Actually, although I was near Times Square last year, I skipped town before the big blow out. Rates went up terribly the couple of nights approaching the New Year's Eve, and I hate crowds. I thought about doing it this time because I would be directly on the Square, and because it is the true millennium. But the heck with it. We have never been big on going out on New Year's Eve anyway. We get some champagne, some pate, some cheese, and other fine things, and get cozy at home.....
Gladiator, be it noted, is the last film that the estimable Oliver Reed made (the slave trader/former gladiator). It also boasts the first mature performance by Joachim Phoenix (Rivers brother, and particularly good in To Die For), who is turning into a fine actor. Russell Crowe has a deep performance as a righteous Roman, full of piety for his country, his home,and his household gods..........
Keitel is ambivalent about being a mobster, because he is a decent guy, and has religious beliefs, and knows that the mob, in the end, is about stealing, extortion, and murder. Johnny Boy is a way to redeem himself. If he can keep Johnny Boy from screwing things up and getting himself killed, he is a good man, despite what family pressure forces him into. He was blinded by that, by his opportunity to do a difficult, possibly heroic thing, and save Johnny Boy, and thereby prove that he was himself redeemable....
Unfortunately, I have an uncle or two who are at least half as crazy. One of them maybe about as bad......
I do not have a handle on Oscar picks myself. Last year was rich, this year, not nearly so full. I liked The Patriot a lot; Nurse Betty was good; then I am blank, Oscar contender wise. Although it is getting awfully late, that may contribute to the problem..... |
