turq, here's a fun interview with Nathan about his experience with Joss and gang.
http://www.vulture.com/2012/09/fillion-on-joss-whedons-shakespeare-brunches.html On Friday, November 8, 2013 12:15 AM, TurquoiseB <turquoi...@yahoo.com> wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, wrote: > > You won't believe this but I watched the movie yesterday! Really! Maybe there > is something in the idea of synchronicity. I was going to recommend it to FFL > also - under the title "Shakespeare without Tears". The tricky choice with > the Bard's plays is always whether you show them in period costume or go for > a modern setting and somehow have to make allowances for the archaic speech. > Much Ado simply ignored the dilemma and played it straight. One of the best > film adaptations of Shakespeare I've ever seen. I've never heard of Amy > Acker, before but she was fantastic. Actually all the cast were good but she > was outstanding. Amy has worked with Joss many times in the past, starting with a long stint as Illyria / Winifred 'Fred' Burkle on "Angel," then with a major role as Dr. Claire Saunders / Whiskey in "Dollhouse." Along the way she's had long, repeating roles on "Alias" and a meaty role in Joss' "The Cabin in the Woods." Currently she's landed a plum role on Johnathan Nolan's "Person Of Interest," as the charmingly beautiful psychopath Root, who thinks she is talking to God and, in fact, is, because the all-knowing, all-seeing God talks back to her. > ---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, noozguru@ wrote: > > It's been available at Redbox for a few weeks but I was vested in a 31 days > of horror fest so haven't gotten to it yet. > > On 11/07/2013 02:07 PM, TurquoiseB wrote: > > > No, this is not a cafe rap about Fairfield Life and its daily squabbles. > It's a review of a film that I have been dying to see, but have been unable > to because it won't be officially released either in France or in the > Netherlands until January. But the pirateverse hath come to the rescue -- I > scored a 1080p version, and just finished watching it. > > To fully appreciate the film, it really helps to know a little about the > making of the film. It was produced, directed, shot, and scored by Joss > Whedon, while "on leave" from the filming of "The Avengers" during a > contractually-forced two week hiatus. Some guys, especially if they were in > the middle of making the film that would go on to become the highest-grossing > film in history, would kick back and relax during those two weeks. > > Joss made a movie instead. He paid for it himself, recruited former actors > he'd worked with before to appear in it, and shot it all in 12 days. In his > house. > > This last bit is important, because Joss first conceived of the idea in that > house (designed by his wife) years earlier when they were hosting Shakespeare > readings at the house. He shoots using hand-held cameras and found lighting > -- "Our lighting package rose in the east and set in the west." And while > making the movie itself was Joss' way of having fun, one aspect of the > production he described as "terrifying." He wrote the music, along the way > scoring two of the songs that Shakespeare wrote for the play. The songs were > recorded by Joss' brother Jed and his wife Maurissa Tancharoen, while Joss' > wife kinda ran both the production and the household as her house was invaded > by a host of actors and film crew for two weeks. So it was a real "family > affair." > > That said, the play's afoot...let us proceed. > > Suffice it to say that this is a film adaptation by Joss Whedon, so there > has to be a *twist*, some way of seeing the Bard's words anew, as no one else > has ever seen them before. Joss manages all of this with one scene, shown in > silence before the credits. I can say no more (insert "Zip it!" sketch here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32C0eKRQVt8), except to say that this one > scene *completely* transforms Shakespeare's play into something infinitely > more understandable in our era, and renders the interplay between Beatrice > (Amy Acker) and Benedick (Alexis Denisof) more believable in a more sexually > liberated era. > > I am a *serious* fan of Amy Acker, and she doth not disappoint in this > retelling of the Bard's tale. Nathan Fillion is charming in a short cameo as > Dogberry, one of the most inept cops in playwriting history. The other cast > (many of them faces, if not names, you'll know from Joss' other works) are > equally up to their task of Having Fun. > > I really liked "Much Ado About Nothing," and recommend it highly to 1) > Shakespeare fans -- you'll never see a more creative adaptation of the > Bard's work, 2) Joss Whedon fans -- your love for the man will only be > increased by your knowledge of what the place he lives in looks like, and 3) > lovers of great comedy -- this play is considered one of Shakespeare's best > comedies -- produced lovingly, well, and with abundant humor. > > Think about it. The entire movie was done by A Group Of Friends On Vacation, > doing all of this for FUN. There is a certain magic in this. >
