Brotherhood of the Wolf

Would you believe there is a film in existence that is about a rumored supernatural beast killing and maiming poor innocent folk on the French country side during the 18’Th century? What about if I said the pope himself was involved in it’s cover up, enlisting spy’s by way of brothel house matrons, and a native American Indian fresh from the newly discovered Americas doing kung fu (because he was enslaved in Japan for a time, before he got to France, you know, to kill the mythical beast) and throw in a one armed man, a dash of (heavily) implied incest, three double crosses? Well, not only does such a film exist, but it’s based on a true story. You heard me right, and I’ve done my research. It’s all true. Kinda like how everyone thinks the story of Pocahontas was a happy one (thanks Disney) but the actual history books tell another, in France they have this mythical beast killing people, but REALLY, it was the king of France trying to overthrow the pope, who had reigning power at the time. Oh, and the Jim Henson Creature Shop did all the special effects. I’m just saying.
Christophe Gans is the kind of crazy director you need to bring a story like this to life. He has literally SO many ideas, and somehow works every last one of them into a VERY think and convoluted plot. Interestingly, the story is so weird it’s true, giving him a lot of leeway in how far out there he goes. At the time of its release (2001) Brotherhood of the wolf was both the most expensive film made in France (the equivalent to 200 million) and the highest grossing film from France (total worldwide box office is near 300 million) and you can see everything on the screen. Given a Very lackluster release in America (in all honesty, how DO you sell a project like this to the masses) what we missed was one of the best action films in a good long while. I know muskets and swords don’t sound all that exiting now that we have semi automatics being sold at wal-mart, but man, this film uses everything from a hatchet to a VERY inventive (and historically accurate) sword that can slide apart and then come back together for some of the most well choreographed and filmed action set pieces I’ve ever seen.
Visually, there is something in every corner of the screen. Much like the film 300, you could pause at any moment during the film, and that image could be framed and put up as art work, it is THAT lush and beautiful. The creature himself is a mixed bag. When used as a real life prop, the effect his horrifyingly convincing (an early scene with a peasant woman trying to save a lamb is so well done, I didn’t know if I should be ooohing and aahhhing or grossed out) but when it comes to the digital creation (thankfully only used sparingly) the effect is just off enough to pull you out for the film momentarily.
That small squabble aside, the plot basically follows two gentlemen sent by the king of France to investigate a “beast” that is killing people in a secluded province. Once they arrive, thinking there is a logical explanation for everything, they soon realize the beast is much more than they bargained for. Further thickening the plot is when they realize all the victims have something in common, and as the film draws near several people come out gaining quite a bit from this demons precise killings. That’s where things get a little muddled, what with the lead getting involved with a courtesan who turns out to be a spy for the pope. Yea, ya hurd me, the POPE sends a whore as a spy. Just accept it, it happened, no really, like I said, I looked it up. Then there’s the one armed man who turns out to, well, not be one armed after all. But that’s giving too much away.
Brotherhood of the wolf is best described as Sleepy Hollow meets the Matrix meets crouching tiger hidden dragon meets the sound of music by way of the Grimm fairytales. No, seriously. So if your in the mood for something unlike you’ve ever seen before, but COMPLETELY one of the most entertaining experiences EVER, and aren’t stupid enough to hate subtitled films, you MUST check this out. This is literally in my top ten of all time in the book of Eric field’s top ten films. I own a 3 disc set directors cut DVD imported from France that’s not a joke. It’s that high up there in my totem poll, so check it out folks!!!

