To Be Or Not to Be. That is the Question.

I try to avoid product reviews of any kind on this blog, because I think it's obnoxious and stupid when blogs other than Engadget or Daddytypes comment on things to buy.  You shouldn't normally trust my opinion anyway, at least not while I'm under such heavy sedation.  But something I've been waiting for for a decade is finally available, and the world needs to know.

No, it's not a new video game, Chinese Democracy, or a remote control that brings you beers from the fridge, despite what my Amazon wish list might imply.

It's Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet on DVD.

Despite my infantile love for movies with big explosions, butts getting kicked, or cheesy production values, I also enjoy heady explorations of internal struggles for vengeance and sanity, set against a backdrop of castle intrigue with oedipal overtones, particularly if spoken in iambic pentameter.  (See also:  Strange Brew) 

When I parked my ass at the Lagoon Theater for four hours of the Bard back in 1996, I expected a good show.  Branagh rocked the house with Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing, and Dead Again remains one of the best movies no one saw.  Plus, I'd taken an entire class just on Hamlet in college, so you could say I had some familiarity with the play. 

As I would soon be reminded by George Lucas, lofty expectations tend to result in disappointment.

Not this time.  I was blown away.  It ruled.

And for some reason Warner Brothers--the same company that managed to get Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever and Kangaroo Jack out on DVD lickity-split--have been dragging their feet releasing it.  Something was rotten in the state of Denmark.  Maybe they were too busy prepping for Oscar season.

The wait is over.  I'm psyched to fire up Excalibur and bathe in the warm glow of madness and revenge, sex and love, politics and treachery, and ghosts, both real and figurative.  After all, to thine own self be true!*

* Ok, that last quote doesn't exactly make a ton of sense in context, but I wanted to end on a quote, and  neither "frailty, thy name is woman" nor "Alas, poor Yorick.  I knew him, Horatio" seemed to fit the bill.  So sue me.

Comments

[Matthew]

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so

[Kemp]

Couldn't agree more... Branagh is one of THE best filmmakers out there (especially when it comes to Shakespeare) and his Hamlet was a masterpiece... so much better than Franco Zeffirelli's attempt with Mel Gibson.

He also did a version of "Love's Labour's Lost" back in 2000 and, despite having Alicia Silverstone, it was pretty good as well.

And we can't forget his Othello.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

[Jason]

If you haven't already, pick up Ian McKellan's Richard III. Simply awesome.

[Holmes]

Oh man, I couldn't agree more. Probably the longest movie I ever just sat through without getting up. I loved his Othello as well.

[p-man]

I cannot embrace Shakespeare. Too many forcefed lessons. Too many footnotes. Too much hype. I vaguely recall a high school trip to Stratford to see Hamlet. A significant percentage of the students had accidentally ingested quantities of something hallucinogenic. Things were ok until the great monologue, when DRY ICE was employed to distracting effect. "To be," "Wow! What... hey!" "or," "It's moving! Ohhh... !" and so on. Priceless.

I lump Branagh along with Stallone into the "Short Actors With Directorial Issues" category. I don't know if they are short but I make the rules. I have seen the movies but by and large I can't see why he bothered. All that said, his Henry V was excellent.

[Mitch McDad]

Dead Again is one of the best movies that no one has seen. And Strange Brew was tight...though the Great White North album was better.

Big fan of Hamlet. Saw Ralph Fiennes play the lead and someone else a few years before that. I'll have to check out the movie.

[mrs t]

I saw Dead Again- totally forgot about it until now, thanks for the memory jog! Kenneth Branagh also did a film - A Winter's Tale, or somesuch. It was a film about a group of actors doing Shakespeare in an abandoned church in England. Again, no one saw it- it was quite good. I saw it at some theater in Greenwich Village, actually. I don't think it was very widely released.

[mo-wo]

we are your niche. the dead again fans with a side of running scared.