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ntertainment PsgG 6 The Compass, Oct. 2004 Mosley makes it Easy By Toby Tate Editor-In-Chief “Little Scarlet” begins with the end of the ‘60’s race riots in L.A. Described in Mosley’s gritty “Mickey Spillane” fashion, the opening line reads: “The morning air smelled of smoke. Wood ash mainly but there was also the acrid stench of burnt plastic and paint. And even though I knew it couldn’t be true, I thought I caught a whiff of putrid flesh from under the rubble across the street.” Rawlins’s first act is to help keep a friend, a Jewish shoe-repair business owner, from getting accosted by an irate black customer who is demanding his merchandise: a pair of shoes which were burned in a fire. The basic pretense of the Easy Rawlins charac ter is that he is a good guy among mostly not-so-good guys. Rawlins, a custodian for the Sojourner Truth high school and an amateur de tective, has a hard time con vincing people of this, how ever, as all through the story he is harassed by the LAPD, mostly for no good reason other than being black and in the “wrong” place at the wrong time. After helping his friend, the Jewish shop owner, Rawlins is con fronted in the shop by Melvin Suggs, a white po lice detective who eventu ally becomes a friend. Rawlins is soon riding in a prowl car and heading for the local precinct, unsure of why he is taking this ride. At first. Easy is distrustful of the poUce, but soon learns that they need to enlist him for both his detective abili ties and his skin color. They need him to infiltrate the black community of Watts and find the killer of a young black girl named Scarlet who had been strangled and shot. The killer, they feared, was a white man. But Rawlins Hardcover - $24.95 Published By Little, Brown and Company and Suggs soon discover that this may not be the case. The characters throughout the story are an eclectic blend to say the least. When Rawlins is in jured from a gun shot wound, a woman friend who Easy had once had re lations with mixes up heal ing concoctions and brews that rival anything modern medicine has to offer; his best friend, Mouse, is a man with woman problems who could sweet talk the Tooth Fairy and stare down a ra bid Pit Bull; his son, Jesus, is an adopted Mexican boy who drops out of school and loves sailing the open seas; his girlfriend and live-in lover Bonnie, an airline stewardess and a strong fe male character, always stands beside her man; and many other colorful as well as dark and brooding char acters people the pages of this well-written and par tially auto-biographical novel. We are made to ex perience the very real feel ings of what it was like to be black in 1965 L.A. dur ing a time of racial divide and mistrust, the mixed emotions of being a fighter with a heart. Significant historical events such as the speeches of Martin Luther King and the Viet Nam war are frequently mentioned while Easy goes about to find a killer of black women whose motives may go all the way back to childhood. Though he works for the police, they seem to be bent on catching a killer, whether it’s the right one or not. But Easy’s motives are pure and he is tenacious, vowing that justice will be served. Rawlins also has time keeping the women at bay, finding himself in situ ations with young, beautifu girls who throw themselves at him, one even suggesting she would be his “other girlfriend. But Rawlins is true to the end. Knocking on doors throughout white and black neighborhoods alike, he relentlessly pur sues the killer, inadvertently becoming involved in his friend Mouse’s illega money making schemes going up against a man he wrongly thinks is the mur derer, getting beat up, shot, harassed, arrested, lovesick and just downright angry at the murders of black women that is taking place, which has been historically ignored by the LAPD. As we discover, Easy Rawlins is not a man you want to get on the wrong side of. This book is throwback to the Raymond Chandler “Big Easy” type detective novel. We feel like we are there, experiencing each event. There is lots of action and romance but a relatively small amount of graphic violence, sex or foul language. The chapters are short, very much like a James Patterson novel. Many such as myself who read Patterson may see similarities between Alex Cross, the main character of several Patterson novels, and Easy Rawlins, but Easy came first in 1990 with “Devil In a Blue Dress.” He is also featured in subsequent books, including the recent short story collection, “Six Easy Pieces.” “Little Scarlet”, available at Waldenbooks, Borders, Barnes and Noble and Amazon is $24.95 and is published by Little, Brown and Company. A Hero is Boume: Predator puts some Collateral on the Cookout By Chris Chinaka Staff Writer While comparisons to “Crouching Tiger” might be expected, “Hero” is an allegory with its own integrity. This movie is very energetic and it’s guaranteed to keep you wondering what’s next. You can expect to see some fancy fighting techniques, dangerous stunts and there are even a couple of emotional components to this movie. Unfortunately, it is overdone. Subtleties have been abandoned in much of the fight gymnastics, allowing you to virtually see just how the actors were suspended in space by the digitally deleted cables. The technique is a great addition to the lexicon of fight dynamics on film. For those fascinated with martial arts. The Hero is definitely a collector’s item. “The Bourne Supremacy” was not just another one of those summer sequels that went bad. It’s actually exciting because it \j|asi filled with massive action. This movie picked up where the “Bourne Identity” left off and has propelled itself to a summer smash. I really enjoyed this movie; it