Ebert & Roeper split on the movie, but they did both say Chiwetel is a great actor (of course).

jam2 | April 16, 01:37 CET

Quote marks are our friends, don't be afraid to use them. I've added them in.

Simon | April 16, 02:59 CET

I love to hear the phrase "a villain of Shakespearean elegance" because I honestly see huge similarities in how affecting and intelligent the work of both Shakespeare and Joss is, and in fact I've often noted this comparison myself and heard others reference it. I honestly think that the only major difference between the two of them is that Shakespeare immediately found a massive audience eager to watch his plays, whereas with Joss it has generally been a smaller but even more dedicated fan base, however it is growing all the time. I hope that Joss will eventually reach the same kind of audience Shakespeare did, and have his work studied so closely.

I actually think Firefly and Serenity are even more Shakespearian than Buffy or Angel were, not in terms of quality but in the sense of timelessness, Shakespeare's plays were written hundreds of years ago but are still relevant today, and I think the operatic and multi-cultural world of Firefly, which harkens to both the past and the future, will be able to cross the gulf of time pretty easily.

Razor | April 16, 03:19 CET

I personally loved the movie. It was hilarious.

Shoogagoogagunga | April 17, 00:01 CET

It looks really funny and of course we know Chewie did a spectacular job! I can't wait to see it.
CA

cmndraverhart | April 17, 00:34 CET

I bet I'll have to wait for cable or DVD, darn it. Small town = mall cinemas = very few "independent/arthouse" films. :-(

billz | April 17, 00:37 CET

Chewitel E. is clearly one of those actors in the Alec Guinness mold -- the guy can pretty much do anything and do it in a way you won't likely forget. In fact, getting back to the Shakespeare thing, I can imagine him being equally effective as either Othello or Iago, Hamlet or (once he's older) Claudius.

And, it seems clear that the success of "Kinky Boots" puts him on the "Wonder Woman" short list.

bobster | April 17, 00:48 CET

Shakespeare's works were posthumously successful. It's a myth that Shakespeare was well received in his time.

However, I too have read many places the similarities between Joss and William.

I mean, Buffy and Angel *are* Romeo and Juliet. Torn between two "families", the living and the undead. A love that can never be. Angel experiencing true love for the first time.

At the beginning of Romeo & Juliet, Romeo is in love with another girl, but when he meets Juliet, he realises that love is something completely different. The love Romeo is used to, is the kind where you put a woman on a pedestal and worship her. It's a kind of love where you distance the object of your desire from yourself. There's a word for this type of love; a literary expression, but I can't remember it. I enjoyed a lecture on this just a couple of months ago. Damn this memory!

Anyway:
I think this mirrors Angel perfectly. He thought he loved Darla, but didn't know what love was until he met Buffy.

The end of Becoming Part II is so much like the finale of Romeo and Juliet, it's amazing this similarity is not noted more often. :)


Hmmmm... I'm in the last stages of producing my master's thesis. (on online communication). Perhaps for my doctorate, I'll compare Buffy the vampire slayer with Romeo & Juliet.. Hmmmm. Has potential.

[wcip]Angel | April 17, 07:13 CET

Found it! "Petrarchan" love:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarchan

[wcip]Angel | April 22, 17:18 CET