South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 53

Sun-Sentinel, Saturday, June 27, 1992 3D ARVSEMYlaRYAIMMEMY Drama a tribute to female strength COUNTRY MUSIC Chicago gears up for second festival MOVIE REVIEW By JACK HURST Tribune Media Services The Nashville establishment, as well as national observers interested in assessing the present country boom's potential for continued growth, should be watchine the outcome of the city-sponsored Chicago -Country Music Festival Wednesdav and Thursday. better life. Their leave-taking is a source of hope for some and anguish for others. Nana Peazant (Cora Lee Day), a feisty matriarch of 88, is not going with her relatives. She is content to remain behind, working root potions and communing with her respected African ancestors.

Those who have experienced life away from Ibo Landing tell different tales. Viola Peazant (Cheryl Lynn Bruce), a stately woman with graying hair, discovered Christianity. She revels in its teachings, even as she abhors the superstitious folkways of Nana. Yellow Mary (Barbara-O) returns to the island and disparages what she sees. "You live like savages," she tells her relatives, yet her own tale of personal exploitation sounds like a benign form of slavery.

With a spiritual undercurrent, Daughters of the Dust pays tribute to female strength and self-determination. Themes of romantic love, betrayal and tradition also are addressed as each person decides where the most hopeful future lies. Credit director of photography Arthur Jafa with the film's imposing visual style. Images and wordless sequences, as when a trio of women find an old parasol on the beach, convey a sense of time slowly passing. The percussive superb musical score by John Barnes is another plus.

But the unconventional narrative takes some getting used to. So do the regional dialects of these Gullah people. Don't be surprised if you miss a few lines of dialogue, though it's easy enough to get the gist of any conversation. In its simplest terms, Daughters of the Dust can be seen as a series of gorgeous period photographs, a record of a time and a culture lost to progress. With an eclectic bill that ranees from By CANDICE RUSSELL Film Writer The world pictured in Daughters of the Dust, the remarkable first film from writer-director-producer Julie Dash, is something of a paradise.

It's a place called Ibo Landing, a Sea Island near the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. In the heat of August in 1902, women of African ancestry wear high-necked white blouses and long white skirts, looking like visions from a Monet painting. Through the conflicts and bonds of three generations of women, Dash tells her story. They gossip and laugh while preparing a picnic on the beach. More than a feast of shrimp, crabs and corn on the cob, the meal is an act of celebrating the past and honoring the future.

The Peazant family and its many branches plan to move off this island and head north on the mainland for a 12 Daughters of the Dust In 1902, the members of a family on a Sea Island near South Carolina decide to make a better life on the mainland. Credits: With Cora Lee Day, Barbara-O, and Cheryl Lynn Bruce. Directed, written and produced by Julie Dash. Through July 2 at Philip Michael Thomas MiamiWay Theater, 12615 W. Dixie Highway, North Miami, 1-305-893-0005.

It also will be shown at 9 p.m. July 22 on WPBT-Ch. 2 on the program American Playhouse. Running time: 113 minutes. (Unrated) Violence.

PoorFair Good Excellent the bedrock traditionalism of George Jones ana many Brown to the cutting-edge work of neo-bluegrasser Alison Krauss, roots rockabilly Mark Collie and country rockers Kelly Willis and Hal Ketchum, the Chicago event promises to far surpass last year's smashingly successful beginning. In 1991. citv Dlanners of the festival initially hoped to attract about 5,000 fans; ended up with a crowd of 42,000 in a downtown location that proved far too small Hor the throng. This year, the action is being moved to bigger digs and being made a if big part of Taste of Chicago, a mammoth 3 food celebration that annually draws 2.5 I million people during a nine-day period. i Since the festival will be part of the already-huge food est, the country attendance will be more difficult to define, SUMMER OF RETROVISION XDut city publicity coordinator Erin Molloy 1 says the event's planners expect the TBS launches a new TV series but you've seen it all before.

attendance to be "much larger" than last year's. On the Record: Singer-songwriter 3 extraordinaire Rodney Crowell, who hails from Houston blue-collar stock, keeps the ethic alive in his professional employment of personal pain. "If I'm on verge of tears and close to the guitar, I V' fr-' v. 1 J. fx 7 v' i -i i 1 w- I think it's better to sit and cry with a guitar in my hand and to turn the teardrops on a piece of paper into a song than just sit in a corner and cry unproductively," he says.

On the Road: Opryland USA in Nashville, obviously seeking to battle the burgeoning -live-music reputation of Branson, is presenting 188 special shows featuring more than 25 big-name country stars through i August. Included are such names as Tanya Tucker, Pam Tillis, Diamond Rio, Riders In The Sky, Crystal Gayle, Emmylou Harris, Highway 101, Ricky Skaggs, Trisha -Yearwood, The Gatlin Brothers, Lee Greenwood, Charlie Daniels, Ronnie "Milsap, Holly Dunn, Conway Twitty, Marty Stuart, Lorrie Morgan, Michael Martin Murphey and Steve Wariner. Admission to the shows is $5 for ticketed Opryland guests. Everybody loves Lucy. Why else do they keep watching her old reruns? By DIANE WERTS Newsday Every minute of every day, somebody somewhere in the world is watching Love Lucy.

