Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by flippyshark

Ah! I redirect the question then.

I sent him a PM to report here asap.

[Gemini Cricket]

You know, I'm just not sure about Beowulf. It has the same "dead eyes" problem that Final Fantasy and Polar Express had. Everyone looks dead because they can't get the eyes right... Some of it is great looking, but they should have gone with live actors and animated everything else...

[Prudence]

What they should have done is leave poor Beowulf alone. Hasn't that story been mangled enough already?

[Alex]

Saw Beowulf last night. The dead eye problem didn't really bother me though one thing I realized about half way through it that may contribute to it is that the eyes have no major lighting reflections in them like eyes in any photograph and live action movie do.

I wasn't really bothered by the plot changes they made, especially if it gives us Barbie (in shape and genital smoothness)-naked Jolie.

[JWBear]

[JWBear]

Judging by the pictures I've seen of Beowulf himself, I don't think I'll notice the other characters in the movie (or the dialog, or the plot.....).

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I dunno about the Beowulf movie, but I do enjoy their viral site...

[innerSpaceman]

Reporting for duty. (I'll get to Beowulf in a mo.)


I'm buying the new CE3K DVD - maybe tonight in fact, if it was released yesterday, as scheduled - - with the hopes that it will have the 1977 original. But I seriously, most seriously doubt that it will.

Back in the days of laserdisc, the reputable Criterion company put out what it billed as the original 1977 version of CE3K, but it wasn't. If Criterion would either commit such fraud, or fall for false representations by Columbia Pictures without doing even a modicum of research ... then I don't put it past Columbia to tell such lies again now. And I fear the 2 lost scenes and 2 missing miscellaneous shots may be lost forever to the mists of time and careless film preservation.


Keep in mind that Lucasfilm recently issued a DVD which it advertised as the original 1977 version of Star Wars ... which it wasn't. But it was closer than the new CE3K DVD is likely to be. Star Wars had several sound differences and the opening crawl was most likely a recreation of the '77 version. But Close Encounters will, unless I will be overfreakingjoyously wrong, be missing two entire scenes (plus some other footage).


If the DVD is already available, I will report back tomorrow.

[innerSpaceman]

From what I hear, the eyes in Beowulf are improved over prior efforts like Polar Express ... but it still seems as if the actors aren't really there, and imagining them as the animated characters they really are doesn't much help. It will be interesting to see if they come off as better characters than Muppets, who have no eye movement at all.

It's always amazed me that we accept the Muppets as true characters. But these Beowulf creations may do themselves in by being so close to lifelike and yet not lifelike enough. I have the feeling it will look like a really cool video game. That's not good enough for me.

And I don't care that they buffed up Winstone to the point of not even looking like him. JW Bear's creations notwithstanding, computer hotness just doesn't do it for me. I think the thing I will enjoy the most about Beowulf's fight in the buff will be the AustinPowersy ways they strategically hide his junk rather than the salaciousness of nude death fighting by a hunky warrior king.

BUT ... being that this one's probably best in 3-D, I will be seeing it in theaters instead of my customary Netflix wait for the type of film I'm merely MEH about.

[Gemini Cricket]

See? That iSm is real learned, he is.