The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 05, 2004, Page 6, Image 6
MOVIE REVIEW
SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Jamie Foxx plays blind musical icon Ray Charles in the film ‘Ray.’ Charles died recently at at 73, and
is remembered for his tumultuous life and his unique blend of sounds in his music.
‘Ray spotlights singers struggles and triumphs
“Ray"
★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
By LESLIE DENNIS
THE GAMECOCK
Coming out less than six months
after Ray Charles’s death, the biopic
“Ray” is a touching tribute and honest
retelling of the life and songs of one of
America’s great musical innovators. The
film, directed by Taylor Hackford (“An
Officer and a Gentleman,” “Proof of
Life”), beautifully depicts the highs and
lows of the icon’s tumultuous career.
Beginning in 1948, “Ray” opens
with an 18-year-old Ray Robinson
making his way to Seatde for a job in a
band. Ray begins his career as a piano
player in a couple of forgettable groups
that attempt to swindle him out of his
deserved earnings. Between the two
bands, his manager tells him to drop the
Robinson from his name and use his
middle name, Charles. Ray picks up the
name and a heroin habit.
When Ray is offered a contract with
Atlantic Records by Ahmet Ertegun
(Curtis Armstrong), he can’t seem to
find his niche in the music industry,
sounding too much like Nat “King”
Cole and other popular musicians of the’
time. But with the help of Ertegun, Ray
slowly finds his own unique sound by
fusing jazz, R&B, gospel and even
country into his tunes.
As Ray’s career begins to take off, he
meets Della Bea (Kerry Washington)
and fells head over heels in love with
her. Once they get married, Bea
becomes pregnant almost immediately,
and Ray goes on the road full time.
Bea finds Ray’s drug kit and
confronts him with it before he leaves
for another gig. When he returns for the
birth of their first son, Ray Jr., Bea tells
the new father to leave what happens on
the road (the drugs and the women) out
of their house.
As the movie chronicles Ray’s two
adulterous relationships with Mary Ann
Fisher (Aunjaune Ellis) and Margie
Hendrix (Regina King), his illegitimate
child with Margie, his drug addiction
and his arrests, it does not offer an
apology nor attempt to rush through
these events. Instead the film asks the
viewers to ponder a profound question
about morality and art: Would Ray
have been as great of a musician if he
had not been with these women (most
of his songs are written from these
relationships) or had not taken the
drugs (he claimed drugs never affected
his work because he could always record
in one take, and he never missed a
show)?
The film also highlights Ray’s
accomplishments, which included
winning numerous Grammy awards,
being the first musician to refuse to play
in a Jim Crowe state in the 1960s and
setting a standard in the business world
for musicians.
But the real success of the film lies in
the performance of Jamie Foxx. Foxx,
who proved himself a serious actor in
“Ali” and was exceptional in this year’s
“Collateral,” encompasses Ray’s
extraordinary personality and immerses
himself in the role. Playing all the piano
parts in the film and wearing prosthetics
for 14 hours a day to appear blind, Foxx
transforms himself, his voice and his
movements to not only mimic, but
become Ray. Foxx even has Ray’s
signature move of clasping his hands to
his elbows down pat.
With original recordings of Ray
Charles and the amazingly real
performance by Foxx, “Ray” is not only
a stellar musical biopic, but also an
inspirational story of human strength
and ability.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockfeatnres@gwm.se. edu
Your shirts measures
up on lazy office days
■ Casual work days
are never an excuse
for office sloppiness
There are those mornings when
you know the boss won’t be in the
office or that there are no
important clients or community
leaders who’ll be showing up for
meetings, and you don’t
necessarily
feel the need
to don your
customary
coat and tie.
In this
case, your
dress shirt
will be the
most easily
noticed
aspect of
your outfit
— provided
you don’t
open the
KEVIN
FELLNER
FOURTH-YEAR
ENGLISH
STUDENT
collar to
reveal the seven or eight ggld
necklaces you wear at any given
time. And the design is again your
call as to what the occasion might
be. Multi-colored narrow stripes
have made a comeback, as well as
diagonal pinstripes, but for office
wear I’d stick with solid colors or
light checks. Just please remember
to tuck it in and button it correctly
— and that includes the sleeves,
unless you roll yours to the elbow.
Sizing is where the shirt
becomes a hassle, but it shouldn’t
be intimidating. Ladies, listen up,
too, because holiday sales are
approaching, and we’re tired of
opening a shirt box every year to
find some lame-ass sweater
because you’re not sneaky enough
to find out all of our
measurements. Take the time to
check that tag this year.'"
The largest and most important
number on the shirt’s tag will be
the collar size. The average man is
maybe a 16” or 17”, but that can
vary. When measuring your neck,
make sure you can turn your head
both directions without having the
measuring tape choking you.
The next two hyphenated
numbers will be the chest and
sleeve sizes. Now I know you
probably want to get an extra
small chest size to tighten the
shirt around your bulging
pectorals, but remember to
practice some decorum as you are
going to be wearing the shirt to
work. Don’t think that you’ll
score extra points with the new
intern either, as most office
romances are destined to fail.
Make sure your sleeves are long
enough to at least cover your
wristwatch completely and
preferably long enough to extend
1/2 inch past your coat’s sleeve. If
you went to your high school
prom, you should probably
already know your measurements.
In addition to measurements,
there is also the question of design.
Breast pockets are classic but seem
to be fading, possibly because they
only serve the purpose of holding
your calculator and astronaut pen.
