September 20, 2017 at 4:30 p.m.
'Beowulf' to kick off free animated film series Oct. 5 at Nicolet
'Beowulf' to kick off free animated film series Oct. 5 at Nicolet
To celebrate the modern-day genre, local film buffs Steven Schreier and Tom Jerow will present three recent animated films, each highly regarded by critics, as part of the Nicolet Live! film series.
"Computer animation today is nothing short of stunning compared with what's been done in the past," Schreier said in a press release announcing the film series. "It's like you're entering an entirely different world."
The 2017-18 film series will kick off with "Beowulf" showing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, in the Nicolet College Theatre.
A classic for a millennium, the story tells the tale of the great warrior Beowulf, who sets off across the Danish countryside in 507 to find and defeat the demon Grendel, who had been wreaking havoc across the land.
After killing the demon, Beowulf falls into the sinister web of Grendel's mother, who has shape-shifted into a beautiful seductress seeking revenge.
The feature-length film "is really the pinnacle of achievement of what can be accomplished with computer-generated animation," Schreier said.
The film also features the voice talent of several A-list actors, including Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, and Robin Wright.
"What's fascinating is you can see hints of the facial features for these actors in the animation," Schreier explained, noting the film does contain violence and is rated PG-13.
Schreier and Jerow selected animation as the theme for this year's series partly because there are many very good animated movies for people to see and partly in an attempt to nudge the genre more into the mainstream, especially for adults.
"It's almost like there's this stigma with adults," Schreier explained. "It's like going to see an animated film is not something they can do without having a kid with them. We're trying to get people past that because people who love movies are really missing out on a lot of great films."
"Beowulf" was produced with an animation technique similar to that used to make the popular movie "Polar Express."
The two other films in the series were produced with different techniques. "Kubo and the Two Strings," showing Feb. 8, was produced using stop-motion animation. The final film, "The Iron Giant" scheduled for April 5, is a hybrid production, using both traditional 2-D and computer-generated animation.
After each film Schreier and Jerow will lead a discussion with the audience.
All showings are free and open to the public.
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