The Duquesne Duke Thursday, Sept. 28,1995 Films: "Clockers" and Records: "Strange Days" both The Urge have powerful im- rules the pacts on viewers highway Urge Overkill Exit the "Clockers'' For a $l,000-a-week commis- Dragon sion, the project dwellers are Jon Richard all too eager to sit on a park Kevin Hoffman The Duquesne Duke bench and risk the occasional A&EEditor strip search by the New York Within the first three min- Police Department. Strike Thanks to the musical utes of Spike Lee's adaption of (Mekhi Prifer), however, is tastes of one Quentin Taran- "Clockers" (from a book by plagued by a stress-related ul- tino, most everyone is pretty Richard Price), any hope of re- cer from this American Dream. clear on who Urge Overkill demption or progress is imme- No longer to subside his is. diately banished. pain with a bottle of chocolate In case you have forgot- The opening credits haunt milk, he accepts an order to kill a bottom-rung dealer who ten, when Uma Thurman the memory with a visual cranks up the eight track be- obituary of gunshot victims stole from Rodney (Delroy fore overdosing on heroin in only to leave the viewer with a Lindo), the ringleader-cum-fa- "Pulp Fiction," she is swing- bitter punchline - Lee's pro- ther figure. The assignment could rescue Strike from a life ing to the strains of the duction logo "Forty acres and Urge's cover of Neil Dia- a Mule" (named after a prom- of clocking, but once the cul- mond's "Girl, You'll Be a ise made to liberated slaves af- prit is gunned down, it is never Woman Soon." As much fun ter the Civil War). revealed whether our hero is the killer. The confusion is in- as that song was, it is just a Once the media pioneer colorful splash of the larger of black segregation and mili- tensified when Strike's re- tant film making ("Jungle Fe- spectable older brother, Victor spectrum of rock that Urge ver," "Malcolm X), Lee has (Isaiah Washington) unloads Overkill creates — music matured beyond exploiting the burden of his good reputa- that is reminiscent and origi- the superficial white demons tion by confessing to the mur- nal, poignant and sarcastic, that marred otherwise bril- der. overstated yet under played. liant work. He now possesses The Urge have enjoyed a the courage to admit that black successful career. After sev- SPIDER MAN — Dorian Hare wood performs in "Kiss of the Spiderwoman.' eral independent albums, Photo courtesy Pittsburgh Broadway Series they signed on to record biz super-label Geffen records, and enjoyed a little of the re- quired MTV notoriety with songs like "Sister Havana" Dorian Harewood and "Positive Bleeding" off of their Saturation LPT The speaks of role in "Kiss kids were smitten with the matching outfits, the gold medallions, the suave of the Spiderwoman" lounge-act inelegance that dominated the Urge's visual Amy Toth "It has lots of different style; however, the music A&EEditor rhythms both, musically and was the key. dramatically," he said. Equal parts '70s super Dorian Harewood is one The storyline involves rock and 90s minimalism, charming and compelling rea- two prisoners with opposing the Urge created a big, al- son to see "Kiss of the_Spider- personalities who share a jail most Boston-esque sound woman" during its run at the cell. Molina (Juan Chioran), a saturated with melody and Benedum. flamboyant homosexual, mo- well constructed songman- tivates the gruff, masculine Va- ship. Urge Overkill rocked FAST-PACED MOVIE — Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett star in "Strange Exotic costumes, a breath- Days." See review, p. 9. taking light show, the wit of lentin (Harewood) to fight to the fans, and the fans were stay alive by telling him about pleased. Photo by Merie WalUce Juan Chioran, or the $20 stu- dent rush might be a few oth- his Utopian heroine, Aurora With the coming of Exit ers. It has everything that can (Chita Rivera). The moral to the Dragon, the listener is genocide is a cancer spreading This is Lee's first project be expected from a broadway be learned comes from the lov- treated to a more subtle and from within. The token white to be derived from a previous musical, except for the sto- ing relationship that can be introspective Urge Overkill; policemen (played by Harvey source. I am only mentioning ryline. forged between two individu- indeed, they continue to Keitel and John Turturro) are this trivia because "Clockers" According to Harewood, als with such disparity. rock, but, like wine with age, no longer fascists but jaded does not quite earn the distinc- "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" To describe the universality the rock is refined. Gone is idealists who merely worsen tion of being a "Spike Lee isn't the typical "boy meets of the theme, Harewood said, the "overkill" of production the situation with the best of Joint." The film could just as girl, boy falls in love with girl," "The only way that we as a values present on Saturation: intentions. well be called "Oliver Stone's musical. people are going to grow is to the loud guitars play ram- The tragedy is centered Greatest Hits Vol. 1." "It's one of the few musi- listen to one another and re- pantly without doubling. around a makeshift family of (See Films, p. 9) cals with challenging dramatic 24-hour crack dealers who re- roles," said Harewood. fer to themselves as clockers. (See Harewood, p. 9) (SeeCD»,p.9) .