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(AP)—The Cinedome Theatre, a
multiplex in a mostly white, middle
daaa neighborhood in Sacramento,
Calif., usually plays mainstream
movies: Hook, TheAddams Family,
Beauty and the Beast.
But this summer Cinedome also
ran Boyz N the Hood, a drama by a
23-year-old black director set in a
Los Angeles ghetto. In the fall, the
' multiplex featured another black
film, House Party II, a hip-hop fla
vored campus comedy.
*1 think the white audience is
taking agreater interestin the films
being made by the black
filmmakers,” explained Jack
MyrVill, general manager of Syufy
Enterprises, which owns and oper
ates the Cinedome and other thea
tersin five states. ‘These are quality
films, and that’s really what people
want to see. The film is what it’s all
about.”
Still, for every theater like the
Cinedome, many more refuye to
show movies made by African
American filmmakers or with black
themes. Spike Lee, John Singleton,
Ernest Dickerson and other
filmmakers may have succeeded in
cracking Hollywood discrimination
and getting their movies made, but
they’ve had a harder time getting
them seen.
Lee’s acclaimed Jungle Fever
didn’t reach as many screens as the
critical and commercial flop Drop
Dead Fred. Singleton’s Boyz N the
Hood, which pulled in more than
$50 million at the box office, re
ceived less exposure than the
quickly forgotten Point Break.
Dickerson’s Juice opened recently to
favorable reviews, but the widely
panned Kuffs had a wider distribu
tion.
Some blame the studios for insuf
SUPREME SACRIFICE - Sam (Scatt Bakula) “leaps” Into a Mack teenage gill
who sings My Boyfriend’s Back, Heat Wave and Do You Love Me as a member of
a 60s “girl group" and must prevent a fellow vocalist (guest star Tammy
Townsend) from alienating her stifling minister father (guest star Harrison Page)
by signing an exploitative contract with a sleazy manager (guest star Eriq LaSalle)
on NBC-TV's Quantum Leap Wednesday. Feb. 26,10-11 p.m.
Michael Jackson Fan
Sentenced For Larceny
DETROIT, Mich. (AP)—A Mi
chael Jackson fan was sentenced to
two years probation last week for
stealing the singer’s trademark
white, sequined glove from the
Motown Museum.
Detroit Recorder’s Court Judge
Dominick Carnovale also sentenced
23-year-old Bruce M. Hays of Flint
to 20 hours of community service on
a felony charge of larceny inside a
building.
“You think I'm going to put him in
prison?" Carnovale asked Hays’
attorney, Craig Freeman, before the
sentencing.
Hays, wearing a gray pinstriped
suit, sat impassively between his
mother and a sister. He declined
comment.
"Sure Fm relieved," said Hays’
mother, Pamela, after the sentenc
ing. "Jail was always a possibility."
Hays faced up to 12 years’ impris
onment for stealing the crystal
beaded glove on uct. z, iwi irom
the mueeum.
The glove wom by Jeckaon during
hie “Thriller* video was kept in a
locked glass case in a room devoted
to Jackson memorabilia.
Before the sentencing, Hays gave
Caraovale a typed statement that
said police before arresting him took
turns posing for photographs with
'Jackson’s glove.
The theft took place while eight
employees and two visitors were in
the museum, officials said. Police
said Hays removed hinges on the
case to reach the glove, then re
placed the hinges.
Two days later, Hays surrendered
to police in Flint, about 75 miles
northwest of Detroit, after investgi
1 gators received an anonymous tip.
Jackson donated the glove along
with a hat and $125,000 in 1088, He
wore the sequined glove on a 1983
television program honoring the
25th anniversary of the founding of
Motown Records.
The theft led to greater security
measures at the museum, situated
in a house where the Motown music
empire was founded, said director
Esther Gordy Edwards.
The theft also prompted rap star
Hammer to offer a $50,000 reward
for the return of the glove. Hammer
set up a special telephone line to
Capitol Records for people to call
with information about the glove.
Jackson's 1982 Thriller is one of
the most popular albums of all time,
with more than 50 million copies
sold.
ficient support; others say the films’
subject matter gives them limited
appeal. But whether it’s racism or
simply a matter of what the market
will bear, the same formula seems to
apply: black films for black people.
"I think it’s because of the way
distributors and retailers view
black films,” said Fred Rashid, the
NAACPs national director for eco
nomic development.
“They just try to put them in pre
dominantly black areas. I think
films are pretty much looked at the
same way as records are. They label
it as black music or pop music, and
that’s the way they market it. The
studios pretty much label and so do
the people who distribute the film.”
“There are films that you can’t
open in the middle of a white,
cracker neighborhood,” added Mark
Gill, Columbia Pictures’ senior vice
president of publicity. "There is
Group Plans For
Black-Oriented
MBC TV Network
BY BARRY COOPER
Can black America support an
other black-oriented television net
work? Yes, say a group of enterpris
ing African-American business
men.
Plans an now being farmed for
the nation's second blade network.
