Sometimes I think I see sexism in movies where there isn’t any. I think that I am oversensitive when I whine about the portrayal of women in Hancock, or the dearth of legitimate female friendships, or the double standard represented by the MPAA’s recent decision to categorize “male nudity” as separate from “nudity,” while […]
I first saw Jesse Eisenberg* in the 2005 film The Squid and the Whale. In it, he played the mostly unlikeable, snobbish son of a couple going through one of the most nasty divorces ever put to film. The movie showed Eisenberg’s transition from gawky, assholeish teen to sympathetic young man against the back drop […]
Stage Fighting or Choreographed Violence for Violence’s Sake There are a few things that people always find memorable when they go to the theater. For my purposes, I’ll use Shakespeare’s Hamlet to illustrate (I have a theme, and I like to stick to it). People will always remember “To be or not to be” (but few […]
I participated in a conference call with host Sean Hayes earlier this week and was not impressed. The man had never been to the Tonys before and had only seen one of the nominated productions (Red). Top that off with the occasional rude comment, his repetition of the fact that he has no hosting ambitions […]
In Defense of Faires as Theatre or I just can’t wait for Faire Season For those of us who worship Hugh Laurie for his portrayal of Dr. Gregory House, I’m sure no one even considered for a second missing last week’s episode. For those of you who don’t, I’ll explain. Last week (not this past […]
Much Ado About a Midsummer Night’s King Macbeth IV Part 2 or Remembering William Shakespeare On this most auspicious of days, April 23- Shakespeare’s birthday, I thought that I might take a moment or two to remember one of the greatest men who ever lived. Shakespeare was, both in my opinion and in the opinion […]
Yes, that’s right kids, it’s April 23. Which means that it’s Shakespeare’s birthday! It’s also Shakespeare’s deathday (spooky, I know) but that’s depressing, so we’re going to focus on the fact that it’s his birthday. In honour of this most prestigious of days, I offer you a list of my 15 favourites from the illustrious […]
I have this friend who has played many of Shakespeare’s greatest roles, heroes and villains alike. He’s tackled Aaron the moor and Richard III, Oberon, Lear and Hamlet among others. But just the other night he said something that struck me as strange, “I’ve never had any desire to play Mackers”. Now, there are jokes […]