Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 85

i i i I i Time out THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS FEATURES PAGE 84 FRIDAY. APRIL i "1991 Rounds of golf on the square screen No aching feet after these games by Chip and Jonathan Carter Special to the Daily News j' JtNsyi Springtime, and a A young man's fancy turns to thoughts ol golf. Well, OK, Spike Lee owes a lot to earlier Afncan-Amencan filmmakers Those who paved the way Today's black filmmakers built on a firm foundation by Jim Emerson Orange County Register The success of Spike Lee's "She's Gotta Have It" in 1986 is cited by many young black filmmakers as spurring the current renaissance in African-American cinema. But although we may be witnessing an exceptional period in black American movie-making, a number of influential films and filmmakers paved the way for the likes of Lee, Robert Townsend, Charles Lane, Charles Burnett, Keenen Ivory Wayans and Mario Van Peebles and we're not just talking about well-intentioned Hollywood projects directed by white filmmakers, such as "Porgy and Bess," "The Defiant Ones," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" "In the Heat of the Night," "Sounder" or "The Color Purple." Here is a sampling with help from Donald Bogle's "Blacks in American Films and Television: An Illustrated Encyclopedia" of just a few seminal black films, most of them by black writers or directors, and most of them still watchable for something more than just historic value. (King Vidor, 1929).

Director Vidor Dallas," "The wanted to capture something of This comedy about black writer Chester Himes' detectives Grave Digger Jones (Godfrey Cambridge) and Coffin Ed Johnson (Raymond St. Jacques) was a popular breakthrough in black moviemaking. "The Landlord" (Hal Ashby, 1970). Written by black screenwriter William Gunn, this disturbing tragicomic satire directed by Hal Ashby and Maude," "The Last Detail," "Being stars Louis Gossett Diana Sands and Beau Bridges in the title role of a rich, young, white fellow who buys a run-down tenement in the ghetto and refurbishes it. An interracial affair develops, with violent consequences.

"Sweet Sweefback's Baadasssss Song" (Melvin Van Peebles, 1971). A virtual declaration of war on white America. Black Panther leader Huey Newton called this angry, profane (originally rated X) and independently produced movie "a great revolutionary document" And it still looks that way today, although Bogle notes, "It may be difficult for a contemporary audience to understand the extreme impact of this historic, legendary movie, let alone to actually enjoy the film." meet him head to head on his home course the Australian Golf Club at Kensington. Dont worry, you dont have to face Jack right off the bat You can play alone, or challenge one of eight other duffers whose skill levels range from novice to almost-pro. You can also choose stroke play, or winner-takes-all skins.

Select a club, or trust your caddy. Jack will give you a tip before you tee off, but we found you're better off ignoring him and trusting your own instincts. It would have been nice to have had another course or two to choose from like any of the dozens Nicklaus' himself has designed. But the game looks and plays much the same as PGA Tour Golf, which is to say great. And when it comes to putting, Turbo Golf separates the pros from the hackers.

You really have to pay attention to the incredibly demanding greens, and compensate with your putt. We understand now why some golfers have been known to snap a club or two over their knees. Rating: Big Kid Mid-Kid Little Kid 2. Zany Golf, by Electronic Arts, for Genesis, $54.95: Ready for a break from the real thing? Grab your putter and head for the craziest miniature golf course ever designed. Great graphics let you face obstacles like a giant hamburger that bounces up and down over hole 2 while a huge squeeze bottle squirts ketchup in your path.

The only drawback is a limited number of putts. If you run out of putts, the game's over, and you have to go back to the beginning. Still, a funny game that kept us laughing and playing through all nine holes. Rating: Big Kid Mid Kid Little Kid 7. Inside Tips: In PGA, listen to the pros.

Don't overdrive the ball or you'll wind up in trouble. Pay close attention to the wind speed and direction they make a bigger difference than you might think. In Turbo Golf, smack the ball as hard as you can. Overdrive on every shot, except putts and short drives from the fairway, and you'll chip 10 strokes off your score. Chip and Jonathan Carter are a father and son duo who -write -tbu-colunm maybe not.