I'm sure this is what Philo T. Farnsworth envisioned. Why else devote your life to inventing a transformational new medium but so people all around the planet can watch a dingbat drink Vitameatavegamin 4,000 times over? And so, as we debate the societal message behind single mom Murphy Brown, as we hail the informational import of CNN, as we ponder the political implications of presidential candidates' video town meetings (or saxophone stylings) let's pause a moment to remind ourselves exactly what has been the biggest draw on this profound medium throughout the 45 years of its existence: Stupid behavior. Lucy, Gilligan, Barney Fife. Herman Munster, Ralph Kramden, any Brady kid.

Though we now have the real-life mutation the kind of odd guests subjects who make such ratings-grabbers out of Donahue, Oprah and A Current Affair they're just transitory amusements that pass with their times. Gilligan will be bopping the Skipper with coconuts till the rivers run dry. Thus, TBS has no qualms about bestowing the following title on its new Sunday-night summer showcase of vintage series episodes: The Best of Television. Why bring up Edward R. Murrow when Mork can na-noo candy-sweet.

Vintage TV is zoning us right out of reality and into some odd apparition of a more pleasing past. Call it a retreat into the rerun refuge: Both viewers and networks would rather hibernate in the "good old days" than deal with an uncertain future. And they say TV doesn't reflect the reality of American life! Talk about stupid behavior. Lucy has nothing on us. Boca pianist, 9, takes state honor season is any indication.

The new shows came and went. Name some. Name one. This old-timey overdose is especially disheartening to someone like me, who grew up a TV tot, watching from morning till night, and who initially greeted the vintage-show likes of Nick at Nite as a sofa-spud dream come true. Maynard G.

Krebs and Mister Ed dissing Wilbur! Rob tumbling over the ottoman! For us boob-tube babies, this was one continuous warm-fuzzy (to get 70s about it) a cathode-ray security blanket to help soothe frazzled nerves and enable us to face the coming day. Problem is, this video tranquilizer has devolved into an insidious excuse not to face the next day, or the next anything that isn't as lip-smackingly Fonzie? Why, indeed. Who's had the more lasting impact on us anyway? Who's spent more time in our households, helped define our values, and provided cultural common ground for our diverse population? Americans may not be able to tell Shakespeare from Hemingway, or identify Jimmy Carter's vice president (Who's Jimmy Carter?) but they sure as heck know what happened in "Lucy's Ital-ian Movie" on I Love Lucy, "Sammy's Visit" to All in the Family and the Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust." (All of which are rerunning this summer.) Television is going to keep regurgitating these "classics" until it chokes which it very well may, at least in its current network state, if this past ON TV Program: The Best of Television With: host Louie Anderson Premieres: Sunday at 7 p.m on TBS Airs: Sundays, 7 p.m. HBO series digs into new season of heady horror A Boca Raton fifth-grader won the Florida State Music Teachers Association Junior concerto competition. George Han, 9, won the piano competition in Fort Myers this month.

He attends Del Prado Elementary 's gifted program and speaks fluent Chinese. He also won the Federation of Music Clubs junior concerto competition for South Florida, and was the third place winner in the Palm Beach County Talent Showcase. "It's very unusual that a child would be that interested in music, willing to practice hours each day," said Florida Atlantic music professor Judith Burganger, who has taught George since he was 6 Jyearsold. The honors student has been invited to perform Hayden's Concerto in Major, one the composer's most difficult works, with FAU's chamber string orchestra in December, Burganger said. "He's brilliantly talented," Burganger said.

"Not only does he have the fingers, he has a mature soul." Other South Florida winners in the association's competition are: Alice Hsieh and Amber Dunagan, both of Coral Springs, won the Byrd pre-college ensemble competition. Hsieh is a sophomore at J.P. Taravella High; Dunagan a junior at Coral Springs High. Stella Bransburg, a student at Pine Crest in Fort Lauderdale, won third place in the senior concerto competition. DEBORAH WORK TOM JICHA TVRadio Writer 'x 7i) 7X This leaves the audience to puzzle over whether a solution so obvious actually could be the solution.

A fairly interesting movie plays out while you're making up your mind, and probably changing it a couple of times. There's also a challenging moral dilemma to ponder. Jeff Fahey has the lead role as Jack Whitfield, a police artist. He is called to the scene of a sex-related murder to produce a rendition of the prime suspect, who was seen running out of the building right after the crime was committed. The only witness is a courier (Drew Barrymore).

