Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 14

t4- Calgary Herald Monday December 18, 1995 B6 riaiiii Editor: Alan Rach 235-7285 Fax 235-7379 TERRY WILSON Cnicago Tribune Waiting to TODAY' BEST TV Highlights Black women get chance to play realistic roles, while shunning the gang and drug cultures p- is i i -I I 0 Iff j-jC; a at i I 1 1 IV I i It FOUR FRIENDS: Loretta Levine, Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett and Lela 6 p.m. Canadians can't get the American music channel MTV but everybody's heard of it. But there's another video channel down there called VHl, and tonight on Much-Music (Ch. 20) we have the 1995 VHl Fashion and Music Awards, hosted by Julianna Margulies (ER) and Steven Weber (Wings). Repeated at 10 p.m.

7 p.m. Family Channel airs Disney's Christmas on Ice, a performance by such skaters as Peggy Fleming, Katarina Witt and Robin Cousins, who join Disney characters in Squaw Valley (Ch. 46). 8 p.m. CBC Newsworld's Rough Cuts presents When the Circus Came to Town, which follows two performers from the Cirque du Soleil as they reach out to troubled youth in Montreal and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Ch.

15). 9 p.m. PBS's Shining Time Station makes an appearance in prime time with a guest shot by the Queen, or more precisely, Queen Elizabeth lookalike Jeannette Charles (Ch. 14). The monarch and her grandson have an unintended stopover when their train is sabotaged.

10 p.m. On NYPD Blue, Fancy and Sipowicz investigate a multiple shooting (Calgary 7). BobBlakey Recordings Dino Saluzzi, Anthony Cox, David Friedman: Rios (Institution Music). Exotic, hypnotic, sensual, mystical, all these qualities and more make this album the most beautiful instrumental recording of the year. Combining the South American romanticism of the late Astor Piazzola with the expressive freedom of jazz, combining the sound of vibes and marimba with bass, percussion and the bandeon (an accordion-like instrument) ing of Dino Saluzzi, this is a disc un- like any other in recent memory, i Rhythmic yet rich with feeling, ethe-; real yet lustful, this is music that ca-; resses, embraces and makes love to the senses and the human spirit si- multaneously So delicate yet dy- namic, so peaceful yet passionate, Rios is an album of such unmistakable beauty that it will take your breath away Rating: out of five James Muretich CD-ROMs Learning about art has never been so easy or so enjoyable.

With Open Eyes: Images from the Art Institute of Chicago (The Voyager Company; Windows Mac; $39.95 US; 1-800-446-2001) delivers 200 pieces of art within a unique icon-based interface. One of my favorites is the Size icon which places a work on the museum's wall to show its scale. Children can click on a globe to pick a country of interest, or they can choose a timeline. Plus, if mom and dad are too busy, they can save their favorite pieces of art in a scrapbook to show them what they've discovered at a later time. Great art and a fun way to experience it.

Grant McKenzie mckenzigcadvision.com Films The fantasy action film Jumanji made its debut in a virtual dead-heat with Toy Story as both films took in about $11 million US at North American theatres over the weekend. Heat, starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino opened in third place with an estimated 8 million intake. Quotable "I would ask her to come and talk to me privately, and none of you would ever know. I do have some advice, but I can't tell you." sex therapist Ruth Westheimer, who shook hands with Princess Diana at a New York awards dinner last week, when reporters asked what a royal session with Dr. Ruth would be like.

rhen Waiting to Exhale opens in theatres Fri day, some long-neglect ed movie fans black women will have a chance to see a realistic reflection of their lives on screen for the first time. If the movie does well at the box office, film industry observers say, it could open the door for a wider variety of mainstream films about blacks that do not rely on depictions of gang and drug culture to sell tickets. Waiting to Exhale, based on the best-selling novel by Terry McMillan, tells the story of four successful black women who are close friends. Directed by Forest Whitaker, it features Whitney Houston as Savannah, who moves to Phoenix to work as a television producer; Angela Bassett as Bernadine, a mother of two who learns her soon-to-be-ex-husband has hidden his assets to avoid giving her half of the business earnings she helped him build; Lela Rochon as Robin, a businesswoman who routine- ly attracts Mr. Wrong; and FOUr black LorettaDevineas Gloria, a hair sa-WOmen in lonownerand maior single parent of a teen-age son.

