‘Gladiator’ lives up to its sizable price tag
■The actors’ outstanding
performances complement
the film’s intense storyline
MOVIES
Gladiator
Starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix,
Connie Nielsen, and Oliver Reed. Directed
by Ridley Scott. Dreamworks Pictures/
Universal Pictures.
★★★★★
By Joe Walsh
Oregon Daily Emerald
Visually stunning and emotion
ally gripping, “Gladiator” is one
of very few epic undertakings that
delivers the goods.
At a budget of $100 million,
one might think “Gladiator” may
be one of those movies that is
more impressive on paper than
on the big screen. A flexing of
Hollywood muscle or a boasting
of technical achievement, they
may assume. And who can blame
them? After all, these are probably
the same people who sat through
“Waterworld.”
But never judge a movie by its
budget.
The plot thickens as often as
the blood falls in this engaging
tale of a general-turned, slave
turned gladiator. Through it all,
the rancorous hero, Maximus,
played by Russell Crowe, exudes
an audacity that unnerves even
the great Roman emperor.
Calm and determined, Max
imus fights and kills with disturb
ing proficiency but never with
pleasure. He kills when he has to
kill, but all the while, he wants
nothing but to return to his family
and his simple life as a farmer. Yet
it’s his valor and skills as a fighter
that ironically keep him from his
dreams.
In the beginning, Maximus is a
highly-respected Roman general
The plot thickens as
often as the blood falls in
this engaging tale of a
general-turned-slave
turned gladiator. ^
who gains the favor of his soldiers
and the aging emperor, Marcus
Aurelius (Richard Harris), with
his bravery on the battlefield.
When the emperor dies and his
son Commodus (Joaquin
Phoenix) takes the throne, Max
imus is condemned to execution
escaping only to be sold as a
slave.
Not long after, the dejected
physical specimen is purchased
by Proximo (the late Oliver Reed),
a gladiator manager. Forced to
fight for his life, Maximus leads a
small group of gladiators to sever
al underdog victories, eventually
defeating some of Rome's fiercest
fighters in the Coliseum.
Eventually, Commodus is com
pelled to meet the mysterious
gladiator known simply as “The
Spaniard” and learns in a riveting
scene that Maximus, who was
supposed to be dead, is very
much alive and dangerously gain
ing the favor of Rome.
As Maximus’ popularity
grows, so does Commodus’ con
tempt and madness. Commodus
knows, however, that he cannot
kill the hero and lose the waver
ing support of Rome, which has
already tagged him as spineless
and weak.
An ambitious classic-in-the
making, “Gladiator” easily posi
tions itself next to other Roman
empire-centered epics such as
“Spartacus” and “Ben Hur.” With
its absorbing storyline of revenge
set against a flood of violent battle
scenes, “Gladiator” will also elicit
comparisons to the Academy
Award-winning “Braveheart,”
and rightly so.
With outstanding performanc
es from the stalwart Crowe and
the wonderfully vile Phoenix
along with cutting-edge cine
matography and a relentless sto
ryline without a dull moment,
don’t be surprised when “Gladia
tor” captures a few awards of its
own next March.
Fans ot late-night shows can get their laughs on-line
■Three popular late-night
talk shows offer Web sites
that include jokes and
television clips
By Joe Walsh
Oregon Daily Emerald
The late night talk shows are
great, but who can stay up that
late and still make it to that 8 a.m.
class? But thanks to the Internet,
those who love Conan, Dave and
Jay can get the laughs without the
hassle of staying awake until ear
ly in the morning.
Late Night
with Conan O'Brien
(www.nbc.com/latenight)
As usual, Conan O’Brien dis
tances himself from the other late
night players with his on-the
edge humor and bizarre imagina
tion. His Web site features links to
many of “Late Night’s” comedy
staples.
Among these are “If They Mat
ed,” (ever wondered what would
happen if Ben Stiller hooked up
with Calista Flockhart), “New
Stamps” (featuring the “Many
Faces of Bob Dole” and the “De
cline of Marlon Brando” postage
stamp series), and the ever-amus
ing “In the Year 2000” sketch.
There are also Real Player clips
of some of Conan’s best moments
as well as clips from the hilarious
public service announcement
parodies, “The More You Know,”
where Conan, Andy and Max do
their parts “to make things more
good.”
Besides garnering the most
laughs, the Web site’s also the
fastest and easiest site to cruise
through.... A+
The Late Show
with David Letterman
(www.cbs.com/iateshow)
They had the true “Late Show”
fan in mind when they cooked up
this little number. Featuring the
best of everything Dave has ever
done, there is no shortage of en
tertainment here.
A link dedicated to Top Ten
lists offers everything from a year
by-year archive of every Top Ten
list since Letterman moved to
CBS to a contest that allows view
ers to submit their own Top Tens.
Last week’s list: “Top Ten Signs
You Hired The Wrong Guy To Do
Your Taxes.” Also included are
several of Dave’s routine comedy
pieces, including small town
news and rejected commercial
characters, such as “Boris the
Band-Aid that Took Off Half the
Hair on Your Arm.”
