Alan Rickman Guestbook

First impressions: a visual feast. Wonderful costuming and setting. In fact, there is so much to look at that I'm certain one viewing didn't do it justice. I'll have to go back and look at at again very soon. Right, twist my arm . . . ;-)

What can I say about Rickman's performance that hasn't already been said? *wicked grin* But here's my version: the man takes to period costuming beautifully and seems so comfortable in it; for me, nothing mars a period piece so quickly as knowing that the actors are conscious of "wearing costumes." No problem here--he moved in those clothes as if he'd been wearing them all his life.

The performance: well, I thought of what James Dickey said about writing poetry, something about how you can't achieve the sublime if you aren't willing to risk the ridiculous. There were times when Rickman's performance was right at "over the top" but it never really went too far. Moments of frenzied activity and total involvement, balanced by moments of that incredible stillness we've seen in him.

And yes, Renie, what you said so long ago was definitely true. "H*nd heaven." *sigh* Not to mention voice heaven.

As for the lack of resolution about Mesmer's ultimate fate: most of what I had ever read about him depicted him as a charlatan, so it was interesting to see this portrayal that gave him concern and compassion, though the element of the trickster was still there, no question. Those ladies of the French court, and the look on his face as conducts himself in exactly the manner they expect . . . in short, the kind of multifaceted performance we've come to expect from Rickman.

Minor drawbacks: others have commented already on the !@#$%^^! banner across the screen. No, I will NOT call my local cable operator! And the sound quality was uneven, so that at times I had to strain to hear the more softly-spoken lines. I know, another excuse to watch again. But I was very glad to have seen this film at last, after hearing so much about it.

New GB looks great, Suzanne. Thanks for taking such good care of us. 8-)

- by becoming a hands "double" for actor Alan Rickman
Nah, there's only one set of h*nds!

So, tell us all what you thought, Mary Anne. :-)

In Sunday's NY Times Arts & Leisure section there are individual ads for Dogma each featuring two characters.(the Chosen One/The Apostle, the Fallen Angels, the Prophets) As I flipped through I got nervous as AR wasn't showing up. Finally, on the last ad he appeared. It's the Muse and THE VOICE. The rest of the ads look like reproductions of the pictures from the poster, but AR's is different and much better. He's pointing and has his arm above his head. Great facial expression. Interestingly, the voice of God wears a watch.

I'm convinced there was divine intervention here as this is the first morning in almost 2 months that the delivery guy has managed to get me a paper without significant dampness due to morning dew. Alleluia!

Variety, Oct 11, 1999 v376 i8 pM19 VENDORS & PRODUCT. (motion picture industry)(Brief Article) A guide to the companies and execs bringing product to the market The product listings this year combine information on companies for both the  London Screenings and Mifed. Location(s) and contact number(s) are given for both London and Mifed if a company is attending both. In the list of execs attending, (L) means the exec will be at London only; (M) means at Mifed only; and (L/M) means both. If an address is listed only for one of the markets, the execs listed are attending that market. All information was submitted by the companies. London Screenings will be held in London Oct. 11-15; Mifed will be Oct. 17-22 in Milan.

Q Quadra Entertainment At London: Le Meridien Piccadilly, Suite 633 At Mifed: Hall A1; Office 95; 4303-9800; fax 9646-2027 Attending: Lee Solomon, COO (L/M); Glenn Kendrick Ackermann, VP, intl. distribution (L/M); Helen Beadleston, VP, acquisitions & co-productions (L); Christian Halsey Solomon, president-CEO (M)

Now back to business. This was on the AICN site earlier this week:

