First, the bad news: critics say Beowulf will inspire English teachers and literary scholars to tear out their hair. The good news? The scribes also say it's a flick that fans of bombastic action and phantasmagoria will want give their right arms for. If you didn't read the epic poem in school, get thee to a library; suffice to say the story involves a dude named Beowulf (Ray Winstone) tangling with mead hall-crashing beast Grendel (Crispin Glover) and his vengeful, seductive mom (Angelina Jolie, much more attractive than her fictional progeny would indicate). The pundits say Beowulf's amazing visuals are the biggest draw here, as director Robert Zemeckis uses dazzling CGI to bring the classic tale to vivid life. (They also note it's not for the kiddies, despite its PG-13 rating.) At 79 percent, Beowulf is Certified Fresh, and it's well above Zemeckis' previous animation/live-action hybrid, The Polar Express (57 percent). (And check out our Total Recall feature on Beowulf and animation.)
Everyone can use a dose of magic and whimsy from time to time, right? But
frippery requires a light touch, something critics say
Mr. Magorium's Wonder
Emporium lacks. Emporium stars
Dustin Hoffman in the title role as
the proprietor of a magic toy store, a place where baubles can come to life,
fueled by imagination;
Natalie Portman plays his protégé. The pundits say the
big problem with Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is that it ODs on
zaniness in an effort to make up for a bland storyline. At 24 percent on the
Tomatometer, business isn't all that brisk at this Emporium.

"Does Mr. Magorium sell cornballers?"
Nobel Prize-winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez is widely acknowledged to be one of the world's great men of letters. Javier Bardem, hot from his performance in No Country for Old Men, stars in the adaptation of one of Marquez' most celebrated works, Love in the Time of Cholera. Unfortunately, critics say it's more like Love in the Time of Narcolepsy. Bardem stars as a man who is so enraptured by a woman he waits 50 years for her, despite her shifting affections. The pundits say Love misses the spirit and passion of Marquez' magical realist tale by miles, with fine actors in miscast roles and a too-literal approach, bogging down material that has a sense of sweep and romanticism on the page. At 17 percent on the Tomatometer, Cholera is under critical quarantine.
Also opening this week in limited release: the documentary
I for India,
the story of an expat corresponding to his family, is at 100 percent;
What
Would Jesus Buy?, a doc that explores the commercialization of Christmas, is
at 94 percent; Gregg Araki's
Smiley Face, a stoner comedy starring
Anna
Faris, is at 67 percent;
Redacted,
Brian De Palma's mixed-media look at the horrors of the Iraq war, is at 52 percent (read
our interview with De Palma
here); the Icelandic import
Eleven Men Out,
about a soccer star who comes out of the closet, is at 50 percent;
Noah Baumbach's
Margot at the Wedding, starring Nicole Kidman in a tale of
familial strife, is at 47 percent (check out our take from Toronto
here); and
Southland
Tales, a wildly ambitious sci-fi/political satire starring
Dwayne "The
Rock" Johnson and
Seann
William Scott, is at 42 percent (see our interview
with director Richard Kelly
here).
