The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 35

TUESDAY MARCH 19 1991 THE MIAMI HERALD SC An odd angry arts-center meeting Perfectly dreadful film debut sir In a surprising display of temper that left some observers wondering whether their fight was with each other or the Metro Commission members of Dade's Performing Arts Center Trust Monday undid and redid several propos- als previously Commissioner Joseph Gersten's In other action the panel: Voted to increase the number of people who will make the day-today decisions governing the $1697 million arts complex from 18 to 22 largely to accommodate complaints from Miami and Miami Beach commissioners that they were forking over convention tax dollars to help build the complex but being slighted as participants on the operating panel Voted to separate the issuance of bids on the acoustician theater consultant and cost consultant for the project from that of an architect Architect Raul Rodriguez complained that there had been pressure from The Miami Herald's parent company Knight-Ridder which is offering land for the planned complex to accept 345 acres immediately west of the Herald building as sufficient for an opera-ballet theater and a symphony hall "I suggest we not bow to that pressure' Rodriguez said "Let the architects design what they will Then say to Knight-Ridder 'Are you willing to give the land we need! or aren't operate an arts center and that it's solely the responsibility of an autonomous trust This is not unbridled autonomy it's subject to county rules" Among Jacobson's complaints: the fact that the proposal drafted by county staffers under Thomson's guidance calls for an executive director to "serve at the pleasure" of both the trust and the county manager "There's nothing more absurd in my view than to have an executive reporting to two masters" Jacob-son said His motion to have the director answer solely to the trust sailed through Then in a slap at Metro staffers who had recommended that county interviewers locate the perfect candidate for executive director the panel voted again to hire a head-hunting agency Whether its action will have any impact on the commission today is anyone's guess The sole member who voted against the scolding Arnold Jaftee is a law partner of thought to be set in stone The trust then voted to essentially scold the commission for interfering in decisions it had asked the trust as its advisory body to make all this the day "A STATE OF THE ART GANGSTER MOVIE Mesmerizing Exhilarating Spectacular" GAIL MEADOWS THE ARTS -Cm Seymour NO CHARISMA: Jeff Speakman is Paramount's new chop-and-kick star MOVIE REVIEW THE PERFECT WEAPON (Ftt Cast: Jeff Speakman John Dye Mako Professor Toru Tanaka Director: Mark DiSalle Screenwriter: David Campbell Wilson Producers: Mark DiSalle Pierre David Cinematographer: Russell Carpenter Music: Gary Chang A Paramount release Running time: 80 minutes Violence profanity By JUAN CARLOS GOTO Herald Entertainment Writer Martial arts movie hunks are at their worst when they have that attitude Not the I-have-the-fast-est-round-kick attitude that's common but the benevolent more-cen-tered-than-thou philosophy Like Jeff Speakman Paramount Pictures' new prepackaged chop-and-kick star who appeared on the Paramount-produced Arsenio Hall Show last week and informed us that kenpo karate the fluid lyrical style he practices is "not about whose butt you can kick" It's about logic and being at peace with yourself Yeah That's why we're subjected to 80 minutes of butt-kicking most of it contrived and flatly staged in Speakman's embarrassing debut The Perfect Weapon Speakman is handsome and personable and can read lines but he's hopelessly invisible The guy has the charisma of rice paper Regardless elaborate fight scenes are the meat of B-movie martial arts flicks the "money" sequences and that's where Perfect Weapon fails Producer-director Mark DiSalle who previously brought us the more promising Jean-Claude Van Damme clouds Speakman's physical talents with moral mumbo-jumbo Perfect Weapon can only conjure the standard cowboy revenge