French cuffs are distinguished but
require that you buy cufflinks,
which could be a costly expense for
the mundane ambiance of your
office. Button-down collars work
well without a tie, while pointed
collars help to accentuate the tie’s
protrusion from the neck. But a
pointed collar with the top button
of the shirt left open makes it look
like your neck has sprouted wings.
The choices of material are
equally complex. The best overall
quality and durability is still 100
percent cotton with a high thread
count. Clothiers come out all the
time with synthetic blends hailed
as stain-resistant or wrinkle-free,
but these claims tend to not be true
all of the time, while the fabric
itself is often too tight or too loose.
Cotton still offers the best
versatility. With dry-cleaning and
regular starch, a good cotton shirt
can last a lifetime and hold its
form.
I think overall you get what you
pay for. I’m not saying you have to
buy a $ 100 shirt, but you save up
to buy a few nice “lazy day” shirts
that don’t call for a suit. After all,
you work hard, and you’ve earned
the right to look good.
Judge blocks removal
of Jackson prosecutor
By LINDA DEUTSCH
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
I
SANTA MARIA, Calif.' — A judge
on Thursday rejected a defense effort
to remove the district attorney in the
Michael Jackson child molestation
case on the grounds that the pop star
had been the victim of an overzealous
prosecution.
Judge Rodney Melville said the law
is clear that the only way he could
remove District Attorney Tom
Sneddon and his office is “if a conflict
existed where the defendant could not
receive a fair trial.” He said no such
conflict existed.
“I believe he has not been excessively
zealous and has not threatened the
integrity of the case to this point,” the
judge said of the prosecutor.
Jackson’s lawyer, Thomas
Mesereau Jr., said Sneddon and his
office had spent more money
pursuing Jackson than they had on
the cases of serial killers, showing that
they had lost perspective. He said the
prosecutors are so caught up in the
case that Sneddon misrepresented to
grand jurors the potential motivation
of the boy’s family in accusing
Jackson.
“They are too emotionally
invested in getting a case against the
celebrity,” Mesereau said. “They are
blinded by zeal, blinded by
emotion.”
He also cited Sneddon’s personal
role in investigating the Jackson case
as well as his performance at a news
conference announcing the singer’s
arrest in which he cracked jokes with
the media.
Prosecutors said they had no
personal agenda in pursuing the case.
The defense had wanted Sneddon’s
office removed and the state attorney
general’s office to take over.
- . ' ---——-■
Underdog ‘Bard’s Tale’ keeps
singing its happy, satiric tune
By TAMARA CHUANG
KRT CAMPUS
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — After
two years of working late nights,
brainstorming medieval jokes and
scoring the voice talent of actor Cary
Elwes, game developers at inXile
entertainment learned that their very
first video game was going up against
expected blockbuster “Grand Theft
Auto: San Andreas.”
No worries. The 20-person
company, much like its comedic “Bard’s
Tale” game in stores last week,
maintained a cheeky spirit about the
timing.
“If you’re going to buy a game,
you’re probably going to buy Grand
Theft Auto. But if you’re going to buy
two, buy ours,” said Brian Fargo,
president and founder of the Newport
Beach game developer.
The Bard’s Tale, a role-playing game
set in Medieval Scotland, has won rave
reviews for poking fun at video game
cliches and providing plenty of
distractions, such as beer guzzling
drunks, cow tipping and busty barmaids,
i But the attention splashed on this two
year-old startup isn’t just for its mix of
musical, comedy and adventure. It’s
because the game comes from the mad
genius mind of Fargo, an industry veteran
who started Interplay Entertainment in
Orange County in 1983.
“Back then, it was all about content.
You didn’t have anything except the
writing and humor to focus on,” said
John Davison, editor in chief for
Official PlayStation
Magazine, which gave
the game 4.5 stars out
of 5.
“Now, it’s come full
circle. (Fargo) has
taken the principles of
story line and
combined them with
(graphics' and
technology).” Fargo,
41, who left Interplay
two years ago,
handpicked a team of
artists and developers,
hiring from Interplay
and Blizzard
Entertainment in
Irvine, Calif.
For funding, Fargo
pre-sold the rights to
reproduce the game
overseas. He threw in
the rest from his own
bank account. Then,
the private company set
up auup ui <111 uiu i/diirv
and created the game nearly from
scratch — the original was one of
Interplay’s early games, spawning two
sequels and selling more than 1 million
copies.
Deadline? Whenever the team was
done.
“If I had done this at Interplay, there
would have been too many preconceived
notions,” said Fargo, imagining that
pieces like the ode to beer scene would
get nixed. “This was completely fresh.”
Even with the critical acclaim, the
Bard’s Tale is considered an underdog.
Reviewers don’t expect it to sell well
against the sequels to Grand Theft Auto
and Halo, though sales could improve
after the holidays, when the $50 price
tag gets lowered.
Regardless, the content and humor
in Bard’s Tale could become a reference
point in video game history, Davison
said.
“A lot of games are preoccupied with
pushing technology and making a
statement on tech side. Bard’s Tale is
very content oriented. Rather than
putting time and money into making
the game look good, they used off-the
shelf tools (to do the job). It worked,”
he said.
“It’s a decent looking game. And it’s
showing that you can go and get these
tools and put the emphasis on something
♦ Please see BARD, page 7
J ■ ■ ■ ,■
KRT CAMPUS
Brian Fargo, founder of InExile Entertainment, at his Newport Beach, Cali.,
office, with a cardboard cut-out of the star of his new game, The Bard’s Tale.’
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Saturday Nov. 6
§ Russell House
Room 322
^ 1-6 pm
W *A $10 tote bag
■ gets you in,
W and then you can
W fill it to the brim
u:
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Nov. 5 2004
“The Incredibles” I