Monday, December 10, 2012

Read Stuff, You Should

Happy Birthday to Kenneth Branagh, 52. I believe I'm one of maybe half a dozen people who liked his Love's Labour's Lost.

Good stuff? Right here:

1. For better inside-game reporting on Congress, by Brendan Nyhan.

2. Jared Bernstein on spending, revenues, and deficits.

3. Senate trivia! Also Senate history in general. Molly Redden talks to official Senate historian Donald Ritchie.

4. And I could just link to everything Ta-Nehisi Coates writes. No one can touch him. Here's one.
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8 comments:

  1. DavidDecember 10, 2012 at 9:41 AM

    I loved Love's Labour's Lost. Who are the other 4?

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    Replies
    1. Jonathan BernsteinDecember 10, 2012 at 10:34 AM

      Heh. Well, my oldest daughter loves it (the youngest daughter liked it some, but I wouldn't say she loved it, and my wife hated it). Also my buddy Ron loves it. I'm sure there must be others, but I know a lot more people who were not fans.

      By the way, anyone who hasn't seen his As You Like It really should. I assume everyone knows about Henry and Much Ado...I liked his Hamlet quite a bit, but I wouldn't rank it in the very top tier.

      Anyone who does like all of them might want to know about a Twelfth Night that's filmed from a stage version he directed -- he doesn't act in it, but Richard Briers is Malvolio.

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    2. AnonymousDecember 10, 2012 at 1:51 PM

      Add my wife and I to your list, which makes 6. :-) I've never understood why the movie didn't appeal more to people -- surely the Shakespeare purists aren't that vast a majority? -- and I'm glad we're not alone in the opinion, although I don't think I've ever known of any other fans before. You don't mention "In the Bleak Midwinter", Jonathan, which of course isn't Shakespeare (but features Hamlet pretty prominently) -- I've literally never met anyone else who's even seen it, let alone enjoyed it. Have you?

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    3. Jonathan BernsteinDecember 10, 2012 at 2:05 PM

      Assuming that's an alternate or half-remembered title for "Midwinter's Tale" -- I liked it, although not enough to be all that interested in seeing it again, so it's been quite some time since I've seen it. My memory is that I liked it more than I liked "Peter's Friends."

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    4. AnonymousDecember 13, 2012 at 10:38 AM

      Good catch -- "In the Bleak Midwinter" was the British title (I first saw it on VHS from a Blockbuster in British Columbia, and I'm pretty sure that was the title on the cover). I haven't seen "Peter's Friends"....and you haven't given it much of an endorsement, so perhaps I'm not missing anything. :-)

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    5. Jonathan BernsteinDecember 13, 2012 at 10:53 AM

      Again, working off memory which could easily be wrong, since I saw it once and long ago: my memory is that "Peter's Friends" is basically the Branagh circle's version of "The Anniversary Party"; less a fully well-thought-out movie than an opportunity for a bunch of actor friends to hang out together and do some acting. But, again IIRC and I may not for either of them, the plot in Anniversary Party didn't spoil the fun for me, while the plot in Peter's Friends kinda did.

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  2. VardibidianDecember 10, 2012 at 10:32 AM

    I liked it—I didn't love it, but I did like it. It's my favorite LLL, anyway.

    Thanks,
    -V.

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  3. zicDecember 10, 2012 at 11:12 AM

    Is that a pun directing us to TNC? No one can touch him, linking to that particular post. I've been chuckling about it all morning, intended or not.

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