I understand the appeal of doing a goofy Shakespeare production at your house with your friends, but the fact that people said it was good always baffled me.
(Also, the Douglas Fairbanks Taming of the Shrew, which was the first ever sound film based on Shakespeare, infamously featured an "additional dialogue" credit).
I'd have given him credit for the dark tone shift of the last 1/3 of Much Ado making more sense after seeing every character drunk out of their mind the whole time... But the Tennant/Tate stage version did that the year before. SUSPICIOUS, Joss, real sneaky.
The wedding scene really lends itself to a dark shift. The Tennant/Tate version has one of the greatest examples of using breath for a dramatic shift that I've ever seen. Tate's pivot to "kill Claudio" is a master class.
exactly this! using the “everyone’s drinking constantly” makes the Tennant/Tate one really sell the end of the play, especially Claudio during/post funeral. just a really smart framing. agree with you about the breath shift there too — it’s masterful.
I've never liked Coffee and Cigarettes by Jarmusch, and no amount of overanalyizing will sway my opinion that it is dull.
Feels good to get that off my chest, thanks.
it fucking blows ass. nicest thing i can say about is that black and white poster of the cocktail in color was sorta nice to look at & fillion was fun enough
everything else felt like it was a movie teachers would play for film school detention
Fillion is genuinely fine but it’s also SO clear they cut all the more intellectually challenging / more complex malaprop lines that his delivery couldn’t nail.
i think @pizzalawyer420.bsky.social taught me that one but i think about it a lot when it comes to this sort of overindulgent but underdeveloped pet projects
Nathan Fillion is fine (in some places). the musical arrangements of the two canonical songs are pretty good. everything else is irredeemably bad. sorry if you enjoyed it; have you tried liking absolutely anything else instead
i rewatched branagh's much ado a couple of years ago and not only is it great but the opening 10 minutes remains the most exuberant and joyful opening 10 minutes of any film i've seen. everyone is delirious.
I have a massive soft spot for it because of what I was doing when it came out but a) boy was that whole thing a red flag for where we ended up and b) the story wasn't great even at the time.
I think I will defend Alexis Denisof combat rolling across the French windows with the big branch, Branagh's version of that scene is better but I still think it was funny
the way they do the mourning song is legitimately good, I’ll give them that. it is also notably a scene where none of the actors are speaking Shakespeare’s lines (without a melody backing them)
I will always have a certain fondness for it only because it was the last film I saw at the Cinerama Dome Arclight before it went away. The movie was minimum effort though
I wouldn’t go that far. It’s still Much Ado, and there really is only so far you can mess up Shakespeare’s best comedy. But you’re wasting your time by not picking basically any other version of it.
At the premiere he said that he had actor friends over to his house every weekend to do dramatic readings of Shakespearean plays and that’s how the idea happened— looking for something to do during a WGA strike. However, it really just does look like a movie night at Whedon ‘s house.
not a single actor can deliver most of the play’s lines beyond a decent amateur level, even after paring the script back. they’re trading on cast and audience familiarity, and while you can make the argument that the Tennant/Tate one does too, at least that one’s funny.
I like it for some of the reasons people are hating on it here.
Yes, it does feel like movie night at Joss's house, but that's part of why I like it. I feel the feeling that Shakespeare doesn't have to be Wagner. It can be everyday cozy.
Beyond the diction and sound mixing, I like the delivery because it makes it understandable. This might just be because I am a pleb, but I found it extremely understandable at first blush in a way that most other Shakespeare I've seen hasn't been.
I think understandability is important! but they get there by cutting a lot of the hard lines or exposition, and it’s noticeable if you know the play. hard not to feel like it’s a disservice, even to people like you who feel like it’s a way in.
That makes sense, because I don't know the play. If I had, I might feel the same way. But there's something to be said for a play being understandable without the need to study it in advance.
Usually I have to read the (Shakespeare) play in advance before I can follow it on stage. Saw Branagh's Macbeth live in NYC, and the staging etc. was fantastic, but if I hadn't read it in advance I would have been totally lost.
it’s just boring and completely underwhelming compared to other versions imo. If you want a good film adaptation, do the 90s Branagh version. If you want a “modern” production go for the 2019 one on internet archive.
Oooohh my hot take is that I don’t like the Branagh adaptation, but that’s mainly because the guy seems like he has a frustratingly massive ego. Which is ironic since that suits Benedick’s character well. 🤷♀️
Watched a bit of it and realized why Shakespeare productions put all the characters in different colored costumes. Or actors of varying heights and ages or distinctive hairstyles. No way was I going to keep track of all those B&W bland boys. And I was in a college production of Much Ado!
I was a big Person of Interest fan and we had a huge drought waiting for new seasons so I basically watched that thing for Amy Acker and my eyes glazed over the rest of the cast
there are other stage versions that are equally good (because they aren’t trying to do the same thing as Branagh’s, and are using different techniques because they aren’t film-first)
If you're interestedn, you can commonly find Digital Theatre's 2011 Much Ado on YouTube less-than-legitimately (as well as through the DT app), I believe National Theatre Live has a production on their site as well, also paywalled.
The Globe also puts proshots online, though I haven't subscribed-- I do assume, given who it is, that the production quality will be good. I really should make my husband subscribe for teaching his classes so I can steal the login.
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If I dared ever watch it again I might take issue with this
Feels good to get that off my chest, thanks.
everything else felt like it was a movie teachers would play for film school detention
which does pain me because it's a good cast, but. it's just really boringly done.
I will never forgive him for killing off Wash in the movie.
Yes, it does feel like movie night at Joss's house, but that's part of why I like it. I feel the feeling that Shakespeare doesn't have to be Wagner. It can be everyday cozy.
I also like the... diction and sound mixing?
the choice to have Hero insist on the dress Margaret wore the previous night is smart. the music is good. that’s all I can give it.
I could follow the plot easily in the Whedon Ado.
1. The kerning on the title card makes it look like "MUCHADO" which is very fun to say
2. It reminds you of the Branagh version so you can go watch that instead.