Daniel J. Stasiewski, A&E Editor
behrcolls@aol.com
Lessons in loathing
Jack Nicholson coaches Adam Sandler in rage coi
Review by Daniel J. Stasiewski
If "Anger Management" is anything more than just a
gimmick to get older and younger audiences to both see
the same comedy, then it should take the chance to prove
it. The first time Adam Sandler/Jack Nicholson collabo
ration doesn't go beyond mellow comedy, rendering both
stars impotent. The cheap, silly gags are worth a chuckle
here and there, but even veteran Nicholson doesn't shine
in this lackluster comedy.
On a flight to meet his unappreciative boss, Dave Buznik
(Sandler) is falsely accused of assaulting a flight atten
dant. Dave is normally an awkward combination of pas
sive and anxious, but is nevertheless sentenced to therapy
with anger management guru Dr. Buddy Rydell
(Nicholson).
Dave's first group therapy session introduces him to a
number of stereotypical caricatures from the obsessive
Philadelphia sports fanatic to lesbian porn stars with some
anger issues when their tongues are stuck down each other's
throats. Rydell, however, says Dave's aggression is "im
plosive" (bottling it up until going postal). The doctor
teams Dave up with an intimidating angry buddy named
Chuck (John Turturro).
Chuck has primal need to beat the crap out of anyone
looking at him the wrong way. When Chuck and Dave go
to a bar together, a fight breaks out (courtesy of Chuck)
and Dave ends up back in court for assaulting a waitress
with a blind man's white cane.
Instead of going to prison, Dave is sentenced to 30 days
of Rydell's 24-hour, in-home therapy. The intensive pro
gram includes fighting a transvestite prostitute, beating up
a childhood bully (who just happens to be a Buddhist
monk), picking-up women with lewd lines, and watching
Rydell steal away his girlfriend (Marisa Tomei) —all for
the sake of anger management.
I had this fantasy "Anger Management" would not be a
routine Adam Sandler film because Nicholson was in it,
Pacific Northwest band moves
opener for Pearl Jam
by Hector Florin
Knight Ridder Newspapers
"It's a very intense, sort of frightening
time that we're living in," Carrie
Brownstein of the band Sleater-Kinney
is saying two weeks before "shock and
awe" officially entered, and then slipped
from, the vocabulary.
Sure, one musician's opinion on glo
bal conflict can easily be dismissed as
liberal yapping. Sleater-Kinney, after all,
is based in the Pacific Northwest, where
lefty political thought can be as preva
lent as rain. And this is a band that
launched its own preemptive strike on
the state of the world with the release of
last year's "One Beat."
It's a record that has grown more
timely with each uncertain month. More
than just pointing fingers, the members
of Sleater-Kinney point at problems,
most of their lyrical themes falling un
der the states of relationships and cur
rent affairs. That's the basis of their
staunch indie cred. They're happily en
trenched on the Kill Rock Stars label and
in their community, in which Sleater-
Kinney prefers to keep the tunes pure and
the opinions unfiltered, with glimmers
of hope just in reach.
But now comes Sleater-Kinney's most
mainstream venture to date: touring large
arenas, opening for Pearl Jam on 11 dates
across the South.
a&e editor
"We were definitely interested in do
ing something different," says guitarist
Brownstein, who is joined in the group
by guitarist-vocalist Corin Tucker and
drummer Janet Weiss. "I think it's good
to do that once in a while."
This is the critically acclaimed band's
first foray into Florida, a state that until
now was on the list with Oklahoma,
Alaska and Arkansas as places Sleater-
Kinney had yet to visit. On the phone
from her Portland, Ore., home,
Brownstein explains: "As a band, we just
have not been to Florida."
Thanks, ladies.
The band was born during Olympia,
Washington's early '9os riot-grrrl move
ment, centered on Bikini Kill founder
Kathleen Hanna, still being her feminist
self in Le Tigre. Tucker (Heavens to
Betsy) and Brownstein (Excuse 17)
named Sleater-Kinney after the freeway
near their practice space.