was very impressive to see how Matt Damon showed growth and a serious side. There are a lot of car crashes, gun fighting, and puzzle solving. Trust me; you will get your moneys worth. Universal Studios Home Video will launch the thriller on DVD sometime close to December, in separate anemographic wide screen and full screen version. Each includes English, French and Spanish Dolby 5.1 surround sound. “Collateral,” the new Tom Cruise movie, is preposterous as well as a whole lot of fun. How often do you get to see Tom Cruise play a professional assassin? It also stars Jamie Fox and Jada Pinkett Smith. This is one of those movies you have to see. It is one of Cruise’s best performances and his smartest career move. The directors waste no time getting into the action. In this movie, the cab driver Jamie Fox picks up Tom Cruise, a hit man with a busy night ahead of him. The two form an uneasy partnership when Cruise forces Fox to drive him around town to the various stops on his minutes to rattle your brain with lots of suspense then you might enjoy this movie. On the comedy side, the “Cookout” is about a young African-American male who was drafted number one in the professional basketball league. Todd Anderson (aka Storm P) signs a $30 million contract with the New Jersey Nets and finds out that his newfound wealth means relationships with the people in his life are bound to change. Anderson moves out of the neighborhood and into a house worthy of a future murderous tour of Los Angeles. It starts with the cab driver being put in a weird position. There are no boring parts in this movie. Now, if you are not into science fiction, “Alien V&. Predator” is not the movie for you. If you are a big fan of either or both of these iconic space invaders, you will love seeing these two creatures beating the dust off each other. This movie starts when discovery is made of an ancient pyramid buried in Antarctica, and a team of scientists is sent on a journey to the frozen continent. If you have 87 basketball superstar. His mother’s (Jennifer Lewis) first order of business is to make sure that he does not forget where he came from. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Brittany has other ideas: making sure he forgets the family as fast as possible. So, in order to keep the family balanced. Storm P. decides to have a family cookout, but the cookout turns into a disaster. This movie was written by Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere, and directed by Lance Rivera. The 85- minute comedy was just all right, having its funny as well as confusing parts. Neptunes’ N.E.R.D. hatches its latest CD: Fly or Die By Toby Tate Editor-In-Chief Virginia’s favorite production duo, the Grammy winning Neptunes, have brought to gether an interesting collage of sounds for their band N.E.R.D.’s (No one Ever Really Dies) new album on Virgin Records. This is truly something new and original, a far cry from the Janet Jackson and N*SYNC productions they are famous for. The latest CD from Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and Shae (no last name), titled “Fly or Die,” begins with a one chord song (except for the bridge) R&B feel to the song called “Don’t Worry Bout It.” It is a surprisingly catchy funk rock tune, and grows on you with each lis tening. Most of the songs, like this one, feature a basic three piece band with bass, guitar and drums, and an occasional keyboard. There is little if any sampling on the album; all extra produc tion is done via instrumen tation, whether it be fuzz guitar, synthesizer or vocals. The Neptune’s mentality on this album must have been “less is more,” and it works. Also on this track, Pharrell sings in a Smokey Robinson-esque falsetto Most of the tracks. Move” has been voted the such as “She Wants to #1 track on the band’s web Move and “Maybe,” have site and is featured as a a Lenny Kravitz quality to video on the digital channel “N.” From In them, fact, Kravitz himself ac- t u a 1 1 y plays gui tar on “Maybe.” There is also a “Living Color” vibe going on with songs such as “Fly or Die,” “Thrasher,” “Drill Ser geant” and “Jump,” featur- what I can decipher from William’s cryptic lyr ics, it is about sex. A girl’s fa ther is be ing over- protective and Williams obviously wants him to let her do her thing. “Hey mister, look at your girl, she loves it, I can on low toms and is accom- the CD, so there’s no way panied by a funky bass riff to tell who’s doing what. I and Sugar Ray-type acous- do like the fact the CD is tic guitar. enhanced and you can see “Wonderful Place” some cool slide shows on features the most optimistic your computer to go along lyrics on the album “My with the songs. It’s also nice soul’s in my smile, don’t that there are both explicit frown, just get up, get up,” and non-explicit lyric sung by a chorus of voices, versions available for those a-la the Four Tops, and with discriminating tastes, backed up by a horn section. To recap, “Fly or The song changes from a Die” feels like an extremely mellow whistling of the well-produced garage band, main melody to a chorus of with a sound like a mix which actually adds a retro ing vocals by the band Good see it in her eyes.” It has a She Wants to great drum rhythm played voices and horns and then back again. It keeps things interesting. I didn’t like the fact that the instruments played by Pharrell, Chad or Shae were not listed anywhere on between Lenny Kravitz and Living Color. There are also older R&B influences such as Smokey Robinson and the Temptations. Checkout the band’s web site at www.n-e-r-d.com.
Elizabeth City State University Student Newspaper
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Oct. 1, 2004, edition 1
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