http://www.thecharlottepost.com
tCJie Charlotte $ost
THURSDAY, MARCH 30^2006
03
D
Section
FOR SISTERS ONLY
Author
bares
soul of
men
PHOTO/RCA RECORDS
Heather Headley will perform on April 9th with Charlotte native Anthony Hamilton at Ovens.
Always on stage
Actor/singer Headley comfortable with performance
By Chens F. Hodges
chens.hodges@Ilteclia7-lolleposl.coni
Talking to Heather
Headley is much like lis--
tening to her album - you
can identify with her. She’s
like that sista girlfiiend
that you can share your
man trouble and shoes
with. Her music is smooth
and like readir^ the pages
of her diary (or yours).
“I don’t want to sing
about things I don’t know
about,” said Headley, who
will be in concert at Ovens
Auditorium April 9 with
Charlotte’s Anthony
Hamilton. 'What you hear
on this album is not only
me, but my willingness to
take you places even I’ve
never been before.”
Billboard magazine
describes Headley asbne of
the “greatest entertainers
of the day on record and
onstage.” When her first
album debuted in 2002, the
recording studio was were
the Broadway diva had
never been.
“I think at first I was a
little naive,” she said about
recording her album. “On
Broadway if you can’t sing,
you get kicked out but in
the music world you can go
back and fix thirds.”
Headley said when she
went into the studio she
had to learn how to sing on
a different type of micro:
phone and it was more
work intensive than she’d
initially thought. But the
work paid off and “This Is
Who I Am” earned the
Tbny award winner two
Soul Train Awards and a
pair of Grammy nomina
tions.
With “In My Mind”
Headley reached the top 10
in the first week of it’s
release. When asked if she
had to choose between
recordit^ and Broadway,
Headley said she’d choose
live performances every
time.
“I like being on stage,”
^e said. ‘Whether it’s act
ing or singing.”
Headley said being in the
Broadway musical “Aida”
was everythii^ that she
could have asked for in a
show. She did eight shows
a week, but her tour sched
ule with Hamilton won’t be
nearly that intense, with
some all-important “Me
Time” included.
‘You need time to restore
See HEADLEY/2D
ART REVIEW
Lambla takes hammer to stereotyping
By Sandy Seawright
THE CHARLOTTE POST
"Stereotypes:
■ Confronting Cliches”
McColl Center for Visual Art
The Creative Crucible
721 North Tryon St.
Guest curator June Lambla
of Charlotte attacks radal,
national and age stereot3/pes
with her curator’s ‘Sasual
hammer” of what she selects
for this group show and what
is displayed next to what.
The result is viewers have
their minds’ opened with lots
to think and talk about and
we get to see bold ccaitempo-
rary art and an unforgettable
video unlike anything I have
FILM REVIEW
seen here.
Roger Shimomura paints
larger, colorful paintings that
remind me of the work of pop
artist Roy Lictenstein. His
Japanese men, inserted into
domestic American settings,
have large buck teeth just
Hke the stereotype that Mick
ey Rcxjney played in the film,
‘Breakfast at'liffany’s.” Shi
momura directly addresses
issues of discrimination. One
of his wall labels states that
in July 2003 the U.S. Depart
ment of Houang and Urban
Development made public
that one in five Afiican-Amer-
icans or Hispanics e55)€rience
discrimination in renting or
buying a place to live.
Iona Rozeal Brown creates
acrylic on paper images that
have the formal positioning of
figures in Japanese wood
block prints; however the
prints feature
Japanese youth called gan-
guro who darken their skin
and pay big money to have
their hair permed into huge
afros. Brown is definitely
doii^ what good art
always does. Taking what’s
there and looking at it in a
new way. In looking at
Brown’s art we are seeing the
familiar, the classic Japanese
style wood lock print, in a
fi:^sh way featuring subjects
we have never seen.
In “Fervor,” a black-and-
white video by Shirin Neshat,
we see how the tradition of
Muslim women being segre
gated fi'om men and women
wearing
shadors, a veiled headdress
and shawl that covers their
faces doesn’t work to limit
emotional and sexual attrac
tion between the two sexes.
This video is well worth the
trip to the McCoIl Center.
German photographer
Loretto Lux in her Hfochrome
prints, a term I had never
heard before, photographs
Caucasina children so they
look like Dresden porcelain,
i.e. like perfection. These chil
dren look Hke a highly techni-
See STEREOTYPES/2D
‘Inside Man’debuts at No. 1 with $29M
By Cheris F. Hodges
chensJiodges@rhecltarloHeposl.com
Charlotte author David
Sparks has finally admitted
something that women
thought was true for years:
“Man Has Lost His Damned
Mind.”
Sparks authored the book
following his divorce, he said.
“The book is about man, the
social life of man. Manhood is
in a crisis now. Man is losing
his mind and now he’s losing
his place in society” Sparks
said.
And, he added, it’s because
of the stupid things that men
do.
“Men are full of intentions
but we lack the drive to see it
through,” he said.
Even though Sparks is
black, he said the book is for
all men and women.
“This book wUl give women
some insight into why men
act the way the do, but it
doesn’t excuse them,” he said.
Sparks said men often hide
behind their pride. “We are a
messed up species,” he said.
