Shakespeare in Love: Collector's Series

Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare in Love
Review: I felt that Shakespeare in Love was awfully clever and a pleasure to watch, over and over again. I find that, while personally discussing this DVD, that the majority of people who either felt that it was an undeserving piece of fluff or overrated were those who simply could not/would not/did not/have not enjoy(ed) Shakespeare no matter which form it was presented. The dialogue, quotes and plot lines from both Romeo and Juliet and The Twelfth Night keep me coming back for more.

Rating:
Summary: not so great
Review: i think the movie was overrated. i thought it was nice because i majored in english literature and enjoyed my shakespeare classes. my friends, the math and science majors, suffered through it.

Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding!
Review: This is one of the best movies of all time... with dramatic literature as a backdrop, a finely twisted plot, a dash of romance, and fantastic acting, writing, directing, sets, and costumes! You will love Shakespeare In Love!

Rating:
Summary: Cute and Vacant
Review: I suppose the reason critics gushed over this film so much and the academy threw so many awards its way was because the premise had some creative potential and it was competently produced. I'll also guess that many well-liked people were involved in the project. But I thought it was pretty thin in the story department. It seemed to be trying awfully hard to be clever, and it seemed to think it was doing a dang good job of it. I thought it was tedious fluff.

Rating:
Summary: Great Bonus Material
Review: Besides being a great movie, I found the bonus material to be incredibly intriguing. The DVD has a great segment with the producer, writers, and director discussing the film. Plus there is commentary from both the director as well as the cast can crew. I find this to be so interesting - learning why certain shots were filmed the way they were, background on a character, or how certain sites were chosen. It's a chance to get inside the director's head and see the movie from his perspective.

Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare For Idiots
Review: This must ahve been the most over-rated movie of 1999. Those people that nominated it for so many Oscars were kidding, right? Elizabeth was so much better.And as for people calling this "imaginative" and "innovative" Shakespeare. I call it an unnecessary butchering of a poet whose plays are so imaginative and innovative in themselves, that belittleing his motivations and reasons for writing "Romeo and Juliet" was a terrible thing to do.

Rating:
Summary: Stooopid (what I saw of it between zzzzzz's)
Review: This is the best movie they could come up with without blowing stuff up? I was hoping for something fun or perhaps a sweet romance...slim pickings here. Annoyingly full of itself and quasi-subliterate. The actors looked dumb, too --that Fiennes guy, especially, bored me. This is a movie that thinks its all that & got a lot of 'mo-spaiens to nod along but hasn't got much there there. You may rightly (and unapologetically) consider yourself smarter and more discerning than others if you disdain this piece of business.

Rating:
Summary: A rip-off of "No Bed for Bacon"
Review: "Shakespeare in Love" is fairly amusing. But all its really good, imaginative, funny, moving ideas were stolen - apparently without acknowledgement - from the novel "No Bed for Bacon" by Caryl Brahms and S. J. Simon, now out of print, alas. Subtract that material and what is left is mostly infantile humor and a standard offering of nudity.

Rating:
Summary: A golden film
Review: Shakespeare in Love is a film for anyone who loves art and literaturewith a passion. Aside from being a beautiful love story, the filmitself is a "love letter" to the arts. I can only describeit as a "golden" film, because that's what I think of when Ipicture scenes from the movie...pure gold. I love Shakespeare, andthe brilliant screenplay manages to make a flesh and blood person outof such an enigmatic historical figure - it may not be real, but it'sa lot of fun nonetheless. The acting is superb - Gwyneth Paltrow isglorious, Judi Dench is fabulous, Geoffrey Rush is hilarious, andJoseph Fiennes is the hottest thing to come along since his olderbrother! I love the ending especially - Twelfth Night is my favoriteShakespearean play, and the last line just speaks volumes: "Forshe will be my heroine for all time, and her name will be Viola."Perhaps the best thing about the film is the way it blends comedy andtragedy together in such a bittersweet way.

One final note: I toowas surprised that this film won Best Picture, because I also lovedSaving Private Ryan. Both films were cinematic masterpieces of verydifferent kinds, and both were equally worthy. I'm glad the Academyshook things up a little.bfounded while the final credits rolled. MarcNorman and Tom Stoppard must have loved their subject matter,researched the period with zeal as well as having the ability tocreate a moving romantic drama.

The whole thing was createdout of the barest glimmer of fact concerning Shakespeare's life. Itfocuses on the gap between his marriage in London as a young man andhis eventual return to London as a successful playwright. The theorystates that "suffering is the mother of creativity", soYoung William must have had a great deal of hardship indeed. Hence,the opportunity for a wonderful movie to be made.

A handsomeyoung Shakespeare is introduced to us during a black period ofwriter's block. He is portrayed as any other writer we could imagine;poor, horny, suffering from professional jealousy and not particularlyrespectable. He's over-committed to two theatres and selling vaporwarefor all he's worth. Poorly named vaporware at that, "Romeo andEthyl the Pirate's Daughter".

But fate has more in storefor this hopeful scribbler than even he would dream. Enter stage left,the love of his life, in the guise of an actor, shyly auditioning fora part in his new play. (Shades of Blackadder here). He is immediatelytaken by this youthfull stage strutter because of a seeming preferencefor Bill's work over that of the leading playwright of the day,Christopher Marlowe.

This interest takes him to the actor'shome, where Tomas Kent transforms himself into Viola De Lesseps therefined daughter of a wealthy merchant. This magic act is onlypossible because of the artful protection offered by Viola's nurse andpart time confidant, played by Imelda Staunton. And as with ClarkeKent, no one can penetrate the cunning disguise of Mr Thomas Kent,except for a friendly ferryman. And it is this very ferryman that putsWilliam on the right path in his pursuit of the lady Viola.

And so we get the privilege of watching William Shakespeare givebirth to the Famous Romeo and Juliet as a counterpoint to his torridand dangerous affair with a woman betrothed to Lord Wessex; one of themost influential and powerful men in the city. The ups and downs, insand outs of this relationship, and its eventual end, are alldelightful to watch as well as being grist for the mill ofShakespeare's future plays.

For anyone that has even a passingfamiliarity with the Bard's work or just likes a good romance, takethe time to enjoy this special movie. In fact, take a few timesbecause it gets better with every viewing.

Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare in Love is decent, but not much more
Review: I was watching the Oscars last year waiting to see which film would be awarded Best Picture. To my surprise the honor went to Shakespeare in Love rather than Saving Private Ryan (which is the best war film ever made).

So, I watched Shakespeare in Love and I was disappointed. The film received spectacular reviews and I had been expecting a hilarious romantic comedy with great chemistry between Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes. Instead, the film offered occasionally moments of funny humor and clever wit but no true belly laughs.

But the main problem lay within the film's leading stars. They have very little chemistry. I mean, I wasn't exactly expecting Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet (Titanic, which is a much better film due to those leading star's chemistry), but Paltrow looks as if she's ready to avert her eyes away from Fiennes and blush every time they kiss. I wasn't convinced that her character Viola was actually in love with Shakespeare. Heck, these two make Keanu Reeves and Carrie Ann Moss look like Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. Despite the lack of chemistry, both Fiennes and Paltrow deliver good performances (Fiennes should have been nominated, Paltrow did well but shouldn't have won or been nominated). I will credit the Academy for awarding this film Best Original Score in a Comedy because the soundtrack is absoulutely marvelous and is second only to John William's Saving Private Ryan score. But when the most rousing aspect of a film is its musical score what exactly does that say about the film itself?

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