Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Natey & Katy are two friends who love movies and love talking about them. Join them on their cinematic journey!
Natey & Katy: At the Movies
"Are You Not Entertained?": A Dive into "Gladiator"
Ever wondered why "Gladiator" remains etched in our minds after all these years? Join Katy and me, Natey, as we dissect the timeless appeal of this epic film. We share our excitement for the upcoming sequel and reflect on the enduring performances by Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Could there be a connection between the movie's themes and the curious trend of men frequently pondering the Roman Empire? Our discussion touches on the emotional core of "Gladiator," particularly the profound loss experienced by Crowe's character, and speculates on how the sequel might continue these narratives.
Switching gears, we're preparing our minds and hearts for "Parasite," a film that has piqued our curiosity despite our usual skepticism towards award-winning cinema. What awaits us in the plot of a movie that took home the Best Picture accolade? Join us as we bring our unique lens to these films, blending a mixture of classic and contemporary cinema that promises a thought-provoking and entertaining episode.
Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new episode of Nadie and Katie at the Movies. I'm your host, nathan, aka Nadie, of course, and with me on today's episode is actually Katie. Hi Katie, how are you?
Speaker 2:Is that my name, dave? It's actually Katie, because I actually showed up to the episode.
Speaker 1:Well, last episode I joked that I should call it Nadie and sometimes Katie at the Movies.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm really I'm a stay-at-home mom. Okay, I've got a lot of things on my plate okay, good excuse.
Speaker 1:So let's get right into this movie that we're talking about today, because the sequel is coming up pretty soon, so I'm super excited about that. We're talking about Gladiator, but before we can talk about our likes and dislikes, I have to go over the synopsis. A former Roman general sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery. Gladiator stars Russell Crowe, joaquin phoenix, connie nielsen and oliver reed, so this came out in 2000. So it has been 24 years since this movie came out and this is like I guess you would consider this the quintessential guy movie, because it's like epic fight scenes, gladiator fights it's just the definition of an epic film. So, katie, had you seen Gladiator before?
Speaker 2:I had seen it and in fact, my first immediate thought, nathan, was the Roman Empire Like, was that not just a viral thing? Was that how often men think about the Roman Empire? I asked Scott, who watched it with me, how often he thinks of the Roman Empire. He said not every week, but more frequently than he'd like to admit. So, and maybe it all is based on like. I think when I think of roman empire and the roman coliseum, I think of gladiator, and I've never even seen the movie before in its entirety see, I didn't get that viral thing because I don't think about the roman empire that much.
Speaker 1:But I'm a guy, so that doesn't mean I'm not a guy, right well, yes, it is.
Speaker 2:It is a very classic movie and also I mean come on, russell crowe. I mean let's go ahead and get in our likes, russell crowe, anything russell crowe yeah, his acting was phenomenal.
Speaker 1:I think every single person in this movie did a phenomenal job.
Speaker 1:Joaquin phoenix plays a good villain and I think this I think this, joe joe, joe, joe joe joe joe, joe, joe, joe, joe, joe, joe, joe, joe, joe, joe, joe, joe joe joe, joe, joe, joe, and you know it has that, that almost incest feel to it with him and his sister and the fact that he Spoiler alert, spoiler alert Kills his father. And it's just a. It is. It is a really good movie.
Speaker 1:There's not really much that I can say I didn't like about it because it's it's been a while since I had watched it and you know, usually when you watch a movie and it hasn't come out in like 24 years it has. It doesn't age well, but I think this movie still holds up as a pretty great epic film. The fight scenes are still intense, even though you know what's going to happen, you still there are moments that they're that you're still on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens. Because the performances I think, yes, russell crowe has a knockout performance.
Speaker 1:We already said Joaquin Phoenix does just a really good job at playing the balance of a villain at first that you feel bad for, but then by the end of the film you're like just kill him because he is just rotten. He's such a good villain. And then Connie Nielsen you feel bad for her because she's in this situation where she wants to honor her family but at the same time, she can't stand beside the corruption that's all around her. Also, you know the hint of a little love backstory with her and russell crowe's character which, if you've seen the trailers for the sequel, they kind of explain that, um, something actually did happen between them wait, okay.
