Shakespeare movie recs
Sep. 13th, 2012 05:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nakedbeeI put together a recs list of Shakespeare movies for a co-worker of mine today. I had a good time coming up with the list, so I figured I'd share.
I'll put one rec above the cut: Private Romeo, an all-male military high school AU version of Romeo & Juliet … if you're a fan of Shakespeare and slash, it's not to be missed (and it recently came out on DVD)!
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)
* Year: 2001
* Starring: the Reduced Shakespeare Company
* Play: all of them!
* Genre: Comedy
* This is hilarious and silly, while also being a pretty accurate overview of all of the Shakespeare plays. This same group of three comedians has also done “Reduced History of the Bible” and “Reduced History of America”
10 Things I Hate About You
* Year: 1999
* Starring: Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger
* Play: The Taming of the Shrew
* A thoroughly modernized re-telling with the main characters re-cast as high school students. A fun and light-hearted romantic comedy. One of my favorites.
Romeo + Juliet
* Year: 1996
* Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes
* Play: Romeo and Juliet
* * I really like the way they adapted the original language. Heavy use of stylized modern costumes and settings make for a visual treat and the soundtrack was up-to-the-minute at the time. It’s still a tragedy, though. This is by the same director who did Moulin Rouge (a big movie musical hit) and Strictly Ballroom (an indie classic and a delightfully charming story)
Slings and Arrows (TV show)
* Year: 2003-2006
* Starring: Paul Gross
* Play: Season 1 = Hamlet, Season 2 = Macbeth, Season 3 = King Lear
* Top notch introduction to Shakespeare. The setting is a Canadian Shakespeare festival, so you get scenes from the plays interspersed with all sorts of backstage comedy and drama – personal relationships, office politics, etc. Fun and moving! It’s pretty fast to watch – there are only 6 episodes per season at 45 minutes each – it’s more of a mini-series than a full show.
Richard III
* Year: 1995
* Starring: Ian McKellen
* Play: Richard III
* This was the first “non-traditional” Shakespeare adaptation I ever saw and it blew my mind. It uses the original language, but is set in a stylized WWII-esque setting. Ian McKellen gives a fantastic performance as the charming villain, Richard III.
Titus
* Year: 1999
* Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange
* Director: Julie Taymor
* Play: Titus Andronicus
* This is Shakespeare’s bloodiest and most violent play (apparently it was very popular with the crowds at the time), so be prepared for some disturbing imagery. Julie Taymor is really good at creating stunning visuals – she did the Broadway version of The Lion King. If you like Titus, check out her other films: Frida (biography of Frida Kahlo) and Across the Universe (movie musical based on songs by the Beatles).
She’s the Man
* Year: 2006
* Starring: Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum
* Play: Twelfth Night
* Not quite as good a film as “10 Things I Hate About You” but is still a fun and light-hearted modernized high-school version of the play.
O
* Year: 2001
* Starring: Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles
* Play: Othello
* Dark themes! A tragedy! But really well done! Another in the modern high-school adaptation series.
Much Ado About Nothing
* Year: 1993
* Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson
* Play: Much Ado About Nothing
* A pretty solidly traditional interpretation of the play, which works well because it's a pretty awesome play - witty and fun, shot in a sun-drenched Italian villa.
Strange Brew
* Year: 1983
* Starring: Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas
* Play: Hamlet
* A very silly modern adaptation and only loosely based on the play. I haven’t seen it since I was a kid, so I’m not sure how well it’s held up over the years. I enjoyed it a lot then, though, so I couldn’t bear to leave it off the list.
West Side Story
* Year: 1961
* Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer
* Play: Romeo and Juliet
* A classic modern re-telling! Also a musical!
Kiss Me Kate
* Year: 1953
* Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller
* Play: The Taming of the Shrew
* A classic! Also a musical! A similar feel to Slings & Arrows in that the off-stage action mirrors the on-stage plot (but since it’s a musical, everything is much less serious).
Gnomeo and Juliet
* Year: 2011
* Starring: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt
* Play: Romeo and Juliet
* Animated comedy, with Romeo and Juliet as ceramic garden gnomes. It sounds really silly, but it’s a reasonably faithful rendition of the play and was a lot of fun to watch. I was really quite pleasantly surprised at how they translated the story.
Bonus section of films I decided were too queer to share with my older male co-worker of unknown gay-friendliness:
Were the World Mine
* Year: 2008
* Starring: Tanner Cohen
* Play: A Midsummer Night's Dream
* Gay high school AU + Sex pollen + Musical = awesome!
Private Romeo
* Year: 2011
* Starring: Matt Doyle, Seth Numrich
* Play: Romeo and Juliet
* Romeo & Juliet as played out in an all-male military high school! Military boy make-outs! Uses only the original language in a very cool meta way! I loved it!
Dil Bole Hadippa
* Year: 2009
* Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Rani Mukerji
* Play: Twelfth Night
* This is more a remake of She's the Man (above) than a direct adaptation of Twelfth Night, but it has the same awesome cross-gendered themes so I wanted to include it. Yay cross-dressing! Also it's Bollywood, so the singing and dancing are awesome!
