ShakespeareFlix

movie sucked balls

2010-03-18T12:18:28.590-07:00

movie sucked balls

Ian McKellen made the most believable Richard III....

2010-03-09T15:51:27.656-08:00

Ian McKellen made the most believable Richard III. He never showed any sign of remorse or regret throughout the film which made him the perfect villain. I also liked that it was set in the 1930's. This made the movie more frightening with the guns and machinery used during the killing scenes and the war. Over all, it was very entertaining and a good portrayal of the literature.

I loved this film. I had seen it many times before...

2010-03-08T15:33:12.156-08:00

I loved this film. I had seen it many times before we actually watched it in class but it never gets boring. I really like how they transformed the story into modern day, such as guns instead of swords. The only thing I didn't like about this film was the scene where Romeo and Juliet both die. I don't like how Romeo saw that she was alive afte he took the poison. That whole scene just frustrated me because I wanted her to awake faster.Overall, I believe the director did an excellent job with transforming a classic story into a modern day tale.

I feel that this has been the best film we watched...

2010-03-08T15:26:36.856-08:00

I feel that this has been the best film we watched so far. It was not as hard to follow as some of the others were such as Henry V, which made it more entertaining. I think Al Pacino did a great job playing Shylock and expressed his various frustrations well. In the beginning of the movie I could not help but feel sorry for Shylock,but as time progressed I grew less and less sorry for his character. For example, at the court scene he should have taken the large sum offered to him instead of pushing it away and only requesting Antonio's flesh. I feel that Shylock's character at the end of the movie was just plain greedy and only thought of revenge. But this just goes to show how hard things were for Jews at this time.

StephanieB: I feel that this has been the best fi...

2010-03-08T15:21:25.023-08:00

StephanieB:

I feel that this has been the best film we watched so far. It was not as hard to follow as some of the others were such as Henry V, which made it more entertaining. I think Al Pacino did a great job playing Shylock and expressed his various frustrations well. In the beginning of the movie I could not help but feel sorry for Shylock,but as time progressed I grew less and less sorry for his character. For example, at the court scene he should have taken the large sum offered to him instead of pushing it away and only requesting Antonio's flesh. I feel that Shylock's character at the end of the movie was just plain greedy and only thought of revenge. But this just goes to show how hard things were for Jews at this time.

I personally enjoyed this movie. It was easy to fo...

2010-03-08T14:11:49.535-08:00

I personally enjoyed this movie. It was easy to follow and I thought the twist at the end with the women disguised as lawyers was absolutely brilliant. I think the way everything happened in that movie was so clever and great. I did feel bad for Shylock. He is a jew that tried to stand up for what he believed and tried to stick up for the Jews by not having everyone just walk all over him but in the end he still got screwed. Even though he did the best to gain respect and be just as equal as the Christians he failed miserably.

I cannot believe the story of Richard III. He is a...

2010-03-08T14:08:30.650-08:00

I cannot believe the story of Richard III. He is an evil man yet some how uses his manipulation to get his way. Just because he is deformed he gets whatever he wants and that is his excuse for being a villain. Well obviously if you have a physical deformity you should automatically be a villain. Richard definitely got what he deserved in the end of the movie. I do not believe people like that should have good outcomes for their evil ways. Because Richard was such a horrible person the film needed to be grueling to really capture the essence of Richard. He was not a decent human being. He was ruthless and that is what the film demonstrated.

I found myself bouncing from one character to anot...

2010-03-08T13:33:19.608-08:00

I found myself bouncing from one character to another through out the movie. This made the plot keep the comical and upbeat tone of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. With various love triangles and heartbreaking confusion, Hoffman concluded the movie with a happy ending. For the most part, all the characters ending happily kept with the comical theme of the movie and kept myself entertained. I had never seen this movie and I was pleased with the story line and the ironic love connections. However, I felt the special affects were fairly weak with in this movie and the acting a bit over done. Overall this movie was a well-done comparison to the book.

Having music, unlike what Shakespeare had in his p...

