I have been remiss in my duties as webmaster, so it behooves me to link to my friend Scott's medieval blog where he points us to close-ups of the Beowulf action figures. Well -- hmmmm.They are indeed interesting in the fullest possible sense of the word. We looked at them in the Medieval Texts on Film class and discussed how they provided context for the film makers' decisions about the text. They have made quite a few decisions: centurion Beo, zombie Grendel, snaky/dragon Mom. It looks to be a very free translation. November will be magic.
(Yes, I have finished the first part of my grading.)
7 comments:
Oooh -- I just watched trailer #2 and it looks like Beowulf rides the dragon! Wha--huh?! Maybe he rehabilitates it and makes it a pet!
I like how you understate with a "free translation." If the movie is a hit, will make it a lot easier to grade those papers which use the movie as a reference point. Although I do want one of the action figures...McFarlane toys often do a really good job. Although I never read Spawn, I had to pick up samurai Spawn. He's not that tough. A couple falls from the top of the TV was enough to decapitate him.
I've been watching Troy for the first time with my Greek and Roman epic class. Lotsa "Wha--hunh?!" moments in that movie:
"Surely Hector's not gonna kill Menela...Wha--hunh?!"
"Surely Hector's not gonna kill Aj...Wha--hunh?!"
"Surely Achilles isn't going to seduce Brise...Wha--hunh?!?
You get the idea. At the same time, I'm trying to work through a new collection of essays on the film by classicists. The most cogent argument thus far: the liberties taken by the filmmakers are analogous to the ones taken by the other poets of the Epic Cycle (i.e., the Trojan epics not by Homer), who use the same characters as Homer, but often have their characters do or say unHomeric things. Hmmm....
Poor Samurai Spawn -- I hope they have improved the quality control. I don't expect my dragon's head to fall off. Will they have the life size drinking horn though?
Re: remakes -- as some old guy said (or is alleged to have said) old wine in new bottles still tastes good. Unless the rim has broken glass; that, I suppose spoils one's enjoyment a bit (Troy might be a bit like that). I keep hoping the Beowulf film will be a bait and switch -- using humanoid Jolie in the ads, but we'll only see the reptilian one in the film.
The biggest travesty in Troy was Menelaus.
"Wait a second. He's supposed to survive so his wife can kill him!!"
FYI: Because I have no self control, I've peeked at the first two issues of the Beowulf movie-adaptation comic book. I believe I now know "the mystery of Grendel's father"...
Okay, spill! Oh, wait -- maybe not here...just in case people don't want spoilers.
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