Film of the
Week
On 23rd April 1616, the greatest writers in history of
the English language, William Shakespeare passed away at age 52 in his home town
Stratford-Upon-Avon. Shakespeare’s plays are still being performed today on stage
and in film and TV. His influence has extended to other films and TV, works of
literature, and even the English language itself. In many of his plays, he had invented
new words and phrases that we all use every day. Writers back then and nowadays
have been influenced by his writings; creating their own.
This week, to pay tribute to William Shakespeare, my film of the
week will be his most famous play, Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet has been
adapted into many films over the years, but the one I am going to talk about today
is the 1996 adaptation, staring Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo, and Claire Danes as
Juliet. When it was released, it was considered a modern retelling of the story
but retaining its original dialogue. Being an adaptation, you are to expect a
few changes, but it is as faithful to the original play as it can possibly get.
All the cast play their parts well, bringing the characters into
the modern world. Leo’s performance as Romeo superbly captures his love for
Juliet, and the anger he has towards his family disapproving of their love. His
best scene in my opinion is when he’s talking to Juliet who, at this point in
the story, is in a coma. This is just before Romeo takes his life to be with
Juliet forever, right before Juliet wakes up to discover what he had just done.
This is Claire’s best scene. Her reaction to Romeo’s actions. The characters’
love for one another couldn’t have been projected more beautifully during their
last scene together, it was perfect. The rest of the cast, Romeo’s friends and
family, Juliet’s friends and family, both supporting them and critical of them,
it is a lot of emotion to channel all at once, but the lucidity of Shakespeare’s
words takes the majority of that weight of their shoulders, giving them space
to breathe, which allows them to take control of their characters, and knock
their performance out of the park.
With it being a modern adaptation of the play, before watching the
film, I had automatically accepted that factor instead of picking out all the
parts that might have been a bit hazy if I were to have watched it with a clear
mind. With that being said, to give it a rating out of ten for being the move
it is, I would give it a solid 7/10.
And let’s not forget, that if it weren’t for William Shakespeare
writing Hamlet, the Lion King may never have been made, which means we would
never have had that absolutely staggering opening with that unforgettable song
that everyone sings… and I mean everyone.
TV Episode
of the Week
Whose Line is it Anyway? – Season 10 – Episode 24
This may seem like an abrupt change in genres, but there is a
reason why I am talking about this show. When it went off the air after Season
8 in 1997, fans have missed this giant in TV entertainment, which is why they
were excited to learn that it was coming back. The new series was met with
mixed reactions: Some were saying that the show isn’t as good as it used to be,
or they need to bring Drew Carey back, whilst others are saying that it is just
as good as it ever was. I have to agree with the latter. Whose Line is it
Anyway? never fails to make me laugh. The fact that all the jokes are completely
improvised on the spot, right off the performers’ heads makes the jokes that
much more impactful.
All the greats are back: Ryan Styles, Colin Mochrie, and Wayne
Brady as the regular guests, with a rotation of all the recurring guests who
were on the show before: Greg Proops, Brad Sherwood, Jeff Davies, among others.
I singled out this particular episode however, because, in my
opinion, it contains the greatest improvised song I’ve ever heard. During the last
game of the show, Song Styles, where Ryan and Colin advertise a CD containing
songs about a certain subject – this is usually where their best banter comes
from – and then Wayne improvises a song based on Ryan and Colin’s suggested
style of music and title. All of Wayne’s songs have been incredible. The way he
is able to pull words out of thin air as easily as he does always will baffle
me, but in this particular game, he sets a new height for the bar. The
suggested theme of the songs will be about the roommate, and the first song was
pitched by Ryan: Belly dancing song called, Evicted. Wayne nails it, as well as
the dance. The second song – which is the better of the two – is pitched by Colin:
Adele inspired song called “I Found Him in Bed with my Best Girl”. Every single
time I hear Wayne sing that song, he tricks me into believing that he has been
singing that song for years, but knowing that he is simply making every word up
on the spot, and making it funny at the same time, blows my mind. I can’t
praise Wayne without giving some to the musicians providing the music: Laura
Hall and Linda Taylor. They are wonderful musicians, but even they have to admit
that they are incredible when it came to playing the music for the song. How
they were able to keep in time with Wayne’s improvisations, again blows my
mind. At the end, he deserved nothing less than the stand ovation the studio audience
gave Wayne after that astonishing performance
The rest of the episode is also great. When watching that episode,
it’s as if they never left the air. They slip back into their ways naturally, giving
us yet another episode of great comedy.
Game of the
Week
Sliter.io
Agar.io is about eating everything to get as big as you possibly
can and dominate the area. You do have to have your wits about you as you are
everyone’s target, just as everyone else is your target. If you are big enough,
no one is safe.
Slither.io is more or less an identical game but with snakes instead
of cells. Based off Agar.io and the classic snake game, Sliter.io is all about
finding those edible cells in order to grow, but unlike Agar.io, you can’t get
eaten unless you make the mistake of ramming into someone, or someone has the
skills to trap you so there is no way out. No matter how big you are, if you
run into the smallest of snakes, you will lose the game, and they will be able to
feast on the food you leave behind, allowing them to grow just as big. If you
are lucky enough to have the largest snake in the area run into you, you still
have to be careful, however, because everyone will flock to all that food, and
many people may not escape alive.
It is a lot more aggressive game when there’s a lot more risk
involved, ironically speaking. You can play it on your browser, meaning it is
completely free for everyone. I’ll leave you a link if you feel you would like
to waste a few hours.
Video of the
Week
Clark Gregg performs Britney Spears’ “Toxic” | Lip Sync Battle
(By Lip Sync Battle on Spike)
What has been seen cannot be unseen, and I do not regret seeing it
at all. It’s so ridiculous, it’s awesome. Clark Gregg’s rival is Hayley Atwell,
who plays Peggy Carter in “Marvel’s Peggy Carter”. You can see the full battle
this Thursday 21st April.
Thanks for reading
Antony Hudson
(TonyHadNouns)
My book, Sector 22: Zoey, is now available on Amazon, eBay, and SkyCat Publications' website:
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Ask me anything at:
ahudsonpresents@live.co.uk
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