Beowulf meets Hollywood?

A film called "Beowulf and Grendel" debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in September and may show up in the U.S. in 2006 , but what would happen if Hollywood put out a rendition of the epic? Dan Neil, the 800 Words columnist for the Sunday L.A. Times muses on this question while being his usual screamingly funny self. I've been a big fan of his for some time but this week he's outdone himself with Monster's Ball. If you loved Beowolf, hated it, have no idea what it's about or simply tried to get out of reading it in high school (that would be me), you'll love this article. Neil manages to compare the epic to a video game, look seriously at how it influenced Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and also question the hero's sexual orientation all in the same article. Tears were pouring down my face I was laughing so hard.