Pages tagged “william shakespeare”

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23 Band Names Inspired by Literature

At Paste, we look for "Signs of Life" in all forms of art. And while we value each artform for its unique merits, it's always a treat when they overlap. So we decided to take a look at bands that derived their names from literature. Who knew metalheads were such scholars?  read more

Watch the Trailer for Gnomeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare’s age-old tale of two lovelorn, star-crossed lovers has seen quite a few remakes in its time. (Remember this cinematic gem?) Now, thanks to the magic of CGI and Touchstone Pictures, the famed tragedy will be receiving a treatment that’s a pretty far cry from its theatrical beginnings....  read more

A Dozen of Literature's Greatest Jerks

The other day, while listening to LCD Soundsystem’s “Dance Yrself Clean” the line, “Talking like a jerk / Except you are an actual jerk / And living proof that sometimes friends are mean” started knocking around in our heads, and it got us to thinking about all the jerks we’ve met in our lifetimes. From there, we started thinking about all the jerks we’ve read about in our lifetimes—there are plenty of literary characters we’ve encountered that almost make the real-life jerks seem tolerable. Below are a dozen that particularly stand out....  read more

82-Year-Old Gets Three-Book Deal

Living proof that it’s never too late to pursue a dream, 82-year-old Myrrha Stanford-Smith just received a three-book deal from Honno, a UK-based women’s publishing company, according to the BBC. She sent the manuscript for A Great Lie, a fictional take on the contention between William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, to the publishers on a whim. She had published a children’s story with BBC Radio Wales and received good feedback, so she decided to take her chances with the novel....  read more

Roland Emmerich Tackles Shakespeare for New Movie

Director Roland Emmerich usually destroys the world in his movies, which include Independence Day, 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow, but in his next film, he’ll leave behind explosions and CGI effects for something a little more intellectual. The project, titled Anonymous, is based on the idea that the works of the William Shakespeare were actually written by the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere....  read more

William Shakespeare and The Big Lebowski: Together at Last

Ever wondered what would’ve happened if Shakespeare had still been penning masterpieces when the Coen Brothers were creating their cult classic The Big Lebowski? Perhaps not, but thankfully, Adam Bertocci has been doing that thinking for you. The screenwriter/filmmaker has brought the two forces together with his Shakespearean take on Walter and The Dude, Two Gentlemen of Lebowski....  read more

No, Seriously: 3D Hamlet Musical Movie in the Works

Shakespeare's Hamlet ranks alongside Romeo and Juliet, King Lear and Macbeth as one of his undisputed masterpieces of tragic theatre. With it, the Bard of Stratford-on-Avon crafted a melancholy and subtle meditation on revenge, politics, religion and philosophy. It's an enduring tale that's been retold by comics, movies, video games, music and a host of other mediums. Well, purists better get ready to shut up and strap in, because the Shakespeare 4 Kidz company recently greenlit the production of a 3D Hamlet movie-musical....  read more

Where Will Emile Hirsch's Hamlet Fall Within the Canon of Modern-Day Shakespeare Films?

When we heard Emile Hirsch would play Hamlet in a modern-times Shakespeare remake directed by Twilight's Catherine Hardwicke, flashbacks of teen flicks (most of which involved Julia Stiles) adapting 16th-and-17th-century masterpieces flooded our collective memory. It's always been interesting to watch what develops in these modernizations, as directors and writers throw purist interpretation to the wind with the belief that Shakespeare's storylines transcend all time periods. Heartthrobby leads try to give Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Olivier a run for their money, jeans-and-tees replace frilly frocks, and major turns of plot transpire in gas stations, high-school stadiums and Blockbuster video stores. Although some past adaptations have recontexualized...  read more