feature Savannah, Glo-roles as ria and Robin are fully developed characters that's charming and strong men to take their breath away, while trying to avoid the poseurs who Something shun commit ment. Bernadine that hasn is in the process happened before Whilemany women live some version of this Eric Easter, publisher scenario at some of Black Film Review point and some dwell in it constantly movies haven't shown black women dealing with it before. "Four black women in major feature roles as fully developed characters that's something that hasn't happened before," says Eric Easter, publisher of Black Film Review magazine in Washington, DC. "You just haven't seen black women relate to each other where it's not confrontational and over a man." A studio-produced movie about black women told from a black woman's perspective lends such an air of newness to what has been seen that some observers predict Waiting to Exhale will be a big hit. EXTREMELY POPULAR BOOK "The book was extremely popular," says Todd Boyd, a professor of critical studies at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema and Television.

"Hollywood tends not to take many chances, so what better way to engage the story of African-American women than to pick a best-selling novel?" The film has a central ensemble of lives that are not marred by gangs or self-destructive tendencies. Indeed, Bernadine steps closest to the edge in anger when she fills her ex's BMW with his designer clothing, Knight-Ridder Newspapers NBC's Monday night movie, Eye of the Stalker, makes it clear why the network's Moment of Truth series of docudramas has become one of the most successful franchises in television. The film is well-written and tautly directed. It celebrates what all the films in the series do: Ordinary people who show exceptional resourcefulness and courage when they come face to face with a "moment of truth." In one film, the dilemma may be taking charge of your life after a devastating event. In another, it may be standing up for yourself when everybody else abandons you.

In tonight's film, it's putting yourself at risk to catch a criminal who's been able to laugh at the law. REAL CASE Eye of the Stalker, which was inspired by a real case, is the story of Beth Knowlton (Brooke Langton), a college photography student in Phoenix who attracts the unwanted attention of legal expert Stephen Primes (Jere Burns) and can't shake him out of her life, no matter how many times she reports him to the police. Though stalker dramas come and go, this one has a special twist to it: The stalker knows the law inside and out, which means he knows exactly what he can get away with while pressing his obsessive hunt for the woman he's decided to make his wife. How bold is this guy? Consider this: Beth's mother, Martha (Joanna Cas-sidy), is an influential judge, who even finds her legal moves to stop her daughter's tormentor thwarted by his keen knowledge of criminal law. Primes introduces himself to Beth when he sees her showing somepf douses it with lighter fluid and torches it in the driveway She dismisses it as trash when a firefighter knocks on the door to ask if she knew it had caught fire.

The film also shows women touched by some romantic setbacks, normal hits and misses for singles, but they are strong enough to survive them. They include the available bachelor who is between career opportunities (unemployed and broke), who smokes a little pot and has a tendency to growl in bed. Another has a substance abuse problem that becomes more and more obvious. But Bernadine meets a man who restores her confidence after her marriage dissolves. And Gloria, who devotes the least energy in the quest, finds an unpretentious and warm companion when he moves onto her block.

"The beauty of it is to see black women can be real people too and can suffer the same kinds of emotional is- Eye of the Stalker Student attracts unwanted attentions of legal expert Twentieth Century Fox Rochon navigate labyrinth of life had beautiful homes and who were doing good things. "It was not the context that we usually see of blacks in the movies," says Vance. "It's just so nice to be in a movie theatre and see people you know." So why hasn't it been done before? Easter says Hollywood tends to be myopic in the symbols it chooses to finance when it comes to black films. The moviemaking industry demands big profits from its products. Those profits come, in large part, from young males and they do not rush to films with predominantly female casts because they consider them "women's movies." "There hasn't yet been evidence, with the possible exception of Thelma and Louise, that movies with all-female casts make the kind of dollars that warrant a lot of them," Easter says.

