Charlotte $oat
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Section
THURSDAY
May 27.1993
Black Hopes To Promote
:
Photo/Calvin Ferguson
Vincent Black pauses in lEront of Ovens Auditorium, thinking about future events.
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLXDTTE POST
Vincent Black has dreams
of filling every major venue
In Charlotte with black en
tertainers. Getting Janet
Jackson In the Charlotte
Coliseum would be the ful
fillment of that dream.
It probably will not happen
this summer, but don't count
Black out. He hopes to have
Aces Entertainment Group —
a proposed entertainment
conglomerate — up and run
ning before the summer's
over.
According to Black, Aces
will be a company that spe
cializes In artist promotion,
development and manage
ment.
"Because I have contacts
with Columbia Records and
Pendulum Records, I decided
to start off with artist repre
sentation and management,"
said the 24-year old.
"Actually, a friend of mine Is
at Pendulum so that
shouldn't be much of a prob
lem. Right now I'm working
with an r&b, hip-hop and
funk male vocal group called
Cornin' Correct. We're In the
studio now and something
should be happening soon."
Once fully staffed. Black
plans to divide Aces Into
three groups — entertain
ment, enterprise and Invest
ment. Any persons Interest
ed In the entertainment field
can join.
The entertainment branch
will handle artist manage
ment, development and con
cert promotions.
The enterprise branch will
handle public relations and
will allow members to Invest
In Aces projects.
The Investment group will
provide funding for Aces pro
jects.
Those who join Aces will
get a handbook that spells
out the programs In greater
detail, a membership card
and access to a hotline to
keep them abreast of the
company's activities.
But bringing major artists
to Charlotte Is Black's ulti
mate goal.
"I've been In contact with
Creative Entertainment In
LJ^ to see how well the Jack-
son tour Is coming along. I
call them once every few
weeks to follow-up on how
It's coming," Black said.
Even If I can't bring Janet to
this area, she'll get here. But
there Is no major promoter
In the area to get black acts
here."
Black's comments ring
true. There were no major
black acts scheduled to come
through Charlotte until the
aimouncement of the Pepsi
Summer Fest July 15 at the
Charlotte Coliseum and Pea-
bo Biyson at Ovens July 11.
Black created Aces In 1989
as Aces Entertainment. He
was looking to buy a night
club. But his efforts changed
once he started researching
the entertainment field.
"I did a lot of research,
about three years' worth. I
contacted the people I wanted
to talk to directly. I talked to
company presidents, vice
presidents or directors In
stead of talking to someone
who didn't know what they
were talking about or what I
wanted.
Black has talked to people
from Sony Music, Columbia
House Music Club, Black Ra
dio Elxclusive, Pollstar (a na
tional concert hotline) and
NationsBank. How does a
1991 UNC Charlotte psychol
ogy graduate get the atten
tion of the presidents of such
companies?
See PERSISTENCE On Page SB
Off
TU
51..If
Editor's note: For the next several weeks this column wUl
feature book reviews from area elementary students. This
week's reviews were done by students from Tryon HiUs Ele
mentary School.
Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
By RoaldDahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Is about a boy who
lives with his mother, fa
ther, and four grandparents.
They were poor people and
couldn't afford much, but
one day Mr. Willie Wonka
from the Chocolate Factory
was giving five tickets to
those who found them. The
people who found them
could go to the chocolate
factory for a whole day and
get a lifetime's worth of
chocolate. Charlie was the
only one who listened at the
factory and Mr. Willie Won
ka gave him the factory
when he passed on.
I liked the book because It had a lot of suspense and adven
ture. The author has a good Imagination. I recommend this
book for kids all over.
Rowan
By Rabin McKinley
Rowan is about a girl who wants a dog, but she doesn't
know what kind of dog she wants. The dog she gets Is a
whippet and she Is finally happy. I read this book to a 2-
year-old and she liked it because the pictures were pretty
and because It was about dcgs and she likes dogs.
