Author: duane

Challenge : Non-Shakespeare Shakespeare Movies?

~ duane ~ 6 Comments

At lunch today we were discussing movies.  Which led to Star Trek.  Which led to a discussion of Star Trek VI, which led to a discussion of Shakespeare movie references.  Ok, I may have been driving the discussion in that direction. 🙂

Here’s the question I was asked: What movie, that is not fundamentally a movie about Shakespeare, contains the highest amount of Shakespeare references?

Star Trek VI, of course, would be a good example.  Shakespeare in Love would not.

What do we think?

EDIT : I wasn’t very clear by “references,” I meant “actual quotes.”  Not just plot lines or character names.

Singles Nights At The Folger!

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Hey!  You there, in the Washington DC area!  Got any plans?  Starting today, single tickets to the Folger Shakespeare Library performances are now available for sale!  Everybody knows that the best way to see more shows for less money is to scoop up those single tickets. (Take it from me, I’m a Red Sox fan, I know a little something about trying to make tickets affordable.)

Bring a date, fine! Go out for drinks before or dinner after – but at the door, give him his ticket and say, “See you at the end of Act V.”

Don’t have a date?  Maybe the person sitting next to you doesn’t either, if you know what I’m saying.

*wink* 


*nudge*


*(elbow, because Shakespeare is the first documented instance of its use as a verb)*


*say no more*

Horrifical Comical Tragical Pastoral?

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Let’s be honest, there’s some problems with some of the comedies when you judge them by today’s standards. Taming of the Shrew isn’t exactly a feminist masterpiece whether Katharina winks at the end or not.  And there will never be a production of Merchant of Venice that doesn’t come with a protest.

But is horrifying the right word to use?

I’ll give the author points for an interesting angle.  But you can probably guess all 7 plays that make his list, and why.  There’s two “bed tricks”, a shrew, a Shylock, and … hmmm …. I suppose it all depends on your definition of horrifying? Apparently the two gentlemen are anything but, and don’t get me started on the less than noble kinsmen.
The most interesting element on the list is Much Ado About Nothing. I know, can you believe it?  Turns out the horrifying bit isn’t Claudio calling Hero a whore — it’s Hero’s father siding with Claudio and telling his daughter that he’d rather she just died and saved the all the dishonor.
I suppose he’s got a point with that one.

Finally I Can See The Globe On Screen

~ duane ~ 1 Comment

There’s been a trend of late to film live stage performance for distribution to a wider audience, and I’m all for it.  I just wish I could get to see more of them!  Too often (I’m looking at you, Benedict Cumberbatch) the performane is a special event, one night only, and you have to be in the lucky position to be near one of the limited theatres in the very limited release.

But good news for me!  The Globe on Screen series – featuring Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice and Richard II – is scheduled to come to my neighborhood this fall.  I actually park in the movie theatre parking lot every day when I go to work (and no, I don’t work at a movie theatre – we just happen to have reserve space in the garage).  So it looks like going to see all of these productions – none of which are on my “seen it” list – is going to be a easy as taking a quick detour of about 50 yards instead of walking to my car that night.  Awesome!

Alas, Poor Deadpool

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I loved the Deadpool movie.

I hated Star Wars : Shakespeare by Ian Doescher.

So how then should I feel about the upcoming special Deadpool Shakespeare issue this fall, written by Mr. Doescher?

I’m cautiously optimistic.  Well, that’s not the right word, that implies that I’m leaning toward “it’ll be good.”  I don’t think there’s any reason to put any real effort into it. I think there’s a pattern here where you take a pop culture phenomenon like Star Wars or Deadpool, and you make it do vaguely Shakespearean things like putting the main character in a ruff, or maybe some puffy sleeves or pantaloons, maybe have him talk to a skull. Then force all the dialogue painfully into iambic pentameter.  You ever try to read iambic pentameter for any length of time where it’s clear the author is doing it just to prove that he can?  It’s like someone telling you that they’re awesome at haiku, that they’ve written hundreds of them,

but when you begin
you see that they’re just
counting syllables.

There’s much more to it
than just the simplistic math
of five seven five.

I also fear that they’re going to take a cue from Kill Shakespeare, another project that I very much did not love.  Saying that something has Shakespeare content needs to be more than just naming your characters the same.

Yeah, optimistic clearly isn’t the word.  Is there a single word for “wishful thinking”?  I’m that.  I wish that it’s going to be something I like.