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| lshap |
 Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:40 pm |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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Beowulf was a tad too real to feel like animation; but it was a tad too plasticized to feel real. With a cast of almost-human characters that looked like they'd just walked out of a botox clinic, Beowulf was a technical rimshot, a step beyond Shrek and Lord of the Rings in the magical world of computer generated people. Impressive and entertaining as hell. Still, I'm wondering if all that work was done just so they can say they did it and not necessarily because it made for a better film.
Animation works despite realism, despite technical advances. That's why the further we get from Bugs Bunny the better his old cartoons looks. Cartoons should appear as cartoons, live actors as live actors. They can meet on the same playing field as they've done since Dick Van Dyke danced with penguins, but at least then we knew who was who. Blurring the lines between animation and live actors works for effect, but better technology does not equal better characters. You either like 'em or you don't, and it has little to do with pixels and sampled skin textures. With Beowulf the characters are as loyal, lustful and strong as befits the genre. They fight, they fuck, they bellow taglines, and all of it's a blast to watch. So did we really need this archetypal battle of raging hormones to be fought by Barbie and Ken? Probably not, but maybe I just don't appreciate the coolness factor in all this. In my opinion, aside from the monster, Grendel, who looked like a walking Picasso painting, they should've just had real actors with real expressions and real wrinkles. And what happened to the women? The attempt to create fresh female faces left all the women waxed clean of any emotion, and even Angelina Jolie's spectacular bod was more comic book than raw sex appeal. Which means you can tick off onscreen chemistry as another casualty of animation. Pose and preen all you want, when the look in her eyes has been generated by a tech geek tapping on his keyboard it just ain't happening.
But don't get me wrong, the film's a huge success for good reason. It's loads of fun, and it summons forth the fanboy in all of us. It takes film technology a step forward, but film itself doesn't budge an inch. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:57 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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| No one today has read Beowulf, so we can spare ourselves any comparisons. But coincidentally, today on NPR, the great Irish poet Seamus Heaney was talking about his new translation of it, and he got me jazzed. He hadn't seen the movie, though. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:43 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| Beowulf is a poem I admire a lot, though having read it only in modern English translation, I don't feel I'm in a position to honestly judge it as a poem. However, I hate to think what my future classes will be like with students constantly saying "But in the movie...but in the movie..." |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:51 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| I wasn't at all interested in the "Beowulf" film until I found out Neil Gaiman had worked on the screenplay. As a Gaiman buff since reading "Neverwhere," I'm almost as anxious to see anything he does as I am to see Joss Whedon's work. (I missed "Stardust," though--want to read the book first.) |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:10 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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| It's a good screenplay, as long as you can appreciate it as a reflection of the ancient story. Beowulf the man is a lying, bragging, womanizing mountain of charisma, made more attractive by his many flaws. I really enjoyed the film and the character; I was just unsettled by the jittery border separating animation and reality. |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:34 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
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lshap: That "jittery border" is called the Uncanny Valley, which Roger Ebert discovered when he looked into it writing about Gollum and about "Polar Express"-- the creepy place where things seem almost human but are not. Here's a brief squib about it-- I'm sure Ebert's musings can be found as well, if you're interested.
http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2004/01/robots_dancing_.html |
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| chillywilly |
| Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 2:47 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8251
Location: Salt Lake City
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lshap wrote: It's a good screenplay, as long as you can appreciate it as a reflection of the ancient story. Beowulf the man is a lying, bragging, womanizing mountain of charisma, made more attractive by his many flaws. I really enjoyed the film and the character; I was just unsettled by the jittery border separating animation and reality.
As tire already wrote, It's Robert Zemekis using the same formula that worked on The Polar Express.
I hope that he doesn't fall into that John Hughes rut.
Curious about Beowulf Not sure if I'll see it first run or wait for the also-ran showing. I had a hard time watching Polar Express on the small screen (never saw it in the theater) and can't imagine what kind of treatment this movie will have. |
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"If you should die before me / Ask if you could bring a friend" |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 8:05 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: not far away
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| Befade |
| Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 1:29 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Quote: The Savages is getting a lot of good buzz, not only for Hoffman but for Linney and for Philip Bosco as the father. It may very well make the big time.
Billy............that's good to know. Hoffman was as good as I've ever seen him...........very unactorly. Linney just didn't play a likeable character.......grating.
And.............Hello from BEAUTIFUL Palm Springs, California (  Gary).........where I'm Not There has just opened. Unfortunately, I've been told by my son (two hours away) that I need to babysit for his kids while his wife goes out and picks up a honey baked ham for Thanksgiving........(What ever happened to the traditional TURKEY dinner?) There's never enough time in PS.........
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 2:35 pm |
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| Have a great time anyway Betsy and see it on your way back if you can. And I agree, though not an American, what's this nonsense with the ham. And only a goy would think that it was preferable to turkey (and all it's fixings), in the delicious department. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 2:43 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| Goose is more traditional, but for Christmas dinner most people in the UK opt for that oversized American chicken, turkey; which is not that easy to cook perfectly (it's so big that it's a struggle to keep some bits from being overcooked or getting too dry). However, whatever the main meal (we had Pheasant one year) we always have a ham on the go for the cold cuts, sandwiches etc.. It's best served with a hot English mustard and plenty of pickles. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 2:50 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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| Yesterday, George pardoned two more turkeys. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:19 pm |
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Marj wrote: Yesterday, George pardoned two more turkeys.
Was he one of them?
Quote: It's best served with a hot English mustard and plenty of pickles.
Funny coincidence, I had some ham with mustard and a pickle less than thirty minutes ago. Only regular mustard because the hot mustard, Keen's. has some carbohydrates and I'm on my diet now. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:32 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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jeremy wrote: Goose is more traditional, but for Christmas dinner most people in the UK opt for that oversized American chicken, turkey; which is not that easy to cook perfectly (it's so big that it's a struggle to keep some bits from being overcooked or getting too dry)..... |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:55 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| And the Current Film we're discussing here would be...what? |
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