"Yesterday (10/25/99), I was stopped by a research company in a north suburban shopping mall that asked me to view a trailer for the upcoming movie "Galaxy Quest" to get my impressions. I was led into a small room and shown the brief video three times. This particular clip was labeled "Abduction" and had Dream Works printed on the opening frame which also showed a CGI animated ant crawling from screen left to right. It also identified the announcer/narrator, but unfortunately, I can't remember his name. The quality of the following film/video was poor and obviously not finished. Tim Allen had most of the screen time as he portrays a TV sci-fi actor, who is mistaken for a real space captain by aliens. He and some of the TV cast are kidnapped and forced into a real life space adventure. Though I saw the tape three times, the individual cuts went by rather quickly. I can remember the following cuts as an announcer explains the films premise: Allen sitting in a captains chair (obviously modeled on a Star Trek bridge set), looking appropriately smug and pompous while grunting to himself. An effects shot of Allen, in black and white, being sucked through space in a kind of worm hole. Allen and a cute young blonde running through hallways while explosions and flames erupted. Some alien goo exploding, which covers the faces of several actors and aliens. Allen running away from a CGI rock monster, while speaking into a communicator like device. Several cast members fooling around with blaster guns and trying to look cool as they walk through a corridor. The overall effect of the trailer was funny/ interesting, but a few of the jokes (the exploding goo) seemed hokey. The effects and CGI looked really good, with exception of the worm hole effect. The clip identified Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver, but when the announcer said Weaver's name they showed the blond I mentioned previously. The quality of the video was not the best, as I said, but it didn't look a thing like Weaver. Cards handed out with the viewing also mentioned Alan Rickman as a star, but I didn't recognize him in any of the shots.'

"In the excitement generated by the prospect of a byelection in Kensington and Chelsea, the name of Alan Rickman, Hollywood screen star and veteran Labour supporter, emerged as a potential candidate.

It made sense to some because his partner of 24 years, Rima Horton, is an active Labour councillor in the royal borough and he has expressed support for the Blair government. It made no sense to Mr Rickman, however. According to a friend he found the whole thing baffling and frankly wondered who on earth could have set such an unlikely hare running."

And Nancy R-- forget acting your age, and have a blast with those fantasies! 8-)

"Alan Rickman and Natasha Richardson, preparing for roles in ``Never Better,'' a movie about a hairdressing competition, have been taking hairdressing lessons, says the Express. The screenwriter is Simon Beaufoy, who wrote 'The Full Monty.'"

"You people are freaks!"

You can relegate most actors either to the string section or to the brass, but Rickman somehow combines a dark, sonorous tone with something haunting and faraway, as if he'd mixed a cello with a French horn. His specialty is fusing opposing traits: he's mannered yet honest, too much yet reserved, bored and curious, high-strung and animal-still. This sort of complexity isn't always useful to an actor, but it's invaluable in roles that call for genius or mysticism. And certainly Rickman has all the equipment required to play Mesmer: charisma, intelligence, sensuality, pride, and what one critic called "the face of a Magus" -- anachronistic features that make him look at home in an earlier century.

See also "dur(e)" (hard,difficult) in French, from which we get our words "durable" and "enduring." Are you hard, difficult, durable, and enduring, K? ;-)

As for the new button on the font page, don't get too excited, Georgiana. The new page will probably have very little that you haven't already read. In fact, a lot of it was written by you! :-)

Someone asked, "Is he the guy with the reptile face?" (If reptiles had faces like that . . .)

And some replies:

Haydon Member posted 10-06-1999 01:23 AM
Rickman played the Sheriff of Nottingham in Prince of Thieves and completely stole the show. Amongst many other baddies he also played the dead husband in "Truly, Madly, Deeply" - the ultimate chick-flick - so that proves he can be the good-guy too. I think he'd be a magnificent Elrond, but if PJ decides (as I hope he doesn't) that they really must show a human embodiment of Sauron then I hope that someone like Rickman gets the job.

Adam Weishaupt Member posted 10-06-1999 01:07 PM
alan rickman would rule as the mouth. i just saw "rasputin" and he was excellant in it. also ian mckellan was in it too and he was pretty good.

I'll probably be grinning for days over, "the guy with the reptile face." And here I thought that Rickman had all but erased the word "reptilian" from reviews of his work! Ah, well . . .

MESMER
(Romance Classics) 8 tonight

Nearly everyone uses the word "mesmerizing" with ease. If only this film, starring the formidable, handsome Alan Rickman as Viennese physician Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), were as compelling as the word coined from the good doctor's name.

Mesmer, a proponent of "animal magnetism," was utterly interesting. At a time when bleeding was standard practice, Mesmer introduced his version of psychology, hypnosis, chiropractic, massage and therapy.

