Gods and Monsters

Pros: Ian McKellen. Direction, Cinematography and Set Design.
Cons: Brendan Fraser's Boone the weak link.

As I read most better works of fiction, I enjoy a bit of creative casting. When I read Christopher Bram's Father of Frankenstein upon its publication, I kept getting visions of Sunset Boulevard. In fact, if you flip both the gender and ...

Pros: Fraser really branches out with this role
Cons: It's just too wrapped up in the theme to tell the story

Gods and Monsters tells the story of real life movie director James Whale’s last days. He was most famous for directing the first two Frankenstein movies, but a look at the person reveals a man whose upbringing left him shattered inside. He ...

Pros: the performances and the imaginative script
Cons: nothing

this was originally written for the Underrated Actor write-off I hosted last year. Brendan Fraser was my pick...perhaps I should host another one...


Isn't Ian McKellan cool? I mean for real...think about it. What other actor can gain...

Pros: Terrific performances
Cons: Little illumination shed on James Whale himself

"My life is a game of strip poker. Want to play?"
--James Whale, Gods and Monsters


Bill Condon's Gods and Monsters stands as one of the most profoundly disappointing viewing experiences of my life, and I'm not...

Pros: All of the performances.
Cons: A tad dry.

While you're waiting for Julia Roberts' latest corn-a-thon or Armageddon 2, try this one. Ian McKellen gives what may be one of the finest performances of the decade in a great role as James Whale, film director of the 1930s. This movie is also worth...

Pros: direction, casting, cinematography
Cons: story, characters, pacing

Did you know that James Whale, the Universal Studios film director behind Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, was actually a homosexual?

Odds are, this trivia is not of any particular interest to you. Whale began his career...

Pros: Direction, Characters, Acting, Narrative structure
Cons: Somewhat Predictable Plot

Having been grossly disappointed recently by the supposed classic "Citizen Kane," I'm contemplating writing a book of essays entitled "100 Films Better Than 'Citizen Kane.'" "Gods and Monsters" certainly makes that list. Come to think of it, the...

Pros: Ian McKellen's performance
Cons: Wonky screenplay

Retired filmmaker James Whale invites his gardener, a young ex-Marine named Clay Boone, into the drawing room for drinks and a cigar. The scene purposely recalls the one from Whale’s The Bride of Frankenstein in which Karloff’s Monster accepts a lonely...

Pros: Extraordinary performances
Cons: Plodding story

I picked up this movie at the library after having heard a little about it on TV. I was expecting to see a somewhat fictionalized biography of the final days of an esteemed director who was also a homosexual. Instead, this was the somewhat...

Pros: McKellen's performance, showing that Fraser can act when wants to
Cons: slow pacing, requires patience

Most of us have monsters in our closets: events, or memories in our past that we are not proud of, but must deal with nonetheless. Sometimes, it is the way we deal with these monsters that shape who we are, and become later in life. Gods and Monsters is...

Pros: Well told, touching portrayal of a cultural icon.
Cons: Disturbing in places.

GODS AND MONSTERS is a tense, disturbing piece, loosely based on the last days of James Whale, director of the Universal film classics FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, and THE INVISIBLE MAN. He also directed the immortal musical SHOWBOAT, which made...

Pros: The villagers arrive with torches.
Cons: They take their time arriving.

Igor, dig up a new script. When Encino Man can be favorably compared to this monster, the existence of God is in question. The actors looked so natural. Let's say the eulogy and bury this stiff. Cremate it before it goes to video. Fire destroys all evil....

Pros: excellent story
Cons: not for "drama" haters

Year of Release: 1998
Cast: Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich
Director: Bill Condon
Writer: Bill Condon
Rating: R
Running Time: 106 Minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
Academy Awards: Best Adapted...

Pros: A superb screenplay with fantastic performances
Cons: feel kind of empty after watching this and seems somewhat slow paced

This haunting screenplay that brought home the Oscar for best adapted screenplay displays an emotion we seldom find within ourselves. It is the knowledge that we are our own worst enemies, our own monsters. We live in a society of monsters and this...

Pros: Great acting, wonderful chemistry
Cons: Mature themes

I guess we're all too young to relate to the classic horror era of Hollywood filmmaking, when Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein reigned supreme in the genre. This film chronicles the last month or so of the life of James Whale, the controversial,...