Russian re-creates
travel with artistry
ARTIST from page 12
In his four visits, Sobolev has trav
eled the country, from north to south
and east to west, with his friend Shirley
Doherty of Bellevue.
Now Sobolev, whom she met
through his brother, a tour guide, is like
family to Doherty. He has his own room
in her house, he keeps clothes there for
when he visits, and when he does stay,
she said, “it’s like he’s coming home.”
In this second home, Sobolev takes
pictures and makes what he calls
impressions: small details he can
remember when he is in Moscow paint
ing the things he saw on his visit
“(In the United States,) every cor
ner is something new. I try to take pic
tures and sketches,” Sobolev said. “I
will put in my mind impressions.”
With these impressions, Sobolev
strives to infuse the rules of classical art
with a modem touch, which is neces
sary to express life in a modem world,
he said.
This fall, Sobolev hopes to take
these visions to Australia, as he has
been invited to show his work in gal
leries in Sydney and Melbourne.
“This will be another impression,
another world,” Sobolev said.
But for now, Sobolev will return to
Moscow and his 7-year-old daughter,
whom he painted a portrait of when she
was 4.
Sobolev, who is leaving at the end
of the month, said part of the struggle in
being an artist was leaving his family
when he works at furthering his career.
He said there was one thing he was
looking forward to doing when he
returns home.
“Now I want to paint a new portrait
of my daughter. To paint a new age -
she has grown.”
Barrymore barely makes
cliched film watch-worthy
KISSED from page 12
Eggs were thrown at her, she was
laughed at, people, including her
younger brother Rob (David Arquette)
called her “Josie Giossie” in the lunch
room. Basically all the cruel things that
never happened to anyone in high
school.
What ensues is Barrymore vs. the
movie. Every single cliche that hadn’t
already been rolled out in the other teen
movies is rolled out here (get ready for
the coleslaw joke).
It’s unreal what “Never Been
Kissed” will make you believe. There
are too many to list, but among them:
■ The boss at the Sun-Times,
Rigfort (Garry Marshall), whom I
assume is the boss although he is never
actually given such a title, fires sea
soned journalists on a whim and then
assigns Josie, a woman whose name he
does not even know, to do a huge inves
tigative piece.
■ When Josie is forced to use a hid
den camera during her reporting,
everybody in the office stops what
they’re doing and watches, Josie as she
flirts with her English teacher (Michael
Vartan). Oh, I get it - it’s a kind of news
paper where nobody works. Ever.
■ Her brother Rob enrolls in South
Glen too, hoping to make something
out of a failed baseball career.
■ The Sun-Times devotes hun
dreds of man hours and technical
equipment to Josie’s crusade, and not
one piece is written. Remember
Rigfort, he who fires on a whim?
Disappears. Must have gone on vaca
tion, lest he see that no stories are writ
ten or the fact that nobody in the office
ever works because they’re watching
Josie.
■ Josie’s sexpot best friend (Molly
Shannon) shows up at the high school
and ends up in-what else? - a big dis
cussion about sex where she forces the
students to put condom on bananas.
Then Josie hits her teacher with a con
dom. Then, one of the kids eats his
banana.
These and more await in “Never,”
because the movie falls into worthless
cliches. Josie’s a geek at first, then she
falls in with the popular kids, then she
falls in love with the teacher, then
there’s the prom and then there’s the big
revelation and then everybody’s happy.
This isn’t giving anything away,
because these movie always end up the
same.
But Barrymore shines in this mess.
She really does. She’s skilled enough as
a romantic-comedy actress to make us
laugh and feel what she’s feeling. She
can almost make the rest of it seem
bearable.
Some will come away satisfied
with “Never Been Kissed” and it will
be all because of Barrymore. Few, if
any, actresses could have done the
same. Maybe Cameron Diaz, if she did
n’t have looks that could stop traffic.
Barrymore embodies a more
wholesome image onscreen, despite
whatever she does off of it. She’s
America’s cube, our gal to root for, a lit
tle shy, a little witty. How can you not
like her? And if this wreck of a movie
proves anything, it’s that Barrymore
belongs in the category of Julia Roberts
and Meg Ryan Mien it comes to lovey
dovey likability.
She may have very well entered a
new realm with “Never Been Kissed.”
This movie will earn money. To be sure,
it will. And that this contrived piece of
trash won’t end up in the red might give
us a glimpse at just how good
Barrymore is.
