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I 5*EJi ' n*n" -?- - -? Outback: bi By SUSAN GOODWIN Staff Writer There's one characteristic about the Outback Steakhouse that customers notice right away, i Just about everything associated with it is big. From my first entry into its large waiting area, where I sat for twenty minutes with a substantial crowd, a hostess ushered me to a table with oversized silverware, where I guzzled Diet Cokes in mutant glass mugs and dined on humongous portions of Caesar salad and sirloins. In short, this restaurant is not for those lacking an appetite. However, anyone a little low on > cash doesn't have to rule out dining down under, as entrees range primarily from $8 to $14. I chomped away on a 12 oz. sirloin, bread, salad and french fries, otherwise known as the "Outback special" for a mere $10.95. And it was all good. A wee bit spicier than I would have liked it, but that's just the bland kind of person I am. Though the Outback is known ,Demme's Tom Hanks is the American everyman, lenaing cnarisma ana wit to performances throughout his career. From the befuddled bachelor in Ron Howard's aquatic erotic comedy "Splash" to the perfect match for Meg Ryan's cross-country | affection in Nora Ephron's "Sleepless in Seattle," Hanks has delighted audiences with his ability to bring a biting edge to comedy fantasies. Who would guess that the comic actor nominated for an Oscar for playing a boy trapped in a man's body in "Big" would go on to create 1994's moving dramatic perfor| mance as an attorney with AIDS in Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia"? A ?. 1 1- Pv ' - AlUlOUgll L?enuue > Mjpci-nyj/cu film seems on the surface a standard courtroom drama, it reaches a fever pitch of heightened emotions as Middle America comes to grips with segments of society rarely presented in big-budget Hollywood features. AIDS discrimination, homophobia and comfort zones of American dialogue are all given their place in the film's text. Hanks plays Andrew Becket, a skilled attorney who is fired from 'Real Couni Lizafci Thli Gnnn cj?nt creasonabli Country Breakfast < Home Cooked Meats Fresh Vegetables Sandwiches and Salads Steaks and Seafood Open 7 days a week Breakfast, Lunch and Dinn Complete Catering and Carry-out Service % 921 Sumter St. Cornell Arms Building (across from Horseshoe) Buy one meal and of equal or lesi (Does not include b Offer good ever] Lizard's ? Thicket Offer Valid at Cornell Arms D Nan-si ? ? rr An fnArl n g Ull 1UVJU, 11 for its steak, there are other items on the menu worth consideration. I was very tempted to try a grilled chicken and shrimp pasta entree, but was, of course, thoroughly pleased with my juicy selection. Although the food was very satisfying, I must say that 1 was most impressed with the service, especially that amid great adversity, namely lots of hungry people. There's a sign you see when you walk through the door which says, "There's always a full house at the Outback." This is not an idle statement. If the Wednesday night group was any indication, waiting for a table is not unheard of here. However, the restaurant has the business of appeasing impatient customers down to an art. Each waiting party gets a beeper, which vibrates when its table is ready. Although this makes the lobby look like it is full of either doctors or drug dealers, the instruments do keep anxious diners from asking, "Who did they just call" every two minutes. On the other hand, my impatience was soothed more by the background music than the technolilarielnhia'm lr Stephen. Brown LIGHTS! CAMERA! REACTION! his firm because he has AIDS. After no one in the city will take his case, Andrew seeks help from Denzel Washington's character Joe Miller, another lawyer with completely different ideas about modern-day prejudice. Pairing up against the powerful firm, Andrew and Joe learn about each others' lives and come to terms with society's apparent hatred of homosexuals, in the process, they discover their own similarities: both love their families, both love their work, both love the law and both love America. Washington is extremely moving as the openly homophobic lawyer try Cooking' cke t J ODATJ *? STRIPES er get a second meal ser value FREE everages or desserts) / day 4pm-10pm 921 Sumter St. Cornell Arms Building (across from Horseshoe) ^cation Only Expires 1-31-94 Caroli izccL 1 ( ^ Ij li ot on price logical advances of the restaurant business. Hey, any restaurant that plays Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together" and the Monkees' "I'm a Believer" rates pretty high in my book. The friendly atmosphere also made the dining experience enjoyable. Employees constantly circle tables, looking to take up anything that isn't wanted or Australian. While I cannot speak with authority about all the servers, the waitress for my table was, for the lack of a better phrase, really cool. She was friendly and prompt, and even sat down next to me while she cleared up the confusion I had concerning ..prime rib. Sirloin. Prime rib. It's all beef. Who pays attention to the differences, right? For those who are concerned about socially acceptable dress codes at dining institutions, don't worry. This is a steakhouse. It's laid-back and informal. Wear