​ Finally!  I get to write about Much Ado About Nothing! 


This movie is one of my go-to  films when I need a little bit of extra happiness in my week.  I will be the first to admit that I don't always "get" Shakespeare when I read it.  Sometimes the language he uses is just so far out there that I can't wrap my head around what they are trying to say.


For me it's easier to see it performed than it is to read it.  That being said, I really enjoy adaptations in which they make the setting modern but keep the old style language.  I loved it when they did it with Romeo and Juliet back in the 90's with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes and I loved it with this adaptation.  It's no secret by now that I love the movies and shows that Joss Whedon makes.  I've yet to see anything of his that I did not enjoy thoroughly.


His adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing is no exception.


Everything from the choice of actors to the decision to make it black and white to filming it at his own home.  Everything was perfection for me.  This comedy comes alive with these pieces in place.  Everything fits perfectly and flows as it should.  The cast is a who's who of previous Whedon projects that starts with the leads, Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof.  The two of them have a ridiculous amount of chemistry and you can see the years of working together in their choices.


The physical comedy in this movie has both subtly and slapstick qualities.  The actors are able to make you laugh with a raised eyebrow just as easily as they do with a pratfall. 


If you don't care for Shakespeare because you don't understand it I completely understand, but give this movie a try.  You may find that it helps with understanding the way the language flows.


If not?  Then take a listen to our podcast instead.  We discuss all this and much much more.

​Secret of Nimh is probably one of the best kept secrets of the 1980’s animation explosion.  One could say that it helped to usher in the Disney boom that followed it.  Unfortunately, it sometimes gets lost among the others because of it.
 
For the longest time all I could really remember about this movie was the shiny red necklace, that there were rats, and that Nicodemous was incredibly creepy.  I didn’t necessarily remember his name, but I remembered the face. Of course, as a kid I missed all the nuance about laboratory testing and focused on the magical aspect of the movie.  Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you where I saw the movie for the first time.  It came out when I was two and I don’t think we owned the VHS.
 
Years later I saw the movie for sale in the $5 bin at Wal-Mart.  I generally try to stay away from that bin because I’ll lose more money than I should, but this classic from my childhood was a no-brainer.  Then, when Teresa mentioned she wanted to do a 1980’s animated movie I was thrilled when she picked Secret of Nimh.
 
The movie itself is about how far a mother will go to save her children, filled in with themes of loss, love, and moral ambiguity about lab rat testing.  Throw in a little “do you ever really know a person” and you have a movie worthy of Disney, without the branding.   It’s also a relatively faithful adaptation of the children’s book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh.
 
The artwork this week is from the artist Mark Lone and I am madly in love with this piece.  You should check out the rest of his work here:
http://markloneart.bigcartel.com/
 
The newest episode featuring our review of the Secret of Nimh is up now with all of our other episodes.  Have a listen if you get the chance.

If you haven't actually seen Sausage Party, I'll go ahead and save you the trouble.  Just don't.  Spare yourself the awfulness and just watch literally anything else.  I should have quit as soon as the thing raped the juicebox to death.  Yeah, you read that right.  It ends with a full on food orgy, giving a whole new meaning to the hashtag "food porn".  They aren't shy about it either.  It's disturbing and crass and disgusting.  It made me nauseous.


At some point, I just got angry at the whole thing.  Why on earth am I toiling away at my desk job (ok toiling is a stretch, but you get the point) when schmucks like this make piles of trash like this?  If someone wants to throw $19 million dollars my way, I'd be happy to make something way better than this.  In watching the trailer and reading about it online before it came out, it seemed like a really interesting concept.  I just think that they went entirely too far.


Hey, it made $140 million dollars at the box office, so what the hell do I know?


If you'd like to hear more about the team's thoughts on the movie, check it out below.