A Place To Stay

A P L A C E T O S T A Y

R E V I E W S

Summary of Screenplay Reviews

Castle Rock
Brady Thomas - Story Editor

“beautifully written”

The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Gregg Goldman - Director of Development / Acquisitions

“inspired “

Granada Film
Alison Schwartz - Development Co-ordinator

“touching and tender”

Columbia Pictures Corporation
Diana Hawkins - Vice President - Creative Affairs

“good cinema”

Intermedia
Caroline Charles -

“an intriguing mix of magic, realism and political statement”

British Sky Broadcasting
Nadine Mellor - Commissioning Editor Film & Drama

“very moving and poignant “

Trimark Pictures
Robin Schorr - Senior Vice President of Production

“beautiful visuals”

copyright Poppy Berry

Sean and Jessie - Colm O Maonlai and Amanda Ray king

Summary of Audience Reaction Empire Liecester Square

Hi we would just like to say what a FUCKING BRILLIANT film you have produced. Couldn't find any other words to really convey how passionate we feel about this film. We resonate 100% with everything about the circles and we couldn't stop crying for a long time after it finished. Thank you for a profound and meaningful movie.

Dear Marcus:
Lorin and I loved your movie! I was speechless as I
left the theater and the power of the story kept with
me as we walked to our hotel. I'll write more later
after I've had achance to process it; a very powerful
film...Bravo!
Joseph Geare

Marcus wonderful film excellent choice of cast ***** 5 star , one of the best if not the best I have seen yet..

On viewing the film “A place to stay” on September 1st 2002 at the Empire Cinema ,London.

“A film that takes you by the soul on a mysterious adventure into the lives of travellers new and old in a modern day world,

together with the heart warming love story that takes you on a journey through joy , sorrow , love and war .Along the way

places you in the centre of a global mystery “CropCircles “ “

That’s my primary review I hope you like it

I will write a detailed review in the coming day’s

Hi Marcus,

It's hard to find words to express how moving and powerful we found 'a place to stay' yesterday.

I assume every effort is being made to find a major distributor for this film. It could have the same effect on people everywhere, given the chance.

Good luck!

Simon

Movie review by Peter Sørensen of

"A Place to Stay"

from Hollywood Daze Motion Pictures

ten days ago. Most croppies have heard about this film, which

has a crop circle theme and was shot in Wiltshire last summer.

It is superb!

Unlike that "other" movie, which features evil aliens making

formations in fields of sweet corn -- you know, the flick made

by The Mouse Company which is getting all the media attention --

this one is well worth seeing.

A Place to Stay has a romantic theme that grows on you, and the

cinematography is beautiful (wait 'till you see the time-lapse

pan of the Pewsey Vale that ends in sunset over Tan Hill!). In

addition to the lovers, there are subtle villains (who get their

come-uppance in unexpected ways), and a host of believable

characters involved in overlapping sub-plots. And Busty Taylor,

Colin Andrews and Reg Presley have cameo roles, playing

themselves.

The story, set in the present at Alton Barnes (!), is seen

through flashbacks in the mind of an old Wiltshire Country

police officer (played by Johnny Dallas), who, riding around on

his bicycle, is the one person who knows everybody and

everything that is happening.

As someone who is practically a citizen of Alton Barnes, I must

say I was aghast to see how the fictitious townsfolk were

portrayed as intolerant simpletons, easily led by the hate

tactics of the chief villain, Carl Streatham played by Llewellyn

St David. Speaking like a Nazi in the town hall, Streatham inflames

the villagers to evict the Gypsies and "Travelers" from the

area. The real people of Alton Barnes wouldn't stand for such

bigotism and hatred. But of course this is simply a plot

device, and I can accept it as such.

Streatham actually has a hidden agenda for removing the Travelers.

[Americans note: Travelers are like Hippies who have rejected

the establishment and move about the UK in old vans and house

trailers, encamping wherever they can find a hidden spot in the

countryside -- for practical purposes they are New Age Gypsies.]

The Travelers are supposedly living atop Tan Hill, an ancient

site, which a toxic waste company wants to use for a dump. So

the young people must be removed under the pretense that they

are a blot on the landscape.

One of the young men, Sean (Colm O'Maonlai), emerges as the hero

of the story. Another of the travelers is a perky little girl

who apparently has polio, because she wears a brace on her leg.

Camped in the lowland not far away are the Romany Gypsies, in

particular a lovely woman, Jessie (Amanda Ray-King)

who frequently rides bareback on a

black and white mare, which is always followed by her high

spirited little foal (a delight to watch!) The Gypsies, with

their multi-thousand year tradition of living on the move, look

down on the Travelers as unsavory copycats. So when the Woman

first meets the our hero, she wants nothing to do with him. She

also happens to be married to a drunken old bastard who treats

her badly at almost every turn.

But our lovers-to-be both like the crop circles. And the

circles -- along with the little girl -- are the catalysts that

bring the two together.

A major sub-plot involves a rich jerk [sorry, I can't find a

better word in my Thesaurus!] who lusts for the pretty Gypsy.

He follows her when she goes riding, stalking her in his Land

Rover. When he inevitably tries to force himself on her, Sean

comes to the rescue.

But that's as much as I'm going to reveal about the romance.

