Comments on: Friday Film Review: Starter for 10

By: nekobawt

nekobawt — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:59:42 +0000

@Aoife: “macbeth” got a very impressed “holy shit…” out of me, but “taming of the shrew’s” my favorite episode, as well.

“i never bring my knickers on vacation, anyway.”

and all the little twists, and bianca’s dumbfounded expression at the end scene (not to mention her fiance can’t speak a word of english–”cazi?”), and OMG petruchio’s EYES. first time i’ve ever seen actually golden eyes. thought it was just an anime thing. i’m going to have to watch it again tonight, methinks.

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By: Aoife

Aoife — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:44:18 +0000

the BBC did a â€œshakespeare revisitedâ€ series, and one of the episodes had james mcavoy as a modern day macbeth-set in a restaurant, where macbeth was…i think it's â€œsous chefâ€? whichever position is just under head chef. richard armitage played duncan, the head waiter (or whatever that position is called…).

I liked a lot of the episodes in this series, but I have to say that my favorite was Taming of the Shrew, not the easiest play to update. Katharine was portrayed as a career-driven MP, and Petruchio as an earl who needed to marry for money–with a few other twists to his character.

Jayne said:

I like that none of the characters are turned into villains. When the movie ended, I still at least liked them all.

I agree. That was one of the most refreshing things about the movie. I was expecting someone to morph into a bad guy, but they all essentially were pretty decent human beings, in their own flawed ways.

By: Jennie

Jennie — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:30:30 +0000

Yeah, that sounds awesome (the MacBeth, I mean; I haven't seen this movie but it sounds cute and James McAvoy is awesome). I recently saw a production of Twelfth Night that featured 60s music and costuming. It was pretty cool.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:57:19 +0000

the BBC did a â€œshakespeare revisitedâ€ series, and one of the episodes had james mcavoy as a modern day macbeth-set in a restaurant, where macbeth was…i think it's â€œsous chefâ€?

I am constantly amazed at the variety of modern interpretations of Shakespeare. And I bet MacAvoy was fantastic.

By: Babs

Babs — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:33:52 +0000

I loved this movie — the music totally won me over since I was in high school and college during the same time period. And it was charming but not smarmy because my husband watched and enjoyed it with me!

By: nekobawt

nekobawt — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:05:18 +0000

the BBC did a “shakespeare revisited” series, and one of the episodes had james mcavoy as a modern day macbeth–set in a restaurant, where macbeth was…i think it’s “sous chef”? whichever position is just under head chef. richard armitage played duncan, the head waiter (or whatever that position is called…).

either way, VERY gripping, and mcavoy was nothing short of awesome.

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:27:24 +0000

I enjoyed this movie quite a bit, probably for 1. my minor obsession with James McAvoy and 2. the weirdness of University Challenge (having lived in England, I have to admit to watching the show pretty regularly and almost always rooting for the non-Oxbridge teams. I like the underdogs.) Your review is entirely right: enjoyable, not life-changing.

And I was just listening to Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark’s “If You Leave” as I read your review. Perfect.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:22:46 +0000

I like that none of the characters are turned into villains. When the movie ended, I still at least liked them all.

By: Aoife

Aoife — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:45:24 +0000

I really enjoyed this movie when I saw it, and would agree with your grade of B-. I didn’t totally buy the romantic aspects of the plot, but liked James McAvoy and the rest of the characters a lot. I will say, though, that all of them seemed a little old for their roles to me.