A self-titled debut and the 1996 album
"Call the Doctor" followed, the latter in
cluding the übiquitous "I Wanna Be Your
Joey Ramone," a song in which Sonic
Youth's Thurston Moore gets equal love.
Tucker's desperate, shrill, ringing vo
cals prove a perfect mix with
Brownstein's. More than just harmoniz
ing, their voices overlap, like two char
acters playing different roles. Their gui
tar interplay (without any bass) proved
a huge, worthwhile risk that set Sleater-
01 techniniques
so it's quite disheartening to sit through the film without
being entertained. Instead, Nicholson is used as a mar
keting tool, putting his name next to Sandler's on thou
sands of ads, just so he can walk through an amusing role
any actor could play.
Nicholson only brings status to the film, so he doesn't
make his character anything special. Sandler, however,
must still be dizzy after starring "Punch-Drunk Love." The
toned-down comedy and timid character are signs Sandler
is still trying to break out of his "Billy Madison" persona.
Sure, it's nice when Sandler doesn't throw a temper-tan
trum after having cake thrown at him, but every other char
acter in the film has that childish rage Sandler abandons.
When the other characters have little eruptions, it's al
most as if they are making fun of the way Sandler usually
acts. As a matter of fact, most of the film comes as a big
joke only the actors can appreciate.
Picture this. One day, Sandler meets Nicholson. They
get to like each other and throw together a fun movie that's
only funny to the people who make it. "Anger Manage
ment" is like a high school video project with a multi
million-dollar budget and first-class catering. Honestly,
can anyone find Nicholson and Sandler singing "I Feel
Pretty" in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge more than
just amusing? Well, the actors probably had a ton of fun
shooting it.
"Amusing," however, is the key word, because I didn't
hate "Anger Management." It's a comedy that could of
fer so much more, but never takes itself seriously enough
to do so. I never thought I'd see the day Nicholson couldn't
help out a wounded movie, but I won't lose my temper
over it.
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Friday, April 18, 2003
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out of
4 stars
up to arenas as
Kinney apart. It's comparable to other
such rock-band twosomes as Television's
Richard Lloyd-Tom Verlaine and The
Clash's Joe Strummer-Mick Jones.
"It just started by default," Brownstein
says. "Corin and I didn't play bass. We
wanted three people. We were out of
Acclaim soon followed. Legendary
rock scribe Greil Marcus called Sleater-
Kinney "America's best rock band" in
Time magazine, and another well-re
garded indie band, The Go-Betweens,
used them as guest musicians on "The
Friends of Rachel Worth."
"You just have to take it with a grain
of salt," Brownstein says. "You can't play
music based on the opinions of other
people. We feel very fortunate fans and
critics like our music. But we play mu
sic because WE need it. We love that dy
namic."
The good reviews continued with
"One Beat," released in August. Their
most complete album, it touches on Sept.
11 ("Far Away"), its aftermath ("Step
Aside, Combat Rock") and parenthood
("Sympathy"), Tucker and her hubby,
filmmaker Lance Bangs, recently had a
baby boy, Marshall Tucker Bangs.
"This album to me is the most vast al
bum," Brownstein says. "The sonic land
scape of this record is the broadest in
terms of energy, in terms of the content."
son a
"Anger Management" directed
by Peter Segal, starring Adam
Sandler, Jack Nicholson, Marisa
Tomei, and John Turturro is now
playing at Tinsletown.
'Soul Food' still cooking up
big drama, but not for long
by Mild Turner
Knight Ridder Newspapers
For the past three seasons,
Showtime's award-winning drama
"Soul Food" has been, as the lyrics to
its opening theme song proclaim, good
for the soul.
It defied the notion that African-
American dramas can't succeed on
prime-time television. It furthered the
careers of truly gifted actors: Nicole Ari
Parker, Vanessa Williams, Malinda Wil
liams, Rockmond Dunbar, Darrin
DeWitt Henson, Aaron Meeks and Boris
Kodjoe.
It provided its audience with univer
sal, well-written stories enhanced by the
uncensored permissiveness of cable
television.
