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Reviews
Rhythm 'n' Bayous: A Road Map to Louisiana Music (2000)
Historical document
An interesting slice In time of the ever-developing Louisiana music scene. Plenty of music and some less-seen faces make this a good watch.
Romeo & Juliet (2013)
Clueless
Not only one of the worst adaptations of Shakespeare that I've ever seen, but one of the worst films I've ever seen... Let's cut to the chase. As many have said about this film, the only decent things are the settings - it's nicely shot, although it pales against the best BBC period drama in its attention to historical detail (that's even allowing for the indeterminate time in which the play was set) Negatives - plenty. 1. Why mess with the dialogue? In the 1996 edition, Baz Luhrmann absolutely nailed the mix of emotion through superb performances, thoughtful planning and direction which drew out meaning from 400 year old language. This version just jars horribly on the ear, lacks the poetic coherence of Shakespeare and sounds like a cut and paste "Shakespeare Made Easy" hot-potch done by a 14 year old for homework. 2. Why the unnecessary plot additions? What's with the tournament? And yet another adaptation that misses out the double-entendres and rude puns of the opening scene - and as for the opening Montague/Capulet skirmish - I've seen more bloodshed on the lower school playground. Utterly unconvincing. 3. Talking of utterly unconvincing,Hailee Steinfeld is woefully out of her depth, or at least lacking a director who tells her what her lines are supposed to mean. She seems to be constantly rushing to the end of her speeches without inflection or bodily indication that suggests she knows what she's talking about, at any point. She even keeps her nightie on in the wedding night scene, ferchrissakes. Douglas Booth is just a chin and a pair of smouldering eyes. Somebody's told him to be soppy and Twilight-esque; hardly what Shakespeare conveys in the language of the play, other than in the oxymoron-riddled first appearance - Leonard Whiting and Leo Di Caprio knock spots off him. And the sculpture scene made me howl - I half expected Lionel Richie to turn up and start singing "Hello"... 4. Changing the order of speeches/events is just plain annoying. It's all well and good trying to reinvent, but there is too much intertextual baggage with this play for it to work. I just wanted to open up Final Cut or Adobe Premiere Pro and put it all back in the right order.
If you like cringing at awfulness, this film is for you. Utter tripe.