REVIEW: Salma Hayek in "Tale of Tales"

Old-school fairy tales were often astonishingly weird. In their modern counterparts, princesses find their princes and live happily ever after.

In the darker originals, you might get a situation like a king with pet flea which he nurtures to an enormous size and uses as part of a competition for his daughter’s hand in marriage — which is won by an ogre that the princess must escape with the aid of traveling acrobats. That twisted tale is just one of three fantastical stories woven together in the latest film by Oscar-winning director Matteo Garrone. Because it’s so densely packed, Tale of Tales — which boasts a cast that includes Salma Hayek and John C. Reilly — is not necessarily easy to digest but (like Garrone’s other excellent work) makes for such a substantial meal. THE WORD: These mad and visually lavish tales somehow reflect the strangeness of real life more accurately than the Disney versions ever could. COMING TO: Theaters