AN UNMATCHED PACE 'MATCHSTICK MEN' DIRECTOR RIDLEY SCOTT IS RIDING A STRING OF HIT MOVIES - AND HE SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer ``I don't think I've worked a day in my life, actually,'' director Ridley Scott says, chuckling. ``I just have a jolly good time. And I don't plan on scaling back any time soon.'' The 65-year-old Scott, who has made his mark as one of the most influential visual stylists in film, is on a remarkable roll these days. Following the rousing rous·ing adj. 1. Inducing enthusiasm or excitement; stirring: a rousing sermon. 2. Lively; vigorous: a rousing march tune. 3. Oscar best picture winner ``Gladiator gladiator (Latin; swordsman) Professional combatant in ancient Rome who engaged in fights to the death as sport. Gladiators originally performed at Etruscan funerals, the intent being to give the dead man armed attendants in the next world. ,'' Scott delivered the garish crowd pleaser crowd pleas·er also crowd-pleas·er n. Informal A person, spectacle, work, or idea that appeals to popular taste. ``Hannibal,'' the unrelenting war movie ``Black Hawk Black Hawk (born 1767, Sauk Sautenuk, Va.—died Oct. 3, 1838, village on the Des Moines River, Iowa, U.S.) Sauk Indian leader. Long antagonistic to whites, Black Hawk was driven into Iowa from Illinois in 1831. Down'' and now, in what can only be described as a distinct change-up, ``Matchstick Men.'' In four months, he'll turn his attention to cruelty in the name of Catholicism in ``Crusades,'' which promises to deliver a spectacle as grand as it is controversial. Adrian Lyne (``Unfaithful'') once asked his fellow British director how he could work at such a pace. ``I said, 'You do two in a year - that's insanity insanity, mental disorder of such severity as to render its victim incapable of managing his affairs or of conforming to social standards. Today, the term insanity is used chiefly in criminal law, to denote mental aberrations or defects that may relieve a person from ,' '' says Lyne. ``His answer was simple: 'Delegate, man, delegate.' '' ``Matchstick Men'' finds Scott working on a smaller canvas than usual, but still creating the same distinct worlds he has always delivered. On the surface, it's a con movie about a grifter grift Slang n. 1. Money made dishonestly, as in a swindle. 2. A swindle or confidence game. v. grift·ed, grift·ing, grifts v.intr. (played by Nicolas Cage) coping with the unexpected appearance of a daughter he never knew existed (wonderful newcomer Alison Lohman). Really, though, it's about one man's search for peace of mind, and it proves oddly affecting. ``Ridley is one of the masters,'' Cage says. ``He has an incredible eye for detail and connects with you as an actor. Just a couple of small suggestions from him and a scene comes to life in a way that completely takes you by surprise.'' Scott threw a couple of surprises our way in a conversation that ranged from Frank Sinatra to Mel Gibson's ``Passion'' and why most big-budget epics never come close to pleasing audiences. Q: ``Matchstick Men'' is going to surprise people who only know you from your big-budget epics. In fact, I guess you made it because one such movie, your pirate flick ``Tripoli Tripoli, city, Lebanon Tripoli (trĭp`əlē) or Tarabulus (täräb`  l ,''
stalled.
A: You could go back to ``Someone to Watch Over Me Someone to Watch over Me may refer to: In television:
Q: That sounds like half the movies I saw this summer. A: I stay away from those movies. I'd rather stay home and watch ``Lawrence of Arabia'' or ``The Third Man'' for the 15th time. Q: Making this movie did give you the chance to use Sinatra music. Hard to fit ``Summer Wind'' in ``Gladiator'' or ``Alien.'' A: My kids - they're hardly kids, they're men - grew up thinking Sinatra and Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert "Bobby" Cassotto, May 14 1936 – December 20, 1973) was one of the most popular American big band performers and rock and roll teen idols of the late 1950s. were heavy kitsch kitsch [Ger.,=trash], term most frequently applied since the early 20th cent. to works considered pretentious and tasteless. Exploitative commercial objects such as Mona Lisa scarves and abominable plaster reproductions of sculptural masterpieces are described as . Now, of course, they think they're very cool. I say to them, ``They were always cool, mate, and that's it. It's you who didn't get it.'' (Laughs) Q: And Sinatra's very much a part of the world you created for Cage's character. A: Here's how my brain works: When I'm a page into a script by a good writer, I'm starting to enact the story as if it were through a camera. So by the time I get to the end, I'm not just thinking who the leading actor ought to be - although with this one, I was wondering if Nic was available - but I start to figure out the environment, the clothing, the music. Here I told the art director, ``It's kind of like Bobby Darin's house before he had a record deal.'' ``OK, that's up in the Valley.'' And off we went. Q: And now you're off to Morocco (where Scott made ``Gladiator'') for a movie about the Crusades. That kind of movie has the potential for trouble on several levels. A: Well, that's a good reason to make it, isn't it? (Laughs) Actually, with all the furor furor /fu·ror/ (fu´ror) fury; rage. furor epilep´ticus an attack of intense anger occurring in epilepsy. surrounding Mel Gibson Noun 1. Mel Gibson - Australian actor (born in the United States in 1956) Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson, Gibson U.S.A., United States, United States of America, US, USA, America, the