133 replies to this topic

[Ryan H.]

I don't know that I'd put *any* Branagh Shakespeare adaptation on a "best" list.

[mrmando]

Ryan H., on 29 October 2011 - 12:48 PM, said:

I don't know that I'd put *any* Branagh Shakespeare adaptation on a "best" list.

Oh, come now. Henry V deserves to be there, although I'd have to agree with Peter that Hamlet most assuredly does not. Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night appears to have made neither list; I'd rather watch that than Branagh's Much Ado.

[John Drew]

While I may not agree with all of the choices (Branagh's Hamlet at #3? No mention of Polanski's Macbeth?) I was greatly humored re: Hamlet, starring Maximillian Schell. My favorite line in all the capsule reviews comes from this...

Quote

The starkness of the faux-expressionist visuals also contributes to the Leonard-Pinth-Garnell appeal of it all.

Finally, someone besides myself has used SNL's Bad Playhouse as a jumping off point for glorifying "trashiness".

"Bravo... exquisite in it's badness." LPG

[Ryan H.]

mrmando, on 29 October 2011 - 01:03 PM, said:

Oh, come now. Henry V deserves to be there, although I'd have to agree with Peter that Hamlet most assuredly does not.

I'm one of the few who don't much care for Branagh's HENRY V.

mrmando, on 29 October 2011 - 01:03 PM, said:

Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night appears to have made neither list; I'd rather watch that than Branagh's Much Ado.

Agreed.

Edited by Ryan H., 29 October 2011 - 03:54 PM.

[mrmando]

Glad that Julie Taymor's Tempest was mentioned, even if it was on the "worst" list. I didn't manage to see it in a theatre, but I'm heading over to Netflix to look it up right now. Were it up to me to compile a "best" list I'd include Titus, although I can understand if that's a polarizing film. I happen to think it's a work of genius that comes close to redeeming a play which, let's face it, has very few redeeming qualities of its own.

[Ryan H.]

Yes. In general, I don't admire Taymor, but her TITUS is one of the boldest cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare.

[Tyler]

Richard III (the real one) is in the news.

Quote

A skeleton found beneath a Leicester car park has been confirmed as that of English king Richard III.
Experts from the University of Leicester said DNA from the bones matched that of descendants of the monarch's family.
Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley, from the University of Leicester, told a press conference to applause: "Beyond reasonable doubt it's Richard."
Richard, killed in battle in 1485, will be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral.

[Darrel Manson]

It may not qualify as "best", but opening in a week or two is Caesar Must Die. A doc of prisoners in an Italian max security prison doing Julius Caesar. It shows most of the play either in rehearsal or performance. Very interesting.

[Timothy Zila]

Does anyone know if the Bongo version of Chimes at Midnight will play on Region 1 players? The official websitedescribes the DVD as "PAL Multi-Region Dual Layer DVD9." I take it must DVD players should be PAL compatible?

On a second note, is that the best version available?

I'm trying to watch as many great Shakespeare adaptations as I can at the moment (taking Later Shakespeare).

[Ryan H.]

Timothy Zila, on 28 February 2013 - 01:38 AM, said:

Does anyone know if the Bongo version of Chimes at Midnight will play on Region 1 players?

It won't, alas.

I have this version, but it leaves something to be desired.

[Timothy Zila]

INSERT RANT ABOUT WELLES' ESTATE AND ALL THAT.

I mean, even given all that, how is it that the director who is popularly credited with directing 'the best film of all time' (regardless of how silly that claim is, in some ways) doesn't even have decent versions of most of his films available in the U.S.

I want to see Chimes at Midnight

I want to see The Trial.

HULK SMASH!

[Nathaniel]

Timothy Zila, on 28 February 2013 - 01:38 AM, said:

Does anyone know if the Bongo version of Chimes at Midnight will play on Region 1 players? The official websitedescribes the DVD as "PAL Multi-Region Dual Layer DVD9." I take it must DVD players should be PAL compatible?

On a second note, is that the best version available?

I'm trying to watch as many great Shakespeare adaptations as I can at the moment (taking Later Shakespeare).

The Mr. Bongo release plays just fine on my iMac. Unfortunately, when I run it on my OPPO Blu-ray disc player, it has a choppy, skipping effect. I suspect because it's "multi-region" and not "all region," you'll have better luck on some players than others.

At any rate, this "restored version" is by far the best transfer of Falstaff/Chimes at Midnight yet released. The image is a bit soft, but it's comparatively clean and the anamorphic presentation is an improvement over previous versions. The back cover states that it was licensed from the Emiliano Piedra estate. Piedra was one of the producers on Falstaff, and his family is one of several to claim ownership of the film. (The Welles estate, maintained by Orson's daughter Beatrice, is another.)

Edited by Nathaniel, 28 February 2013 - 12:40 PM.

[J.A.A. Purves]

Timothy Zila, on 28 February 2013 - 11:41 AM, said:

I mean, even given all that, how is it that the director who is popularly credited with directing 'the best film of all time' (regardless of how silly that claim is, in some ways) doesn't even have decent versions of most of his films available in the U.S.

I want to see Chimes at Midnight

I want to see The Trial.

HULK SMASH!

This is the modern world we live in. A regular DVD version of the Chimes of Midnight? Nope. A regular DVD version widely available of Zac Efron's Me & Orson Welles? Only $5.

Welcome to pop culture U.S.A.

[NBooth]

Peter T Chattaway, on 23 July 2003 - 01:34 AM, said:

Ron wrote:
: Kenny's MUCH ADO and HANK CINQ were fabulous - pity about the
: Danish monstrosity, eh?

What about Kenny's other film, AMOROUS EFFORTS MISPLACED? I think he might be the first director-star to make four Shakespeare films (five, if we count THAT BLACK DUDE, which he only starred in). IIRC, Peter Birnie began his interview with Kenny (around the time that THE DANISH MONSTROSITY, his third effort, came out) by noting that Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier had made only three Shakespeare movies each.

Reaching waaaay back for this one, but Love's Labour's Lost is on Netflix US, and I decided last night (in a fit of madness) to watch it.

It's...well, it's bad, right? I do like the idea of converting a Shakespeare comedy into a musical, and there's something that's just right about filling this particular play with Gershwin and Porter. But things don't really gel at all, particularly in the first half of the movie. The musical numbers do seem more integrated in the second half, for whatever reason, but for the most part they're very forced--a particular low point is when Timothy Spall sings "I Get a Kick Out of You." The dancing, weirdly enough, is equal parts undercooked and over-aware (I've seen criticisms of Burton's acting style as being "Look, Ma! I'm doing Shakespeare!" Branagh doesn't have that problem...here. Instead, it's "Look, Ma! I'm Dancing!" The same is true of the whole cast).

[The exception here is Matthew Lillard. That man should have been born a century ago; he's got a kind of gawky grace (or had a kind of gawky grace, I suppose) that makes him seem right at home in an Astaire-Rogers world.]

That said--the final sequence, which manages to blend Shakespeare, Gershwin, and Casablanca, was pretty good (actually, the movie's better--though not much--if you jettison the idea that it's a Shakespeare adaptation at all and focus on it instead as an homage to classic movie-musicals).

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention: it's also a good bit of fun. Bad, but fun. I'll certainly be revisiting it. So there's that. [Full confession: about thirteen years back, this was my favorite Shakespeare comedy.]

Edited by NBooth, 22 March 2013 - 08:03 AM.