Clifford had seen an extra dimension

No, not of strings, but that of film making; here is his enthusiastic recommendation of Beowulf:

Ok, I’m talking about the 3D version of the new Robert Zemeckis film, “Beowulf”, a film realization of the well-known epic poem. I went just to see what the visuals were like (and actually expected a bit of a mess for the telling of the tale itself), and the visuals were stunning – beyond stunning (my enthusiasm might be in part due to seeing it in the excellent Arclight Hollywood) – but the rest of the film-making was pleasantly well above expectations. I think that they did a good job of bringing it to film, with the motion capture overlaid on animation making it have both a reality and a mythological feel at the same time. Purists about the story will be bohered a bit by the adaptation and heavy rewriting, but taken as a stand-alone piece of work, it is very good indeed. Visually, this film has to be some sort of new landmark, following hot on the heels of the marvellous work done earlier this year for “300″, the striking bringing to life of the Frank Miller graphic novel. I can’t get over how well they used the extra dimension – and it really is there. I was not convinced the 3D-ness would be so impressive, but you end up being truly inside the scenes, almost a participant instead of just distant observer. If it were not for 300, I’d say that this will take all the technical awards for visual work in the coming months… now I’ll just say that it will probably take most of them.

I don’t care if this seems like a commercial for the movie or not. It’s just so notable as a visual treat that I thought I’d insist that you find the 3D version in a cinema near you and go and see it. Local folks: – Go to the Arclight. Just go.

Looks like a must-see; which also reminds me that I have not seen 300 either; lots of catching up to do!

Tags: 300, Beowulf