October 4. 2006
c‘!‘ |Jn rtIan b CObscruer
Page B3
Focus
Bringing SttSSy'
to the Symphony
heavy rotation on M T V .
Pointer Sisters
set to perform
three shows
For the first tim e in 12 years. The
Pointer Sisters w ill be perform ing
onstage in Portland. The female trio
o fR u th , Inetta and Issa Pointer w ill
perform alongside the Oregon Sym ­
phony many o f the pop hits that
made them famous, ineluding " I'n t
So Excited," “ Slow Hand" and "Neu­
tron Dance."
T h e ir pop hits "S lo w Hand" and
"Jum p For M y L o v e " are instantly
recognizable, and they are the first
black female group to perform at the
Grand Ole O pry in Nashville, and
one o f the first acts to be played in
The group enjoyed early suc­
cess in the '70s, but it was their 1983
album Break Out that went trip le ­
platinum and earned the group tw o
G ram m y Awards and tw o A m e ri­
can M usic A wards. The single
“ Neutron Dance" was featured in
Beverly H ills Cop starring Eddie
M urphy.
The program w ill be led by Guest
Conductor Charles Floyd, w hoalso
conducted last season's S y m ­
phony performance w ith Chris Botti.
Prior to the performance by The
Pointer Sisters, the Symphony w ill
also be p erform ing several themes
from television and cinema, includ­
ing The Simpsons, Star Wars and
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’ s
Stone.
Performances are scheduled for
Saturday, Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m., Sun­
day, Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. and Monday,
Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlene
Sch n it/e r Concert Hall.
Tickets are $29 to $80 and may be
purchased at the Oregon S ym ­
phony T icket ( Jffice, located at 923
S. W . W ashington. Tickets may also
be purchased anytim e online at
w w w .orsym phony.org or charged
by phone at 5 0 3 -2 2 8 -1353.
The Pointer Sisters will bring
their pop hits to the Arlene
Schnitzer Concert Hall on
Saturday to perform with the
Oregon Symphony.
Combs Expects Twin Girls
( A P ) — E x p e c ta n t fa th e r
K im Porter, is expecting tw ins.
he show ed me w h ile I s till have
Sean " D id d y ” C om bs is often
T h e y have an 8 -ye a r-o ld son.
a chance to e n jo y m y s e lf."
depicted as a ladies' man. His
C h ristia n , and C om bs has a 12-
C om bs says he "w o u ld love to
latest baby news, then, should
year-old son, Justin, fro m a pre­
get m arried" but isn't ready yet.
com e as no surprise.
vious relationship.
" I 'm h a v in g tw in g irls ," the
3 6 -y e a r-o ld
"I d id n 't g ro w up around a
"P e op le say. to a so -ca lle d
m arried fa m ily , so it's taking me
h ip -h o p m o g u l
ladies' man o r w h a te ve r, that
a bit longer," he says. " A lo t o f
says in V ib e m agazine's N o ­
w hen yo u have g irls it changes
guys out there get m arried, and
v e m b e r issue, on new sstands
y o u ," C o m b s te lls V ib e . "S o I
they s till do th e ir ow n thing. I
O c t. 17.
was lik e . W h a t's G od tr y in g to
don't w ant to get m arried and
C om bs broke the news ear-
te ll me by g iv in g me tw o g irls ?
fa il."
lie rth is m onth that his lo ngtim e
W hen I pray e ve ry m o rn in g , I
g irlfrie n d . 35 -ye a r-o ld m odel.
thank ( io d fo r show in g me w hat
H is new album , "Press P lay,"
is slated fo r release (Jet. 17.
Sean "Diddy" Combs
Smooth Jazz Is Here!
Forest Whitaker, star o f ‘The Last King o f Scotland' arrives at a
private screening o f the film in New York.
Whitaker Stars in ‘The
Last King of Scotland’
Plays Idi Amin
in Oscar-worthy
performance
(A P ) -- W e 've seen Forest
W hitaker do this on one o f the best
shows on television, "The Shield."
As an internal affairs lieutenant
w hose methods are just as unor­
thodox as those o f the rogue detec­
tiv e squad he's in v e s tig a tin g ,
W hitaker has been mesmerizing in
his v o la tility. He can sidle on up to
you as the sweetest, gentlest giant
one minute, then fly into a vicious
rage the next. He makes both sides
o f this complicated figure feel fright­
eningly real.
And so on the big screen, his
emotional depth and range are even
more stunning in one o f the year's
best movies, "The East K ing o f
Scotland."
T his is not hyperbole. This is
how good W hitaker is: He actually
makes you feel sorry fo r Idi A m in.
The suggestion already has been
d uly bandied about so we may as
w ell acknowledge it here, as w ell:
His performance is nothing short o f
O scar-worthy.
Under the direction o f Kevin
Macdonald ( " Touching the V o id " ),
making his feature debut. W hitaker
gets plenty o f room to demonstrate
the vastly contradictory facets o f
the larger-than-life Ugandan dicta­
tor.
Macdonald uses many o f the
same technical tactics from hisdocu-
mentary background, making you
I
feel as i f you are there, showing you
how easy it m ight have been to be
seduced by this charismatic char­
acter who also happened to be a
cold-blooded kille r.
F u n c tio n in g as o u r g u id e
through this shadowy w o rld is
James M c A v o y , starring as N ick
Garrigan, a young Scottish doctor
who becomes Am in's personal phy­
sician, then his captive adviser.
L ife at the palace is good, a non­
stop orgy o f women and d rin k, a
celebration o f wretched excess with
A m in as its charm ing, generous
host.
The proxim ity to power becomes
intoxicating, but Nick also gets close
enough to A m in to see his weak­
nesses, h is insecurities. Ins para­
noia — and at times become the
victim o f them. The man w ho u lti­
mately w ould be responsible for
the deaths o f 300.000 I Iganilans in
the 1970s often comes o ff as noth-
ing more than an overgrown child,
throw ing a tantrum when he doesn’t
get what he wants.
W hitaker v iv id ly shows us this
element o f A m in's personality, as
w ell, as he trembles and sweats in
his ornate bedroom, his eyes bulg­
ing w ith fear. It’s a far cry from the
man who's arrogant enough toclaim
he knows exactly when he's going
to die, and how.
"The Last K ing o f Scotland." a
Fox Searchlight Pictures release, is
rated R fo r some strong violence
and gruesome images, sexual con­
tent and language. Running time:
121 minutes. Three and a h a lf stars
out o f four.
Portland's Only Smooth Jazz Station
kijz.co m
I