Day 138: Shakespeare in Space? Make it happen, James Franco

from Baldwin Wallace Theatre & Dance (source)

In James-Franco-is-a-stoner-and-I-don't-have-anything-else-to-write-about-today-news, James Franco is a stoner who has decided to write a review for Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby in Vice magazine. He argues that critics are being overly harsh about the director's adaptation, saying:

"Would anyone object to a production of Hamlet in outer space? Not as much as they object to the Gatsby adaptation, apparently...Maybe that's because Gatsby is so much about a time and a place, while Shakespeare, in my mind, is more about universal ideas, ideals, and feelings. Luhrmann needed to breathe life into the ephemera and aura of the 20s and that's just what he succeeded at."

'The Great Gatsby'/James Franco (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures/Getty Images) (from Yahoo! Movies)

Please please please let that mean that chronically scattered James Franco is planning an adaptation of Hamlet in space!

I'd also like to point out that this is not completely outside the realm of possibility. James Franco previously adapted Gus Van Sant's 1991 movie, My Own Private Idaho--which was loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry V--by re-editing the original footage to showcase star River Phoenix, calling the resulting film My Own Private River. Then he wrote an article about it which appeared in the book Living with Shakespeare.

So what I'm saying is this: James Franco could totally decide to do Hamlet in space. YES! That is exactly the level of crazy ideas the world needs.

Speaking of space, let's all just watch Col. Chris Hadfield be amazing one more time, shall we?

Day 133: What I Learned: Hamlet

Hamlet (1990)
via

Yay! It really was as good as I remember. Genius. Pure genius.

Day 132: To Be or Not to Be...

It's one of the most famous soliloquies in all of Shakespeare's plays. In fact it's probably the only reason I even know the word "soliloquy." It was the first (and possibly only?) Shakespearean passage I ever memorized (oh, wait, not only...I also used to have parts of "Venus and Adonis" memorized). Here's an homage to Hamlet's famous speech, "To Be or Not to Be."

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Day 131: My personal favourite Hamlet in film...

There are a lot of film adaptations of Hamlet, some direct and some indirect. I mean, it's a tremendously influential play. But my favourite is probably from the William Peter Blatty's little-known 1980 gem, The Ninth Configuration. It's not a retelling of the play, but the plot is influenced both literally and thematically by Hamlet.

You can watch the whole film on YouTube, but skip to the 31:30 mark to see Jason Miller explain his adaptation of Shakespeare's plays for dogs!

Day 130: Aww...look at the cute lil skull! Hamlet Lego

Day 129: Hamlet word cloud

So it's pretty clear that the play's about Hamlet, right? I love these wordles from SCC English!

And for another take on the word cloud, check out the poster below (sorry it's hard to see):

This one's a little harder to see, but it's the entire play on one page, from SpinelessClassics

Day 128: Sock Monkey Hamlet!

Sock Monkey Hamlet, by David Jones (fineartamerica)

Silly monkey gravediggers! You don't even have thumbs!

Day 127: New Play Tuesday! Hamlet

Ophelia, by John Everett Millais (via WikiCommons)
My friend Adrienne told me that the model for this painting was in a claw-footed bathtub heated by candles for hours, so the artist could capture the effect of water on the dress. Unfortunately, the candles went out, the water got cold, and the model got pneumonia and died. I'm not sure if that's true though.

No matter how much I've disliked some of the plays I've read so far, I am genuinely excited to be re-reading Hamlet this week. I remember it as a nearly perfect play: thought-provoking, emotional, memorable and just plain genius. I'm excited.

Day 41: More Lego Shakespeare!

Othello

Here are some more Lego Shakespeare, this time from brickshelf. Enjoy!

Day 32: Shakespeare Lego!

I'm still slogging through The Merchant of Venice. "Slogging" is a terrible word. I'm actually enjoying it quite a bit, I'm just having trouble staying as motivated to read quickly as I had been. Maybe it's because Mike is a play behind and I can't talk about Shylock with him. Or maybe I'm just like the hare in that parable, lounging around because I feel I'm so far ahead in the race.

Either way, here, enjoy some Shakespeare lego, courtesy of mocpages.com:

Macbeth Act V, Scene 8