King Arthur 2004 Keira Knightley Commentary

This episode is a companion to the previous podcast, reveiwing the film King Arthur, 2004. In each episode we try to critically assess the triumphs and failures of the films we review, and here we examine the director's claim that this was the "true story" of King Arthur.

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King Arthur 2004 Review Part 1

A review of the 2004 film King Arthur, starring Clive Owen and Kiera Knightly as Arthur and Guinevere.  We examine critically the film's claim to offer a new perspective on the historical Arthur and give an overview of the plot.  In part 1 we summarize the film, and in part 2 we offer our own comment and criticism of the director's choices. 

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Ladyhawke Commentary part 2

Following the narrative recap, Part 2 takes a harder look at how Ladyhawke (1985) by Richard Donner had more in common with an authentic medieval tale and less with other fantasy films of the 1980s. We discuss recognizable medieval storytelling elements and then tackle the apparent imbalance of agency among the main characters.

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Ladyhawke Review Part 1

In Part 1 we look at the film Ladyhawke and give a narrative overview of the plot.  We discuss how it fit into the fantasy film genre of its day and why it really is unlike any of its contemporaries.   In Part 2 we will go into deeper commentary.

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Macbeth2015 Critical Review

A companion to the overview podcast, in Part II we dig into the triumphs and failures of Kurzel's interpretation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, both as an interpretation of the original play, and as a movie for modern audiences.

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Macbeth 2015 Review Part 1

A summary of the plot of Shakespeare's Macbeth as realized in the 2015 film starring Michael Fassbender in the title role. This is the first part of a two part series. Here, we give an overview of the plot of Justin Kurzel's interpretation of the play, and talk about how he changed it to fit his media. In the second part we offer critical commentary and a review of the film.

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Midsummer Nights Dream Part 1

A podcast where we discuss a recent staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. We talk about the different perspectives between medieval audiences for whom Shakespeare was writing, and modern audiences who bring their own expectations. We also discuss the technical challenges of presenting the play and how this local company attempted to meet them.

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