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The Grandson of Holly Martins writes about GLADIATOR, HIGH FIDELITY and WHERE THE HEART IS!!!
Hey folks, Harry here with a very special spy. It's not often that we actually get relatives of quite special people writing... This time it's the grandson of Holly Martins... His pappy was one of the great authors of cheap novelettes from the late forties. A fantastic fellow, and I take it with a great amount of encouragement that his grandson is not only writing to us here at AICN, but is also pursuing a filmmaking career. HAZAR!!! Well folks, you are in luck... Holly has the utmost respect for the filmmakers and stays away from spoilers in these looks a GLADIATOR, HIGH FIDELITY and WHERE THE HEART IS. He does discuss some spoilers in his GLADIATOR review, HOWEVER... he labels them before going into it... AND everything he talks about is in the first 15 minutes or so and he does not give away the key... 'next shot' so I believe hardly anyone would feel 'spoiled' lest they be extremely touchy. So... without further ado, I present the honorable Holly Martins III
Hello Harry -
Holly Martins III here. After wandering Vienna for a
bit tracing my grandfather's steps, it's good to be
back in America. I returned some weeks ago, with just
barely enough time to clear customs and end up in a
faceless Los Angeles suburb for what may have been the
first screening of "Gladiator". I wasn't going to
write anything about it, but after seeing (and loving)
the "Mission Impossible 2" trailer, I've started to
rethink that. My reasons both ways...
First, I work in "the business" and although I'm a
nobody (so far...) I'm already pushing the limits on
the screenings I see. If there's even a glimmer of an
idea in these people's minds that I'm starting to tell
tales out of the theater, my access may well be cut
off. I'd rather not have that, thank you. It's not
that I take the "Harry Card" seriously; it's that I do
feel that not cool to give away too much about a film
too soon. Sharing the whole story, for example, can
and frequently will ruin quite a bit of the fun of a
film. Sadly, the idiots who run nearly every
marketing campaign (and a fair number of film critics)
don't understand that, and there is almost always too
much footage in the advertising and by the time you
see the film, you've already seen the film. That's a
large part of why I like seeing movies in very early
stages - I don't yet have the bias of the marketing
campaign to corrupt the experience for me.
I don't wish to ruin anyone's first impression of a
film. I've decided that from time to time, I'd like
to give a ballpark guideline to what to expect, but I
won't talk about specifics after the first ten minutes
or so. You can't expect that level of respect from
the marketing morons. And I won't badmouth anything
unfinished unless it clearly can't be saved. As a
hopeful future filmmaker, I wish to someday get the
same respect from those who manage to see my work
before completion. With those guidelines in place for
myself, I feel okay with saying carefully selected
things. In particular, I'd like to help films that
may not get enough help themselves. "Iron Giant" and
"The Insider" are two of the best films of the year,
but the marketing morons botched it and nobody has
seen them. If I can help that a little bit, great. I
don't think I need to help "The Green Mile" - I think
you all already know how magnificent it really is. I
will say that in my heart it is fighting with
"American Beauty" and "Toy Story 2" for film of the
year, and since they're all so different, I wish for
three awards. (No, Harry has not oversold the film in
his glowing review.) I've seen a few things coming up
in December that I may write about later, but today
I'd like to talk about a few Y2K releases.
"Where The Heart Is" will be badly mismarketed, I'm
sure, as either a tear-jerker chick flick or a
cornball light southern comedy. Don't believe them.
These characters are real and honest people, and the
humor comes from the characters and not some sitcomish
view of comedy some hack writer raised on televison
believes is the key to humanity. These are people,
and this story is a real section of a life. Watch for
it, and hopefully the Academy will remember Natalie
Portman for the March 2001 Oscars. She's that good.
Stockard Channing and Ashley Judd are also
award-worthy in the supporting category. Although
Ashley's got the showier roll and a stunner of a scene
that nearly steals the film, Stockard's human and
grounded performance should not be overlooked. For
those who need the TV guide log line, the film follows
the travels of a young woman through a section of life
that loses quite a bit of us. Don't believe that dumb
plot listed in IMDB - it's $5.55, and Wal-Mart is not
the whole film. It's not even a third of the film.