Speaker 2:So I was just thinking that I saw a trailer for gladiator 2 and her son in the movie's name is lucius or, and then that's apparently like the main character and the next one. I was like, wait, I guess in my head Gladiator 2 didn't necessarily mean a direct relation. I thought it was going to be just another Gladiator movie. But yeah, totally, it's a sequel and I'm so glad they do share a little kiss at some point. And I remember telling Scott thank goodness they kiss because the tension has escalated. There's just so much tension between the two of them.
Speaker 2:But, speaking of, russell, crowe unfortunately loses his family at the beginning of the movie and we could not help but think, okay, so the Patriot and Braveheart, these all movies just kind of blend together and it's like you kill my wife and family and now I'm going to come and get revenge. Feels like such the same genre. But did you feel this way? It's different. Not that it's ever enjoyable to watch the you know death of a family or a young person, but like there's a scene where you unfortunately see, basically like the, the feet of his deceased son, and I just like lost it. I was like just thinking about what it would be like to lose a child and the craziness it would drive you to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they really did a good job at making you feel for his character, especially the fact, like you said, they show you what happened to his son, because he thinks that it's his dad coming home and it's not. And so, yeah, it is. It's very devastating, it's not. And so, yeah, it is. It's very devastating. And Russell Crowe's character thinks he has time to to save his family and he's just, he's just too late and yeah, it's just. Overall, this is a a really good film. It's getting to the point in our list where movies are above each other and but they're completely different like genres, different feels. Like last episode was casablanca, this episode is gladiator. The next episode is another movie that's completely different from what we're watching right now, and so it's interesting to see, I guess, how people because imdb is based based on actual people going in and rating these films it's interesting to see what they think is better than Because, again, last episode was a classic Casablanca. You can't beat Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, but apparently, to viewers, you can with Russell Crowe.
Speaker 2:Right Well it goes back to my point, nathan, that I think a bunch of dudes are making this list. Obviously, you know, mean Girls is my favorite movie of all time. It's a classic. It's a cult classic, it's one that infiltrated culture and yet not even on the list. So I think it's a dude list. But to your point I'm having. I think the more we get to the top of this list, I will have less negative things to say. It was not a slow movie. There was not any point. I was like lol, look at my phone, and I think that says a lot for a movie that's pretty darn long.
Speaker 1:There is one moment that I'd be interested in to hear Scott's thoughts, and that's near the end of the film where Spoiler alert, spoiler alert, wiler alert Joaquin Phoenix stabs Russell Crowe's character before that epic final battle. I would love to hear Scott's thoughts on how long would Russell Crowe's character really have lasted in that fight. Would he really have been able to fight like that, depending on where Joaquin Phoenix stabs him before the fight? Because it's super epic and of course you're like holy crap, how is Russell Crowe's character going to win, even though it's one of those movies where, like, of course his character is going to win, but when that happens you're still like holy crap, how long is this fight going to happen? Is it going to be like.
Speaker 1:Mike Tyson fighting Jake Paul.
Speaker 2:Or is it going to be an?
Speaker 1:epic battle that people are actually going to care about.
Speaker 2:Well, and much like the Mike Tyson, jake Paul, it's kind of like he's dragging around. I understand that it's supposed to make him win over the people, but you're like I'm sorry, anyone with two eyes can tell that Russell crowe has been injured ahead of time. Like no one thinks this is a fair fight. That's watching this with with keen eyes, uh. But yeah, the movie is incredible. I. I liked all the characters. I. There's nothing I would change at all. I'm like racking my brain for something I didn't like and again, maybe it was just. Some of the fight scenes were longer, but I watched the uncut version, so I don't think I could even say that A lot of the stuff that was added from the uncut scenes was part of the initial battle at the beginning where they're fighting. So this movie really is a classic. But maybe my curiosity is why Gladiator 2? Do you think it's risky to take a movie this iconic and try, two decades later, to make a sequel?
