini
Brown) and Lahmard Tate
(Carl King) turn in fine perfor
mances as well.
Director John Herzfeld does
an excellent Job with pacing for
the film. There’s never a a dull
moment. He mixes a great bal
ance of comic and dramatic ele
ments.
Say what you will about King.
He may be a scoundrel, but his
life makes great TV. Bravo,
HBO.
Usher’s calling Atlanta home
Continued from 5B
n’t work out.”
The Chattanooga, Tfenn., native,
wasn’t without a label for long,
.however.
! Usher, whose real name is
Raymond +Usher+ IV, was living
■in Atlanta with his mother and
•younger brother when a LaFace
■Records representative spotted
him at a talent show. The
Atlanta-based label signed him,
;spent the past three years creat
ing “My Way” and released it in
^ptember.
■ The album’s first track, “You
■Make Me Wanna...,” already is a
No. 1 platinum single. It reached
an audience of more than 50 mil
lion listeners on Broadcast Data
Systems’ monitored R&B stations
|by early October, gi'ving it the
:highest-ever R&B listenership of
jany single record.
■ The song is a melodic blend of
■Usher’s smooth, youthful voice
and a strong, upbeat rhythm
track. The album mixes ballads,
■hip-hop and rap, with vocals by
Uil’ Kim, Shanice Wilson and
Monica.
Jones
looking
to future
'/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jones
t LA CROSSE, Wis. — In an iron-
ip twist, advice on what needs to
be done to create a prosperous
new millennium came from the
deep, penetrating voice of “Star
Wars” villain Darth Vader.
Actor James Earl Jones deliv
ered a serious message to a
packed crowd at the University
Wisconsin-La Crosse.
; But the audience, made up pri-
piarily of students and other
young people, exploded into
applause dur
ing a question-
and-answer
period when
Jones obliged a
woman who
^ked him to
assume his
Vader voice to
day “Luke, I am
Jour father,”
the infamous
words from
‘‘Return of the Jedi.”
Jones said Thursday night dur-
kig his appearance as part the
school’s Unity Through Valuing
Diversity Week that economically
we should adopt a hiunan-cen-
fered bill of rights that provides
minimum affordable food and
$helter to everyone.
He also said that bill of rights
should provide free access to edu
cational resources, practical and
affordable health care and
absolute freedom of expression in
the workplace and in society.
. Jones, who has also appeared in
many other popular movies,
including “Field of Dreams,”
■fClear and Present Danger” and
“The Hunt for Red October,” said
he still hasn’t had his favorite
film role.
Jones, like National Basketball
Association star Charles Barkley,
also insisted he did not want to be
a role model because “their shad
ow blocks your light.”
Usher credits Babyface with
teaching him to write songs about
his own life, although Usher
admits he’s had Little dating expe
rience to serve as inspiration for
his love songs.
“I have so many more things to
do - a relationship takes time and
patience. I do understand that,”
he says. “This album - a lot of
things on it may be exaggerated
to the next level.”
For now, the only woman with
any prominence in Usher’s life is
his mother, who got him singing
in church when he was 6.
“My mother is a great mother.
No one can really understand the
relationship we have,” he says.
“My mother is a fiiend over a
manager over a mom. She’s
always been there for me. ... My
mother did whatever it took.”
Part of what it took, was a lot of
travel by Usher and his mother,
accompanied by a tutor, to accom
modate a schedule of perfor
mances and recordings through
out his adolescence. Usher just
recently got his high school diplo
ma.
Usher says his mother works as
his manager so she “can watch
her baby grow.”
“It always helps to have some
one behind you, and my mother
was my person. I encourage par
ents to stay with the kids,” he
says.
Usher, whose father isn’t
involved in his fife, devotes a lot of
his conversation to his charity
work and interest in children’s
organizations, such as the Boys &
Girls Clubs. Usher himself went
to the Boys & Girls Club after
school program when his mother
worked, he says.
