The works of William Shakespeare have been adapted for the screen since cinema's earliest days, even before people could even speak on screen. The first Shakespearean sound feature was The Taming of the Shrew in 1929, starring Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, and nearly a century later, filmmakers continue to use the Bard's plays for countless reinterpretations. His works will continue to be adapted, reimagined, and dissected on screens big and small as long as movies continue to be made. Because they are in the public domain, anyone has the ability to grab ahold of these beloved plays and make something with them. 2021 saw the latest high-profile release of a Shakespeare adaptation with Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth, starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.
Any list of the greatest Shakespeare films requires Kenneth Branagh, who single-handedly revived a populist interest in Shakespeare at the end of the 20th Century. His biggest swing, and one of the biggest swings of any kind in the last 30 years, is his Hamlet. Every movie adapted from Shakespeare has to make decisions on what to cut and change to acclimate to the form. Branagh chooses to not cut a single word from Hamlet and shoots the four-hour epic in 70mm. Is it bloated? Yes. Are some of the big-name cameos in small parts distracting? Yes. Does it matter? Not really. The ambition on display is entrancing. Tackling the entire play allows all of the frequently cut political machinations to give entirely new dimensions to a story that alters the personal stakes we are so accustomed to. The chances of a film being made like this ever again are sadly slim to none. Cherish it.
full movie The Last Lear version movies
The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton, was pulling double duty. Not only was it the second of the MCU movies in order, opening a few months after Iron Man, but also a soft reboot of the Hulk film from 2003. Taking that into consideration, its $263.4 million gross isn't half bad; it actually improved upon the numbers of its predecessor.
2009 was the only year in the MCU's lifecycle that didn't have a movie. Then, in 2010, Marvel Studios came back with Iron Man 2. Jon Favreau returned to direct with a script penned by The Leftovers star Justin Theroux. These are the closest franchise Marvel movies in order, since this one pivoted directly off the popularity of the original.
Unlike the Iron Man films, Thor wasn't one of the best-charting movies of 2011. There were too many marquee sequels to battle. With a $449.3 million box office return though, it fared better than Hulk and Captain America. That was mighty for a brand new IP and more than enough to carry the interest in the series through to The Avengers.
The last in a list of MCU movies that we can retroactively call "quaint," where such box office grosses were sufficient. This one was still bested by Twilight and Transformers with numbers that later MCU films would dominate with at the box office.
All said, it grossed $1.5 billion, making it the first of all MCU movies to cross the billion-dollar line. It's a high bar for the franchise that would stay unmatched until Avenger: Infinity War, six years later. Now, the film is remembered as a peak, as critics at the time were enamored by the ambitious character mashup and relentless fun.
Critics were less infatuated with it than the first movie too. Though they enjoyed the character interplay and the epic fan-servicing moments, they criticized the overstuffed storyline. Analyzing all the Marvel movies in order, you can see this was a learning experience that paved the road for future installments.
Ant-Man was the next big IP launch of the MCU movies in order. The studio probably hoped it would springboard off Age of Ultron's success, and for all we know, it did. Yet, its $519.3 million gross was a low point for Phase 2. Maybe it was fatigue or maybe the marketing couldn't sell the concept as well as it could for Guardians.
$1.2 billion dollars was reaped, making it the fourth in the order of Marvel movies to enter the billion-dollar club and the second of the "solo" Marvel movies in order. Critics recognized that this one was for the fans, an impossible entry point for the uninitiated, but it delivered in droves on that front.
With a $2 billion box office pull, Avengers: Infinity War shattered the conventional gross of all MCU movies. The film jettisoned past The Avengers to become the fourth highest-grossing film of all time. Though it still couldn't overthrow Star Wars: The Force Awakens' powerful numbers, the franchise was edging ever closer.
As they were with Civil War, critics were privy to the fact that this film was not simply a standalone entry, but a culmination of all MCU movies in order to that point. Some criticized it, while others praised the creative team for pulling it off without getting lost in the noise.
Disney's stellar year was 2019, and the interstellar Captain Marvel was a big player in that. Presale numbers set it just behind Black Panther and Infinity War, but still high on the list of MCU movies overall, so the success was undeniable. With a $1.128 billion box office pull, it staked a claim that few of its predecessors had.