Web surfers can also view
Dave’s monologues and greatest
hits via Real Player, listen to past
music guests, request tickets to
Entertainment Briefs
Eugene Symphony plans its
season finale
The Eugene Symphony will
bring their season to a close
tonight, with a performance of
Mendelssohn’s St. Paul Overture
and other musical expressions of
faith and hope, including ancient
Taoist traditions and a Jewish
prayer for the dead.
Leonard Bernstein’s “Kaddish”
powers its way to the heavens
with the thunderous forces of the
orchestra, a 160-voice chorus, so
prano Kelley Nassief and actor
Barry Kraft.
Tickets are $12 to $36, or $10
for youth and students, and are
available at the Hult Center Box
Office and the EMU Ticket Out
let.
Museum of Natural History
exhibits a variety of cultures
Several exhibits are on display
at the University of Oregon Mu
seum of Natural History, 1680 E.
15th Ave.
Exhibits include “Archaeology
of Oregon,” “Backyard Birds,”
“Clues to an Unknown Culture,”
“Living Traditions,” “Visions of
the Dreamtime: The Art and
Myth of Aboriginal Australia”
and an articulated La Brea Tar
Pits saber-toothed cat.
Museum hours are noon to 5
p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
There is a $2 suggested donation,
though admission is free for Uni
versity students and museum
members. For information call
346-3024.
“Mingqi: Early Chinese Funer
ary Ceramics” is currently one of
the featured exhibits at the Muse
um of Art, located at 1430 John
son Lane. The exhibit includes a
selection of Chinese funerary
tomb figures from the Han Dy
nasty (202 B.C.-220 A.D.)
through the Tang Dynasty (618
906 A.D.).
In the museum’s Chinese Im
perial Throne Room, the public
can view works from the muse
um’s collection of Imperial ob
jects from the Qing Dynasty, in
cluding textiles, furniture, glass,
ceramics and the largest jade
pagoda outside China.
The museum also features the
newly renovated Preble-Murphy
Wing of Japanese Art, including
a changing print gallery with tra
ditional wood-block prints. A
second gallery offers highlights
from the collections including
Buddhist sculpture, textiles, ce
ramics, metalwork, hanging
scrolls and painted screens.
Museum hours are noon to 8
p.m. Wednesday and noon to 5
p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
There is a $3 suggested admis
sion charge, though admission is
free for students, University em
ployees and thier children and
museum members. For more in
formation, call 346-3027.
UO dance students debut
original works
Nine undergraduate Universi
ty students in the dance depart
ment will present dances at
“Ground Zero: Reinventing
Dance in the Year 2000,” the an
nual spring student dance con
cert on May 18-20.
Performances will begin at 8
p.m. each evening in the
Dougherty Dance Theater in the
Gerlinger Annex.
Among the three senior proj
ects set to debut in the concert
are “Saturated” by Sarah Baker,
“The Long Night of Lady Day” by
Sara Lybarger, and “Hoo Yoo
War” by Celeste Peterson.
With faculty advisement, the
presenting choreographers not
only created the dances, but
were also responsible for the au
dition, publicity, fund raising
costumes and other elements re
quired to produce the show.
Tickets are $6 for general ad
mission and $3 for students, and
are available at 7 p.m. at the
door.
UO concerts scheduled
Two concerts are scheduled to
highlight the skills of University
students this week.
Flute students will give a class
recital at 8 p.m. Sunday in Beall
Concert Hall, 961 E. 18th Ave.
Admission to the concert is free.
And at 8 p.m. May 17, the Ore
gon Wind Ensemble will per
form several classics, including
“Fantasia in G” by J.S. Bach, at a
joint concert with the Oregon
Symphonic Band. The band will
perform similar works, including
“Come Sweet Death” by Bach.
Tickets are available at the
door for S3 for students and sen
ior citizens or $5 general admis
sion.
the show, e-mail Dave and buy
“Late Show” merchandise.
Haven’t you always wanted one
of those sweatshirts? ... A
The Tonight Show
with Jay Leno
(www.nbc.com/tonightshow)
With an informational focus,
Leno’s site is not as entertaining
as the others. Links to upcoming
guests and musicians give
“Tonight Show” fans information
that could just as easily be found
in TV Guide.
There are, however, a handful
of fun features such as Leno’s
headlines (actual headlines from
newspapers that contain hilarious
mistakes) and a goofy item known
as “Virtual Jay,” which requires a
Pulse Player plug-in. Fans can
also relive Leno’s past mono
logues via Real Player.
• But this site just doesn’t offer
the hours of mindless entertain
ment that Web surfers want. Plus,
it’s the slowest of the three sites,
and many of the features require
plug-ins, which further slows
things down ... C
thu ► may 11th
9:30-11:30pm
fri ► may 12th
9pm-midnight
ethan david davidson
acoustic folk/rock
eclectic open mic
music ► performance art ► theatre
Sign-up to perform at The Break (located next to The Buzz)
For more info call Melanie at 346-3725
sat • may 13th shawn mac donald
9:30-11:30pm b|ues
mon> may 15th poetry open mic
9Dm-11,30Dm sign-up to perform at The Break (located next to The Buzz)
For more info call Melanie at 346-3725
tue ► may 16th
8-10pm
university jazz combo
wed. may 17th tompatterson
9:30-11:30pm acoustic
the buzz ► emu ground floor