Much Ado About Nothing vs Much Ado About Nothing

Though I could easily have called this post “My Relationship With Shakespeare” and went on and on like I did with my “Superman” post (maybe I will one day), I decided to rein myself in and stick to the task at hand… though we all know that’s not possible.

Tonight @luckyjon, a friend and I went to see Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing. Straight up, I really enjoyed it. After all, it is my favourite Shakespeare adaptation, due in most part to Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 film. I think it may have been my first Shakespeare experience. With the probable exception of Animanics…

*I had to. We’ve been on an Animaniacs kick lately. Thanks, YouTube.*

The first time I saw Branagh’s film was on tv one night. It was before I read any Shakespeare in high school, but for some reason remember being really excited about it.

My Relationship with Superman.

Alright. There are a lot of Man of Steel reviews out there. I’ve have read quite a few of them myself and they all seem to bring up similar points. I’m not here to review Man of Steel. Not properly anyway.

This post was inspired by the Fatman on Batman podcast with Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman that I listened to today. They talk about Man of Steel,  as well as the other versions of Superman through his own history. I am one hour into this two and a half hour podcast, but I was enjoying it – as I do every FonB – and was laughing most of the way to and home from work. Kevin liked it. Ralph did not. It’s an interesting and amusing conversation. Give it a listen.  http://smodcast.com/episodes/man-of-steel-super-special-fat-man-and-gar-man-on-superman/

To start, I’m not a fan of Superman in general. Yes, I love comic books. Yes, I love superheroes. But for some reason, I just never really cared for Superman. Sure he fights for what is right. He can fly. Has laser vision. Wears a brightly coloured costume. But it’s all straight up superpower. Where’s the gadgets? That’s what does it for me. Anyone who knows me knows I’m on Team Batman. Through and through. More on Batman later. He deserves a blog all to himself…. and I’ve know I’ve said that before. “That’s for another blog.” But it’s true. Bear with me. I have plans.

Back to Superman. I could take him or leave him. I tried watching the 1978 Superman years ago and got bored. All I remember was some boring talk on a boring Krypton, a geeky news guy, Superman flying Lois around the city and then later flying around Earth to turn back time. That’s it.

“You Can’t Have A Kansas City Shuffle Without a Body.”

Back in 2006, Lucky Number Slevin earned itself a solid spot in my Top Ten. Quite possibly Top Five… I really should write down a definite list one day.

From the dream team (which in my case is director/editor) that brought us Gangster No.1, Wicker Park and The Reckoning – though to be 100% honest, I have only seen Gangster No.1, but I will rectify this very soon – and writer Jason Smilovic comes a stylistic, entertaining crime film. Now, I have always felt this film was poorly marketed, and I stand by that to this day. IMDb labels it Crime, Drama, Mysetery. Wikipedia calls it a Crime Thriller. Rotten Tomatoes the Mystery & Suspense, Drama route. Is everybody forgetting how funny this movie is?

To me this movie is a dark comedy packed with action, excessive, yet stylized violence and plot twists. Crime movie? Yes. Rival Mob bosses with vendettas. Multiple murders. Gambling and dead bookies. Crime is covered. Thriller? Maybe. It does get your heart pumping from time to time, but a quick Google search for “thriller movies” brings up examples to which Slevin just doesn’t compare. Drama? Not quite. Mystery? I usually expect a P.I. in a mystery. A little dash of Sam Spade, from time to time. Not here.

I’m gonna stick with Action, Comedy.

My Favourite Trilogy… and it’s not Star Wars.

The first time I saw Before Sunrise, I fell in love.  With the characters, with Linklater and with Vienna. I’m sure I was already in love with Ethan Hawke – who isn’t?

To this day, it still holds strong on my Top Five list – maybe even the number one spot. It’s spontaneous and romantic. Who wouldn’t want to be swept off their feet  in a beautiful country. It’s endearing and captivating. It made Linklater really stand out to me. It takes a lot to write a film that is essentially an hour and a half of conversation, not to mention conversation that feels real and believable.  After watching Before Sunrise, I went on to watch all of Linklater’s films. I was already well-schooled in Dazed and Confused, but I continued on with Slacker, SubUrbia (which I LOVE) and The Newton Boys. By then I was up to date, so saw his other films as they came out. I enjoyed most of them, but Before Sunrise was always my favourite. It’s the reason I want to go to Vienna. It’s high up there on my bucket list. I ALMOST went, but it was winter and I want to go in the spring out summer. We went to Lisbon instead.

So how excited was I when Before Sunset was announced?!