2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

SnoopyStyle James Whale (Ian McKellen) was once a great director of monster movies like Frankenstein. He is now retired and slowly losing his mind as he pines for the past. He lives with his longterm housemaid Hanna (Lynn Redgrave) who finds his homosexuality morally wrong based on her religious convictions. He befriends his gardener Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser) who poses for his sketches. Clayton is a womanizing Korean War vet.There is something predatory about Ian McKellen's performance. He inhabits the dirty old man role without being completely disgusting. He gives a damaged vulnerability to his character. It is masterful work. I think Brendan Fraser is fine but I want more quiet anger from him. It starts right from the start when he hit the speed bag as he walks to the car. I just perceive Brendan having a bit of fun to hit the bag rather than him with anger issues. I think it's his persona. I keep thinking he is about to make a joke about something.

Armand a film about refuge of past. and fear for future. a great role for Ian McKellen and an exercise for Brandan Fraser to escape from its usual characters circle. a movie who seduce. not only for story but for its melancholic atmosphere. it is like respiration of late autumn - soft, bitter, delicate. a film who not only present the final part of a life, a part of memories, need of the other and social ingratitude but the fall of a world. and that is great in this case. Lynn Redgrave, Ian McKellen, the precise delicacy and high inspiration of Bill Condon are pillars for a special confession of a way to discover the existence and transform it.sure, Brandan Fraser is not the best option for Clayton but his blank performance is useful in that puzzle. maybe, for define better the profound flavor of a world in its sense search.

blanche-2 "Gods and Monsters" is the beautifully acted and somewhat fictionalized story of director James Whale (Ian McKellan) as he faces the end of his life. The openly gay Whale was the director of some of the great horror films: Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and The Old Dark House, as well as the definitive Showboat, and one of my favorites, the bizarre Remember Last Night? (which no one in the movie does, by the way). After a debacle over the film The Road Back, his studio thrust him into directing B movies, and by 1941, his career was over. After that, Whale developed a love of painting and directed in theater, where he had started in the '20s.The film begins in 1957, the last year of Whale's life, after he has suffered a series of strokes. In the movie, his only companion is his housekeeper (Lynn Redgrave). (In real life, he was living with the much younger Pierre Foegel, whom he had met in France.) Faced with diminishing mental faculties and unwanted flashbacks from his past, Whale develops a sometimes uneasy friendship with his gardener, Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser). He asks Clayton to pose for him, and while Clayton does, Whale pours his heart out to him. Some of it is too much for the straight Clay, but over time, the two men bond. Each gets something from the other. But Whale will ultimately want something astounding from his new friend.This a complex film, well directed and written by Bill Condon, who adapted the novel The Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram. Whale attempts to create his own Frankenstein monster, in a sense, in Clay, and the stunning images near the end of the film which take place during Clay's dream sequence point this up. The film also demonstrates the loneliness and deterioration of old age, as well as the fear that goes along with it.The cast is nothing short of magnificent, with phenomenal performances by the three leads: McKellan, Fraser, and Redgrave. The late, always excellent David Dukes plays David Lewis, Whale's ex-lover and still friend; Jack Betts and Rosalind Ayres are well made up and vocally correct as Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester, respectively.Gods and Monsters is a sometimes dark, always thought-provoking film about old age, taking stock at the end of life, and the gods and monsters within each one of us.

TheLittleSongbird There were three reasons why I wanted to see Gods and Monsters. One is because it was about James Whale, the director who gave us those innovative classics Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. The second is that I love Ian McKellen, and when I saw he was going to play James Whale I thought expect a great performance from a great actor. The final reason is the late Lynn Redgrave.After seeing the film, I was really impressed. The period detail is sublime, costumes, sets and scenery are gorgeous and the cinematography is excellent. Another delight was the footage of Bride of Frankenstein for example, that were great to watch. The story is very simple but it is very effective and touching, the score is haunting and beautiful and the screenplay is very well written and insightful.The film is also very elegant and poignant set during Whale's twilight years where Whale was ostracised for being a box office failure and homosexual. While there is the occasional drug-addled sexual hallucination and the story is very simple, Gods and Monsters does explore the horror genre with effortless assurance and wit, while making interesting and powerful pointers of friendship for example.And of course the acting is excellent. Ian McKellen as I have said already was one of the reasons why I wanted to see this film, and he gives another brilliant performance in the title role. Brendan Fraser also gives one of his better performances as the heterosexual gardener, while Lynn Redgrave gives a marvellous turn as Whale's housekeeper.Overall, touching and wonderfully acted. 10/10 Bethany Cox