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word_girl
Stolen from Bill Maher, by way of Sister_Dolphin:
And while we're on the subject, New Rule: Crazy people who still think the government brought down the Twin Towers in a controlled explosion have to stop pretending that I'm the one who's being na�ve. How big a lunatic do you have to be to watch two giant airliners packed with jet fuel slam into buildings on live TV, igniting a massive inferno that burned for two hours, and then think, well, if you believe that was the cause.... Stop asking me to raise this ridiculous topic on the show and start asking your doctor if Paxil is right for you.
I could not have said it better myself, like, ever. [clap]New rule!
My biggest annoyance (right now): People who confuse their own taste with actual merit.
Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it isn't good. Shocking, I know, but true.
I rather love this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=gGeF_z5xYzY
For purposes of discussion, when I say "OMG" it means "oh, my gosh." [wink]
This space is my retired sig gallery.
Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be - Vonnegut
That remote in your hand is a crackpipe!
The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.
One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough.- James Thurber
You're legally allowed to drink now, so we figured the best thing for you was a car.
I am what I am today because I was pushed and because I pushed myself.
If you want to know the way to my heart...good spelling and good grammar, good punctuation, capitalize only where you are supposed to capitalize, it's done.
Dress the fish in fur Teach the fish to purr Kid me it's the cat Cat-fish can be swell!
The plural of anecdote is not evidence.
... I say fate should not tempt me
I do believe that evil wants its own destruction.
Fellas, don't drink that coffee! ... There was a fish in the percolator.
Something has to be done, but nothing too original, because hey, this is Hollywood.
Reviews
Romeo & Juliet (1994)
The best word for this production is "servicable."
Take Shakespeare's most accessible play, add two leads and several supporting actors who know their jobs, and you get a watchable but somewhat lackluster performance. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with it; it simply lacks the star power, beauty and/or distinction of other, more famous versions.
To start with, the two "young" lovers (both in their mid-20s at the time of the shoot) do their best to portray teenage passion. Unfortunately for them, we've seen this done much better by actual teenagers - Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting in the triumphant 1967 version by Franco Zefferelli. Even Clare Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio, in 1996's Romeo+Juliet, did a better job portraying adolescent hormones fueling the headlong rush into love.
Geraldine Somerville and Jonathan Firth, on the other hand, seem anchored in their own maturity and craft. There's no denying their skill or their commitment to the material, but they just don't sell themselves as teenagers. They seem more caught up in the beauty of Shakespeare's words than in the relationship those words portray.
The same problem dogs the supporting cast - especially Mercutio. Played well, he's one of the most fascinating characters Shakespeare has written. In this production, Ben Daniels turns his speeches into rants. Even his death scene falls flat.
The only real standouts are John Nettles and Jenny Agutter as Lord and Lady Capulet, and John Woodvine as Friar Lawrence. Fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" might be tempted to check this version out because Alexis Denisof (aka Wesley) is cast as Tybalt. However, he has little screen time and less screen presence in the production. Fans of the Harry Potter series will note that Sommerville made several brief appearances as Lily, Harry's mother.
To me, the amazing thing about Shakespeare is the way he illuminated real people with vibrant personalities who would not be out of place in the world today - and then gave them words that are among the most beautiful and eloquent ever penned. Too many productions focus on the gorgeous language and fail to delve into the people speaking. That's the key flaw in this production. It's not fatal, but there are better versions available.