jeans. Wear shorts. It doesn't matter. All that does is that a customer comes in with a big appetite. And an appreciation of the oldies. ) City of Broth who nevertheless wants to right a t! wrong. His struggle to bring his bi love of justice and his tear ot gay p men to some sort of middle road tf yields for him an extremely diffi- c cult compromise. d It's in Washington's richly writ- n ten character that the greatest developments are made and small t< but monumental epiphanies ii reached. Certainly one of the best b actors working today, Washington si shines in the less showy role, S] which is crucial for the film's complexity. A Hanks dazzles as the central 1< character, and Demme has a way d of filming him so we are forced to a see his suffering. During an intense r sequence when Andrew's passion d for music provides a metaphor for p his clinging to a love of life, the s lighting and sounds create a h cacophony of emotional turmoil, v Hanks deserves credit for lifting Andrew's character from an object e of sympathy to a man of inspiring p confidence. ? In what might be characterized i as an effort to keep the film politi- f cally correct, Demme makes his t greatest lapses into unreality. An r all-too accepting family is perhaps c IPKIW l:3i||jp 919 Sumter St ||||| ?. ? n mm _ I m MBUTTaio wings | w/ Blue Cheese & Celery ' | i $750 | j Free Delivery Coupon 1 I Exp 1/31/94 | Wits' a Columbia's Home Of Be Thurs., Jan. 27 East Coast Brainstorm Electric Cit> Sat., Jan. 29 Montage Wed., Feb. 2 Boo and Junio Featuring "The Stegmor Fues.- Fri. 4pm-'Ti DJ's Nij Shrimp/Oyster Specials Dai 2005 BELTL1 (next to Richland I 782-0( ALL ABC REGULATIONS ENFORCED, f YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 2 Locally Owned And Operai BUCKLE UPTli ina! Say 'cheese' w ^ Paul Patras of ThQrnton Stu final day to have your yearbc erly Love ie most obvious plot contrivance, ut all the elements add up to sup on tne mm s premise mat even le All-American kid next door can ontract our generation's most eadly disease, making the person o less worthy of our compassion. Despite its chilling subject mat;r, "Philadelphia" is an entertaiptg film dealing with the hope for a etter society, the value of friendhip and the triumph of the human pirit. Supporting performances by intonio Banderas as Andrew's 3ver, Mary Steenburgen as the efense attorney and Jason Robards s the dominant voice of the corupt law firm add even more limensions to the already corntelling drama. Each is the face of omeone we might know in our lome town, and each speaks with a roice we have so often heard. "Philadelphia" is a stirring powrhouse of a film, taking us to a ilace of turmoil as America strug;les to decide which men are i ? J 1 T? naeeu creaieu equaj. u uucmi i >retend to offer the magic solution, >ut it excels at bringing lough nodern issues into the American :onsciousness. 1ijjiirafn lRPl25*5266 ' yP 919 Sumter St SO Buffalo Wings j w\M w/ Blue Cheese & Celery ' $125? ; cree Delivery Coupon i Exp 1/31/94 | End" nBehfine ach, Boogie & Blues ' Blues Band # Montage r present "Zoo Night" ids" 1 Sat. 7pm-'Til ?htly ily During Happy Hour NE BLVD. Fashion Mall) )23 !1, IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO BUY ALCOHOUC BEVERAGES. ted By USC Graduates! ,fS THE LAW f f * * pjj^ * .I^^Mb^MMwP^IMmMBiI * jBBfc J^H^k ,. 4 :W^ ^MBc -^-./ JBKIli ? i j^H o'* II^. A*J3L- lj^m Ki Wk wm^r^mmm i^M| i - David Mandrell/The Gamecock dios frames a subject for the 1993-94 yearbook. Today is the ok photo taken. Friday, Jan. 21 Thursday, Jan. 27 "The Program," (filmed at USC) Gamma Beta Phi, RH Ballroom ' $2, RH Theater, 9 p.m. A, 6:30 p.m. "Lords of the Ring," $2, RH " . . Theater, 11:30 p.m. Weekly Meetings Monday, Bible Study, 6:50 Saturday, Jan. 22 p-m > BaP,ist student union, 700 . "The Prosram," (filmed at USC) Pic*ens St. S2, RH Theater, 9 p.m. ruesUa?,- Exper.en.ral Group -L.,d 9! XKS3Si <SMH?S h 1 heater, 11.30 p.m. Development Center, 777-5223. Wednesday, "Fat is a Feminist * * 1 T 'r\ A T ,, 1 A 1 /- 1 i AC * Monday, Jan. Z4 issue, iu:i: p.m.-n:<o p.m. . Anyone interested in writing for ^ ounseling and Human The Gamecock meet in RH 321, 8 Development C enter 777-5223. Thursday, "Couples Helping Couples," 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25 777-5223. Phi Alpha Delta pre-law fraterni- Thursday, "Heart to Heart," 7 ty, B A 301, 7 p.m. Guest speaker p.m., Baptist Student Union. 700 , will attend. Pickens St. Thursday, Inter-Varsity lir . , ? v Christian Fellowship, 8 p.m., RH Wednesday, Jan. 26 303 College Republicans, Gambrell piie deadline for Datebook is 250, 8 p.m. For more information two days before the publication call Eric Dell at 926- 7902 or date. Submissions are free and, . Chip Payne at 750- 5162. printed according to available f space. Find Out About Drugs, Sex & AIDS. Call 1-800-322-AIDS USC Choral Groups Seeking New Members i Nonnmusic majors encouraged U8C Concert Choir Meets Tuesday and Thursday 12:30-1:45 Monday 3:30-5:30 Call Dr. Larry Wyatt for audition f X? iniormauon 777-2454 38 ?. * Ifawedy ursrws Call Dr. Richard Conant for interview information 777-3125 i Meets Monday,Wednesday and Friday 12:20-1:10 For audition information call 777-3125 Male Singers Needed 1 HOUR CREDIT |i