I'll put one rec above the cut: Private Romeo, an all-male military high school AU version of Romeo & Juliet … if you're a fan of Shakespeare and slash, it's not to be missed (and it recently came out on DVD)!
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)
* Year: 2001
* Starring: the Reduced Shakespeare Company
* Play: all of them!
* Genre: Comedy
* This is hilarious and silly, while also being a pretty accurate overview of all of the Shakespeare plays. This same group of three comedians has also done “Reduced History of the Bible” and “Reduced History of America”
10 Things I Hate About You
* Year: 1999
* Starring: Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger
* Play: The Taming of the Shrew
* A thoroughly modernized re-telling with the main characters re-cast as high school students. A fun and light-hearted romantic comedy. One of my favorites.
Romeo + Juliet
* Year: 1996
* Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes
* Play: Romeo and Juliet
* * I really like the way they adapted the original language. Heavy use of stylized modern costumes and settings make for a visual treat and the soundtrack was up-to-the-minute at the time. It’s still a tragedy, though. This is by the same director who did Moulin Rouge (a big movie musical hit) and Strictly Ballroom (an indie classic and a delightfully charming story)
Slings and Arrows (TV show)
* Year: 2003-2006
* Starring: Paul Gross
* Play: Season 1 = Hamlet, Season 2 = Macbeth, Season 3 = King Lear
* Top notch introduction to Shakespeare. The setting is a Canadian Shakespeare festival, so you get scenes from the plays interspersed with all sorts of backstage comedy and drama – personal relationships, office politics, etc. Fun and moving! It’s pretty fast to watch – there are only 6 episodes per season at 45 minutes each – it’s more of a mini-series than a full show.
Richard III
* Year: 1995
* Starring: Ian McKellen
* Play: Richard III
* This was the first “non-traditional” Shakespeare adaptation I ever saw and it blew my mind. It uses the original language, but is set in a stylized WWII-esque setting. Ian McKellen gives a fantastic performance as the charming villain, Richard III.
Titus
* Year: 1999
* Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange
* Director: Julie Taymor
* Play: Titus Andronicus
* This is Shakespeare’s bloodiest and most violent play (apparently it was very popular with the crowds at the time), so be prepared for some disturbing imagery. Julie Taymor is really good at creating stunning visuals – she did the Broadway version of The Lion King. If you like Titus, check out her other films: Frida (biography of Frida Kahlo) and Across the Universe (movie musical based on songs by the Beatles).
She’s the Man
* Year: 2006
* Starring: Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum
* Play: Twelfth Night
* Not quite as good a film as “10 Things I Hate About You” but is still a fun and light-hearted modernized high-school version of the play.
O
* Year: 2001
* Starring: Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles
* Play: Othello
* Dark themes! A tragedy! But really well done! Another in the modern high-school adaptation series.
Much Ado About Nothing
* Year: 1993
* Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson
* Play: Much Ado About Nothing
* A pretty solidly traditional interpretation of the play, which works well because it's a pretty awesome play - witty and fun, shot in a sun-drenched Italian villa.
Strange Brew
* Year: 1983
* Starring: Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas
* Play: Hamlet
* A very silly modern adaptation and only loosely based on the play. I haven’t seen it since I was a kid, so I’m not sure how well it’s held up over the years. I enjoyed it a lot then, though, so I couldn’t bear to leave it off the list.
West Side Story
* Year: 1961
* Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer
* Play: Romeo and Juliet
* A classic modern re-telling! Also a musical!
Kiss Me Kate
* Year: 1953
* Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller
* Play: The Taming of the Shrew
* A classic! Also a musical! A similar feel to Slings & Arrows in that the off-stage action mirrors the on-stage plot (but since it’s a musical, everything is much less serious).
Gnomeo and Juliet
* Year: 2011
* Starring: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt
* Play: Romeo and Juliet
* Animated comedy, with Romeo and Juliet as ceramic garden gnomes. It sounds really silly, but it’s a reasonably faithful rendition of the play and was a lot of fun to watch. I was really quite pleasantly surprised at how they translated the story.
Bonus section of films I decided were too queer to share with my older male co-worker of unknown gay-friendliness:
Were the World Mine
* Year: 2008
* Starring: Tanner Cohen
* Play: A Midsummer Night's Dream
* Gay high school AU + Sex pollen + Musical = awesome!
Private Romeo
* Year: 2011
* Starring: Matt Doyle, Seth Numrich
* Play: Romeo and Juliet
* Romeo & Juliet as played out in an all-male military high school! Military boy make-outs! Uses only the original language in a very cool meta way! I loved it!
Dil Bole Hadippa
* Year: 2009
* Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Rani Mukerji
* Play: Twelfth Night
* This is more a remake of She's the Man (above) than a direct adaptation of Twelfth Night, but it has the same awesome cross-gendered themes so I wanted to include it. Yay cross-dressing! Also it's Bollywood, so the singing and dancing are awesome!
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Date: 2012-09-14 02:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2012-09-14 02:38 pm (UTC)