The book covers topics
such as men’s misconceptions
to understanding weakness.
It also covers the territory
fi'om when a boy becomes a
man to a man becoming emo
tionally intelligent.
Sparks self-pubhshed the
Please see SPARKS/2D
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES-Denzel
Washington’s reunion with
Spike Lee put them on the
inside track at the box office.
Their bank-hostage thriller
ilnside Man,! an unusually
commercial project for direc
tor Lee, debuted as liie No. 1
weekend film with $29 mil-
lion the best opening ever for
both the filmmaker and his
star, according to studio esti
mates Svinday
Universal’s ilnside Mani
knocked off the previous
weekend’s top movie, the
Warner Bros, action tale iV
for Vendetta,! whidi slipped
to second with $12.3 million
iV for Vendetta! raised its 10-
day total to $46.2 million.
Disney’s fii^t flick "Stay
Alive,” featuring Frankie
Muniz in a tale about a video
game that brings death to its
players, premiered in third
place with $11.2 million.
The weekend’s other new
wide release, Lionsgate’s
"Larry the Cable Guy: Health
Inspector,” a gross-out romp
starru^ comic Dan 'Whitney
investigating a food-poisoning
outbreak, opened at No. 7
with $7.05 million (eiuu5.89
million).
Stung by declining revenues
over the last year, Hollywood
broke out of its latest slump,
with the top-12 movies gross-
Please see INSIDE/2D
PHOTO/YAHOO MOVIES
“Inside Man” is the best debut for actor Denzel Wash
ington and director Spike Lee. The two have collabo
rated on other movies including “Malcolm X.”
Reynolds disputes her surgery danger reports
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Contrary to
rumors, Star says
she’s A-OK
LOS ANGELES-Star
Junes Reynolds has said that
reports of her plastic surgery
perils were greatly exa^erat-
ed.
Jones Reynolds, a host of
“The View,” called the day
time talk diow to discuss her
breast-fift surgery and to dis
pute what another host,
Meredith Vieira, described as
rumors circulating that she
almost died.
How are you.
Star? ■ Vieira
asked her in
the on-air con
versation.
Well, can we
first start with
... I did not
almost die,
Jones Reynolds replied. “I
mean there is nothing worse
than sitting in a bed watching
a scroll across the TV that
says ‘Star Jones faces death.’ I
went, ‘Oh; my God, I did?’
Joking that she wanted to
Reynolds
keep the show “abreast” of the
situation, Jones Reynolds
said she merely required a
blood transfusion because of
the March 17 suigery at a
Santa Monica, California,
hospital.
The doctors “all knew that I
was anemic and just in case I
ended up needing some blood,
whidi I did, they were pre
pared. They gave fne the
blood and literally I was fine
right afterwards,” Jones
Reynolds said, adding she
was consdous during the
transfusion.
Vieira asked her to describe
the operation, which Jones
said included receiving
implants.
“It’s a little bit of a hoist
because after you lose some
wei^t you sometimes go real
flat, and I really wanted to lift
them up,” said the once-
heavyset Jones Reynolds,
who has dimmed down con
siderably
Asked by guest host Tisha
Campbell-Martin if her
bosom was perky, she replied:
“Well, let’s just put it like this:
Friday was my 44th birthday
but my (breasts) think the5fre
still 20.”
And
‘Justice
League’
for aU
Justice League
Season One
Phil LaMarr. Carl Lunibv,
George Newbern. Kevin
Conroy,
Susan Eisenberg, Maria Canals
and Michael Rosenbaum
Bruce Tmwi. creator
Warner Home Video
It only took five years to
bring a “Justice League” box
set to market but it was well
worth the wait.
There are only seven spe-
dal features induding com
mentary on three episodes.
All except one has appeared
on the sin^e disc releases.
But none of that matters.
It’s the episodes of this
groundbreaking series that
make the box set worth the
price. Far more than just a
rehash of the ABC-TV series
“Superfifiends” (also avail
able), “Justice League” flesh
es out these iconic comic book
characters. Series creator
Bruce Timm wanted to make
this one of the best represen
tations ever, and succeeded
mightily
There were chances taken.
Superman (George Newbern)
is maybe a little too human.
The Green Lantern (Phil
LaMarr) is Afiican American
and eventually falls in love
with Hawkgirl (Maria
Canals, who is Latina). This
version of Wonder Woman is
nearly as strong as Super
man and can also fly.
None of this has kept comic
book afidonados away firom
the series. "With each year it’s
gotten bolder and a bit more
violent, placing it at 10:30
p.m. on Cartoon Network’s
schedule. This allows the
series to deal with rhore com
plex subjects and relation
ships. Kids win stni like it but
grownups can marvel at the
superb storytelling.
The first season is no slouch
at presenting a good story.
“The Savage Time” takes an
interesting look at World War
II, even induding a dead-on
rendering of Hitler. “The
Enemy Below” introduces
Aquaman, who’s even cranki
er than Batman. “In Blackest
Night” tests Green Lantern’s
faith in himself
The original series was in
regular pan and scan. Subse
quent releases will be in
widescreen. Oh, yes, there
are lots more coming.
Ratings
Excellent;
Good
Fair
Why?
No stars-Amess
V' i-2
is 14 p -jii
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