Beowulf is a really, really good movie that misses out on being a truly great one because of the way it was made. Let’s start with what went right: the script. The screenplay by Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman is terrific; it’s subtle, it’s nuanced and it’s occasionally profound. It’s a shame that director Robert Zemeckis did it a disservice by again using the bizarre and completely unconvincing motion capture technique he employed for The Polar Express. Let me address my comments directly to Zemeckis: “Hey, Rob, it isn’t working, okay? We as humans are intimately familiar with other humans. We see them each and every day. You can’t simulate them so cut it out, already”.

Again, this is a well-written film and I found myself thinking how much better it would have been if the director had used real actors with simulated landscapes. It could have been something really, really special.

It occurred to me too that I’d let a few flicks slip through the cracks, blog-ily speaking. Here’s a brief word or two on each:

Tootsie and The Four Seasons. Both hold up beautifully. In particular, Tootsie is a sweet, sharp little movie that I would actually rate a little higher than when I reviewed it here some time ago.

Meanwhile, in the not-holding-up-at-all department, there’s Flash Gordon. Oy, what a cheap, sloppy mess. Truly, there was no respect paid here at all to the Alex Raymond source material. Or to the audience for that matter.

And, in the don’t-waste-your-time category, there’s Open Season, a derivative animated flick from the good people at Sony Animation. It’s a stinker, folks. I only hope that Surf’s Up is better. I’ve got it on my Netflix list so I’ll find out soon.

Let’s go out on a high note then with Stagecoach. John Ford and John Wayne give us a fine Western with some terrific action and a cast of fun characters. Do yourself a favor and check out some John Ford if you haven’t already. The man was a director’s director and influenced people like Orson Welles and Akira Kurosawa. That’s pretty damned impressive if you ask me.