Rickman, fortunately, is an engaging performer. And what impressive behind-the-scene talents! Written by the late, versatile Dennis Potter ("Pennies From Heaven") and directed by the equally versatile Roger Spottiswoode ("And the Band Played On"), this beautifully shot and costumed 1994 film definitely has issues. The film has a difficult time: It doesn't spoon-feed its audience, but in the process, it makes too many assumptions that viewers know Mesmer's story and have a firm grasp of the setting and time.

The movie posits that we have three brains, not one: one is human, one is mammalian, and one is reptilian. Jude Law gave a suitably creepy performance as the suspect, but Timothy Spall as the police detective (Rickman's role, if there was one) was outstanding. The subjects (both actors and topics) are treated somewhat ferociously, so although it's Miramax, there may not be a wide distribution. The screenwriter is Paul Hoffman, who has no other writing credits listed at IMDB.

(http://members.tripod.com/emma_on_line/benefactors.html)

Mr. Showbiz Fall Movies ShuffledThe web page name

http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/99/10/15/timnwsnws02034.html?999

I see that the same author has also published a paper on the music in 'Sense and Sensibility':

'Sense & Sensibility: Form, Genre, and Function in the Film Score'. In Claudia Gorbman (ed.), Film Music II (Los Angeles: Film Music Society, in press)

"The solo bass playing the 'Ode' gives voice to Hans's feelings, not only through dramatic association (the prevalence of the low- string version of the theme in connection with his activities and those directed by him) but also by way of a semiotic association both more literal and more subtle the instrument coincides with the register of Rickman's voice, and the musical disposition of the bass reflects Hans's own personal state. This 'voice' is quiet, resolute and solitary. . . "

I'd like to announce a few additions to the web-site. First, a couple of articles.

Truly Rickman is a wonderful interview/article courtesy of Dianne and Claire (thank you!). Does anyone know who the author is and/or what newspaper it was published in?

The other is a fascinating article Rebecca recently found (thank you!) about Michael Kamen's score of Die Hard, with heavy emphasis on Hans/Rickman. It's long, but absolutely amazing to the very end. So I highly recommend you read every word.
Collage and Subversion in the Score of Die Hard

The little Canadian show that could - did

2 Pianos, 4 Hands opens to London rave reviews

By Robert Crew
Toronto Star Arts Writer
LONDON - It was a moment to savour.

Projected on a screen above two shiny black Steinway pianos, the Maple Leaf shone proudly over the stage of the West End's Comedy Theatre on Thursday night during the opening of 2 Pianos, 4 Hands. The little Canadian show that could was greeted with warm applause and a partial standing ovation by the opening-night crowd.

In a rave review, Michael Coveney of the Daily Mail said ``this delightful 90-minute cabaret confounds all expectations'' and ``Jeremy Sam's production is a rare jewel of real entertainment.''

Even seasoned observers can't remember the last time a home- grown show - written and performed by Canadians Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt - played the epicentre of the English-speaking theatre world.

``The main meal is delicious and this is the gravy,'' Dykstra says. ``And it's good gravy.''

For Greenblatt, who lived in England in the early 1970s, ``the fun bit is being here working and being able to reconnect with old friends.''

While being in London's West End is a thrill, the real achievement would be for the show to continue a long time after he and Dykstra leave it as performers, which they will Dec. 5. A pair of British performers will then take over the open-ended run.

``It's been a long road getting here,'' producer David Mirvish says. ``I think we have tailored a show that will find an audience here in London but I never like to second- guess the critics.''

The 2 Pianos road leads back to Toronto, where the show about the trials and tribulations of two young Canadian men struggling to become professional concert pianists was a sell-out hit in 1995.

It toured almost every major city in Canada the following year, then played New York City for three months. It made its British debut at the Birmingham Rep earlier this year, where several London critics saw the show and gave it positive reviews.

Thursday's opening was a celebrity-studded event.

Among the guests were actor/director Simon Callow (The Pyjama Game) and actor Sarah Kesselman, artist Tony Caro, Mirvish producers Brian Sewell and Linda Intaschi (with husband David Sillcox) and Mirvish creative director Kelly Robinson, who was also in town to check out the hit ABBA musical Mamma Mia, which The Star has learned is coming to Toronto as part of Mirvish's next season.

The mother-daughter drama set on a Greek island has become a London phenomenon.

