Tag: william shakespeare

Only Hollywood could make Napoleon a boring, lovesick mope rather than one of the most dynamic and engaging personalities in world history

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Rather than the fearless, master horseman who led charges, the film depicts a far more reserved and fearful man.  Rather than the dynamic, workaholic it shows us a moribund, borderline depressive.  Rather than anything resembling the whirlwind of actions and contradictions the real man must’ve been, we are left with only with a poor, bittersweet… Continue reading Only Hollywood could make Napoleon a boring, lovesick mope rather than one of the most dynamic and engaging personalities in world history

Hamlet: Full Dress Rehearsal

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In this official selection of the Independent Horror Movie Awards, a failed actor tormented by his nagging mother lands a dream audition to play the titular prince Hamlet in Shakespeare’s greatest creation, but all is not as it seems when the actor might be as crazy as the Danish prince himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFxX3GrcoX0 Written and Directed… Continue reading Hamlet: Full Dress Rehearsal

Springsteen’s “Better Days” and the promise of a more limited redemption

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We’re all looking for something better, but are unlikely to achieve it through some magical moment, some mystical epiphany, or some mythical transformation.  Ironically, Bruce Springsteen’s two albums most focused on positive outcomes and the possibility of redemption, are also his most underrated if not outright forgotten.  After spending almost two decades penning songs about… Continue reading Springsteen’s “Better Days” and the promise of a more limited redemption

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73, the “Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang,” and the meaning of love itself

Christian Twiste2 Comments

Love can sing to us, sweetly, and we can build an edifice upon it for that special choir, an edifice composed of both the joy we have in our lover and the fears of how it will end, for everything is ultimately “ruin’d” in this world, but in Shakespeare’s, even a single intentionally shortened syllable… Continue reading Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73, the “Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang,” and the meaning of love itself

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and the nature of power in the hands of the people

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It is a tragedy not of a single individual or even the entire Roman Republic, but one of power, who has it, who wants it, how they get it, and how it ebbs and flows at the whims of the crowd, exercising their free and fickle will to support who they choose at any given… Continue reading Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and the nature of power in the hands of the people

Donald Trump, Teddy Roosevelt, a President on trial, and the American obsession with sick bastards

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Roosevelt has little in common with Trump on the surface, save for being born wealthy in New York City and having significant careers outside of politics, but both men inspired over the top passion and both spent a lot of time in court after their Presidencies.  On New Year’s Day 2016, I joined my wife… Continue reading Donald Trump, Teddy Roosevelt, a President on trial, and the American obsession with sick bastards

Shakespeare’s most underrated character and speech, perhaps

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Jaques, As You Like It’s “melancholy fellow,” is not likely to appear on any list of Shakespeare’s greatest characters, nor is his speech on the nature of his melancholy, but we see in him a sort of proto-Hamlet without the need to wound, opinion unrestrained, as he fancies himself said, claims it is better to… Continue reading Shakespeare’s most underrated character and speech, perhaps

Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and why the world must be peopled

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We cannot know the wellspring of the emotion we call love, neither where it comes or where it goes, but we should embrace it, lest the entire species should falter.  Such is the weight of our dalliances, which are about a lot more than nothing – as is the play itself. Much Ado About nothing… Continue reading Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and why the world must be peopled

Shakespeare’s Macbeth, As You Like It, and all the world’s a stage

Christian Twiste2 Comments

If brevity is the soul of wit, Macbeth’s might be the superior statement of the futility of our existence, an entire philosophy contained in a few simple lines, but the overall meaning couldn’t be more different.  It’s as if each speech is itself a prism, and the meaning reflected is based on the direction of… Continue reading Shakespeare’s Macbeth, As You Like It, and all the world’s a stage

Springsteen’s “Tougher Than the Rest” and the dramatic decline in divorce rates

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Barely half as many couples are getting divorced and more couples are getting married than in recent years. Some experts attribute the trend to being intentional about your mate and choosing companionship rather than romance. Perhaps Springsteen put it best in “Tougher Than the Rest,” or even Shakespeare hundreds of years earlier in Romeo and… Continue reading Springsteen’s “Tougher Than the Rest” and the dramatic decline in divorce rates