formula Speakman playing a character named Jeff rides into town in his Ford Mustang and is forced to pay back a local Korean mobster for kill- "A gritty anti-drug message Fresh and honest Thumbs up!" -Roger Ebert SBKEL EBERT "Wesley Snipes' performance ranks with Edward Robinson in 'Little Caesar' Paul Muni in 'Scarface' or Marlon Brando in 'The Godfather'" -Ralph Novak PEOPLE NEW JACK RESOflT HOTEL CASUAL AND INFORMAL Marco Polo On the ocean at 19201 Collins Ave Sunny isles Miami Beach Ft 33160 CITY GREAT LOW COST PASSOVER PACKAGE March 29-April 1 INCLUDES First and Second Night Nintrtc Seders with Cantor For Services 0 mlmi i 4 Days AMC THEATRES OMN1 10 CAM INTERNA! JO A NEXT TOHUMPEROMKS 358-2304 SOUTH DAM GENERAL CMEUA CUTLER RIDGE SO US 1 FLA TPKE 2384311 AMC THEATRES MALL OF THE AMERICAS 8 PALMETTO XWY S30 268-6846 AMC THEATRES KENDALL TOWN COUNTRY 10 RA TPK OMKOAU Dfl 27198 lOUTH BROWARO GENERAL OMENA PEMBROKE PINES SW PINES 9LV0 A FLAMtNOORO 437-7780 Full Breakfast A A 1 nn pe Person Entertainment Jt Chaise Lounges lmJ occupancy Salt Parking (AN taxes and tips included) before the commission is finally to vote on several key issues to move Dade's planned arts complex forward It was difficult to tell who was seething the most or where matters had taken such a vitriolic turn Lawyers Bernard Jacobson John Schulte and Parker Thomson who has chaired the 32-member panel since its appointment by the Metro Commission in late 1988 seemed equally annoyed with each other Jacobson put forth one motion after another winning approval on every one of them and Schulte insisted that the county was making a mockery of the trust's mission to design finance construct and operate a facility Finally after almost two hours Thomson put his head in his hands and called it quits "Thank you for coming" he said to the 16 members who showed up for the session at the Metro-Dade Government Center There was no motion to adjourn no signal that the meeting was about to end only exceedingly frustrated members trying to alter what Jacobson called "a totally flawed plan" for the commission's vote today "We're being sidetracked" Jacobson complained to Thomson "Please have the trust tell the commission that we want a contract that describes the trust's responsibility to design finance construct and ing a friend The only character worth watching is a hulking hit man played by six-foot 350-pound Professor Toru Tanaka (Darkman) Forget interesting plot turns At one point Speakman whose character is really the Perfect Idiot because he falls for tricks the audience can see coming a mile away approaches three guys in a gym and says "I wonder if I could kick your ass" So much for the benevolent philosophy grasshopper Someone call David Carradine NATIONAL CINEMAS LE JUFNE CINEMA 8 UNITED ARTISTS MOVIES AT HtALEAH 780W atTHST 828-7242 SOUTH DADE WOMCTCO MILLER SQUARE 8 13BMSW54THST 374484 NORTH DADE WOMCTCO 163RO ST TRIPLE U3STSHOPCTB 045-1318 9TM ST a WNLE JUEME RO 528-8883 Scorsese his GoodFellas win top British film prizes Anthony Newley In Once Upon A Song A Story In Song For The Entire Family whose film career has spanned half a century received a standing ovation when she was given a special award by BAFT A LONDON Reuter Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas and the Oscar-winning Italian film Cinema Paradiso swept the British Acad niff neccarc Guilty By Suspicion I A Critical New Comedy He's a student mistaken for a spy Now all he has to do is rescue a beautiful girl save all of Europe and graduate from high school I IWfllv ill liilEKl I 1 JUKOKB I -JStU I mttB HSbB 'BifllL SHBb 6 jIhlw i emy film and Television Awards GoodFellas Scorsese's violent portrayal of Mafia life in New York City won the best film award in Britain's equivalent to the Oscar on Sunday Scorsese was named best director for No problem RICHARD GRIECO FLOORS COULD IlMlW I NOW SHOWING W'3tre-TO1 CuiiiiifaiPiffliiiKi I I fm I A Not-lor-Proflt Slot Tlwatr of Florida 44441 438-3700 H1-1844 1304330 258420 442-4000 I -ssr 'zxs v1TgrmTa I 7 BAKERY CENTRE 7 KENDALL! BAY HJLR)OR 4 TKKfTMASTER 35S-588S