What do you get when you mix Paul Newman, Gladiator, and a pair of glasses? An interview with starting Goalie for Lafayette men’s Hockey team and Sophmore film student Alex Hope. I sat down with Alex to chat about manly actors, Netflix, and why indie movies offer something that blockbusters don’t. Here’s what he had to say:

The Garden Slate: What film has had the biggest impact on you?

Alex Hope: I would have to say Gladiator because of it’s historical background and the strong story development throughout the movie. It’s cool to see filmmakers bring such an old concept (Ancient Rome) to life on the screen in a powerful way.

TGS: Why do you think that films that are grounded in historical time periods that are far removed, like Gladiator, are popular? Do you think people find it cool seeing history play out before them on the screen?

AH: Well we’ve been doing this for centuries now. We’ll take a time period where we don’t know the full story and we’ll reimagine it. Take myths for example. Myths were originally used to explain phenomenons we didn’t quit understand, like the changing of the seasons, but eventually they just became a form of entertainment. I think that’s why people find these stories so interesting is because they’re learning about aspects of history, but are still enjoying it because the filmmakers have taken liberties that have made the stories more exciting.

TGS: What actor, either past or present, do you think has made the biggest impact on people’s lives?

AH: An actor from the past who I think has had the biggest impact on people’s lives would be Paul Newman because he lived such an incredible life on an off the screen. He was able to have an incredible acting career that spanned across decades and was able to leave a great legacy by creating Newman’ Own, his nonprofit food company that I read donates between 25-30 million dollars a year to charity, which is crazy if you think about it. How many other actors can say they’ve done that?  So I think that when you can have your impact go beyond the silver screen you can change people’s lives beyond just touching them through performing, you’ve done something right, and by doing that Newman has been able to leave an amazing legacy.

TGS: Is there any current actor who you think will leave a legacy similar to Newman? 

AH: Well I’ve always been a fan of Brad Pitt because he’s been able to find success through playing the “man’s man” archetype that James Dean popularized. I would say  Martin Sheen and Steve McQueen probably fit into that category as well, especially Sheen in Badlands where he’s made up to look like James Dean, so I would say those three come close to Newman in terms of performance but it’s hard to leave a legacy like Paul has simply because he’s changed so many lives through philanthropy.

TGS: The Oscars just happened recently and two independent films, Her and Nebraska, were nominated and Her writer/director Spike Jonze even took home the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Do you think this is a sign that people are starting to accept independent movies and that they may finally be getting the recognition they deserve?

AH: I would say that as an audience at this point we’ve pretty much seen it all. Take Avatar, one of the biggest blockbusters of the century, for example. Isn’t that essentially just a rehashing of Pocahontas? Even The Avengers, which took in a ridiculous amount of money on opening weekend, isn’t something we haven’t already seen. We know how the super hero story goes and I think we’ve sort of become bored of it, so that’s why people are starting to go see movies like Her, which offers something different. Her is a film that brings a bunch of different elements together, like technology, isolation due to globalization, and the idea that the faster we’re moving the more alone we feel, to create a pretty good story. So I think people are starting to look to movies more for their content rather than a pretty visual or incredible effect, and the only movies that seem to be offering that right now are indie films, which is why they’re getting recognition.

TGS: So do you think that this shift means people are going to start moving away from Blockbusters that are packed with stars?

AH:That’s a good question because people are always going to want to watch the blockbusters to see their favorite stars. Like what’s coming out this week?

TGS: Need for Speed.

AH: Ah perfect. So this is a great example of someone giving into popular demand by adapting a video game into a movie and using Aaron Paul, who people know from Breaking Bad and are therefore familiar with, to get people in the seats. I understand that the studios have to churn out a certain number of films every year to stay afloat but they’ve started to all become so similar that it’s taken away from the enjoyment of the blockbuster. But even so people will still continue to go to the blockbusters because they want to see their favorite stars.

TGS: Netflix has recently become a big distributor for films and TV shows online. Do you think it’s possible that we would ever see a day where films were no longer in theaters and instead premiered online?

AH: Before Netflix you had two options on a Friday night: you could either go to blockbuster video, rent a movie, and watch it in your living room in your boxers or you could put some pants on and go watch a movie in theaters. Now you don’t even need to put pants on to go to blockbuster because you’ve got all these movies at your fingertips on your computer, so it’s definitely made us lazier. Will it eliminate the need for movie theaters? Probably not. People are always going to want to go to the movies for the experience. And computer screens don’t really do films with incredible cinematography and surround sound justice.

So that was the wisdom and film knowledge that Alex Hope had to offer. Be sure to check out my Review of “The Grand Budapest Hotel” which should be up on the blog in next few days and follow me on twitter @TheGardenSlate.