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Blackstreet
“Finely”
Interscope Records
Grade: C
Some of the most successful R&B
artists stay that way because they can
wed the rhythm and the blues on one
album, and make it sound seamless.
That said, maybe Blackstreet
should take heed. The group sold more
than six million copies of its 1996
album “Another Level.”
Now the group is out with a new
album, “Finally^” and it is obvious that
they should have stayed on the previous
“Level.” ^
Teddy Riley and the rest of
Blackstreet sold records with a mix of
sweet harmony on slower songs, and
more upbeat songs that blew up on the
club scene 2 Vi years ago.
Several songs on this newest
release mix a club sound with smooth
R&B vocals. The result sounds like an
identity crisis.
Evidence of this is the release of the
first single, “Girlfriend/Boyfriend,”
featuring Janet Jackson, Ja Rule and
Eve. Jackson has one of the sexiest
sounds in urban music, but her talents
are obscured by what sounds like a per
formance at a Jackson family talent
show 20 years ago.
Be prepared to hear this first
release over and over again - and have
it stuck in your head.
The mix of styles makes this album
suffer, but there are several tracks that
salvage this new recording.
The best attribute is the traditional
Blackstreet slow jams. The crown
jewel is “In a Rush.” It’s evident the
group is influenced by the roots of
R&B, Motown Records.
Motown pioneer Stevie Wonder
both sings and plays the harmonica on
this track, and you would swear you
were hearing Lionel Richie sing at the
beginning of the song.
“Drama” sounds like it comes off
of Keith Sweat’s new album, “Still in
the Game.” It’s followed by “I’m
Sorry,” which epitomizes the
Blackstreet slow jam - it will make you
want to cry and dance at the same time.
People who buy “Finally” expect
ing to hear a song like “Booty Call” or
“No Diggity” will be severely disap
pointed.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a
few dance-party cuts.
“I Think About You” and “I Got
What You On” have strong beats and
the occasional synthesized voice that
Blackstreet fans have come to expect.
And for as much good as there is on
the album, there is just as much bad.
One thing that does not seem to fit
is a pair of gospel songs called
“Hustler’s Prayer” and “Finally,” the
title track. The gospel comes out of left
field, and it comes three songs after the
suggestive and slightly disgusting
lyrics, “I take a shower and I think
about you.”
Riley is a talented songwriter, but
may have looked to a ninth-grader to
pen these lines: “I dream in black and
white, but I make love in color.” To go
along with laughable lyrics in “Black
and White,” the song also has a very
predictable beat.
The final insult is a new remix of
“Take me There,” a song known by
most as being on the “Rugrats” movie
soundtrack.
Blackstreet may be Nickelodeon’s
new favorite R&B group, but the
group’s target audience is not toddlers
and grade-school children.
Fans who bought the group’s previ
ous two albums will recognize the
voices, but the new sound is something
fans will have to get used to.
Creating a new sound is one thing,
but trying to mix club tracks with slow
jams is just too much for one album.
-Jay Saunders
Mediocrity marks dance performance
DANCE from page 12
movement represented the musical
phrases of the various instruments.
The dancers depicted the lines of the
horns, the drums, the piano and the
bass, all the while surrounded by
replicas of the instruments.
The dancers carried out the gim
mick well, dancing to sultry jazz one
minute and bebop rhythms the next.
However, the piece’s excessive length
and its lack of inventive choreogra
phy defeated its overall effectiveness.
After intermission, two dancers
performed “Higher,” the company’s
signature piece. Danced to the sensu
al music of Ray Charles, it succeeded
in achieving a languorous seductive
mood.
But Grossman’s choreography
relied more on acrobatic and gym
nastic feats than dancing, and it failed
to rise above the mere showcase of
the dancers’ physical strength.
The company closed with “A
Simple Melody,” choreographed by
Peter Randazzo. This suite of dances
varied between humorous antics and
lyrical duets.
Unfortunately, the majority of the
dances centered on comic devices
rather than inventive choreography.
A lyrical duet was the one excep
tion. Out of all the dances in the suite,
this one showcased the beautiful lines
of two of the dancers best.
The humorous ploys were carried
to the extreme in the closing two
dances. First, the dancers performed
what was basically a kickline to big
band dance music, dancing each
movement in a dull, formulaic series
of four repetitions. Then, the lights
dimmed, and when they came up, the
dancers reappeared dressed as super
heroes to close the show.
While funny, these superhero
capers couldn’t save the show’s mere
mortal and just plain ordinary chore
ography.
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