From the sublime (Shakespeare) to the ridiculous (remakes) -- the remake of Psycho is on SciFi and it is beyond pointless. It really is the same exact movie, shot for shot. What the hell? Why bother?

The comedies play funnier than they read.

Eh, some of them. I've never seen a Dream onstage I've liked either.

My issue is the same one I have with most modern comedies -- 99% of the time, all the mistaken identity confusion could be solved by one simple conversation that the characters go to extreme lengths to avoid having. It's tiresome after the umpteenth identical plot.

I kind of get it. It's like going to a museum and trying to reproduce a drawing or painting, using the same technique the artist used. I can believe that Van Sant truly wanted to and did learn about his craft from doing it.

For the rest of us, it is rather like watching someone study.

I never understood the point of shot-for-shot remakes. I am dying to get my hands on the fan version of Raiders of the Lost Ark however. It was made by a bunch of friends over a period of (I think) ten years!

I've never seen a Dream onstage I've liked either.

I've seen one I liked, but the lovers (with the identity switching) were the weakest part. It had a really good Puck -- the girl was quite obviously a gymnast, and gave this great physical, aggressive, snarky performance with dive rolls and hanging off the set in weird ways, instead of the breezy, swaying, "I'm a fairie," sort of thing you usually see. It was the lynchpin of the show. And the Rude Mechanicals were laughable, lovable dorks.

Yah I saw Midsummer at Shakespeare in the Park one time where we had to walk through the woods to get to the stage. Puck's entrace was through a tree trunk. It wasn't such a great production but the setting was magical.

I liked the Psycho remake, as an intellectual exercise. Because it's not an exact shot-for-shot replica -- there's at least one added scene and one significantly shortened one, just off the top of my head. But mostly I think it's interesting to compare it with the original and see what affect the little changes have, which scenes fall flat in color and which seem completely unaffected, etc. (And now, knowing who Viggo is, I'd be curious to see if I still want him replaced by David Duchovny, or if the Viggo factor is enough to overcome my latent desire to be watching x-Files.)

I saw a Dream at the Alley in Houston that was one of the best productions I've ever seen. The Rude Mechanicals backdrop TILTED TO BECOME THE FOREST. And there was a pool of water on stage (beneath, that is; it could be covered and uncovered)! And fairies came out with squeegees to clean up the mess! And the characters were running through the lobby before the show started! It was an amazing experience.

Dream was the first I think I ever saw, and I still love it. My very favorite evah is Titus for the sheer bloody fun.

Oh goodness. Julie Taymor's film of Titus shook me to my bones.