The last lear is an indian film, in the english language, directed by rituparno ghosh. the film won the national award of india for best feature film in english in 2007. the film stars amitabh bachchan, preity zinta, arjun rampal, divya dutta, shefali shah and jisshu sengupta. shefali shah won the 2007 best supporting actress national award for her role in the movie. it was produced by arindam chaudhuri of planman motion pictures.
If you're a kid, it's a bit of an adventure movie. If you're a Boomer, it's a nostalgia piece about growing up in the 1950s. And if you're a Gen Xer, it's a different kind of nostalgia piece, about learning to love the movies of the 1980s (the film was released 30 years ago on August 8, 1986), recognizing that director Stranger Things" is full of "Stand by Me" shout-outs.
Still, no matter how old you are or how many times you've seen the movie, there's plenty you may not know about the story behind the production, which is often as funny and haunting as the tale told on screen. Pop open some cherry Pez and read on.1. You might not think of Adrian Lyne (of "Flashdance" and "Fatal Attraction" fame) as the director best suited to Stephen King's tale of innocent boyhood, but he was the first filmmaker attached to the project. Fortunately, he was too busy making "9 1/2 Weeks," so the gig went to Reiner (above, left), then fresh off "This Is Spinal Tap" and "The Sure Thing."2. Reiner's auditions for the four leads yielded boys whose personalities matched their roles. "I was awkward and nerdy and shy and uncomfortable in my own skin and really, really sensitive," Wheaton recalled in 2011, "and River was cool and really smart and passionate and -- even at that age -- kind of like a father figure to some of us. Jerry was one of the funniest people I had ever seen in my life, either before or since, and Corey was unbelievably angry and in an incredible amount of pain and had an absolutely terrible relationship with his parents."3. As the narrator, the adult version of Wheaton's character, Reiner cast actor David Dukes. But he felt Dukes' performance was off, so he tried "Spinal Tap" star Michael McKean. He didn't work either, so Reiner cast his own high school pal Richard Dreyfuss.4. The independent studio behind the film was Embassy, owned by Reiner's "All in the Family" mentor, Norman Lear. But when Lear sold Embassy to Coca-Cola, the new management decided the movie wasn't commercial enough. So it pulled its financing just two days before the shoot was scheduled to begin. Fortunately, Reiner got Lear to pony up the full $8 million budget out of pocket.5. The boys were never really in danger during the famous train-dodge scene. Part of the scene involved stunt doubles -- women with close-cropped hair made up to look like the boys. And part of it involved an extra-long telephoto lens to make it look like the train was right behind the boys when, actually, it was still on the far side of the bridge.6. The swamp used in the leech scene was man-made, a pond dug out and filled with water by the production crew before the shoot. By the time Reiner was ready to film the scene, it was already overgrown with moss. The leeches were real.7. The four young stars got into plenty of misbehavior during their down time. Wheaton rigged the coin-operated arcade games at their hotel so that they could be played for free. Reiner says Phoenix (then 15) lost his virginity to a Phoenix family friend during a night away from the hotel. Feldman says he and Phoenix both smoked pot.8. And Kiefer Sutherland, who played bully Ace, claims that O'Donnell tied his babysitter to a bannister, escaped to a Renaissance festival, and ate some cookies that he didn't realize we're laced with pot. The others found him in a parking lot, woozy and crying.9. The movie was originally titled "The Body," after the Stephen King story it was based on. The film's marketers worried that it sounded like a horror movie, a bodybuilding film, or a porno. Reiner came up with the title "Stand by Me" based on the Ben E. King standard that he'd picked to play out over the end of the film.10. Lear's $8 million investment turned out to be a smart move. "Stand By Me" earned back $52 million at the box office.11. The movie's Maine countryside scenes were actually filmed in and around Brownsville, Oregon, where there is now a tourist center devoted to the film. Reiner named his production company Castle Rock after the movie's fictional town.12. The "Stand by Me" screenplay was written by Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans, who'd written the sci-fi romance "Starman." They earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, the only Oscar nod "Stand by Me" received. They also earned a compliment from Stephen King, who said it was the first filmed version of one of his stories that got it right. 2ff7e9595c
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