Great Ridley Scott!

By: Steve Ryfle
Date: Friday, December 15, 2000

Here's one we'd like to get an invitation to: Director Ridley Scott, on the eve of his much-anticipated Hannibal, will be honored with the Director's Achievement Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival's awards gala, January 13 in the swingin' desert town. And, get this: Also on the list of honorees are Nicolas Cage (who's currently working on the John Woo-directed WWII flick, Windtalkers) and composer Randy Newman (he of the Toy Story movies, of course). Here's the official spiel from the organizers of the black-tie event: 'Scott's standards of excellence, entertainment values and box office success are all evident in his most recent hit film, Gladiator, which burst onto the screen this past summer. Totaling close to a billion dollars [internationally] at the box office, Gladiator has gained accolades from film critics nationwide as this year's contender for Oscars top honors. Many of Scott's films are viewed as benchmark movies, films that raise the bar for various genres, films that other films are measured against. Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise and Alien among others set standards for futuristic thrillers, women's films and sci-fi suspense thrillers that inspire and inform other filmmakers.' Then they had to go and ruin it by mentioning other Ridley Scott's titles that people sometimes forget: '... Other film credits include Legend with Tom Cruise, Black Rain [aaargh!] starring Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia, Someone to Watch Over Me [aaaargh!] and White Squall [double aaargh!].'