BET, offered through cable compa
nies, has been a hit. Now the Minor
ity QtgUdcasting Corporation,
bcasdln Dallas, says it will fill a
nkheofitsown.
Backers of MBC say the network
will,fcp made available, free of
in selected aties. MBC
WQ(B&S)t orffered on cable. Instead,
^ppi will receive the signal in the
same manner in which they receive
ImrtatMhans. So far, about 10 inde
pMaMBstations have shown inter
est, according to MBC.
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MBC, said offering MBC “over the
air,” will make it attractive.
"We are going to be the first free
over-thf-air network for the black
community,” James told reporters
at a trade show in New Orleans. "We
are positioning MBC in the market
place as the prime conduit for inde
pendent producers for minority pro
gramming.”
No one can tell if MBC will become
a reality. But James and his part
ners have some impressive shows
lined up, and they hope to begin op
erations this fall.
Shows in the works include
“Sports Lifestyles,” which will star
Stedman Graham—Oprah
Winfrey’s friend. It’s not clear
whether Graham’s show will be
produced by Winfrey’s production
company.
Other shows lined up are "Good
Morning Black America,” “Fame
and Fortune,” a talent show; and
“Minorities Speak to the Nation,” a
60-minute talk show.
If MBC gains the backing it needs,
it could be a boon for black house
holds. Aside from sitcoms, very little
programming by the meg or net
works has a black theme.
Initially, MBC plans to offer six
hours of programming per day, with
the eventual goal being 24 hours of
coverage per day.
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racism in America and we’re fools to
ignore it."
Racism of one kind or another
long has existed in the motion pic
ture industry and black directors
and producers continue to have an
uphill struggle. Independent black
filmmakers emerged in the 1920s
when more than 100 black film
companies made low-budget, pri
marily B movies for black theaters.
The most notable filmmakers of this
time included Noble and George
Johnson, and Oscar Micheaux, who
made Paul Robeson’s first movie,
Body and Soul, in 1924.
But today’s filmmakers want
their movies to be seen by everyone.
Some, such as Matty Rich (Straight
Out of Brooklyn) and Charles
Burnett (To Sleep with Anger) even
debut their works at the more pres
tigious international film festivals
where they hope to get the attention
of a wider audience.
Hie number of screens a film
might reach can range from just a
handful for an art picture to more
than 2,000 for Terminator 2 or
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
In between, how much exposure a
movie gets depends on any number
of factors: timing, commercial ap
peal, marketing strategy. Some
movies, such as Boyz N the Hood,
open at a small number of theaters
and gradually expand. Others, such
as Mobsters and Body Parts, debut
on a large number of screens and
quickly disappear.
Either way, the most successful
black movies have yet to get the kind
of exposure given to many inferior,
white films. House Party 11 peaked
at 1,185 screens last fall, according
w iiguron cumpnea oy pxmoiror
Relations, which puts out the
weekly box-office listings. That’s the
highest in memory for a black movie
without Eddie Murphy, but still
well short of Mystery Date or Pure
Luck, two movies that quickly came
and went
’When any distributor looks to
market a film, they want it to be a
synergy between the content of the
film and the neighborhood it’s in,”
said Steve Rothenberg, senior vice
president of theatrical distribution
for the Samuel Goldwyn Company,
which has released Straight Out of
Brooklyn, and such black art films
as To Sleep With Anger.
“You have the cost of advertising,
the costs of the prints. You add up all
those costs and try to make a ra
tional business decision. Typically,
it makes sense to play these films in
roughly 700-1,000 theaters. Be
yond that, it has been proven the
films don’t do any business.”
“There are, unfortunately, thea
ter owners, and in some cases,
mayors and chiefs of police, who did
not want House Party 11 playing in
.their neighborhoods,” said Mitch
Goldman, sales manager for New
Line Cinema, which distributed the
film. “They said it was for fear of
problems, law enforcement prob
lems.
“And the commercial success of
BoyzNthe Hood and New Jack City
was a factor in our ability to get into
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more bumness than expected on
those films and were more willing to
take a chance.”
UNC Concert To
Revive Sounds
Of Sousa Band
CHAPEL HILL—It won’t be the
Sousa band but it will look and
sound like the Sousa band. The
UNC Symphonic Band, conducted
by James Hile, will present a cos
tumed tum-of-the-century park
concert in Memorial Hall on the
UNC campus Saturday, Feb. 15, at 8
p.m. The concert will feature a con
cert presentation in the same style
that John Philip Sousa used to en
tertain large audiences and which
made him a household name
throughout the United States.
The concert will feature overtures
such as Von Suppe’s “Poet and Peas
ant” and Sousa’s "Mars and Venus.”
Professor James Ketch will be fea
tured as a soloist in the name of the
famed cornet virtuoso Herbert L.
Clarke.
The concert will also feature nov
elty numbers and music of the great
composers, fulfilling Sousa’s dual
function of entertaining the audi
ence and bringing the best music
available to the public.
Tickets are available at the UNC
band office (919-962-6695) or at the
TJNC MOBir Department (919-962
1039). Tickets will also be available
at the door.