Stephen Frears' "High Fidelity" with John Cusack
completely pulls off something that is rarely done
well: Cusack talks to the camera. A lot. And it
works. Perfectly. Shoving a novel into a film is
frequently a hard thing to do, and for most filmmakers
use voice over as a cheap cop-out that means they
don't need to do the real work of trying make external
the internal. Breaking the fourth wall and talking
directly to the audience is risky, and can leave you
with the worse of both worlds. But here, it's
perfect. It's something this character would do, not
something the filmmaker put in his mouth. And on top
of it all, this film of Cusack's character looking
back at failed relationships is really, really funny.
Smart funny, not this "Big Daddy" crap that pollutes
the multiplexes these days. (Not that Cusack would
have gotten near a project like that.) Watch the ads
blow the best jokes, though.
One filmmaker who should have no fear of an audience
talking is Ridley Scott. While yes, he's had a few
missteps here and there, he's a confident and assured
filmmaker with a steady hand. I saw him (and his
brother) outside after the screening and I imagine
that he were just curious how the pacing played in
front of a crowd. Not the big dumb studio, really.
But him. And that's fine. Because "Gladiator" plays
very well. Even in a slightly rough cut with a few
unfinished effects it is a hell of a film. I can only
imagine how incredible it will be after any further
fine tuning and with the final music in place. It
really is an ancient Roman story about an gladiator,
and has the giant canvas and scope you'd expect from
such a story. The settings are fantastic, the story
is solid, the writing is intelligent and the action is
thrilling. This is what an action movie should be.
Just two sentences about the story - a Roman General
(Russell Crowe, who moves to permanent A-list status
with this performance and thankfully won't give a shit
and let it go to his head) has a fall from power and
status all the way to the gutter, thanks to the
Emperor's power-hungry son. Sold as a slave, he ends
up fighting as a Gladiator - and looking for vengance
and justice. It's a Ridley Scott film so no, you
don't automatically know everything will turn out
okay. And no, I won't tell you. But for those who
care to keep reading, I will help set up the first few
minutes of the film for you.
Consider this spoilers below....
The Roman Army has taken all of Europe and is mopping
up a few last holdout clans. Crowe is in charge of
the army facing one last group of big scruffy Germans.
As the film starts, they await, under grey skies at
the edge of a field across from a large woods, the
return of a messenger sent to determine if they'll
surrender without being slaughtered. Out of the woods
rides the messenger. As he crosses the field,
something seems wrong. At last you realize: the
rider has no head. Crowe interprets: "They say no."
He gives some quick instructions, ending with "when
you see my signal, unleash Hell". He rides off to
join more calvary wile the Romans prepare the
catapults and pour tar in a thin ditch in front of the
archers.
Then, from the woods to the side of the battle field,
a single burning arrow arches across the field....
The Germans rush from the woods, screaming. The
Romans light up the tar, and the archers light their
arrows. Fuses of sorts are lit on the catapult balls,
and sent skyward with the arrows.
The flaming arrows rain down on the Germans, and the
catapault balls turn out to be full of tar - they
strike the trees and explode, sending flaming tar
everywhere. Crowe and the calvary ride from behind
the Germans, doing mass damage as they go.
It starts to snow fairly heavily.
A German gets a good swing at Crowe, knocking him off
his horse and injuring him. At this point we get a
shot from the ground, Crowe's POV, looking up at the
German. He's dressed sort of like a bear, lots of
dark fur. He's screaming. He's got a bloody battle
axe in his hand, pulling it around to decapitate
Crowe. There's snow falling behind him. And from the
tar, his back is on fire.
One shot. A battle axe. Blood. Falling snow. Fire.
It doesn't get any better than this.
Anyway, that's long enough for now, but some stuff to
look forward to next year, including two that will
probably not be marketed right and deserve your
attention. For those cynics who think I'm glowing and
gushing, well, I've seen some crap that comes out next
year too. But I don't have the energy or time to
badmouth it, and since it wasn't done, they might fix
it. Who knows. But I'm not here for that - I'm here
to help some films that may or may not get the
attention they deserve.
Until next time...
Holly Martins III
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... are great, with the occasional exception (Pushing Tin, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). When are they gonna give this boy his Oscar? He deserved it for Grosse Pointe Blank... only Johnny could pull off that role and make the character both likeable and pitiful, in his own way... long like Johnny Cusack! Get your little gold man, my man! You and Malkovich made Con Air worth watching! That deserves a lifetime achievement award right there! Oh, and je suis preimiere.
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keep up the good work, Holly Martin III - your reports were first class. Can you tell us anything new about MI2?
