April 24, 2015

Bard on the Blogs || Shakespeare Film Adaptations

Another day, another set of posts for Bard on the Blogs! In case you missed it, I'm teaming up with Alyssa of Books Take You Places for Bard in the Blogs! Alyssa and I share a mutual love for William Shakespeare and his work, so we decided it would be an excellent idea to celebrate with a little blog event. I'm so thrilled to have so many wonderful people guest posting on both my blog and Alyssa's blog, so a big thank you goes out to those who volunteered to share with us! I hope you enjoy all the posts (and look out for the giveaway too)! Today's post is by Jessica of Peace Love Books, and she's sharing her favorite Shakespeare film adaptations.

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Hey, everyone! I’m Jessica from Peace Love Books and, I’ve got to say, I could not be more excited about Bard on the Blogs! While I didn’t discover my appreciation for Shakespeare’s plays until college while earning my degree in Integrated English Education, I had no idea that some of my all-time favorite movies were actually modern day adaptations of his plays. Whether it’s tragedy or a comedy, Shakespeare sure knew how to write a good story. And thanks to those stories, some of the best movies have been made! I’m here to share with you my three favorite films based on the Bard…

She’s the Man has been one of my all-time favorite movies ever since I saw it in theater way back in 2006. No lie, I can quote pretty much every single line of the movie. And who doesn’t love Duke? I’m embarrassed to admit, though, that I had no idea this was based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night until many years later. I didn’t actually read the play until my sophomore year of college, but man is that play funny! This modern day adaptation is brilliant and definitely brings Shakespeare’s comedy alive.

Of course, I can’t do a Shakespeare post without talking about 10 Things I Hate About You. You really can’t choose a better movie from the 90s. Let’s not forget that we have Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as adorable young things. This film is based off of The Taming of the Shrew and, I must admit, I actually prefer the movie to the play. The movie is very loosely based off of the play and I enjoyed Kat’s character far more in the movie. Maybe it’s because Julia Styles played an impeccable Kat, but you just can’t beat this movie.
  
Last, but certainly not least, is my most recent favorite movie. And that is the classic Romeo and Juliet. This one came out in 2013 and I dragged my mom along with me on one of my weekends home from school. I LOVED it. I bought the movie the moment it was released on DVD and made my sister and dad watch it over our Spring Break. I think that the costumes, set, and acting were so magical and perfect. And don’t even get me started when I saw Ed Westwick show up as Tybalt. *swoon* While the version with Leonardo DiCaprio is definitely unique, I think that this one is a beautiful edition of Shakespeare’s most famous and beloved play.

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Thank you so much for sharing, Jessica! I've seen and loved the first two films, but have yet to catch the third (which I should, because I love Romeo & Juliet and because ED WESTWICK). 

As mentioned in the previous posts, Alyssa & I are hosting a giveaway! We're going to be picking TWO WINNERS to pick the SHAKESPEARE RETELLING of their choice. Best part? It's open INTERNATIONALLY (as long as Book Depository ships to your country). For an idea of what retellings you can pick, here's a handy list. You can enter via the Rafflecopter form below:

2 Comments:

  1. Amber (@ YA Indulgences)April 24, 2015 at 1:26 AM

    I love She's The Man and 10 Things I Hate About You so much. <3 I could re-watch both several times in a week. I like what I've seen of Get Over It which is a loose adaptation of A Midsummer's Night Dream. :) I haven't read Twelfth Night or Taming of The Shrew which is interesting really. I never saw the Bard version of Romeo & Juliet, but it's now on my radar. :) Great post Jessica.

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  2. The first two are total favourites. Big fan. I totally need to watch this new R&J - thanks for pointing it out to me. I would add Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing to this list, it's the best!

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