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The sci-fi classic "2001: A Space Odyssey" is playing tonight and
tomorrow at the Michigan Theater. Stanley Kubrick's 1968 visual
masterpiece still has enough oomph to rock even George Lucas'
mighty starships. The screening begins at 7 p.m. and admission is $5
for students, $6.50 for others. For more information, call 668-8480.
Tuesday
April 1,1997.
5
'Sixth Man'
By Julia Shib
Daily Arts Writer
Just in time for the NCAA tournament comes a movie
about an underdog who just can't lose. Filled with cool spe-
cial effects, funny actors and lots of awesome hoop action,
"The Sixth Man" is bound to get basketball fans in a frenzy.
Marlon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison ("A Different
,World") star in this spunky movie about
mart and determination. Hardison plays
Antoine Tyler, a college basketball star,
with the University of Washington T
Huskies, who is about to realize his
dream of making it to the NCAA
Championships. When paired with his At
younger brother Kenny (Wayans), the
two are a force that no team can stop.
But just when everything is going perfectly, Antoine unex-
pectedly dies, leaving Kenny to carry the team alone.
eartbroken, Kenny loses his drive to win until Antoine's
ost comes back to help the team to the championships.
"The Sixth Man" is a light sports comedy that is low on
intelligence but high on humor. It is the basic predictable
story of a team that goes from last to worst with a little help
from the outside, while finding strength within the players
themselves to make it through the last step. But with the
incredible talent of Wayans ("Mo' Money"), the movie
becomes a hilarious display of Wayans' outstanding skill at
physical comedy.
By far, the funniest scenes in the movie come when
Wayans is messing around with his phantom brother, whom
$ly he can see. In one part of the movie, when Kenny and
O
hi
Br
hoops it up
Antoine are wrestling, the camera shows us what the other
players are seeing: Wayans making pained faces and flailing
around like a crazed pretzel-man. Wayans, who comes from a
family known for spouting out quality performers, could def-
initely give Jim Carrey a run for his money.
Wayans also proves that he is an actor with range. His per-
formance is moving in the more dramatic scenes following
his brother's death, proving that he is a
EV EWyoung talented actor who is about to take
Hollywood by storm.
e Sixth Man Other stars of the film include
University of Michigan alumus, David
Paymer ("Heart And Souls"), as the
riarwood and Showcase coach of the Huskies, and Michael
Michele as R.C. St. John, a female
sports writer and Kenny's love interest. Former college star
and NBA player Travis Ford also makes his mark in the
film, playing an entertaining hothead Husky named
O'Grady.
Problems with "The Sixth Man" occur at the moral levels
of the plot. The Huskies begin to win because they have a
ghost helping them cheat by messing up the other teams' play.
When Antoine accidentally hurts the star player on another
team, the audience loses quite a lot of respect for how the
team got to where they are.
Furthermore, Hardison's ghost is a royal jerk. He messes
with his brother Kenny's life, while throwing spectral
tantrums and severely interfering with the games. Hardison's
character is not a likable one, making the sappy scenes at the
end all the less touching.
Nevertheless, "The Sixth Man" is as good as sports
Marion Wayans (left) and Kadeem Hardison (right) star In the basketball comedy "The Sixth Man."
comedies come. It is a great deal of fun to watch without missed.
having a plot that requires too much thought. The special So if you're disappointed that your team didn't make it to
effects created to show Antoine's powers are amusing and the NCAA championships, you might want to check out "The
awesome at times, while the basketball scenes will excite Sixth Man" - who knows what form inspiration will come
all hoops fans. Wayans gives a performance not to be in next season.
Barry makes leap to the world of cyberspace
Practice'
wins floans
stABC
By Anna Kovalszki
For the Daily
A teen-age girl is caught protecting
her brother. She hides his pot from the
officers who have come to search her
house, who eventually discover it. She
is the good child, the one who has not
succumbed to the pressures of the
reets, yet she will be punished just the
same.
The situation looks bleak for her,
until Bobby Donnell, the attorney who
believes in equal representation for all,
walks into her life. Through much
thought and determination, he is able to
convince the jury of the girl's inno-
cence.
This scene is just one of the many
equally moving subplots in "The
,ractice," ABC's new, fast-paced
drama. It is the "ER" of the law profes-
sion, where four young attorneys, who
take the difficult and financially unre-
warding cases, get a chance to show
their skills as well as their passion for
the profession.
