The more I hear about the upcoming Neil Gaiman-penned Beowulf (slated for release in late November), the more reasons I have to believe that this film is going to be awesome. First of all, it's a classic story with bloody conflicts, a rugged hero, a despicable yet sympathetic villain, and lots of mead-drinking and speechifying. Even if you don't normally get jazzed about poetry, Seamus Heaney's Whitbread-Award winning translation is a satisfying read: Heaney......

We caught the June 8 performance of Grendel at the Los Angeles Opera, which, due to some previous technical setbacks, turned out to be the world premiere. The opera tells the story of Beowulf, a human epic of a battle against a monster, from the point of view of the monster. The production uses puppets with a variety of influences in addition to the human actor/singers -- this production is from many of the......