Play: Coriolanus
Movie: The BBC version
Reason for choosing movie: No other versions exist
Tropes noticed: Break the Haughty, Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas, Foe Yay, Hypocritical Humor, Ominous Latin Chanting
Moments of WTF: Somehow it's very weird to have Ominous Latin Chanting in the score for a play that's actually set in ancient Rome. ( Read more... )

Play: Antony and Cleopatra
Movie: The RSC version, with Janet Suzman and Richard Johnson
Reason for choosing movie: It's not the BBC version. It's also the last play for which we'll have the opportunity to choose something other than the BBC version.
Tropes noticed: Love Ruins The Realm, Shaped Like Itself, The Chessmaster, Do Not Go Gentle Into ( Read more... )

Play: Macbeth
Movie: The Ian McKellen/Judi Dench version
Reason for choosing movie: Ian McKellen. And Judi Dench.
Tropes noticed: No Man Of Woman Born, Empathic Environment, Anti Hero, The Hecate Sisters
Moments of WTF: The amazing table-free banquet (and the general lack of scenery, although that was definitely the weirdest moment). The Hecate

1. This is to justify my choice of icon (since I don't have one that fits my other two links)

2. Almost certainly the best-written webcomic ever made.

3. Bernard Hill is awesome. (video)

Play: King Lear
Movie: The Olivier version
Reason for choosing movie: I like Olivier, and it was highly-rated on Netflix.
Tropes noticed: Rule of Three, Smite Me Oh Mighty Smiter, Eviler Than ThouMoments of WTF: While Stonehenge may be of vaguely the right period to have Lear hold court in it, it raises certain logistical questions that I'd rather ( Read more... )

Play: Measure for Measure
Movie: The BBC version
Reason for choosing movie: No other versions exist (also, the essay on film in the Riverside Shakespeare spoke well of it)
Tropes noticed: Title Drop, Malaproper, The Scarpia Ultimatum, The Chessmaster, Secret Identity, Nice HatMoments of WTF: None in particular--this was too competent and ( Read more... )

Play: All's Well That Ends Well
Movie: The BBC version
Reason for choosing movie: No other version exists.
Tropes noticed: Title Drop, No Man Of Woman Born, All Love Is UnrequitedMoments of WTF: The point at the beginning when I realized where Narbonic's name comes from. The kiss between Helena and the King of France. "P.S. I died yesterday." The ( Read more... )

Play: Troilus and Cressida
Movie: The BBC version
Reason for choosing movie: No other version exists.
Tropes noticed: Camp Gay, Cassandra Truth, Adaptation Decay, Love Triangle, and a Shout Out (to Marlowe) that now looks like Seinfeld Is UnfunnyMoments of WTF: Hector quoting Aristotle. Blatant idiomatic cheating. The way Achilles didn't actually ( Read more... )

Play: Othello
Movie: The Olivier version
Reason for choosing movie: My dad said something about liking it. Also, I was interested in seeing a movie that Olivier acted in but didn't direct.
Tropes noticed: Xanatos Gambit, Reverse Psychology, Love Makes You Crazy/Evil, Manipulative BastardMoments of WTF: Olivier's makeup. The Warner Brothers logo at ( Read more... )

Play: Twelfth Night
Movie: The Tim Supple/Parminder Nagra version
Reason for choosing movie: The description looked interesting, and I'd already seen the Imogen Stubbs version (which is the only other non-BBC version that Netflix had which didn't have a bunch of bad reviews).
Tropes noticed: Love Dodecahedron, All Love Is Unrequited, Half Identical ( Read more... )