Kelly Harkey
6th grade
********************************
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe,
ByC.S.Leivis
The book I read was the "Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe."
It's about this magic war
drobe & these kids called
Lucy, Eklmund, Peter & Su
san. They get In the war
drobe and find out there's
a magical land called Nar
nia inside where they
meet a fawn and a beaver.
They also meet Aslan, the
king of Namla. They free
Namla from the curse of
the witch. It's a wonderful
story. So If you're looking
for a way to escape to a
magic land read "The
Uon, the Witch & the War
drobe."
Jaml Paden
6th grade
********************************
See OFF THE SHELF On Page SB
The
Movie
Column
By
Winfred B. Cross
‘Menace II Society" • ☆ 1/2
Stars; Tyrin Turner, Larenez Tate and Jada Pinkett
reduced by Allen and Albert Hughes
ated R: Strong Violence, Profanity
A Korean store owner tries
to hurry two blacks out of his
store for no other reason
than because they are black.
One of the young men be
comes Irate and starts to
argue with the store owner,
while his partner drinks a 40
ounce In the background.
Shots ring out and the store
owner lies dead. His widow
goes berserk and starts
screaming. The youth takes
her In the back, grabs the
video tape that would prove
his guilt, then shoots her
several times.
If that sounds like an ac
count of something that's
happened In the news recent
ly, It probably is. However.
Oie description serves as the
opening to the new film
"Menace II Society," a wick
edly violent slice of life from
New Line Cinema that opens
Friday.
The film Is masterfully di
rected by 20-year-old twin
brothers Allen and Albert
Hughes. The Hughes brothers
set out to show how hard It Is
to be black and grow up In
America, especially in the
Watts section of South Cen
tral Los Angeles. They get
their point across with end
less strings of profanity, fist-
flghts by the dozens and gun
battles that would put the
gun fights in "Posse" to
shame.
The story centers around
Caine, portrayed by Tyrin
Caine (Turner) shows Anthony (Doster) how to hold a gun in scene from "Menace n Society."
Turner (Klckdrum In Janet
Jackson's "Rhythm Nation"
video). He has just graduated
from high school and
reached his 18th birthday,
two achievements that most
black men don't make to
South Central LA. His father
Tat (the always wonderful
Samuel L. Jackson) is a vi
cious drug dealer who's
killed In a deal gone bad. His
mother Is a junMe who ODs.
That turn of events sends
him to live with his grand
parents. They are a loving
pair (Arnold Johnson and
Marilyn Coleman)^ but are
growing tired of Caine's diso
bedient and disruptive be
havior. Caine's grandfather
Is also annoyed with his
friendship with O-Dog (La-
renz Tate), the trigger man In
the liquor store murder.
Caine's only real family Is
Pernell (Glenn Plummer)
who Is serving a life sentence
with no parole. Pemell gives
Caine his first taste of liquor
and teaches him how to hold
a gun, for which Caine is
grateful. So, Caine decides to
take care of Pemell's girl
friend Ronnie ("A Different
World's" Jada Pinkett) and
her cute six-year-old son An
thony (Jullian Roy Doster)
while Pemell sweats It out In
jail.
That is the most meaning
ful thing Caine does In the
film. After his cousin Is shot
by gang members, O-Dog con
vinces him to seek vengence
by blowing away the guilty
parties. After the brutal hit,
Caine becomes useless, sell
ing drugs, stealing cars and
killing without fear.
His character Is outdone
only by O-Dog. described as
"young, black and don't give
a f—k." O-Dog is ruthless,
killing at will with no re
morse. His greatest thrill is
watching the video tape that
can convict him of the store
owner's death. O-Dog's only
redeeming quality is that he
a true friend to Caine. But
that friendship Is destruc
tive, Influencing Caine to be
come a true hoodlum.
Although most will com
pare this film to John Sin
gleton's magnificent "Boyz N'
The Hood," a better compari
son would be to Ernest Dick-
See BOENACB On Page 3B
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