The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 21, 1994, Page 5, Image 5
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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"?
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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
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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
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Offer Valid at Cornell Arms D
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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'
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STRIPES
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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
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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 |||||
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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
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>retend to offer the magic solution,
>ut it excels at bringing lough
nodern issues into the American
:onsciousness.
1ijjiirafn
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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
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pjj^ * .I^^Mb^MMwP^IMmMBiI *
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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