I bet you think running this site is all fun and games. Oh sure, I have an unhealthy addiction for Mahjong that I have been trying to pass off on Anna, but that is besides the point. I don’t get to just lay around all day, watching whatever I want whenever I want. I have, like, a system. A rigorous, temperamental system.

When I first started this column it was meant to be an excuse for me to finally watch certain films I had always wanted to watch when I was younger, but for whatever reason, had simply never gotten around to doing so. But while that selfishly worked well as an initial idea, that wasn’t going to be enough to fuel a column, let alone an entire site. So thus my initial idea inevitably began to expand.

Soon I began to look for films that would push me out of my comfort zone, as well as those that would have appealed to me when I was a youth. From there it was just a hop, skip and a jump to include reviews of true independent films and hard to find foreign films as well. Finally, I began to track down movies that were out of print or simply never released in the US. And as I added on each new group of films, the list of movies I planned to watch and review grew increasingly larger and more daunting.

(more…)

I’ve always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Shakespeare. He was full of interesting ideas and his plays contain “timeless” themes that show up in film even today, but he always comes across as so … uhh … stuffy. Even Robert De Niro’s friends refer to him as Bob or Bobby (the better to prove to everyone that they are friends with him) but does anyone talk about Billy Shakespeare? I didn’t think so.

Let me be honest for a moment, while Shakespeare Is quite capable of being sharp witted, poignant and surprisingly invigorating the means in which he delivers these messages can be hampered by his flowery prose. Now I understand that for purists this is the only way to enjoy Shakespeare, but I fully admit that I typically prefer adaptations that focus on the themes and story lines of his work, but not the phonetic ballyhoo that would otherwise accompany it. Even more directly put, why would one watch King Lear when you can watch Ran instead? Or read A Midsummer Night’s Dream when Neil Gaiman’s Sandman is beckoning me to open it instead? For me Shakespeare has simply always been more enjoyable when used as a building material, rather then as a finished product.

(more…)