Shakespeare Movie Club
Each month, watch a Shakespeare movie, rotating between comedy, history and tragedy. Only straight adaptations, based on the plays allowed. Either adapted for film like Joel Coen's Tragedy of Macbeth or recordings from stage productions like those from the BBC, RSC or the like. More liberal adaptations like 10 Things I Hate About You or She's the Man will be considered for extra credit. I mostly started this because I used to watch Shakespeare all the time and somehow got out of the habit so I'm trying to restart it.
Posts for this club should be tagged: shakespearemovie_club.
April 28
Movie: Anyone But You
After an amazing first date, Bea and Ben's fiery attraction turns ice cold, until they find themselves unexpectedly reunited at a destination wedding in Australia. So they do what any two mature adults would do: pretend to be a couple. [more inside]
April 27
May Shakespeare Movie Pick - Henry V
But which version? Olivier or Branagh? [more inside]
April 1
Movie: Twelfth Night
'Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit.' Filled with a cast of unforgettable characters, Twelfth Night combines cruelty with high comedy and the pangs of unrequited love with some of the subtlest poetry and most exquisite songs Shakespeare ever wrote. The Globe revisits its award-winning Twelfth Night of 2002 with an all-male Original Practices production, exploring clothing, music, dance and settings possible in the Globe of around 1601. Mark Rylance reprises his performance of Olivia in Twelfth Night, 10 years after its original premiere at Middle Temple Hall and The Globe.
This production was also on Broadway where Rylance won a Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play in 2014.
Shakespeare Movie Club pick for April. [more inside]
March 17
April Movie Pick
I'm thinking Twelfth Night, so that Midsummer Night's Dream can be done in July. Or As You Like It? [more inside]
Movie: Julius Caesar
Film version of the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2012 production of Shakespeare's fast-moving thriller. A vivid story about a struggle for democracy, Julius Caesar is also a love story between two men united by an explosive act of political violence. The setting is a modern African state in which the tyrant Caesar is about to seize power. Cassius persuades Brutus to join the conspirators plotting an assassination. Featuring a distinguished cast of black actors, filmed on location and in Stratford-Upon-Avon. [more inside]
Movie: Richard III
A murderous lust for the British throne sees Richard III descend into madness. Though the setting is transposed to the 1930s, England is torn by civil war, split between the rivaling houses of York and Lancaster. Richard aspires to a fascist dictatorship, but must first remove the obstacles to his ascension, among them his brother, his nephews and his brother's wife. When the Duke of Buckingham deserts him, Richard's plans are compromised. [more inside]
Movie: Much Ado About Nothing
In this Shakespearean farce, Hero and her groom-to-be, Claudio, team up with Claudio's commanding officer, Don Pedro, the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick and Beatrice -- a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John plots to ruin the wedding.
Was the January Pick for my Shakespeare Movie Club. [more inside]
Catch up on movies
I've already started on this and decided to share in case anyone wanted to join me. [more inside]