[ExI] Beowulf

[PJ Manney]

You're all missing a crucial point beyond the uncanny valley and
bandwidth: marketing.

This movie has Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkevich, Robin
Wright Penn, etc.  Ray Winstone, while not a name in N. America, is a
big name in Anglo countries and a fine, award winning actor.

Some people will go just to see Angelina Jolie naked, whereas a
computer generated generic character's nudity might not be as
appealing (although, ironically, I hear she had a body double, which
is very common, but disappointing to her die-hard fans).

If there were no actors being motion captured or voice recorded, the
studios fear CGI films would have less box office.  Computer generated
performers can't do press junkets and have glossy magazine spreads
where they talk about their latest divorce or African baby adoption,
at least not until AGI is so sophisticated that each computer has the
depth of personality and idiosyncrasies of a human.  Only the
filmmaker might possibly have name appeal and there are precious few
of those guys left.  And I don't know about you, but I don't want to
see Robert Zemeckis in a sexy gown in a Vogue spread!

Actors also bring their unique personas and interesting
interpretations to the work that a single filmmaker/creator can't.  I
don't know about you, but it was the vocal charm and mannerisms of Tom
Hanks and Tim Allen that made Toy Story really sing.  They bring their
art, their essence and their histories to the project, in a way that a
purely CG character can't.

You can't kill the cult of celebrity.  At least not yet.

PJ