States, U.S. (and his movie of Christ's final hours, ``Passion''), I'll be able to step a little farther with what I want to do. Q: Which is ...? A: It's a movie I've been thinking about for 20 years. It's going to take place in the middle of the Crusades, around 1130, 1136, and feature Saladin, a Muslim, who was the wisest of all the knights, a trustworthy man of his word. He kept the peace around Jerusalem, which was held by Baldwin, a Christian who believed that any religion should be able to come to the city and pray. The two men had a connection of respect. I don't want the movie to be about knights in armor and chaps charging around with red crosses and waving swords and hacking See hack and hacker. off heads. It really should be a fundamental discussion between the two religions and not only that, but the actual misrepresentation misrepresentation In law, any false or misleading expression of fact, usually with the intent to deceive or defraud. It most commonly occurs in insurance and real-estate contracts. False advertising may also constitute misrepresentation. of the Holy Roman Empire Holy Roman Empire, designation for the political entity that originated at the coronation as emperor (962) of the German king Otto I and endured until the renunciation (1806) of the imperial title by Francis II. by the Catholic church, which was in those times seriously corrupt. When they got down there, the people the church regarded as infidels had a faith that was as strong, if not stronger than the fundamental rules of Christianity. Q: What do you think of all the controversy surrounding Gibson's ``Passion''? A: I think what he's probably done is taken literally the story in the Bible and translated it, showing the awful realities, what it was like and who these people were. I expect it to be quite brilliant. Q: ``Alien: The Director's Cut'' returns to theaters on Halloween. Does this mean the original wasn't your cut? A: I've never had anything other than the director's cut director's cut n. The version of a film in which the editing process is overseen, executed, or approved by the director, usually including footage not included in the standard release. in any of my movies. The only pressure I've ever had was ``Blade Runner,'' where they wanted me to explain the unexplained, which is why we suddenly ended up with voice-over, which I always thought was unnecessary. Q: Have you added anything to the movie? A: I added 4 1/2 minutes of unseen material. There's more stuff at the alien's nest; you see where the crew members disappear to and you see their demise more vividly spelled out. Mainly though, it's an opportunity to reconfigure the negative digitally and get the bloody thing looking like it should for new generations that haven't seen it properly, i.e. on the big screen. Q: What about after you shoot ``Crusades''? Back to another small film ... A: No, no. It will be ``Gladiator 2,'' probably in '05. The script is done. It's very simply the next generation. Roman history is so exotic that where you go next is taking the son, Lucius, somewhere. Q: I guess no one will be laughing at you this time. A: There was a lot of snickering with ``Gladiator.'' ``God, they're going to do a sandals-and-toga movie.'' But I knew it was a good idea before I had read anything. I knew what to do with Rome and what to do with the Coliseum Coliseum: see Colosseum. , giving people things they'd never seen. And really just leaning into the reality of it. We went heavily on the German front, seeing the troops in battle. Once you have the Roman centurions in muddy trenches, suddenly there's a contemporary connection. If you always lean in the reality, it's going to be more interesting than any fantasy you could create. Great Scott
The expression dates back at least to the American Civil War, and may refer to a real person, the one-time Alien (1979) Essentially a high-tech B-movie, but terrifying ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. all the same. Also one of the most imitated movies ever, almost as influential as ... Blade Runner (1982) Scott's film-noir futuristic fu·tur·is·tic adj. 1. Of or relating to the future. 2. a. Of, characterized by, or expressing a vision of the future: futuristic decor. b. world is still being copied to this day. Imitators - even with digital technology - pale by comparison, largely because they lack the master's eye for detail. Simply breathtaking. Thelma & Louise (1991) A boisterous road movie and middle finger to male pattern cluelessness, this is also Scott's answer to critics who maintain his movies don't have any memorable characters. Gladiator (2000) An Oscar winner that revived the historical epic with a ferocious fe·ro·cious adj. 1. Extremely savage; fierce. See Synonyms at cruel. 2. Marked by unrelenting intensity; extreme: ferocious heat. sense of fun. Black Hawk Down (2001) War minus the rhetoric. Unrelenting. Unforgettable. - G.W. CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) `Matchstick' men Director Ridley Scott lights another cinematic fire - this one under Nic Cage (2) ``Here's how my brain works,'' says Ridley Scott, left, with Nicolas Cage and Alison Lohman (behind Scott's right shoulder) on the set of ``Matchstick Men.'' ``When I'm a page into a script by a good writer, I'm starting to enact the story as if it were through a camera. So by the time I get to the end, I'm not just thinking who the leading actor ought to be ... but I start to figure out the environment, the clothing, the music.'' Box: Great Scott (see text) |
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