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Noticed at Amazon: Beowulf
What's that you ask? The quality? Worth all 300 pennies, I assure you. Most appear to be filmed on shaky, sometimes focused handheld cameras from inside theaters. Even worse than the picture is the sound, captured live on a tiny microphone. I suspect - but can't prove - that these might in fact be unauthorized pirated versions of the sort that have Hollywood lawyers working overtime...
These are tough days for Hollywood, and piracy isn't the only problem. Back to Beowulf
Regrettably, the motion-capture process has made only modest improvements since The Polar Express; while the characters' eyes no longer look so flat and zombie-like, their faces remain inexpressive and movements are still wooden.As noted, the version of the movie I saw was low quality, and I watched it on a small (laptop computer) screen, so I can't offer an opinion on whether the descriptions of the lifeless eyes are accurate or not. I might buy the new release just to see for myself. I can say that I enjoyed the story - and that said enjoyment of the story is fundamental to the success or failure of any movie, regardless of it's degree of live action vs animation. (Spiderman, Lord of the Rings, Who Framed Roger Rabbit...) Suspension of disbelief is nothing new, and I am disturbed as much by the use of CGI actors as I am by the latest version of Beowulf's use of modern English over the original text:...for anyone interested in computer animation, the most interesting extra feature may be the deleted scenes. Because they were cut long before the animation was finished, they show the process at a variety of different stages--at some points the faces don't even move, making Beowulf look like a Thunderbirds-style puppet movie.
Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,Yeah, now that's entertainment.
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah,
oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendraofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning!
But I suspect that in these tough times for Hollywood there are those who are quite nervous about the potential of CGI. Perhaps it's not there yet, but the time is coming when a human actor - even those surgically rendered to near-perfection, will fall short of their always on time, never in rehab, non-20 million dollar paycheck collecting counterparts. They'll stand out like a blast of olde English in the midst of text on a coputer screen - þæt wæs god cyning!
"If only", I can imagine a producer thinking, "we could replace the writers* with computers as well..."
And stop the piracy too, of course. Then at last people could watch the Academy Awards again.
Or not.
All of which brings us to the lovely and talented Ms Angelina Jolie, who bares her soul here.
(But sadly, I've reached the limit of my available time (for now) - so if you'll be so kind as to return, we'll continue this discussion later...)
* Speaking of writers, one of the co-authors of the Beowulf screenplay was Neil Gaiman, who has made one of his books available for free online. Coincidentally, it's a book I read in Iraq.