IMAGINARY FRIENDS — Ella Jenkins, children’s folk singer, is a guest on an all
new week about Imaginary Friends on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, premiering in
most areas February 24-28 on PBS. Through her song, Jenkins invites children to
imagine and pretend. “The ability to imagine is one of the most useful tools
children need for their learning,” says Rogers and focuses this week on
imagination and children's use of imaginary friends. This segment is part of
the program scheduled for Feb. 28.
Marilyn McCoo Sparkles
With Pop-Gospel Album
“For the last couple of years I’ve
been concerned about the quality of
contemporary song lyrics,” said
Marilyn McCoo. "Some of them are
so negative and oriented toward
irresponsible behavior. There’s so
often not enough hope.”
That’s why she’s particularly
thrilled that her album, The Me
Nobody Knows, has been nominated
for a Grammy in the pop gospel
album category..
She first performed the title song
publicly before a live audience at the
Children’s Miracle Network Tele
thon at Disneyland, but she was
most concerned about how it would
go over at the Greek Theatre in Los
Angeles for the reunion perform
ance of the Original 5th Dimension.
“I didn’t know what the response
wouldbe, but I was determined to do
these songs,” she said of the gospel
numbers. *1 was pleasantly sur
prised when I received a standing
ovation.” After the single came out,
she received further validation of its
value when she got a letter from a
suicidal young woman, who, upon
hearing the song on the radio, wrote
that it had given her new hope and
that she didn’t feel so alone any
more.
The present Grammy nomination
is her first as a solo artist, although
she and her husband, Billy Davis,
MARILYN MCCOO
Jr., won a Grammy (best R&B vocal
performance by a duo) for “You
Don’t Have to Be a Star (To Be in My
Show).* When she sang with the 5th
Dimension, the group won six
Grammys.
She is particularly pleased with
“Did We Forget About Love?”, one of
the songs on her current album. It’s
the first song she has co-written
that’s also been recorded and it will
be her next single. “It’s about get
ting so caught up in our own lives
that we forget about other human
beings who are in need—that’s not
what God had in mind for us,” she
said.
bonny KoIIins To Bring
Indomitable Style Here
For over four decades, Sonny
Rollins has been blowing away the
competition. On Saturday, Feb. 22,
at 8 p.m., the indomitable, ever-riv
eting Rollins brings his group to
NCSlPs Stewart Theatre as part of
the Center Stage season.
Always a stunning performer,
and arguably the greatest jazz tenor
saxophone alive, Sonny Rollins has
wooed and wowed audiences for
years. Just out of high school he
began jamming with the likes ofBud
Powell and Fats Navarro, and by the
early ’60s was recording and per
forming with Miles Davis, Charlie
Parker and Thelonious Monk.
Rollins credits Ornette Coleman
and Lester Young, however, with
having the greatest influence on his
style.
Like Coleman, Rollins has a gift
for improvisation—playing free,
and often playingtast and loose with
the old standards. But unlike many
improvisers, Rollins always keeps
the melody within earshot, recog-,
nizable somewhere under the amal
gam of bebop, calypso, dance
rhythms and avant garde that in
form his unique, swaggering style.
The beauty of what Rollins does
with a tune doesn’t lie in a lush or
remarkable beginning—it unfolds
from anything as banal as “I’m An
Old Cowhand” or “Tennessee Waltz”
into a single, splendid tapestry
when Rollins makes his magic.
Wildly imaginative yet remarka
bly logical inventions flow nonstop
from his staccato bursts, rapidly
and cleanly articulated runs and
sustained notes. From aggressive to
lyrical, his tone can be almost con
versational at times. And this is one
man whose sax has a lot to say.
Standup Comedienne
Takes UNC Spotlight
CnArEL nlLii—nertace Berry,
the most popular young comedienne
on the college circuit—ehe was
voted the 1991 National Association
of Campus Activities Comedian of
the Year—in comedy clubs and on
television, will appear at 9 p.m. Feb.
-14, in the Great Hall in the Frank
Porter Graham Student Union
Building on the UNC campus.
A multi-talented woman, who
was told by her high-school coun
selor she was not college material,
Ms. Berry is:
a) A Ph.D. graduate in sociology
and former university professor
who happens to be funny.
b) A comedienne who happens to
be scholarly.
c) A gifted lecturer/speaker with a
comic edge.
d) A comic with a serious message
e) All of tne aoove.
She has been described as either
the Bill Cosby of sociology or the
Doctor of Comedy. Or both. She is a
woman with a message. She keeps
her audiences howling, with jokes
that convey positive images about
living happily together. Using com
edy as a tool towards better under
standing, Ms. Berry shows that by
laughing with each other, people
can learn to respect each other also.
Although she has always been!
funny, Ms. Berry didn’t start per
forming until a few years ago when
Mike Veneman, a comedian friend
and classmate, convinced her to
audition for amateur night at Hi
larities, a comedy club in Cuyahoga
Falls, Ohio. To her surprise, she
won. She has been performing ever
since.