"If Waiting to Exhale makes $100 million, you're going to see 50 versions of Waiting to Exhale." Things really get out of hand when Primes secretly copies Beth's key to her apartment and begins paying visits to her place when she's out. Though Beth suspects it, she can't prove it and the police are helpless to do anything about her suspicions. Judge Knowlton, who's a widow, starts taking the situation seriously when a friend congratulates her on Beth's pending marriage and she learns Primes has spread the word throughout legal circles that he's marrying her daughter. "That guy's out there like a scorpion, just waiting to strike," she says, but can't find any legal way to stop him. Worse yet, the Knowltons' efforts to stop him including hiring a private eye (Dennis Burkley really light Primes' fuse, and he begins to turn malicious and threatening.

TENSE FINISH Eye of the Stalker builds to a tense finish under the savvy hand of director Reza Badiyi. The gripping teleplay by Priscilla English and Joyce Brot-man never insults intelligence. So far, the Moment of Truth franchise has been everything NBC hoped for and more. Created by writer Mike O'Hara, a former NBC publicist, and partner Lawrence Horowitz, who created Switched at Birth together, it originally was proposed as a series of budget-conscious docudramas with strong human interest stories. O'Hara and Horowitz have delivered in spades.

Their films almost always wind up among the season's top-rated, like this season's first, Deceived by Trust (Oct. 23), starring Stepfanie Kramer and Michael Gross in a sex-harassment drama. It was the top-rated movie of its week and for the sea son up to that date. Preview WAITING TO EXHALE, directed by Forest Whitaker, opens in Calgary theatres on Friday sues that we've seen white women experience on the screen year after year after year," says Kathy McCampbell Vance, who is on the board of directors for Black Film Review magazine and who attended a preview of the film. BLACK SISTERHOOD "It's just so nice to see the bond among black women, which is something you never see," Vance says.

"Even if you see black women in films, you never see the sisterhood between them." Vance says she also marveled at the images of blacks who were achieving, who took good care of themselves, who amounts of cameras and photo supplies from her at the photo shop where she works after class. The first tipoff that Primes is about the "relationship" is when he introduces himself to Beth's mother in the courthouse and asks her if Beth has told her "about us." Since Judge Knowlton knows Beth has been seeing a new boyfriend, she assumes it's Primes. When she tells Beth about meeting her new guy, Beth is stunned to learn it was Primes. She tells her mother she has been rejecting the man's advances, but Judge Knowlton already has formed an opinion. "A little rejection is not going to crush this guy's ego," she tells her daughter.

her photo work to a friend of his. He intrudes into their to praise her pictures, then offers to hire Beth to shoot some "business pictures" of him. Beth is because the photo shoot will be her first professional job as a She also trusts Primes because he teaches law class Joanna Cassidy stars in well-written and tautly directed docudrama EYE OF THE STALKER, tonight at 8 p.m. onCh. 5.

-J 6 Preview starring Joanna Cassidy, on Ch. 3-4; at 10 p.m. Book of the Week 1100 Books on Tape 1104 What's Up Today 1201 Muretich's Record Tracks 1300 Soap Opera Reports 3451-3462 Beverly Hills 90210 3466 Melrose Place 3467 CJSW's Local Music Scene 1110 Countdown Singles 3610 Countdown Albums 3620 A Few Moments With 3640 Rocktrax 3631 Rap News 3632 Hollywood Starline 3634 StarCall 3635 Movies and Videos 3650 Royal Watch 3756 Tabloid Talk 3753 es on the same campus she attends and is an older, mature-looking man who seems to be widely respected. However, we already know Primes has been following her to watch her in her bathing suit at the pool or doing her exercises near his classroom. After the photo shoot, for which Primes generously over-pays Beth, he begins "running into her" on campus, sending her gifts and buying larg.