The Michigan Daily -Weekend etc. Thursday, January ~ g. 199POO 1. ForrestGreen III most definitely knows what time it is, even though my inspiration for this formatisGreg Tate's "Diary of a Bug." 2. Speaking of Greg Tate, a collec- tion of his essays titled "Flyboy in the Buttermilk," quite frankdy, changed my life. This New York-based brother writes much like Spike Lee makes films; using the main topic as a spring- board to make observations on any- thing and everything. Tate's essays range from music (Sun Ra, A.R. Kane, Bad Brains), to literature (William Gibson), to art (Jean-Michel Basquiat) to anything else relevant to contempo- rary America. The man is brilliant. Buy this book today. I B H 3. If 1991 was the year that punk broke, then 1992 was the year that the hip hop nation bumrushed our collec- tive consciousness. Ice Cube sold more discs than even Garth Brooks, and well-scrubbed suburban kids sported hip hop gear like there was no tomor- row (if I see another tie-top woolie I'm gonna scream). Shee even our presi- dential candidates both attempted to manipulate rap artists as tools to get (re-)elected. If nothing else, George Bush's dissing of Body Count's "Cop Killer" put new life into an album that was dead in the water.And Ice-T got paid. - 4. Speaking of Body Count, am I the only person that recognized their album's blatant middle-finger taunt at the so-called "Rock Music" industry? Come on, that album might as well have been called "Spinal Black." It totally made fun of the posturing and over the top imagery of heavy metal in it's worst form. A postmodernist ex- pression misinterpreted as a call to arms. Ya just gotta laugh. 5. While we're talking about paro- dies, let me be the first to flat-out dis House of Pain as imitation "negroes" that need to be put out to pasture along with their patron saint, Vanilla Ice. I just can't be down with these cats putting out a half-assed album and getting props like it's the hip hop "Sgt. Pepper," while true dope joints byBack rappers (Gang Starr, Pharcyde, Main Source, etc.) got slept on. Black cul- ture will always be "in," but never Black people. 6. The LA riots finally woke Americaupto the fact thatwhen pushed too far, brothers and sisters gonnawork it out just like America's forefathers taught us to. At least the action didn't roll out into the 'burbs; You thought Desert Storm was something... 7. "Malcolm X" was a great film (give or take the last 10 minutes) and in my book, Spike Lee is America's pre- mier filmmaker. Coppola? If Spike ever put out some dreck like "Dracula," he couldn't get cash for a home movie. 8. This is a good place to give a shout out to (Nubian Princess) Leah. A spin of Paris' "Assata's Song" (From his amazing new disc "Sleeping With The Enemy") to ya. XOXO. 9. The biggest ups of 1992 to Russell Simmons, CEO of Rush Com- munications (RunbypresidentCarmen Ashuerst-Watson,aBlack woman.You go, girl!).At35, thisbrotherhaspooled much African talent, played the capi- talist game, and created a $34 million Black enterprise. Instead of always being the entertainer, we need to fol- low his lead and get busybehind the scenes (i.e. counting the cash). X. You can't turn on the TV with- out seeing more stuff about that "mur- der of hate" that went down in S.C. I even saw some cat on the news talking "Malcolm X" The best films of 1992 were buried treasures by Aaron Hamburger f there's one lesson to be learned from the year in cinema, it's don't believe the hype. 1992 was one of the best years for movies since 1986, when great films came from independent filmmakers like David Lynch and James Ivory, established auteurs like Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen, and a new director named Oliver Stone. This year there were plenty of fine films for serious moviegoers, if you knew where to look. Unfortunately, the really fine films of the year were practically buried under- neath all the silly personal squabbles and beside-the-point controversies which grabbed all the headlines. While the press was busy reporting on the latest riff in the Woody and Mia break-up, they completely missed the fact that Allen's latest film "Husbands and Wives" was one of his best ever. And while columnists debated whether or not Malcolm X was an appropriate model for African Americans, nobody bothered to mention that Spike Lee had made a masterpiece. Meanwhile, mediocre Hollywood offerings like "Lethal Weapon 3," "Sister Act," and "A League of Their Own" dominated the box office. The movies that got the most attention this year often proved to be the biggest disappointments. At no time has this been more true than during the Thanksgiving- Christmas season, when Hollywood releases its heavy hitters for Oscar contention. For example, do you know anybody who likes "Bram Stoker's Dracula," which featured flashy sets and camerawork but not much else? And then there's Danny DeVito's "Hoffa," with a dynamic Jack Nicholson thrashing around for two hours. Barry Levinson knew he had a dog on his hands with "Toys," so he attempted to lure audiences with a funny trailer that had Robin Williams being hilarious in the middle of a field but not a single frame of footage from the film. A handful of films from the studios lived up to their advance word. "Wayne's World" was amusing if you were lucky enough to see it before your friends got a chance to quote you every single funny line beforehand. The much-maligned "Batman Returns" was actually one of the most inventive American films in recent years and featured the best performance of the year: Michelle Pfeiffer as Cat woman (as well as the most wooden performance of the year from Michael Keaton as Batman). The can't-miss project of 1992, "A Few Good Men" with Rob Reiner, Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson behind it, did not miss. Cowboys and Indians once again entertained theatergoers with "Unforgiven" and "Last of the Mohicans." And "Aladdin" single-handedly revitalized a genre that was swiftly descending into a pit of insufferably cute treacle, the animated film, with astounding animation and Robin Williams' comic genius genie. But it was independent cinema that really made the year in film such a smashing success. Longtime independents Merchant/Ivory came up with the year's most accomplished movie, "Howards End." Miramax advertised that its squishy "En- chanted April" was actually better than "Howards End." They were wrong of course, but the movie was a delightful version of the English-go-to-Italy-to-loosen up routine. Robert Altman "came back" with his celebrity-studded satire on Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts, among other things, "The Player." David Mamet's annoying dialogue reared its ugly head again this year with "Glengarry Glen Ross," though many critics enjoyed being hammered over the head with this shallow, one- note take on that reliable target, American capitalism. Quentin Tarantino was the breakthrough artist of the year with his film festival hit "Reservoir Dogs." The star of "Dogs," Harvey Keitel, was also on view, masturbating, in Abel Ferrara's "The Bad Lieutenant." Robert Redford isn't exactly an independent, but his Sundance Institute and Film Festival has launched many an independent filmmaker. This year Redford made his own mark with "A River Runs Through It," a touching, beautifully-photographed record of an American family. The best thing about 1992 is that it's not over yet. Several of the year's best films, which premiered in New York and Los Angeles for Oscar consideration are just now making their way to the Midwest. These include "Scent of a Woman" which features Al Pacino's likely Oscar-winning performance and "Lorenzo's Oil," with Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon. Imports like "Damage" with Jeremy Irons and Neil Jordan's widely-praised "The Crying Game" (relax, they're in English) will soon make their appearances as well. "Husbands and Wives" "Unforgiven" "Howards End" "Aladdin" "Glengarry Glen Ross" w I ., .... A I Tll..::,:.:Y ,..::>na ti;st in .