SEARSSELECT ECKERD'S "SZ gSmtSSEm I I 881-441 54000 fRX) -441 rrlRAA Mwctxdii AWaaAIAJL lAWSKaNlj He's having the adventure of someone else's life Scorsese PG 13 his film which also took the award for best screenplay Cinema Paradiso Giuseppe Tor-natore's study of the relationship between a film projectionist and a young boy in a small town in Sicily which last year won an Oscar for the best foreign film took four BAF-TAs including prizes for Philippe Noiret who played the projectionist and Salvatore Cascio as the boy for best actor and best supporting actor The film also won awards for best score and best foreign language film British-born Jessica Tandy was I AMC THKATMU I AJSCTHUTHU AMCTMUTTtES I COtULOMUS NOW ARMAS O4M10 OCEAMWALK 10 r7liS3lYVvO OMMWTTHNATCNAl OCf AMWALKUAit RIVIERA CINEMA ClinUflllC HeGATTft EAVU auCTTOpuaiaOAUIS HaLYWOODV04AIA u1 1 57 AVE SJAAMI onuninu m-an iss-noA 1204330 sm-ssu cATNOADe NONTNOAM "TStSTSttStS" EuWrSASr" AMCTHEATMS OMULOMX MWIUUCM1MA "OVHESAT TCP MALL Of THE CUTLER Rt DOE KLAUEAH CINEMA PEMBROKE I IWHU IMMIft AMERICAS A SO US 14 FLA TPKE 1IJJ0PHESBLVO AT US! 1 CAMPBELL DR PALMETTO XWY OS 238-5311 517488 435-3700 245-400 2864646 -cmoaii coral WBUBt NUino AMC TMMTNM motrroo woanrco womctco woamtoo KENDALL TOWN MIAMI LAKES 10 MILLER SQUARE I MIRACLE 4 BYRON-CARL YLE 7 A COUNTRY 10 AT mTn L1(JI 1 3638 8W MTU ST 280 MJPACtf 500-71 ST FlATPKOHOBALl 558-3810 387-3484 4434201 8684623 271411 LEASE CHECK MOVIE CLOCK FOR TIMES ALSO AT: MOVIES a VILLAGE GflEm -PTKWElOEL COflBi LAKE WORTH CORAL RIDGE FOX POMPAMO CORAL SOUARfCWEMA DEERFrELO CINEMA MISSION BAY CINEMA South Florida Cruises With The Miami Herald CALL 407) 38MOO0 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA s55 named best leading actress for Driving Miss Daisy adding to the Oscar she won last year for the role Whoopie Goldberg won best supporting actress Ghost The Academy presented its highest accolade the Fellowship Award for outstanding contribution to the film industry to French director Louis Malle whose films include Pretty Baby (1978) Atlantic City (1981) Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987) and Milou en Mai (1990) British actress Deborah Kerr Music critic James Roos' review of The Passion of Jonathan Wade which opened its Greater Miami Opera run Monday will appear in Wednesday's Herald MUVICO CALIFORNIA CLUB 6 652-8558 INUW I inmc flrnc AAaiaA KENDALL TOWN COUNTRY 10 COCO WALK 8 SHOWING! 1 Jl NO PASSES ACCEPTED FOR THIS ENGAGEMENT CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORIES FOR SHOWTIMES SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT Admission to the April 5 Subtrop-ics Music Festival concert featuring avant-garde composer John Cage will cost $8 ($5 for students senior citizens and artists) A story in Monday's Herald incorrectly reported it would be free Also Monday an incorrect time was given for the Temple Beth Am children's concert The concert will begin at 3 pm Sunday The Port of Miami is the cruise capital of the world Last year more than three million passengers passed through the Port embarking on 22 cruise ships operated by 10 cruise lines And South Florida is home port to one of the country's largest concentrations of cruise prospects Thirty percent of all adults living in the MiamiFt Lauderdale area have taken a cruise in the past three years -fifteen times the national average! And only one paper The Miami Herald can deliver a majority of those prospects Our Sunday Travel section reaches 54 of the 772600 Miami-area adults who have taken a cruise in the past three years And 56 of the 525600 who have taken a cruise of less than one week That's more than twice as many as The Sun Sentinel The Miami Herald is South Florida's 1 newspaper serving one of America's hottest cruise markets If you're not advertising in The Herald you're really missing the boat For more information on Miami Herald travel advertising please call 305376-2820 THE MIAMI HERALD'S COLLEGE HOOP HOTLINE CALL 1-900-988-NCAA (6222) Scores schedules tournament news and more! $95 for each minute of your call or fraction thereof.