Another sub-plot involves a couple of American agents from

Groome Lake (Area 51), who are also after our hero for reasons

that aren't really very clear. In fact I suspect that the

primary reason for their presence in the story is to add an

X-Files dimension to the film. I can see how this may help sell

it to the movie-going public, but my feeling is the romance and

the other parts of the story would have been better off without

the UFO cloak and dagger stuff.

I must admit there are some good computer graphics using photos

of crop formations in the black ops computer center. Many

historic designs flash on the screen, overlapping and rotating

as though correlations are being calculated.

Speaking of great effects, little more than wind machines were

used to portray the manifestation of a crop circle around the

Woman and the little girl. The scene is absolute magic -- it

brought tears to my eyes! (By the end of the film, there was

hardly a dry eye in the theatre!)

That particular formation was the "Missing Earth" that Matt

Williams and Co. made in the East Field last summer. (They were

actually accused by a few lunatic fringe Believers of claiming a

genuine circle as theirs. And I came under fire for saying I

had video'd its construction from Goldenball Hill, and it was

implied there was some dark purpose behind the whole thing. [My

footage of this Missing Earth construction on my 2001 annual

video, which -- pardon the advert -- is for sale thru the Crop

Circle Connector.])

Speaking of circles that are in the motion picture, there's a

spectacular "crane shot" inside the Milk Hill "Galaxy," which

rises from a close up of the lovers, to show the vast expanse of

the hundreds of circles in the field.

(Anyone who knows me is aware that I now believe that all the

complex formations are made by human artists. I feel that a

Vast Intelligence is behind the phenomenon, perhaps the

Collective Unconscious -- perhaps something even more wonderful

-- and I know that many of the artists are motivated by Spirit.

And I also know from personal experience that strange lights and

other mysteries are associated with the circles. So I'm still a

true crop circle lover and researcher -- and this film really

went straight to my heart!)

When the skeptical Vicar tells the old Policeman that he thinks

the circles are made by the Gypsies and Travelers, and hence of

no importance, the Bobby says it doesn't matter. He points out

that a lot of people are having spiritual experiences inside the

formations, much like the church where they are standing, which

inspires people to feel closer to God -- and IT, too, was made

by people!

I am in complete agreement with that. Anyone who puts down

these wonderful appearances in our fields, just because they

aren't flattened by ETs, is missing the point! And, just as

bad, anyone who puts down the human circlemakers is missing a

very similar point.

I'm also in agreement with Colin's fine old message, which is

heard during the end credits, to the effect that we are

destroying our planet, and one valid interpretation of the

circles is they are drawing our attention to this emergency.

We must heed this wakeup call, for the Earth is our ONLY Place

to Stay!

After the screening hundreds of people crowded in the lobby to

meet the cast. My eyes were still damp when I met was the agent

from Groome Lake and shook his hand. I am still chuckling from

my encounter with the man who played the toxic waste villain,

when I quipped, "Did you find your keys?" (You'll get the joke

when you see the movie!) And I'm afraid I was overly shy when I

met the beautiful Gypsy -- I could do little more than mumble my

congratulations!

I was especially pleased to have a nice chat with the

/producer/director/writer, Marcus Thompson. Marcus is a man who

has done his utmost to put together a motion picture, at

significant personal expense and time, which tells a good story

involving the crop circles without sensationalism. And WITHOUT

getting hooked into the shallow debate about where they come

from. He simply and beautifully conveys the wonder and magic,

and the EXPERIENCE of being inside these temples of grain.

A Place to Stay needs support and funding for distribution if it

is going to be seen in theatres. I sure hope it succeeds -- the

world needs a better view of the circles than that given us by

Mickey Mouse!

# # #

Peter Sørensen is a videographer who has been documenting the

crop circles in England every summer for the past eleven years.

Visit his web site at:

http://cropcircleconnector.com/Sorensen/PeterSorensen99.html

CANNES REPORT
by Jason Smith

British Inde Hollywood Daze set out for the Riviera last week with veteran writer-director Marcus Thompson at the helm. “The trip wasn’t about screening the movie - the thearical print is stuck in the labs waiting for a couple of optical effects,” says Thompson, who screened his Changeling (starring Ian Dury, Billy Connoly and Colm O’Maonlai) here in Cannes during the 50th festival five years ago. “We’re here to publicise the film, and let the movie world know that Disney’s Signs is not the only film out this summer involving crop circles.”

The film, A Place To Stay was shot last summer on location in Wiltshire, England, the magical land of Stonehenge and ancient burial mounds, and at Pinewood Studios. “I wanted to tell a supernatural story of star-crossed lovers - a rural tragedy involving humble people in vast landscapes - like a Hardy novel or a Constable painting, and The Ridgeway led me to Milk Hill, Adam’s Grave and East Field at Alton Barnes.” It was here that Thompson and his crew waited hour after hour for the perfect sky over each landscape they photographed, and Mirko Beutler’s cinematography and motion controlled time-lapse photography is a testament to their patience. “Mirko and I took watch one night over the time lapse camera, and were amazed by the activity out there at night - not just the things that wiz around in the stars, but the hoards of crop people that creep about with night vision gear. This phenomenum is like a religion to a lot of people..

BACK TO A PLACE TO STAY