The guest list at the 2 Pianos opening also included former Canadian Opera Co. artistic director Brian Dickie, singer Melanie Doane (Dykstra's wife) and stage and film star Alan Rickman, who was sitting beside Greenblatt's wife, freelance filmmaker Kate Lushington.

``Alan is one of my oldest and best friends and godfather to one of my three children,'' said an ebullient Greenblatt at a post-show champagne reception at the smartly renovated Canada House in nearby Trafalgar Square.

``In fact, he was wearing my jacket - he hadn't had a chance to go home and change before the opening. We roomed together but I don't think he's ever borrowed my clothes before.''

Rickman and Greenblatt met while studying at London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts from 1972-75.

Greenblatt will return to Toronto after his tour of duty ends to begin work on Sibs, with Diane Flacks, opening in Toronto in March.

The upside of the phenomenal success of 2 Pianos is that he has been able to buy a larger house.

For Dykstra, the show has given him the chance to direct productions of 2 Pianos in Australia and San Francisco next year. It has also paved the way for a workshop production of his new musical, Dorian Gray, in New York next year.

Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Co. will do his Club Lafayette next summer.

THE SWEETEST sight at the "Dogma" premiere Monday night? Director Kevin Smith and wife arrived with their new baby, who was decorated with little angel wings. Smith, a very soft-spoken guy, seems genuinely startled by the objections to his satirical movie about two earthy and earthbound angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) trying to get back to heaven. "I wish they would just go see it, and judge for themselves. The film is not anti-God or anti-Catholic. In the end, it celebrates faith."

http://www.indiewire.com/film/festivals/fes_99NYFF_991006_dogmarev.html

Keeping the Faith
'Dogma' truns out to be a spiritual flick
By John Anderson

21/2 stars (USA, 1999, 2:05) Vulgar? Sure. Irreverent? Of course.

But blasphemous? Far from it. Kevin Smith's comedy-satire- action-thriler about theology, faith and unsure-to-be-hell-bound Matt Damon, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Ben Affleck, Linda Fiorentino and Alan Rickman--is a film so full of ardent questions and hopeful belief that anything resembling cinema takes a backseat to the torrent of ideas flooding out of Smith's already controversial feature. There's so much dialectical mischief going on, you're oblivious to how little motion there is in this so-called motion picture. For all the preemptive outcry over Smith's audacity about either questioning or lampooning his own Catholic faith, there's no question that he has viewers asking the question he sets them up to ask: What's important about religion? The truth? Or the trappings? "Dogma," for all its anarchy, turns out to be a very spiritual movie, even though you hesitate to say Amen.

For that there should be gratitude.

MAVERICK TO RELEASE SOUNDTRACK TO "DOGMA"

Maverick Recording Co. will release the soundtrack to the Miramax film "Dogma"....

"Music From The Motion Picture Dogma," to be released on November 2, features an exclusive Alanis Morissette track, "Still," which was inspired by the film "Still" will only be available on the "Dogma" soundtrack.

In addition to the Alanis song, "Music From The Motion Picture Dogma" is comprised of tracks composed and conducted for the film by the prolific Howard Shore, whose extensive credits include the musical scoring for the films "Philadelphia," "Seven," and "The Silence Of The Lambs."

It goes on a bit more, but that's the essence of it.

I have two tickets, but am unable to attend (Natalie Merchant concert conflict)--if you are interested, contact me. The date is Saturday, October 16, at 9:45 p.m.

Cutting to the chase, "the Voice of God" was not in attendance in the flesh. Kevin Smith, who accidentally neglected to mention AR in his opening mentioned afterward that he was filming and was unable to attend. Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Salma Hayak, Chris Rock, Jason Mewes, Smith, and Scott Mosier were there. Smith came out at the beginning with his baby daughter and made a small speech, and the whole group did a Q&A at the end. The Q&A was a bit abbreviated because the film started late and there was another screening planned immediately afterwards. Honestly, nothing was said that I hadn't heard/read before. Someone asking how Smith had chosen Alanis Morrissette to play God did provoke a mention of AR. He mentioned that Emma Thompson had been set to play the part and that AR had been the one to mention that this was the sort of film she would probably like to be involved with. As they were friends AR had been instrumental in eventually getting her involved. Smith mentioned that at the last minute she had been forced to drop out as she "wanted to stay in England for a while". He had the good taste to avoid mentioning the reason she dropped out and the unhappy results.