It is not surprising that the show is a
hit, since its creator and executive pro-
ducer, David E. Kelley, was also the
mastermind behind a few other hit
vies: "Picket Fences," "Chicago
ope" and "L.A. Law."
Bobby Donnell (Dylan
McDermott) is
the head of this
small-scal e
Boston law firm. 4
As a defense
attorney, he acts
with compassion
for his clients,
en defending those he knows are
'uilty. He shares his office with
Eugene Young (Steve Harris), an
investigator who becomes an attor-
ney and still keeps his hard-core tac-
tics.
In one episode, Young assaults a man
Dave Barry
Dave Barry in Cyberspace
Crown Publishers
Dave Barry is a premier humorist.
His rib-tickling thoughts grace hun-
dreds of newspapers' column spaces,
and he has written a multitude of books
humorously dealing with everyday
items and occurrences we oftentimes
overlook. Barry is the Bill Cosby of the
written word, and the only writer who's
been able to fill in the large gap created
by the death of humorist Erma
Bombeck a few years ago.
In "Dave Barry in Cyberspace," the
author's newest book, Barry tackles the
ever-growing information age. He
begins with a history lesson on the ori-
gin of computers and then flows into
the birth of MS-DOS. Next he discuss-
es the origins of Apple Computers and
Score big m
compares the two systems.
"For many years while we MS-DOS
people were typing insanely obscure
instructions like: dir
c:\abcproj\docs\lttrs\sales\apr\*.*, the
Apple people were simply aiming their
little mouse pointers at little pictures
and going 'click,"' Barry writes. "In
short, the Apple was far easier to use.
So the vast majority of us serious com-
puter users rejected it."
Later, Barry reminisces about his '95
trip to Comdex, held that year in Las
Vegas. Referring to this computer trade
show as "Geek-O-Rama" and
"Nerdstock," he gives a blow-by-blow
description of the variety of unpro-
nounceable, unintelligible computer-
ized gadgets and lingo there.
"Dave Barry in Cyberspace" also
comes complete with zany definitions,
wacky instructions for installing soft-
ware, and stories about the true nature
of the Internet.
In documenting the Internet's contri-
bution to education, Barry writes:
"Picture this scenario: It's 8 p.m., and
your 12-year-old child suddenly remem-
bers that he has a major school report
due tomorrow. He needs to do some
research, but the library is closed. No
problem! Your cyber-savvy youngster
simply turns on your computer, activates
your modem, logs on to the Internet, and
in a matter of minutes, is exchanging
pictures of naked women with other
youngsters all over North America.'
The possibilities for humor when
dealing with computers are endless, and
Barry has found a way to utilize virtu-
ally all of them. Dave Barry's whole-
some comedy shows that humor can
still be found in material without vul-
garity. His family-friendly way of
bringing smiles to the faces of his read-
ers makes Dave Barry a unique brand
of writer indeed.
- Eugene Bowen
Dylan McDermott stars In "The Practice" on ABC.
T
whose wife he defends, the husband
who threatens to kill her. Camryn
Manheim, who plays the opinionated
prosecutor Ellenor Frutt, also teaches
at NYU. The qualifications of the other
actors are of similar caliber. Lindsay
Dole (Kelli Williamns) is the recent
Harvard graduate who faces the large
tobacco industry, where she battles
with a formerly
admired professor.
V I E W "The Practice"
he Practice shines because it
treats situations as
ABC passionate human
Tuesdays at 10 p.m. beings would. The
characters are indi-
viduals who see life as a challenge, and
they are not afraid to use their intellect
and compassion. The lawyers support
each other in difficult cases, just like
the nurses and doctors on "ER" do,
many tirhes winning a case through
collective thought and work. The writ-
ers don't shy away from the cases that
cannot engage our sympathy, for as
Charles Dickens said, "If there were no
bad people, there would be no good
lawyers."
The behind-the-scenes technicians
also support the overall effect of the
drama. The camera work is outstanding,
where one storyline immediately fol-
lows another, through a rushing zoom
across town. The action and reaction
never stop, except at intense contempla-
tive moments, when ethical issues arise.
At these times, when wheeling and
dealing trades one client's well-being
for another's, the show portrays the
humanity of the characters most
poignantly.
Future lawyers, as well as those of us
who appreciate quality television,
should tune in to "The Practice." As the
characters in this new drama series
practice the art of humanity, we can
contemplate our own.
___ _______ ______ 1
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