The Today Show provides us a list of what movies are opening this weekend opposite Gnomeo and Juliet. Who do you think will get the top box office?

• Gnomeo and Juliet. We’ve discussed this. A bit. 🙂
• Just Go With It, an Adam Sandler / Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy. Somebody remind me the last time either of them had a hit?
• The Eagle. Every time I see this trailer I swear I think it’s Coriolanus, but it’s not. I have no idea what it is, though. There’s ghosts, what appear to be indians, and Roman centurions. I’ve just learned in this article that it’s based on a book – I had no idea if it was supposed to be a comic graphic novel or what.
• And last but not least …. Justin Bieber. In 3D. The less said about this, the better.

So, wait, did I say who would win at the box office? I think young Mr. Bieber may have my gnomes at a disadvantage.

[ Why do I care so much about this movie? ]

Starting on a brief interview with Kelly Asbury, one of Gnomeo and Juliet’s creators, SFGate ends with a fairly standard list of “films that take liberties with Shakespeare.” Linked for those who may not be familiar with every item in the list. There’s at least one I’d not heard of.
By the way, if you’re wondering about the approach to Shakespeare Mr. Asbury prefers, let me quote him:

“I think Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Romeo + Juliet’ is a work of genius,” Asbury says. “I think ‘West Side Story’ is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, musicals ever put onscreen – or stage, for that matter. I, frankly, like Zeffirelli’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ very much, too. I grew up with that. … I loved it; I loved the score, I loved the acting.”

I’ll let you all make of that what you will. 🙂

Twitter keeps its finger on the pulse of what’s important these days by publishing Top Trends. What are people talking about with the most urgency? Sometimes it’s obvious and newsworthy, like Egypt or Tunisia. Other times it’s silly like #IfYouOnlyKnew or #ICantDateYou.

Shakespeare can do trendy. Oh, yes. And silly! With that I give you the Shakespeare version of #ICantDateYou:

“I can’t date you because you’re married to my brother. Who I just poisoned. And honestly your son annoys me.” -Claudius

“I can’t date you, I’m not the man you think I am. In more ways than one.” -Viola

“I can’t date you, you’re like seriously the only other human being besides my dad that I’ve seen in my entire life.”  -Miranda 

“I can’t date you, you’re my ancient’s wife and you’ll just want me to promote him or something.” -Othello

“I can’t date you, your insanely jealous husband already thinks I knocked you up.”  -Polixenes

“I can’t date you, even though I am madly in love with you and did follow you into the forest. Because now that you’re actually paying attention to me you’re kinda creeping me out.” -Helena

“I can’t date you, you look like an ass.” -Titania

“I can’t date you, my wife would kill me. And you. And any witnesses.” -Macbeth

“I can’t date you, I’m Prince of Denmark and my will is not my own.  Plus I’ve kinda got a thing for my mom…. what the… who wrote this? Who the hell is Freud?” -Hamlet

“I can’t date you, you’re not Jewish and my dad would freak. Oh, what the heck, let’s do it.”  -Jessica (Shylock’s daughter)

Sometimes the funniest stuff comes and goes in the blink of an eye on Twitter, so if you’re not already following ShakespeareGeek (and his partner in crime Bardfilm), what are you waiting for?!

Today’s XKCD comic has nothing to do with Shakespeare, but come on, there’s not a Shakespeare geek among you that can see a headline like “Trochee Fixation” and not want to click :).