Speaker 1:I would say if it was a different director then yes, but the fact that it's the exact same director who has a vision for it Denzel Washington's in it. It's a continuation. It's not like twisters, which twisters was a great movie, but it was twisters was wasn't directly tied to the original Twister movie. This one is directly tied to Gladiator, so there is that connection. There is that already caring somewhat about the character and again, denzel Washington, I'm going to see anything Denzel Washington's. And even though people are trying to cancel Denzel Washington because of something he said about this movie, I'm sick and tired of it. I'm not going to go into what he said. If you want to look up what he said about the movie, you can look it up, but I'm sick and tired of people trying to cancel every single person who says something that they don't like.
Speaker 2:Oh, man Preach it.
Speaker 1:You know, that was me on my soapbox for like a brief second. I on my soapbox for like a brief second.
Speaker 2:I think we should just have people that don't get along. Just get in a ring and duke it out. Fun fact I actually got to go on a trip to Italy when my husband graduated and we got to see the Roman Colosseum and that was actually a really fun thing to think about. You go visit and you're all excited and it's just two rocks on the ground and they're like well, this is where you know, know, this thing was like you really have used your imagination to to recreate what it's supposed to look like. But I'll tell you, what is intact is that darn, that coliseum. Like it is very, very cool to see in person, to think about what went on there and just even comparing to today.
Speaker 2:Thinking about you know I, I think it's so morbid. People are sitting here bashing each other and killing them, and that was for sport and entertainment. And yet, like we have a much dull, dull, dull done version of that with yo american football, we just people join in arenas to watch people smash into each other and hurt each other. We just put helmets on them. Now, what does it say about the human psyche that that's something that we were entertained by?
Speaker 1:the big question is are you not entertained by this movie? So let's just give it a rating yes. What would you give gladiator, based on our rating system?
Speaker 2:I'm curious to know if the rest of our list will end up this way for me. Because it's such a good movie, I'm going to give it Actually I'll give it a five and a half. It's a good movie, but there's been some other ones on our list that I was more surprised by and that are more my genre. Five and a half.
Speaker 1:See, I'm going to give it a six, and I'm surprised I'm getting into six because I gave casablanca six based on the fact that it's just classic cinema. But this is a movie that I hate to say it, because casablanca came out way longer than 24 years ago, and but it had. See. Here's the thing about casablanca, though, uh and lucinda said this last episode too casablanca hasn't really aged as well. Some of the some of the concepts that are in that film. 24 years later, gladiator is still an epic film that holds up. The performances are still awesome russell crowe, joaquin phoenix, every single single person. So that's why I'm giving it a six, and because it's just epic the fight scenes, just everything about it and it makes me super excited to see how it ties into the second one, which comes out in just a couple of days after this episode drops, and I'm going to see it on the big screen, the biggest screen. I can see it on. I'm probably going to see it.
Speaker 2:I mean, this is the kind of movie you have to watch on the big screen, the biggest screen I can see it on. I'm probably gonna miss it. I mean, this is the kind of movie you have to watch on the big screen. I think the bigger the better. And you're right, it really has held up. I would never have watched this movie and thought, yeah, this clearly came out, you know, two decades ago. Yeah, I think that one did well, um, but yeah, so that's the gladiator uh movie I've never even watched.
Speaker 1:A trailer for is up next and here's a little ear peek of what that is.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, I should kill you. Is it okay with you? You Chicago's coming to mind. Wait, jessica, only daughter Illinois.
Speaker 1:Chicago. My senior is my brother-in-law. He's rich but he's nice.
Speaker 2:He's really nice.
Speaker 1:I'm seen something we're going to be watching parasite, which is a movie I have never seen either, but it did win best picture, and so I guess that's something, even though if you have listened to the show before you know awards mean nothing to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're skeptical A lot of times. Those are the really really weird ones.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it'll, it'll be interesting. It'll be interesting to see. So all I gotta say is strength and honor.