“Like, every chance I get, I sit
down with the kids. I play basket
ball with them, talk to them,” he
says. ‘T encourage them to stay at
the Boys & Girls Club. I tell them,
‘Do what you’ve got to do (to suc
ceed). I’m always going to encour
age you.’’’
Kevin i.os .■xngi-i.hs i i.mks
“There are no false notes in this fine, venturesome
film, one of the year’s best. We witness not a single
instance of racial discrimination or bigotry
but instead share in a mystical experience
of what it means to be a black woman ■
proud, beautiful, vulnerable yet resilient.” ^
PvlvrTniwr.’, ROl.l.lN(; STO.NK ^
“Strikingly good...a lilm touched by magic.”
Samuel L. Jachflii Lynn Wfiitfielil
Eve's Bayou
limtllK 1(8119.11.1!
aiiBi MSB iiisiiiii iimar ■ii.*i'J!OMi!iiiii kbiukbh! iiwniaa
■Iisaiiii KBI'IHIIII Mfiiii j*!mii:k!i;.i»( iiiiiiiaai iiwiS*
Hdlltia KKIJll IBlMilliKNlI jllidSEiI lim,illlS[lKiliailH[| 1111*
1“' ■ HHiWlSMllII* KIKBi ■ m
Niivv Mirai: lly h■yk.lll ll.nlii Willli-ii Anil I'iihIin.i:iI llv i;iiili'. Miivliidil Anil l;l,l:.■al, Siiiii(\ lly tl.iy tJiililiK I ll.i .liiiiiir:; Ai
NOW
SHOWING!
AMERICAN UUUI CINEMA't
CAR0UNARIMU0N22
MSSSfMySTINati
64.1-4?fi? J
CONSadATH) THEATRES
PARK TERRACE
MxxtaiinRdeMifidSrpa
SS-MOVIE
EASTERN FEDERAL
REGENCY 4
G433 Albemarle Rd
S3S-S378
CARMIKE
TOWN CINEMA 6
Harris BM. & Hwy. 49
$49-1629
Come
to SAM'S Club to
Meet
JIMMY
CARTER
at a book signing of
Sources of
Strength
on
November 17th
7:00 p.m.
7100 Forest Point Blvd. • Charlotte
flW*
ONE-DAY GUEST MEMBERSHIP CARD
Name:
ill****' Business Name;.
Expiration Date; 12-1 7-97
Membership #:1 76942126
Street Address:
City/State/ZIP:.
SSfLr- Phone:
SH Kcrargt ante on al pucliBS when
. shcoing Mti a* On^Qay IkM Uentertfwx
Ca*i. Oscowr'. «r Kmui” Cvdt orty fng
- chtda). tbu nay aopky tv nantaoNi. aiiiect
ID vaMoMn. whle roilng any SAATS Club.
wiiiiMMjai
COPYRtGHT 1W7
WINN-DIXIE
CMAHLOTTE. INC.
America's Supermarket®
PRICES GOOD WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 12,THRUTUES. NOVEMBER 18,1997.
Gobble Up The
SAVINGS!
4 lb. can
Swift Premium
Hostess Ham
ea.
First Ham $6.98.
Additional Hams
$9.98 ea.
W-D Brand U.S.D.A. Choice Family Pack
Boneless Bottom Bound Steak.
>lb
$218
W-D Brand U.S.D.A. Choice
Boneless
Bottom
Round Roast
All Size Packages
Fresh Ground Round ib.M
Boneless ^AQR
Hormel Cure 81 Ham ib.^Z
10 lb. poly bag
Harvest Fresh
Russet Baking
Potatoes
3 lb. bag OOd
Harvest Fresh Yellow Onions .a OO
3 roll pkg. Coronet
Big ‘N Thirsty Paper Towels ea $19
5 lb. bag
Plain or Self Rising
Red Band
Flour
ea
77
0
Winn-Dixie Accepts These Cords
VISA