The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 38

gin The thrill's right here I mite 10 Disney film is flU instead of ml Movie review years ago, during the late Cretaceous Period, when primates hadn't yet arrived on the scene. An early shrew-like mammal, however, may have co-existed with the dinosaurs. With that in mind, Disney created a furry clan of inquisitive lemurs for its movie. But youngsters aren't going to be watching "Dinosaur" for its impressive techniques or accuracy. They want a transportive story and enchanting characters to go along with its magical imagery and they 'Dinosaur' Starring: Voices of D.B.

Sweeney, Julianna Margulies. Rating: 12 MPAA Rating: PG. Scary carnivores attack and eat smaller, weaker dinosaurs. Showing: Broadway Cinemas, Corydon (Ind.) Cinemas, Dixie Dozen, Georgetown Twin Drive-In, Green Tree 10, Oldham 8, Showcase Cinemas Louisville, Showcase Cinemas Stonybrook, Tinseltown, (1 22 min.) The only thing more impressive than a genuine musical 'con is one who is still making records, touring and continually defining his art. Meet B.B.

King, the hardest-working icon in show business. King's imprint on the blues is as distinctive as anyone's. His stinging, single-note attack is immediately recognizable for its crying tone and economy; King speaks volumes while playing significantly less than almost anyone else. No less distinctive are his vocals, which convey a resigned, sweet anguish. On a slow blues, King sounds like a man done absolutely wrong, mistreated to the point of utter blubbering despair.

King's guitar and voice, combined with his strong marketing sense, have made him the most successful of the Mississippi blues-men. None has reached further into the mainstream or sustained a career for so long. King has been performing since the early 1940s. He moved to Memphis from Mississippi in 1946 and devoted himself full time to the blues, picking up a nickname, "The Beale Street Blues Boy," which was soon shortened to B.B. A string of hits on the rhythm-and-blues charts earned King occasional crossover success throughout the '60s, but King didn't become a major star until 1969, when "The Thrill Is Gone" established him as America's blues ambassador and "Lucille" as the only guitar everyone knew by name.

Since then King has veered from hard-core blues to watered-down projects overpopulated with guest stars. But his essential appeal has endured. King knows the blues inside and out. He has soul. And when he steps up to the microphone, head tilted to one side and eyes squeezed shut, he makes you believe.

King will perform Sunday at the Louisville Palace, 625 S. Fourth at 8 p.m. Tickets are $29 and $35. Henry Butler opens. Jeffrey Lee Puckett, The Courier-Journal By JUDITH EGERTON Courier-Journal Critic In "Dinosaur," extinct reptiles of all shapes and sizes move en masse across a vast landscape.

It makes for an eye-bulging sight because the creatures look as real as a herd of elephants in a nature documentary. Disney's leap into computer-generated animation is a visual wonder that blends digital animation with real backgrounds filmed in the swamps of Florida, on the plains of Venezuela and in lush Hawaii. Unfortunately, this ambitious movie lacks the charm of "A Bug's Life" and the insightful cleverness of "Toy Story," two animated films created for Disney by Pixar. This film, Disney's first solo venture into computer-generated animation, cost an estimated $125 million or as much as $350 million when Disney's investment in its new digital production studio is included. The jiggling body of an 80-ton bra-chiosaur and the thousands of hairs on early lemur-like creatures are impressive technical animation achievements, although hairy animals may have been non-existent during the Mesozoic Era, commonly called the Age of Reptiles.

The movie takes place 65 million where it falls into the jungle and is discovered by a group of boisterous lemurs. When the iguanodon egg hatches, Aladar emerges and is adopted by the mammals. Disaster strikes their island paradise, however, in the form of a fiery meteor shower (a reference to the eventual cause of the disappearance of the dinosaurs) and all escape to the mainland. There, they join a herd of other dinosaurs migrating to a nesting ground under the guidance of Kron, a fierce iguanadon who shows no sympathy for the small, old and weak dinosaurs who falter. The gentle Aladar, however, does his best to protect them.

Ultimately, he defends the herd against predators and defies Kron's leadership for the good of the herd. Unlike Disney's other animated movies, this one has no bouncy singalong songs or funny dialogue. The story will bore many viewers, even youngsters. Also, some scenes of razor-toothed carnivores attacking weaker prey may be too scary for little ones. Dinosaurs are fascinating because they are awesome and mysterious, while being safely extinct.

But when Disney makes them talk like humans, their mystery is diminished and their power turns cartoon-ish. If only Disney had allowed the dinosaurs to be dinosaurs and not humans in reptile skins. One wishes that Disney had relied on music and a well-scripted narrative, as in the Discovery channel's "A Walk With the Dinosaurs," so the visual elements would have stood on their own. But Disney tried to make "Dinosaur" a prehistoric "Bambi" and it doesn't quite work. As any 4-year-old can tell you, dinosaurs aren't like us and we don't with watery slides, and Barefoot Cove, which features the Silly Sunken Submarine and Sea Witch pirate ship.

When you've had enough of the H20, round up the family for the new musical review Warner Bros. Rockin' Country Show inside the Looney Tunes Amphitheater. The performers, dressed in flannel shirts, cowboy boots and dungarees, will entertain parkgoers with a 30-minute show celebrating a century of country music, beginning tomorrow through Sept. 4. Daily showtimes are noon, 1:30, 3, 4:30 and 6 p.m.