As the show, based on the 1997 film
of the same name and developed for
television by Felicia D. Henderson, en
ters its fourth season, the story lines will
become even more complex and topi
cal. •
Yos=gM=d (Meeks) will catch his
in a compromising position on the
kitchen counter. and deal with the messy
psychological aftermath. One of the
main characters will battle alcoholism,
and another will struggle through the
anguish of terminating an unwanted
pregnancy.
These types of story arcs play well
on more conventional network dramas
with predominantly white casts such as
"ER," "Judging Amy" and the recently
canceled "Providence." But for some
reason, they fall flat when black folks
are involved.
"1 don't think networks have offered
enough black dramas to see whether or
not they will succeed," says Seattle
Times television critic Kay Nick"
mitts impossible to draw conclusions as
to why they don't make it because we
have nothing to really base it on."
Most network executives will argue
that these shows are too limited in scope
to appeal to mass audiences. Some ad
mit that they're rarely given an oppor
tunity to build an audience because they
can't meet the bottom line.
But "Soul Food" has twice won
NAACP Image Awards and is in pro
duction for its fifth and final season in
Toronto.
"It was given a chance up front," says
Malinda Williams. "Most networks, al
ready fearful of putting black shows on
the air, will only order a limited num
ber of episodes. Showtime ordered 20.
That gave people a chance to see it. The
other thing is that it has a universal
theme, and people are curious to peek
into other cultures."
Dunbar credits the chemistry of the
cast, the talented writing staff and
Henderson.
"It was definitely having Felicia D.
Henderson as executive producer and
not accepting anything except the right
answers to the questions," he says.
"She's a strong black woman. It was so
nice to be a part of this history and have
a woman be the head of it. And being
that it was on Showtime really gave it
The Behrend Beacon
that open door, that opportunity to be
successful. We could be out there as
much as we are in real life and suc
ceed like we do in real life. This show
reflects black America and America as
a whole."
Dunbar's right about his boss.
Henderson, who also serves as execu
tive producer with Tracey E. and Ken
neth "Babyface" Edmonds, Robert
Teitel and George Tillman Jr., wouldn't
listen to the naysayers.
"I always anticipated the no's and
where they would be coming from,"
Henderson says. "I was ready. I always
assume I'm going to hear 'no,' so I can
have 10 ways to attack that 'no' and
then turn it into a 'yes.' Everyone in
volved was on a mission. When you
have that, as opposed to people just
feeling like the show was a job, it be
comes this whole big powerful, force
ful family that refuses to take no as an
omen"
Sadly, however, parernma, t said
no to extending theigow4istild th e,
rifthseason, nOO = .
ttettott
again. Although the show has done
well for Paramount domestically and
has increased Showtime's subscriber
base significantly, Henderson says she
was told it was too hard a sell over-
Apparently, what's good for the soul
in Peoria doesn't digest well in Prague.
The decision has stirred strong emo
tions in some of the cast.
"I hate to even think about it," says
Melinda Williams, who plays Bird,
"This cast is like my second family, and
although I know we'll still keep in
touch, it's hard because I'm still going
to miss them. It hurts also because we
still have a -great following. Sl**
stioxittle eVetatitaPund 00r shoW2
tf, m„.
Adds NAACilttmsi Award wine
VanOSSit Williams: "I think this is much
deeper and darker than it outwardly ap
pears. In America, you can sell any
thing. Our audience wasn't all-black
and not all-female. The network will
miss us when we're gone. They will
realize our value."
Five years on a cable network is a
pretty good run for any show.
Henderson's disappointment stems
from the fact she has more stories to
tell and also because "Soul Food" is
her child.
"You can imagine that after watch
ing four seasons of people working re
ally, really hard and still seeing the au
dience respond enthusiastically, it feels
like a really abrupt ending," she says.
"Everything has sort of a natural life
span, and I don't feel like "Soul Food"
is over," Henderson says.
Of the show's ending, Henderson ex
pressed sadness, "but (I'm) excited as
well for the actors who are also excited.
For most of them it's the highest pro
file they've ever had. I'm excited for
the Hollywood community.
"They'll get a shot at them now."
Unless the powers that be at Para
mount discover that the show really is
good for the soul.
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