Good news! Kenneth Branagh’s HAMLET on DVD is finally here!   August 14 is the scheduled release date. For those who haven’t been following this long awaited release, Branagh’s 1996 Hamlet is what some might call the masterpiece in a career loaded with groundbreaking Shakespeare film adaptations (Henry V, Much Ado, Othello….) This was the “full text” version, in other words a 4 hour long movie. Loaded up with star power as well, including Robin Williams, Judi Dench, Richard Attenborough, Billy Crystal, Derek Jacobi, John Gielgud, Jack Lemmon…. I could keep going.  It was a big cast. 🙂 Let’s be realistic here for a minute. As far as going and sitting in a movie theatre to see this? Not so much. I can honestly say that I didn’t always love his interpretation, either. I thought it a bit unnecessarily violent in some key areas, and a bit too “I’m starring in my own movie so there’s nobody to tell me I’m overacting” in others. But as an academic resource, this is simply amazing. Nobody does the full text Hamlet. This is the sort of thing that you could envision English students being told to watch for homework instead of the Olivier version.  And hey, I don’t recall Kenneth Branagh making out with his mom in this one. If you were looking to add a Hamlet to your Shakespeare on Film collection, you can certainly do worse than Branagh.  This is the sort of movie where I’d like to see a bookmark feature so I can just jump right to the most interesting scenes.  (Yes, I know that all DVDs have a scene menu.  I’m talking about favorite scenes instead of having to page through 50 little thumbnails every time).  

I enjoy a good round of “cloud game” as much as the next guy.  It’s not really a competitive game, it’s just looking at the clouds and trying to see stuff.  If you’re playing it with somebody, you try to convince the other person of what you’ve seen.  The more complicated the vision, the more satisfactory the playing.  I once saw an orchestra playing, complete with conductor, while people waltzed on a dance floor.  I was pretty amazed at how clear it was. Last night on the train I saw something that immediately made me think, “Hey, that looks like a princess.”  You could clearly see a body, some flowing hair and a big poofy ball gown.  I suppose that having two toddler girls, I’m becoming an expert in spotting things that look like princesses.  She was entangled up with another shape which didn’t resemble a prince quite as well as she resembled a princess, but it was an obvious comparison to make.  What was interesting was that the way she was bent made it look like she was being pulled away from him in that classic “arms outstretched until only our fingers touched” movie moment.  But then, in a bigger cloud, I saw the reason.  Plain as day I saw a big ol’ evil wizard, arm outstretched toward the happy couple as if dragging her magically away from him. My next thought is probably a leap that only a Shakespeare Geek would make, but it immediately clicked – that’s not a princess and an evil wizard, that’s Miranda and Ferdinand, and the big magic dude is her dad Prospero.   

http://kphoebe.livejournal.com/624843.html I didn’t even recognize her journal at first, I only saw the entry and thought, “Wow, looks like somebody’s deliberately copying her style.”  Nope, it’s her :). This time she’s tackling The Scottish Play, better known as Macbeth cuz I’m not an actor nor am I in an actual theatre and thus I can say it.  Great stuff as always.   Lady Macbeth: What are you doing outside? It’s time to go, chop chop!
Macbeth: I don’t wanna.
Lady Macbeth: You promised me!
Macbeth: I-
Lady M: Now listen to me! I know it’s tough! I know it’s hard! But that’s the game for ya! You’re either a winner, or a loser! You’ve got to draw deep, pull hard and push push push for the goal, and if Duncan can’t stand the heat we’ve got to throw him in the fire! I would rather bash my baby’s head in than break a promise to you! WHO’S HARDCORE?
Macebth: You are!
Lady M: WHO’S MY BITCH?
Macbeth: I am!
Lady M: That’s right! What are you gonna do?!
Macbeth: I’m gonna stab him?
Lady M: AND?
Macbeth: I’m gonna slice him!
Lady M: AND?
Macbeth: I’M GONNA KILL HIM!
Lady M: THAT’S MY BOY!
Macbeth: KILL! KILL! KILL! KIIIIIIIIILL WOOOOOOO YEAH!!!
Duncan: ARGLEGLURK.  

http://digitalliving.cnet.co.uk/specials/0,39030785,49289872-1,00.htm Talk about pinging high on ye olde Shakespeare Geek meter!  Over on CNet UK we have a comparison of OS X (the Mac operating system, for those who are more Shakespeare and less geek :)) versus Vista, the latest offering from Microsoft.  The catch is that they’ve done it up as an “Elizabethan duel”, and by that they mean literally with actors and everything.  Their task is to “win the hand of the fair Maiden Mainstream, played as in olden times by the hairy bloke in the dress.” The comparison between the two is fairly light, focusing on security, performance and usability.  Who wins?  It doesn’t really matter, does it?  If you’re a fan of either operating system and your champion loses, you’ll cry foul.  But it’s still a fun, different way to do the review.  Especially for this crowd.  

When I heard about a Shakespeare video game, naturally my ears went up.  It seems that the fine folks at University of Guelph have created ‘Speare, a video game designed to teach Shakespeare’s work.  Here’s the hook, though – it’s a Space Invaders game, with a Shakespeare storyline.  The game itself is a 2D vertical scrolling shooter, and you get to blast things and collect things.  (Remember the rules:  If it moves, shoot it.  If it doesn’t move, shoot it anyway.  If it’s still there when the dust clears, pick it up, it’s treasure.)  The storyline is all about how the “Prosperean” universe is all about peace, love and poetry until the bad guys come around and, having something to do with the Montagues and Capulets, steal Romeo and Juliet?  I got lost somewhere laong the line because I’m at work and I was trying to get through as much as I could before I got caught. I’m actually quite intrigued.  It sounds like a dumb idea at first, but if you look at it the other way — “videogame with Shakespeare in it”, instead of “Shakespeare via videogame”, then why not?  All good shooters need a story.  If this story happens to teach you something about Shakespeare, all the better. You can play the demo online at the link above (you do have to register), and I’m anxious to get through it.  They want $20 for the full version, which I might do (they take PayPal, and I always keep a few bucks online for just such an occasion) to help support such projects.