Recent Angelina Jolie Movies:
-------------------------------------
77% -- A Mighty Heart (2007)
55% -- The Good Shepard (2006)
59% -- Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)
16% -- Alexander (2004)
34% -- Shark Tale (2004)
Recent Natalie Portman Movies:
---------------------------------------
84% -- Paris, Je T'Aime (2007)
29% -- Goya's Ghosts (2007)
24% -- Free Zone (2006)
72% -- V for Vendetta (2006)
80% -- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Related Items
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JUDGE DREDD writes: on Nov 15 2007 05:02 PM Crispin Glover as Grendel in Beowolf??? Now im definately gonna see this flick! Crispin Glover is awsome, and underused as an actor. He would make a perfect Riddler, in a Nolan style Batman sequel. (Reply to this) |
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killermonkey8822 writes: on Nov 15 2007 06:37 PM beowulf is gonna suck more then the mad max series and titanic did. :P (Reply to this) |
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Jen Yamato writes: on Nov 15 2007 07:16 PM Hmm...considering some RT staffers saw Titanic more than once in the theaters (in one day), what kind of "failure" would that be? (Reply to this) |
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Paul_Is_Drunk writes: on Nov 15 2007 08:18 PM KillerMonkey is either trolling or making some kind of joke. I just don't get the joke. (Reply to this) |
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theunrulyone writes: on Nov 15 2007 08:53 PM I'm not so excited about Beowulf. From the previews the animation looks kind of hokey, and I hate that Jolie is playing Grendel's mother. Yeah, I guess its the complete bastardization of the poem that really turns me off from this film. Crispin Glover is pretty sweet though. (Reply to this) |
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highdough writes: on Nov 15 2007 11:05 PM I saw Beowulf tonight and it was....okay. Not great. It felt too long, although both my wife and I were surprised that it was less than two hours. Neither of us is a fan of the `animation' (I know Zemeckis hates that term). I just didn't connect with the characters the same way I would with real people. The 3-D was cool, though, but I stopped noticing about halfway through. Don't know if that's good or bad. (Reply to this) |
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jasperoosterveld writes: on Nov 16 2007 12:35 AM I want to see beowulf in Imax, sounds amazing :) (Reply to this) |
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TheOneStudentFilmDirector writes: on Nov 16 2007 02:53 AM Just saw Beowulf tonight and i totally disagree with the poster above. I was completely blown away by the performances and the acting. Beowulf's character seemed dull in the trailers but is charismatic as Leonidas on Steroids in the film itself, this thing is absolute gold and perhaps my favorite of the year above 3:10 to Yuma and American Gangster! (Reply to this) |
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Vortex&Vertigo writes: on Nov 16 2007 05:09 AM looks like Beowulf will be divided between those who dig the animation or the one's who don't. (Reply to this) |
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sfsilver writes: on Nov 16 2007 09:47 AM I saw Beowulf in IMAX 3D on Tuesday and was surprised by how good it is. Throughly entertaining popcorn fare. The action sequences are thrilling, particularly in 3D. Not sure if it would be as fun in 2D. The "animated" humans are still a little bit creepy and inhuman and don't emote naturalistically, there's just something about the subtlety of the human face and muscles this technology misses. They are so much better than Polar Express which was just flat out creepy and weird. On thing that we do get from the animation is that we're treated to "camera" moves and viewpoints that would be almost impossible if this had been shot on a sound stage and Ray Winstone just plain isn't as sexy as Beowulf. (Reply to this) |
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minderbinder writes: on Nov 16 2007 03:21 PM I'm pretty surprised at how many good reviews Beowulf has got...although many of them seem to be saying that it's worth seeing just for the 3D graphics that make up for everything else being pretty weak. I have a hard time getting excited about it. Anyone else catch the IMDB daily thing - they made it sound like Magorium is getting good reviews when it's clearly not: "Critics find much to be delighted about in Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium..." That title reminds me of the simpsons reference "The Contrabulous Fabtraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel" starring Troy McClure. (Reply to this) |
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Ryuk_Apples writes: on Nov 17 2007 08:20 PM Beowulf was absolutely atrocious. I liked the CGI though. (Reply to this) |
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VML writes: on Nov 18 2007 02:17 AM Hooray for the ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT reference! (Reply to this) |
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Bigbrother writes: on Nov 18 2007 08:19 AM Meh, seemed like another Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow to me, All style and no substance. When will producers learn that they don't need to "spruce up" a story that's stood the test of time for 1,500 years. It's not like your average viewer has been inundated with this story like say the Robin Hood legend which requires that you take another approach. The 13th Warrior did a far better job of telling this tale without even directly referencing Beowulf. (Reply to this) |
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