As Jack draws the face of the perp, he begins to realize that she bears a startling resemblance to his wife. What's more, he knows that Mrs. Whitfield had at least a business relationship with the deceased and thus a reason to be at the murder scene. What to do? Turn in an accurate composite, which could incriminate his spouse, or fudge on enough details to protect her? The ramifications of his decision are fascinating. Sketch Artist probably won't be a factor when next year's Awards for Cable Excellence are presented, but it's a worthwhile couple of hours entertainment.

Hair-raising confrontations. Hideous deaths. Grotesque irony. Gruesome poetic justice. The best little horror house in television is open for business again.

Tales From the Crypt, a winner of seven Awards for Cable Excellence during its first three years, returns to HBO tonight with a trilogy of terror that kicks off a 14-week season. Once again the racy, not-for-the-squeamish anthology, based on vintage E.C. Comics, has scared up an imposing array of stars. Performers of the caliber of Whoopi Goldberg, Demi Moore, Kirk Douglas, Dan Aykroyd and Don Rickles have entered the Crypt during its first three seasons. This summer's roster includes Treat Williams, Christopher Reeve, Mimi Rogers, Judd Nelson and Tia Carrere of Wayne's World.

The hip, "in" reputation of the series extends beyond the Hollywood mainstream. Sugar Ray Leonard performs a cameo in the season-opening Tale, None But the Lonely Heart, and Greg Allman and rapper Heavy have guest roles in tonight's third segment, On a Dead Man's Chest. Tales also has been a magnet for actors looking to broaden their horizons. Michael J. Fox and Arnold Schwarzenegger are among those who have honed directing skills behind the cameras of the Crypt.

Tom Hanks directed this season's first show. In JVone But the Lonely Heart, Williams plays a deadly, conniving gold-digger, whose wives have a worse survival rate than Henry the VIII's. Frances Sternhagen is his latest prey, and Henry Gibson plays her manservant, who sees through Williams' ruse. Leonard shows up just in time to lay the story to rest. Cleavon Little and Sonia Braga star in tonight's second installment, This'll Kill Ya, a parable about the consequences of taking a jokfc too far.

TODAY'S MAIN EVENTS Music BRENDA LEE, popcountry singer, and Bandit i fare booked at 8 p.m. at War Memorial Auditorium, 600 NE Eighth Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $15, $20 "and $75. The show Is a benefit for The Poverello Center, which provides meals to AIDS patients and Sthelr families. Call 1-305-561-8266, 1-305-761-5380 or jTicketmaster, 966-3309 (Palm Beach), 523-3309 (Broward), 358-5885 (Dade).

BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO Is booked for Cajun sounds at 8:30 and 11 p.m. at Musicians Exchange Cafe, 729 W. Sunrise Fort Lauderdale. Tickets 'are $11.50 and $13.50. Call 764-1912 (Broward), 944-2627 (Dade) or Tlcketmaster.

Titillation unquestionably plays a role in the appeal of Tales, even though it sometimes entails a major stretch of the plot to justify a skin scene or two. Unfortunately, in making such a stretch in This'll Kill Ya, Tales egre-giously abdicates social responsibility. Braga plays a woman who detests her former spouse. One evening, he breaks into her house with what amounts to rape on his mind. All it takes is some persistence on his part to get her to cease resisting and submit passionately.

Once again TV is conveying the message that "No!" means "Talk me into it." Violence and nudity also are prominent in On a Dead Man's Chest, the bloodiest and most risque of the opening night trio. Carrere plays a Yoko Ono type whose marriage to a rock star really gets under the skin of another member of the band. Tales is one of those shows that could only be shown on cable, at least in the form in which it appears on HBO. This makes it as good a reason as any to subscribe. Showtime's 'Sketch Artist' Heard of The Big Showtime's latest made-for-cable movie could be called The Too Easy.

Sketch Artist, premiering tonight on the premium cable channel, is one of those mysteries in which whodunit apparently is revealed at the outset. ON TV (Variety I uur.u SMITH'S FOURTH ANNUAL CELTIC Program: Tales From the Crypt Premieret: tonight at 10:30 p.m. on HBO Airt: various episodes at various times start July check daily listings for times Program: Sketch Artist Premieres: tonight at 9 on Showtime Airs: repeats Wednesday and July 7, 12 and 17; check daily listings for times FEST, featuring a darts contest, quiz, Irish, Scots and Welsh music and dance plus a free buffet dinner, is I 'scheduled at 8 p.m. at McGuire's Hill 16, 535 N. 'Andrews Fort Lauderdale.

Call 1-305-941-i J1714. SUNDAY IN ARTS LEISURE The vainest of the vain In Hollywood try to project i -youth and beauty In a Dorian Gray-like attempt to beat clock, film writers Candice Russell and Roger I Hurlburt report. Sonia Braga is featured in to night's second segment on HBO's Taes From the Crypt, titled This'll Kill Ya..