2010-03-08T13:30:42.305-08:00

Having music, unlike what Shakespeare had in his plays, I found the most significant scene to be inspirational when King Henry V made his speech to the troops. King Henry’s troops were out numbered five to one. The violin plays as King Henry gives about a three-minute speech, and as the enthusiasm builds, so does the music. Having King Henry’s troops being out numbered, I anticipated a victory from France, but with the use of music and Henry’s speech I felt hope for their troops, and saw a chance. I’m sure this is what the director was shooting for. The speech ends and the soldiers are motivated and the music in the background is dramatic. I enjoyed watching this epic battle with the music, and it was great to see the underdogs win.

Though this movie was good, it was not my favorite...

2010-03-08T00:25:10.444-08:00

Though this movie was good, it was not my favorite. I liked that Henry was able to give motivating speaches and really connect with his soilders, ultimately leading to them winning in the battle against the French. Yet it hurt me that some of those which he used to have close relationships with, he had to abandon to prove his seriousness in defense and loyalty to the country, yet this is in the script and not the portrayal of it, so I cannot really complain of this. Still, the film was not really captivating to me. The movie was decent, but just not of particular intrest to me. It started out almost dark and dreary, and didn't really pick up from there, just overwhelmed with sadness and battle.

Although hard to follow, I do believe this is prob...

2010-03-08T00:06:42.518-08:00

Although hard to follow, I do believe this is probably the best and most intruging film we have viewed so far. There are so many intertwined stories, as usual, but something about this play really draws you in. The clash between cultures (mainly relating to relgion, again playing a big part) and the actors picked to play the charachters I feel were spot on. The man who plays Shylock did a great job portraying the part and I think really brought the charachter to life. The realness of the scenery, acting, and situations really had the ability to intrest the audience and keep you wondering what was going to happen next.

To me, this film made it simple to follow a very c...

2010-03-07T23:55:44.942-08:00

To me, this film made it simple to follow a very complicated plot. The way the scenes were portrayed and the way they were shot made it easy to stay intruiged and really captivated the audience. The used of makeup to transform charachters, the way the backgrounds would change with the characters moods, and the overall way things were explained and shown to the audience made it simple to follow along. The way in which the real world was combined with the fairy world made me almost question what was real, but the way it was sort of left up to interpretation I liked.

To me, the most dominant and reoccuring theme in t...

2010-03-07T23:34:26.334-08:00

To me, the most dominant and reoccuring theme in this film was religion. I know that it was an important aspect of the writing, but in the film over and over and over statues and pictures and symbols of religious significance were dominating the screen. I think it's amazing that something from such a different era can be slightly modified and still applicable and appealing to audiences today, and that we are still able to relate to the story of Romeo and Juliet. I watched this film four years ago around this time, and seeing it again reveals more things to me than I could have imagined, and I'm shocked by how much I missed the first run through.

This film was good, but strange at the same time. ...

2010-03-07T23:21:12.650-08:00

This film was good, but strange at the same time. I think Ian McKellen did a good job of portraying Richard, coming of in a creepy dominiant kind of way. Like others, I believe in a way he does resemble Hitler. He comes across normal, but it also makes me worry because then I begin to wonder if there are others out there who seem typical but have a completly crazy side to them. The movie kept me interested but was also hard to follow along. I liked how during certain times (like th script), Richard would look at the camera and sort of talk to himself. The way it ended with him gazing crazily into the camera falling into the fire, I thought was a great way to portray what I believed to be a dominant side of his personality, the crazy side.

Although I thought that this movie was very accura...

2010-03-07T14:02:11.240-08:00

Although I thought that this movie was very accurate, especially with the wars scenes,it was not my favorite film. I found parts of it to be very moving, including Henry's speeches and the challenges he faces with his old friends.I liked how the film had a narrator that way it added a more play like touch to it; however, the film was very confusing from the beginning and by the time you get into it the outline of the story is very fuzzy.
The music was very well done, I loved how intense it was and how it showed how serious and somber it was at this point and time. The music became motivational and uplifting during the times of Henry's speeches which also uplifts the audience and gives them hope about what is to come in the next scene.

This movie really surprised me. I expected someth...

2010-03-07T13:53:00.119-08:00

This movie really surprised me. I expected something a lot more monotonous, but I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire film. The hatred and conflicts between the Jews and Christians stood out to me the most. This chaotic divide between religions proves the brilliance behind Shakespeare’s writing because even to this day, society can relate this film to modern times. Wars between Jews and Christians still very much exist currently and have been for generations. The storyline itself was great and the acting couldn’t have been any better. Also, I thought it was funny the way the prostitute’s breasts were just hanging out of their clothes all the time…. a very distinctive characteristic.