Beowulf

Beowulf is a strong, brawny epic with everything and then kitchen sink thrown in just in case. This is both a blessing and curse for this state of the art “motion capture” motion picture from Robert Zemeckis, the man responcible for Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and the Back to the future features.
Every 9’Th grader is forced to read the classic literature, usually against their will. The sing-songy phrasing and SLOW pace usually turn off the average high school student. Celebrated fantasy author Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery (everything from Pulp Fiction to Silent Hill) do an amazing job at cutting out the fat, and beefing up the action and sex to appeal to today’s audience. However, between the script that wants desperately to appeal to today’s younger audiences, while staying true to the source material, things get muddled. The directorial choice to have the picture computer generated might at first glance seem a wise one, given the heavy fantastical elements, that too becomes a misstep to a certain degree. Zemeckis fills the movie with almost distracting visual flair, seemingly just because he can. Also, the picture is in 3D, which is admitidly VERY cool. Unfortunately, between being a really cool 3D movie, a literate epic, and an action movie that can keep up with 300 and gladiator, the film ultimately only mostly succeeds at all of them, and doesn’t ever really feel like it reached the many goals it sets out to accomplish.
That’s not to say the film is nothing short of breathtaking. The computer animation on display here is the best ever, period. There are moments where Anthony Hopkins is speaking, and the camera zooms in on his face, and I guarantee that if an unsuspecting audience member were to walk in right then, they WOULD NOT be able to tell that it was nothing but pixels and digits. It’s s that photorealistic, at times. There does however seem o be some characters that are given more care than others. The women, for example, still lean toward the “shrek” level of quality, while the male counterparts all get much more detail and fluid motions.
The action in the film is also very impressive. This is where the 3D aspect really comes into play. At the end of the feature, when a giant dragon is chasing our hero around, you can’t help but be amazed at the sheer level of violence on screen. Also, earlier scenes, such as Grendel’s attack on a cottage, works amazingly well, computer animated 3D movie or not (I was actually shocked at how graphic it was, especially given the p.g.-13 rating).
At the end of the day, Beowulf is a VERY COOL movie. That’s it. The story is more complex than you’d expect from this kind of movie, but the plot gets muddled in all the forced, albeit amazing action scenes, and it’ll be interesting to watch the film NOT in 3D, and see if the gimmick actually lets you focus on the content more. Time will tell, but as it is, it’s a perfect way to spend 2 hours of the holiday season, and certainly the best computer animated movie up to now.

there is something in....THE MIST!

The Mist is one of the best Stephen King film adaptations ever; right along side The Shaw shank Redemption and The Shining. However, this is also one of the best films of the year, period. Frank Darabount (who was responsible for the Shaw shank redemption and the other King film, The Green Mile) has taken a short story no less, and turned it into the most intense two hours you will spend in a theater this year, or any year for that matter.
The film starts very abruptly with a violent thunder storm, leaving a small town with slight damage and no electricity. The locals gather together at the local grocery store, and it is here that we meet the varied and stereotypical set of characters. The crazy religious nut (played with so much over the top glee by Oscar winner Marcia gay harden that you start to think televangelism is her true calling) the nebbish store clerk (who is given his heroic moment to shine) the cute young cashier who has all the boys falling over her, and the awkward bagger boy. The last two most definitely NOT falling into the clichéd disaster movie mold. And that is where this film succeeds. It starts off like any other horror film/disaster movie. You have all the elements set up, as they start to play out, as the mist rolls in and people start to disappear, and then start to die, and then start to panic, the clichés are thrown out the window one by one.
There are some familiar faces in the crowd, Gay harden for one, Thomas Jane (punisher) and André Braugher (Poseidon) all give stellar performances, and some street cred to what is otherwise a creature feature, but the order in which they, and others (i.e. small innocent children) are dispatched in increasingly more gruesome ways makes it impossible to tell who the “star” is, who is the clear villain and hero. All these lines are blurred in what quickly becomes a parable on the human condition, and the violence that is inherently in the hearts of man. This becomes all the more apparent when the Religious spinster starts preaching about god, and the end of days, and signs, especially when her biblical premonitions start eerily coming true. The people start having to choose sides, and a little civil war erupts. Suffice it to say not all the deaths in the film are inflicted by other worldly beasts.
Speaking of creatures, nothing can prepare you for the slimy, scaily, tentacled, acid webbed monsters that slither out of the mist. Some of them are vaguely familiar to bugs we all know, just altered (spiders for example, only the size of a coffee table) or mosquitoes (only the size of footballs and with seriously more bite) and others are so foreign the person who came up with their design should be handed an Oscar for creativity, or locked up. You don’t see nary a hint of them for the first hour or so, but once they show up, it’s a non stop assault on the senses.
The people are killed off one by one at a time (actually, more like five by eight) until the climactic sequence. Now, I hate to discuss endings, but here I feel I must give a warning. For anyone who loves happy endings, or at least hopeful endings, stay AWAY!!! This film has the most HORRIFYING, SHOCKING, ending ever put to film. It’s not a twist, it’s not “the sixth sense,” they never give a solid explanation of what’s going on in the mist, but the ending here is so slap you in your face bleak, you’ll either love that a film had the balls to go there, or you’ll cry foul at the irony. It IS however, the logical, and dare I say realistic conclusion to what precedes it though.
The Mist is my favorite film of 2007, not THE BEST (Black Snake Moan is probably still on the top of that list) but this is the most fun you’ll have being scared in a LONG time, quite possibly ever.