Actually, we're not even golfers. But these games are so much fun they have us thinking about hitting the links for real. PGA Tour Golf, by Electronic Arts, for Genesis, $54.95: Like most E.A. games for Genesis, this one is at the top of its class. You join the PGA Tour with 60 of the world's top golfers.

Play on four courses Saw-grass, Avenel, Sterling Shores and the Stadium Course at La Quinta, Calif. You can shoot a practice round or two or 10, which we recommend or jump straight into the tournament. But don't get in too big a hurry. The game saves all your stats and ranks you among the pros. We're still trying to get out of the bottom 10.

Each hole starts with an overhead view and a tip from a pro, like Craig Stadler or Fuzzy Zoeller. Then you see an overhead, up-close "fly-by" of the hole. Then it's time to tee it up and go. A caddy selects the best club (except on the expert level) for each shot, whether you're in the middle of the fairway, stuck in the sand, or behind a stand of trees on the fringes of the course (which is where we often find ourselves). Once you're on the green, you can call up a 3-D diorama that shows you the breaks and bumps that can turn what looks like a good putt into disaster.

If you make the first round cut, youH move on to later rounds. A built-in battery keeps track of your money winnings, as well as your average and accuracy in areas like putting and hitting greens. The graphics are outstanding, and E.A. has added all the little touches even chirping birds and a gallery that roars its approval of great shots and moans at near misses that make for a superb game. Rating (on a scale of 1 to 10): Big Kid (12 and over) 10; Mid-Kid (7-12) Little Kid (under 7) 3.

Jack Nicklaus' Turbo Golf, by Accolade, for Turbografx, $49.95: The Golden Bear is one of golf-ding's greasHR this game; yo' Van Peebles wrote, co-produced, directed and starred in this scorching and sexually explicit story of a black pimp who becomes a symbol for African-American rage. His son Mario (director of "New Jack City," in which a clip from this film is featured) appears briefly in a whorehouse sequence. In some ways, this might have been the most important black American film until the emergence of Spike Lee with "She's Gotta Have It," "School "Do the Right Thing." "Shaft" (Gordon Parks 1971) and "Super Fly" (Gordon Parks 1972). The kings of the sex- Although we may be witnessing an exceptional period In black American movie-making, a number of Influential films and filmmakers paved the way for the likes of Spike Lee and-violence-fueled blaxploita- tion" action pictures of the period, directed by father and son but still probably most memorable for the Oscar-winning Issac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield themes, respectively. Richard Roundtree stars as John Shaft, the black private Beau Bndges (left) and Lou Gossett Jr.

in "The Landlord' detective who looks like a sex machine to all the chicks (in the lyrics of the title song); and "Super Fly" stars Ron O'Neal as a drug dealer who wants out of the business. "Cooley High" (Michael Schultz, 1975). This coming-of-age comedy about high school pals in early '60s Chicago influenced a number of today's young black filmmakers. Directed by black filmmaker Schultz Wash," "Krush it's pretty lightweight, though The New York Times said it was superior to "American Graffiti." "Sparkle" (Sam CSteen, 1976). Bogle calls this "one of black America's first cult films." It's the story of a Supremes-like singing group made up of three sisters from Harlem and starring Lonette McKee Cotton and Irene Cara "Richard Pryor Live in Concert" (Jeff Margolis, 1979).

The greatest black stand-up comic of his generation, showcased in his rawest and most potent form made before his reebas- the black folk culture he grew tip around in Texas and invested his own money to make this early talkie, a simple story of sin and salvation. Bogle calls it "an authentic American classic one of Hollywood's most important all-black films and also one of the first to be made within the established film community" although it contains common stereotypes of its time. Learning Tree" (Gordon Parks 1969). Parks was a pioneer black director, and this mild and earnest film, an autobiographical story about a young black man in Kansas, was among the lirst batch of films chosen for preservation by the Library of Congress. "Cotton Comes to Harlem" (Ossie Davis, 1970).

Davis, of the "new breed" of post-WWII black actors and a prominent civil-rights activist associated with Malcolm is known to a new generation for his appearance, with his wife, Ruby Dee, in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing." They also are featured in Lee's upcoming "Jungle rng actiflentr.