I found this film to be one of the best that we ha...

2010-03-07T13:49:44.761-08:00

I found this film to be one of the best that we have seen yet. The character choice, music, lighting, scenery, and of course acting was very well done. Although this is supposed to be considered a comedy and may not be seen that way through modern eyes, i realize what was humorous in Shakespeares day is not always humorous today. There were some things in the play that were not exactly portrayed,information on the characters lives and background, in the film which might confuse the audience. The story of the daughter of Shylock was not very well shown, nor is the background of Antonio. The actors selected to play these parts, along with all the others did a phenominal job.
This film was very suspenceful and graphic which gave this movie a very intense twist, even the love scenes came off very serious.

I was surprised when watching this film how much i...

2010-03-07T13:39:09.869-08:00

I was surprised when watching this film how much it affected me, especially after watching films based off this play before. This is, as stated before, one of Shakeapeares most popular plays, so this movie had a lot to live up to. I believe that they did a fantastic job tying in Shakespeares emotion and story line by using the lines that he originally wrote but using modern day props. And how they placed it in a modern day setting with modernized situations. There was a lot of religious symolism throughout the movie, including flashes of the statue of Jesus, Rosaries, and the Virgin mary. All these religous symbols show how the lives of the Capuletsand Montagues are contradictions to what they so strongly believe.

This film did a great job portraying Shakespeare's...

2010-03-07T13:31:03.307-08:00

This film did a great job portraying Shakespeare's mythological play. The use of sounds a lighting really helpedd to show the audience how the characters were feeling (light lighting on the Queen when she is in love with Bottom, and dark light and thunder and lightning crashing when she is angry with Oderon). After reading the play I realized what the fairies were doing going from room to room atthe end of the film, ferilizing their beds. After reading he res of the play I realized how this film left almost nothing out from this play and in fact added it's ows twist.

I really liked this movie. I thought that the open...

2010-03-06T22:35:59.439-08:00

I really liked this movie. I thought that the opening scene really added to the madness that we see later in the play. The portrayal of Richard as a power hungry leader who will stop at nothing is genuinely scary.

I've always loved that particular staging decision...

2010-03-06T13:14:18.904-08:00

I've always loved that particular staging decision, and I wonder if McKellen is familiar with the moment in More's Richard III where Richard suborns the murder of the princes while sitting on the toilet ("a convenient carpet for such a council").

i really liked the trial scene in the film. There...

2010-03-04T10:16:02.587-08:00

i really liked the trial scene in the film. There was suspense and drama and the actors did a great job playing their parts. Overall the film was pretty good in my opinion, i was able to comprehend what was going on at all times and thats really important in a movie; especially one based on Shakespeare's plays.

This movie was really great, Al Pacino played a gr...

2010-03-03T21:56:55.369-08:00

This movie was really great, Al Pacino played a great role as Shylock. He was very firm on his contract and had envy toward Antonio already. I can't believe no one realized the girls as the judges and that Portia played a awesome part. I really think Shylock would of took a pound of flesh if he really could have. He had so much hate in him he resented Antonio so much, and I was upset that he got pretty much everything taken away from him at the end. His daughter was taken away from him half his wealth. He was like set back for something that should of not been looked down upon from his view. This was my favorite film in this class so far it was really interesting and kept me waiting in my seat to see what was going to happen next.

the story of romeo and juliet to myself and everyo...

2010-03-03T19:18:38.068-08:00

the story of romeo and juliet to myself and everyone else seems to be the most well-known Shakespeare film. I has been retold many times under the same name "Romeo and Juliet" and in some instances the names were changed but the story line was the same. In this film, how they talked in the way Shakespeare wrote made the story it more authentic to listen to, and the way they incorporated the color and modern day cars/clothes was a good way to modernize the film. I also think the film was a little corny but for the most part i found it very enjoyable.

This film was cute, fun, and exciting. It was defi...

2010-03-03T17:41:51.837-08:00

This film was cute, fun, and exciting. It was definitely one of the more entertaining of Shakespeare's play. The mythical creatures in this play and brought to life with such a good cast.