The Hobbit & The Wolfman
Dedication to the Sprouty cause can sometimes mean events we'd like to cover coincide with each other, spawning a tough choice between one or the other.
But sometimes the gods of the arts smile upon us, and last night was one such occasion.
Being given the chance to review The Hobbit at the New Theatre was cause enough for celebration, but when an invitation landed in our inbox two nights ago to a late night press screening of The Wolfman on the same night our creature comfort zone went into overdrive.
Our monsterathon began with the now long-running stage adaptation of JRR Tolkien's soon-to-be-filmed classic, which Luke Todd looked forward to witnessing pan out as a live experience. Read his review here.
The baton was then tossed across town to Cineworld, where Ryan Heeger joined a screen full of nocturnal horror heads who jittered with excitement as they waited for The Wolfman (15, 1hr 42mins).
The hype - as always - meant the classic tale had plenty to live up to, but with Benicio Del Toro (Che Parts One & Two, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas) in the lead alongside Welshman Anthony Hopkins (Silence Of The Lambs, Bram Stoker's Dracula) and Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert), surely there wasn't much to dislike?
Too right, as a welcome return to old-school horror saw a traditional collage of full moons, snarling teeth and hairy hands combined with modern CGI to create fast and ferocious scenes of carnage.
Returning home following his brother's death, Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro) is forced to confront a grim family history which his father (Hopkins) plays a bigger part then he ever realised. Emily Blunt is a bit spare as the love interest, except for a few essential plot moments, but in all doesn't take anything away from the bigger picture.
Also well on form is Weaving as Scotland Yard hardliner Abberline, whose deadpan delivery is almost on par with his futuristic other self, Agent Smith, when he's not cranking off rounds at chimney pots as the hairy monster makes good his escape across the roofs of London.
Plenty of torn limbs and shapeshifting will keep the gorehounds happy, while the almost sepia footage ticks the boxes for those wanting to see homage paid to the 1941 black and white classic. The running time is also spot-on, whereas it could have been strung out unnecessarily like so many of its previous contemporaries like King Kong.
The Hobbit is at the New Theatre until Saturday. Book tickets here. The Wolfman is out today. The official website is here.
We like to spend some of our leisure time in the company of the above beasties. But our organisation directory has plenty of other links to leisure.
