I am crossing my fingers that the Ridgeway in Memphis keeps showing it over next weekend. There was no way in hell I was making an additional drive yesterday (my head was too stabby and groggy to even go see a stoner comedy at the local cinema, or to sit through an episode of Henry Cavill Gettin' it OnThe Tudors at home, for that matter).

She wholeheartedly endorsed the two bits that Joss added and was okay with all the bits that were compressed.

I know the opening morning after was an add, but what was the other?

Yep, the opening scene and the bit where Hero watches the funeral procession.

Apparently, _everyone_ includes the damning window scene, which does not appear in the play. BW does not object to this addition because the original play makes Claudio seem irredeemable and Hero a fool for taking him back.

BW also talked about how much she enjoyed the portrayal of the Friar. In fact, she said it was her favorite representation of that character, ever. I feel compelled to write to the actor and say so because, damn, that's high praise.

OH, she also applauded Clark Gregg for Leonato's clear softening to Hero at the end of his 'you are dead to me' scene. She felt that the shift made much more sense than the original text.

AND, she asked if Joss wrote music before (bwah) and said that throughout her entire career, she has _fought_ with directors to do what Joss did by incorporating the text into songs.

She also loved the cinematography and, overall, deemed it a huge improvement on the play.

I loved the movie, for its own sake, but I loved it even more to hear that a leading expert on the source material thought Joss did an amazing job.

FYI, the one word was "Jew."

She also said that the dialogue was delivered more naturally than she'd ever seen it.

The older lady who accompanied us said that she felt like she wasn't 'translating' in her head by about 5 minutes in.

FYI, the one word was "Jew."

What was it changed to?

Mainly I'm wondering what was so anti-semitic that Joss felt he needed to change it where he was apparently totally comfortable leaving "I would marry her were she an Ethiope" intact.

I loved the movie, for its own sake, but I loved it even more to hear that a leading expert on the source material thought Joss did an amazing job.

That is very cool to hear, bonny.

What was it changed to?

"Fool."

I fear that I will have no chance to see this in the theater. Apparently, Eastern Iowa has never heard of Art Movie houses.

I finally saw Gatsby and was underwhelmed. I was lured in by the Art Deco-ness of the logo into thinking that the production design would be likewise. Oh well. I think Di Caprio is kind of weak as an actor. And McGuire is also disappointing.

A Flash game to relive the last half hour of Man of Steel.

Got to see Much Ado!

The physical slapstick and Buffy running behind the main scene with a rocket launcher was hilarious.

I was underwhelmed by NF's Dogberry, but Keaton stole my heart with his Beetlejuice rendition of "Remember: I. Am an ass." But, Fillion did his cute Fillion thing. I just wish I knew the dialogue by heart, because his lines were the ones I had the hardest time parsing, especially when the rest of the audience was laughing over his dialogue.

Weird laughter for some of Sean Maher's scenes, maybe because they were filmed to be so incredibly evil and forboding?

I think the naturalness and the easy-to-follow delivery of the dialogue made it too clear what a ridiculous story it was once the Don John machinations came to fruition and all that followed. Like, how did any of the actions, subterfuges, and characterizations make sense or be redeembable to get anywhere close to a happy ending?

AA's delivery of "Kill Claudio" was chilling.

And I think FK had more of a chance to give off personality because he actually had lines. I liked Hero when she could speak, and she did what she could with her non-line scenes, but damn, she had a heck of a lot of screen time with absolutely nothing to say, darn you Will.

I adored the visual gags and how so many of the lines were handled, the interpretation. Like the lines being delivered during roughhousing, or the characters trying to control themselves while telling falsehoods.

In the end, this version made me long for a version that had characters and plot that made sense. I blame that on how accessible Joss made it.

If there's spoiler fonting that I should do, please give me a poke.

BTW, Katha Pollitt loves the Joss "Much Ado".