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John Cusack is a great actor who chooses great roles. He is alot better than fellow actors Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Keanu etc... but he's no Ed Norton is he. Although I have to admit Norton as yet has never done a film like Grosse Point Blank, that film is one of the most unappreciated films of the decade and deserves more recognition (if Good Will Hunting got an Oscar for its writing).
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I know it's coming out next year, but when? Now I'll be saying "When I give the signal, unleash Hell" for months.
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Russell Crowe is going to be huge (no sniggering please). His turn in LA Confidential was pure cool. I personally can't wait for Gladiator, and hope and pray that Ridley Scott had his Blade Runner pants on when he made this one. I hope the next six months will have a profound influence on the types of films made. Two fingers to the mindless action, narrative-less crap that we've been subjected to for far too long. There is however little hope for a large proportion of Great Britain's cinema going public. I've seen Fight Club twice and thought it was great. However, during both showings there were large no's of walk-out's, people pretending to snore and general noise's of confusion throughout. Having spent the summer in the States, I was pleasantly suprised that people are a little sharper over there......
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To me it's a great mystery why Russell Crowe, the coolest dude alive! (and you better believe it), wasn't nominated for L.A. Confidential. I first saw him in Romper Stomper about 4 years ago and his performance was simply captivating. To play a character like that and still be some what likable to the audience is something I don't remember seing before. Since I'm not American I probably saw L.A. Confidential in a bit different way. But to me he was what kept it from being an ordinary crime story. To me his performance was the reason why the movie was so close to the old film-noir classics. The first thing I thought of when I saw him in it was: Steve McQueen: The King of Cool. Now it's Russell Crowe: The King of Cool. I'm looking forward to The Insider and hopefully he will at least get that Academy Award nomination. So could anyone who has seen the film please tell me if he could have a chance? If not I have an idea ! Let's steal Ben and Matt's awards and give one to John Cusack and the other to Russell Crowe. Now wouldn't that be cool...?
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Hey now. . . an article on two of the coolest actors on my list, how can ya lose - Fidelity sounds cool, and Gladiator - I ain't got the words - Scott, Crowe, Gladiators? WOO-HAA!!!! Russell Crowe defines intensity like no one else, I hope this movie rocks like I know it can. And btw, good article, Holly III, congrats - just the right amount of insight and info.
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Wow! Now THIS is the kind of reporting of upcoming films I'd like to see more of; concise and informative without ruining the film months in advance. Harry, keep this guy....he's worth reading.
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They have been slowly testing it across the waters, we had a screening down here in San Diego two months ago and the response was Amazing. Gladiator is going to rock big time! Russell Crowe is going to be a huge movie star, he is talented and has proven that he can go from fat grey hair troll (INSIDER) to stocky hunky manmeat (Gladiator)
Check out his movie PROOF, it's a stony trippy well made Australian film that if you haven't seen it yet, go rent it. I know a girlfriend that said the last time she banged herself, she thought of Russell Crowe. FUNNY! -
having read the last line of of jtrenton's last post. It's as if the brain cells are seeping mercilessly from my ear.
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was given on the November 1st installment of Ebert & the Movies...a big thumbs up...even quoted in some newspapers....if you need an on-line version.....cut and paste this into your browser and search for "Insider"; then listen to Harry and Rog.
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I like Keanu Reeves (at least on a visual level) but I'm not sure Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt deserve to be categorized along with him in the acting department. Brad Pitt can be a really good actor as long as he is playing flaky wierdos. And Johnny Depp is ALWAYS cool with me. (I DO think he's a toaster strudel, but that doesn't skew my judgement.)
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In the novel,(Where the Heart Is) which i'm assuming they twisted, just like most every other book on this planet (ex: Fight Club, The Virgin suicides). BTW, who does Ashley Judd play? Lexie? (Novalee...changed to Rosalee...now why, why why? Novalee is a gorgeous name while Rosalee sounds not at all like a sweet, naive, lost young woman, but something completely different.) the book also put an emphasis on names and how important they are. This book, though not life changing in any way, is sweet, uplifting and faith-affirming. It truly is a story about people and how, when they come together, it can be beautiful. (how cliche and sappy, but true.)
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I have read ths shooting script to Where the Heart is and was really LET DOWN! I have also been talking to a few people that seen test screeing of it. Word is that the movie is BAD! There is a lot that has to do with Natalie's boyfreind that could really be cut down. There seems to be lots of probally with this movie. I hope they can cut things and chage it. But reports we (America's Queen) aregetting is that this is a BAD ONE!
orac
www.base37.com/americasqueen
www.queenamidala.com
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