The attractions are free with park admission: $29.99 ($17.99 after 5 p.m.), $15 for children 48 inches and shorter and adults 55 and older, free for children 3 and younger. David Walton, The Courier-Journal Grab your swim gear; a hurricane is about to hit the Louisville area. Experts are predicting the storm will make landfall at Hurricane Bay Water Park at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom when it kicks off its 2000 season this weekend. The pool capable of generating what park officials describe as the largest man-made wave in the world will be open tomorrow and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

(The water park opens daily beginning next Friday through Aug. 13; it will be closed during the Kentucky State Fair.) Soak in the rays while relaxing along the Caribbean Cruise Tubin' Adventure or test your skills on one of the many wet and wild water slides (Forbidden Passage, Voodoo Express, Vanishing Falls and Conquistador Canyon) of Mount Slide. Kiddos are sure to enjoy Hook's Lagoon, a multilevel interactive treehouse won't get it. After an enthralling opening sequence, the movie follows a rather dull tale similar to the 1988 animated film "The Land Before Time." The beginning, which can be seen in previews, may be the best scene of the entire movie. A chicken-like reptile steals a dinosaur egg, then drops it into swirling water.

It floats past a series of hazards before a pterodactyl plucks the egg and soars with it over a plain or roaming dinosaurs to an ocean-side aene Are you sure this is thff wav Minkm Mouse 1 WV PEST MKI WE fSBT ANP SON? want them to be. The actors who provide the voices do a nice job, despite a meager script. They include: D.B. Sweeney as Aladar; Ussie Davis ana Aiire Woodard as two kindly lemurs; Joan Plowright as a dignified To celebrate Krazy Fest's third year, its organizers have decided to, well, pretty much do nothing. No major and hardly any minor changes are planned for the independent music festival, which runs today though Sunday on the Belvedere Plaza on the waterfront.

It's a classic case of leaving well enough alone. In its first two years Krazy Fest drew to near capacity (about 4,000 people over three days) and made a smooth transition to a new location last year, leaving Andy Rich and Mark Brickey the luxury of simply fine-tuning. Approximately 30 bands will perform outdoors, most in the punk, hardcore and emo-core veins, with sincerity and a deep commitment to the music being the common bond. Suicide Boy Sets Fire, AFI, Jazz June, By the Grace of God and the Juliana Theory are among the performers, making Krazy Fest one of the better festivals of its kind. "Kids are coming from both coasts and Europe," said Rich, whose Initial Records is sponsoring Krazy Fest 3 along with emusic.

"Canada, too, but that doesn't count. That's just a big state above Michigan." While Krazy Fest 3 may not be changing much, any event with Brickey as its emcee is guaranteed to surprise. Brickey, the Enkindels' singer, is pure motor-mouth show business and he has a few ideas to keep everyone entertained between sets. "We have the 'Who Wants to Be a Hundred-Dollaraire' contest, with 100 singles going to the kid who knows brachiosaur; Samuel Wright, star of Broadway's "Lion King," as Kron; and Julianna Margulies as Neera, a female iguanodon. Machines, Enkindels, the most," Brickey said.

"Then there's the 'Mr. Krcnr Coot T75A Tuff Mon Pnntorf 1 lfl 1 1 I Tt iviujr ivji vuji lull ivxcui W1U1.11 WaS to. a. Visitors to the Louisville Zoo this weekend can sample a taste of Africa during a festival that celebrates the continent's traditional and modern influences. Storytelling, poetry presentations, children's activities, magic shows, and drum, dance, animal and hair-wrapping demonstrations are planned during the Family African Festival that runs today through Sunday.

"We want to make sure to show the audience how the African heritage has flowed into modern day," said Peggy Riley, chairwoman of the event. The third annual festival boasts several new events, including a living-history presentation on Sunday, when African and African-American stories and history will be highlighted. A village marketplace features local vendors selling items of African influence. An African and African-American fashion show will be staged tomorrow at 2:45 p.m. Also tomorrow, beginning at 5 p.m., local bands will play Caribbean, jazz, rhythm and blues and ivai pupuiui iiwi jcai.

ii uasnauy lui Ule K1US whose parents never paid enough attention to them, and they have this one chance to have 1,000 kids chant their name." Last year's winner, among other things, ate a I funnel cake augmented with ketchup, mustard, I. relish, pickles, tomato and potting soil. "He ate Lis zr-m iyr Iall ot it, like a man," Bnckey said. "Basically, Mr. Krazy Fest is just hazing in broad daylight." Rich offered three things worth noting.

New records by the Enkindels and Jazz June will be ill! on sale several days before their national I release dates, and By the Grace of God mav be 1 in' i CM A giving its farewell performance. Guitaristsong- I writer uuncan tsanow, a longtime member of iCD rTl Louisviue underground scene, is moving to (3 y) ill Co, t0 Set nis master's degree in zJ III poetics. Bandmate Rob Pennington is said to 1 If pop music. An original stage production, "Noah's Ark," will cap off the festivities with performances by Troy Bell and Greater Louisville Voices Choir on Sunday at 5:15 p.m. And, of course, all the zoo's animals can be seen.

Family African Festival hours are today, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; tomorrow, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. The festival is free with zoo admission: $7.95 for visitors 12-59, $5.95 for adults 60 and older and $4.95 for children 3-11. Children 2 and younger get in free. TARC will provide special service to the zoo. For details, see Page 9.

Christa Ritchie, The Courier-Journal be planning something special. "I haven't heard anything about it," Barlow said. "Rob always has these really grandiose plans and nothing ever happens. We'll see." For details, see Page 8. Jeffrey Lee Puckett, The Courier-Journai -f thp pvn ntmn ot dinosaur mov es, raze Brickey MAY 19, 2000 Weekend EXTRA Page 1 5 Page 14 The Courier-Journal Weekend EXTRA MAY 19, 2000.