I’ve been saying that since before I realized the director of Gnomeo and Juliet also directed Shrek 2, by the way :). Why oh why did we have to get the guy who directed the worst of the Shrek movies? 🙁
Anyway, one thing I do like about these reviews is that most of them are coming down on the side of “Should have been more Shakespeare” :

Director and cowriter Kelly Asbury (“Shrek 2”) finds a few jokes and a few moments of heart, just enough to lift “Gnomeo” above most recent animated B-movies. But it’s a pity he didn’t err on the side of Shakespeare and not of “Shrek.” The pathos and wit of the Bard bests the sight gags and one-liners of the Big Green Ogre every time.

Well amen to that, brother. Here’s hoping that somebody else runs with the idea and puts together my dream Shakespeare animation – The Tempest. You don’t even have to change the ending!

I don’t understand how Wuthering Heights beats Shakespeare for most romantic line. This poll, conducted by Warner Home Video, tells us that “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same,” is the most romantic line in all of English literature.
I’ve never even *heard* that line. I read Wuthering Heights like once, back in high school, and never went back for seconds.
Shakespeare actually turns up third with “But soft what light through yonder window breaks…”
I think their methodology was flawed. What did they do, pick that single line to do battle for the complete works of Shakespeare? I’ll take this one, any day:

For where thou art, there is the world itself,

With every several pleasure in the world;

And where thou art not, desolation.

No contest.

Got some extra money lying around? Want to help advance the dream of “more Shakespeare”?

Take a visit over at Kickstarter.com which tries to connect artists (film makers, mostly, it seems) with financial backers. I’ve seen random projects go by recently, and it only just dawned on me that I can type “Shakespeare” in ye olde searcheth box and see no end of ideas about how to interpret Shakespeare.

Many seem to be “We want to take our existing troupe on the road” projects, or “We want to record something we’ve already been doing”, but if you poke around you’ll find a number of original script projects looking to be turned into reality.

So if you want to do something with all that extra money besides giving it to me :), why not check it out? I have no affiliation to the site or any of the projects, and quite frankly I’m not fully sure how it works. They apparently run on (and promote) the “all or nothing funding” idea. So if somebody says they need $5000, and they only raise $4000, then both parties walk away with no commitment. It’s not like you as the contributor have to put something up front and then try to get it back later.   

How do you know, even with 100% funding, that the project will happen? Well, you don’t. And that’s where the risks come in. There’s a lengthy FAQ on the site that does a good job of explaining how they try to minimize this risk, though.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, I’m getting inundated with “Shakespeare’s Most Romantic Valentine’s Love Quotations” links. I find most of them incredibly boring, because so little thought goes into them. They all say the same thing, and for the most part there’s little thought in them other than “Oh hey look, Shakespeare mentioned love, let’s use that.”

My favorite example?

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.

(A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

This quote shows up on pretty much everybody’s list, for the fairly obvious reason that it says Cupid right there in it. But…am I wrong here in thinking that this is not really a great sentiment for writing in a card to give to your loved one? Hi Sweetie! Just thought I’d tell you that looks aren’t important.

It’s a nice sentiment, in general. We like to think that love, like beauty, is more than skin deep. But do you really want to look someone in the eye and say that?

Did anybody watch Glee this week, the “Silly Love Songs” episode, where Puck decided to sing Queen’s “Fat Bottom Girls” to …umm, well, the curvy girl who he’s got a crush on? I have no idea of her name, I don’t follow the show closely enough. But it’s a similar idea – he seems to think the song’s got some deep message, and she’s just sitting there thinking “You just sat here in front of the whole glee club and called me fat over and over and over again.”

By the way, if you’d like to see an actual list of quotes compiled specifically for this purpose – organized by who might say it, when and why, might I suggest my book on the subject?

Ok, now we’re talking. Moviefone’s Family Film Guide tackles Gnomeo and Juliet from exactly the right angle. Of course it’s silly. Of course the ending is changed. It’s a movie for children, for pete’s sake. Good info as well about any parts that might be scary or inappropriate for children (it’s G rated, so not really), whether the 3D is worth it (as expected, it’s not) and even some talking points to work on with your kids after the movie. I would have loved if the reviewer included something about “…and to encourage their interest in Shakespeare, you could go here here and here.” Instead she ends with “go get some Elton John music and have a dance party.”