Missy - As You Like It ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

 As You Like it was another comedy and as light and fluffy as you could wish for. Its the story of lovers and disguises and an evil duke and good wins the day.

We saw the 2006 Branagh version. 

It was well cast and very well acted. It had some of my favorite Shakespearean actors in it and was filmed in a cozy and pretty landscape. I do wish that they had tried this in Japan if they wanted to pursue that vibe though.

I wonder, a lot, about Branagh's choice to set it in Japan. Mostly it wasn’t Japanese enough to justify that decision, although my vote is still out on the Sumo.

It felt a little too British colonial orientalist for my comfort. Very Mikado vibes.

Also the camera filters were bad or maybe they were shooting on video? This was an HBO production. I wished for less grainy golden and more crisp HD or at least more clarity.

I wound up with one very strange highlight of the viewing.

My dog was riveted by this production.

It was bizarre. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of it. When I started it she ran into the room and fixated on the screen.

At one point she walked out to check something then turned right around and trotted back in. She got sleepy halfway through and laid down on her bed and watched the rest with one eye open.

I was slightly less enthralled.

There were some real strengths here though.

I found it impressive how straight they played it. The Rosalind as a boy trope was particularly jarring. She looked even less like a boy than Viola in Twelfth Night, but they were committed.

It was a little like watching a Superman movie where the pretense of glasses is all it takes for our suspension of disbelief. It’s fun and I’m glad they stuck to their guns on the interpretation. I do enjoy, but feel a little let down by, the modern camera winking of a lot of productions. If a thing is preposterous let it be that. You don’t need to draw attention to the fact that you the production company are also aware that it’s preposterous.

This entire play, like most comedies, is fully preposterous and it’s fun that way.

Kevin Klein was the highlight for me, close runner ups go to both Bryce Dallas and David Oyelowo for their Rosalind and Orlando  they were really enjoyable and I don’t know either of them from other works.

The play is not thought provoking in and of itself but it’s fun and this was a very well done version  

As You Like It - 3.5 stars for high watchability

Mom score- 0 no moms here this is another father daughter play

Missy -Julius Caesar ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

So our list claimed that this 1953 version of Julius Caesar was the definitive version and the only one to watch hands down. 

I’ll give you a little taste here. 

Julius Caesar is the story of the assassination of Caesar by his fellow republicans. It’s about their motivations and the reactions of his world thereafter. 

I hadn’t seen any version of this play before, though I had read it. The positives were that those throw away lines, referring to the biggest storm ever, or the crowd becoming a mob, got the royal MGM treatment on the screen. There is a giant cast and the special effects are big and booming and immersive. This really makes a huge difference for me as the audience.

Brando as Marc Anthony

and Mason as Brutus are great!

But I felt the hamminess of a big Ben-Hur tinged Hollywood in most of the other performances. Particularly, I felt it with Caesar (Louis Calhern) and Cassius (John Gielgud). I felt the Captain Kirk pauses and grandiose poses, keenly. 

Some of this is just temporal dissonance, I’m used to and prefer, in a likely juvenile way, one kind of movie and this is another. BUT mostly it’s because I vastly prefer a natural sounding delivery, like anything by Branagh, to the sort of scenery chewing shout-fests the 50’s were keen on.

Here the famous Marc Anthony Speach in two styles so you can hear what I mean.

I love this one.

Here is the 1953. I like this one and think Brando is great here.

A lot of the shouting is due to the crowd and distance, completely appropriate to the scene, but not all of it. Older movies (mostly for technical reasons) were shouty. 

I find shouty less compelling.

If you want a real taste of what I don’t like go look up the Charlton Heston version (shudder).

Enough complaining about old Hollywood. 

The play is also not my favorite. It is short and still manages to pack in a bushel of spechifying. 

I’m much more a fan of Greece than Rome when it comes to the two giants of ancient western civilizations. So the attack and defense of the Roman ideals is never going to be much for me. In Shakespeares day everyone literate was brought up on Rome and things Roman and this series of plays makes great sense for them.

There are great ideas here and noble dissertations. To me though it’s not compelling in and of itself.

This play brought more quotable quotes than you could imagine for such a small one.

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars

But in ourselves,”


“Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.”

“Et tu, Brutè?”

“Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war.”

It goes on and on. You know lines from this play if you are old enough to read this blog. It has in it some masterful writing.

It’s beautifully written and interesting but it has yet to grab me. This is probably also because I dislike Caesar and most of the conspirators and most of the crowd characters.

The most interesting things for me here all point to Marc Anthony and Octavius in their future. Probably because my foot in the door for Rome comes from I Claudius . I love I Claudius!

It did tickle my history fancy though.

Here for your viewing pleasure some fun Julius Caesar images. 

Brando smoking on set. 

Julius Caesar 

Marc Anthony 

Brutus

Now for something completely different. I've been waiting to do this play, with great anticipation, to put this video, that my daughter showed me last year, up. Its fantastic. Warning it is gory.

I hope someone, in future, does a version of Julius Caesar that I like more. I’m not writing it off by any means but this version wasn’t entirely for me. 

Julius Caesar - 3.5 stars for not grabbing me. 

Mom score - no real moms but I want to give 4 stars to Calpurnia for having to go through the barren woman shaming from Caesar in act one.