Alan Rickman

Tuesday September 28, 1999

Age: 53.
Appearance: Rugged, 6ft 1in, lank-haired, middle-aged
English version of Keanu Reeves.

Screen persona: Suave, sardonic, sexy villain, charming on the surface but secretly bent on the destruction of either Los Angeles (as Hans Gruber in Die Hard), the moral probity of the pre-revolution French aristocracy (as Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses) or the redistributive economy of Sherwood Forest (as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves).

Off-screen persona: Suave, sardonic, sexy... and an extremely amiable and self-effacing fellow.

Not the tiniest dash of villainy? 'Fraid not. His thespian friends, having been bought numerous drinks by newspaper profile-writers, will reluctantly admit that he's "hard to work with" and "likes to get his own way" - basic qualifications for treading the boards, really. But that's about it.

So his squeaky-clean image has been blown apart by a scandal involving narcotics, firearms and a lithe female soap star? Nope. But rumour has it the Acton-born actor may be Labour's candidate for the byelection in Alan Clark's old constituency, Kensington and Chelsea.

But I thought that seat already had its suave villain intent on world destruction? Actually, Michael Portillo's candidacy has not been confirmed yet, and the Tories have yet to choose from a list of 100 hopefuls for their safest seat.

So Labour's using the old "field someone called Alan to influence loyal Clarkites on a sub-conscious level" gambit? We'll make a Millbank strategist of you yet.

There is a certain likeness. They are both called Alan, and have a craggy charm. But the similarities end there. Clark: patrician Tory, notorious libido, dead. Rickman: old-fashioned socialist, faithful to one and only girlfriend, alive.

Did you say "socialist"? Well, er, apparently he used to be in CND. But now he's such a new Labour favourite that Peter Mandelson says he'd choose Rickman to play him in a film of his life.

Renie,
I'm so glad Ken's not entering politics!

For Burns clubs everywhere are rallying to the idea that Branagh and his ex-missus are the perfect pair to play the wicked Rabbie and the woman for whom he had an illicit yearning. If fans of the bard and Branagh have their way Ken will play Sylvander and she Clarinda - the names by which Rabbie and society lady Agnes M'Lehose were known to one another in their love letters during their brief and doomed affair. It's exactly 10 years since Ken and Emma were in Henry V together.

Cosmo, who will be producing the Burns film, has drawn up a shortlist and is considering the idea of Branagh and Emma being brought together as Rabbie and his one time love. He is listening to what the Burns diehards are saying. Cosmo is well aware of the pitfalls in casting Burns who is revered not just in Scotland but in Northern Ireland, with fans too all over the world. Branagh is one of the few actors who would be readily acceptable to the Burns faithful in the role of their idol. He is now back on the list of the UK's most eligible bachelors after the break-up of his affair with Helena Bonham Carter with whom he stars in a new film The Theory of Flight to be released here in the winter. The Burns movie will be shot on location in Ayrshire and Edinburgh where Agnes M'Lehose lived until society turned its back on her because of her relationship with the poet. She set sail for Jamaica to be reconciled with her estranged husband.

Burns had a reputation as a ladies man and a hard drinker during his short life, but he remains to this day a Scottish and Northern Irish folk hero. In the 50s and 60s his portrait was a feature on kitchen walls across the province. Burns Nights still play an important part in the social scene here with the haggis being piped in for the Immortal Toast. There are Burns clubs all over the world. Branagh who is obsessed with the other Bard, Shakespeare, has just finished shooting yet another Will epic, Love's Labours Lost, but he is on the wanted list of several eminent directors apart from Cosmo.

However, he definitely likes the idea of working with Emma who film critics see as ideal for the role of the well-spoken and well-bred Mrs M'Lehose. The role of M'Lehose will appeal to Emma too. "She certainly likes to play women who are original and different," said a friend today. "Branagh has always been a Burns fan and grew up in north Belfast in an era when it wasn't unusual for neighbours in his working class district to be word perfect in Rabbie's ballads."