Pajiba

I'm still down for this. Like KatSings said, Tempest doesn't rank as one of the Shakespeare's untouchable works for me and, in fact, I can see it giving a lot of leeway for a totally balls-to-wall crazy re-visioning like what Taymor seems to have done.

I'll see it. If nothing else, the visuals will be unbelievable.

One of my favorite plays in College. I'll see it, but I could certainly do without Russell Brand's existence in...well, just his existence in general, I guess.

...besides, have you seen Prospero's Books? Taymor's got a looooooong way to go to reach that level of batshit crazy interpretation.

I don't remember so many explosions in The Tempest.

I don't get it. It's Hollywood + Shakespeare. Expectations are low to begin with. You don't even really need to qualify it much beyond that. They'll get some things right, the rest will be slightly ridiculous ... enh. Yeah, I'll see it. As several people have mentioned, though, The Tempest is a weaker work anyway. It does look rather pretty, though, doesn't it?

The best way to save this would be to cut 75% of Russel Brand's scenes, and 85% of the stupid lovers plot.

But they won't do that, because he's a big name and the other two have pretty faces.

Hee. "Style boner" Exactly.

Oh crap. I really wanted to like this anyway, but the trailer is so disappointing. Sure, the visuals might be interesting, but that overload of strange computer manipulation strikes me as cheap after a while. It also messes with my suspension of disbelief.
On the other hand, I might be able to overlook the weird Julie Taymor visuals if the tone of the film is less frenetic and stupid than it seemed in the trailer. Can we all agree that this trailer is an unholy mess? We've got all sorts of unrelated clips stirred into each other, no transition between what's supposed to be dramatic and what's supposed to be funny, and (for those who don't remember / don't know The Tempest) there is absolutely NO hint at the story.
Ugh.

I actually think this has a chance to be good. I'm a fan of the The Tempest, of course tis always hard translating the Bard to screen but it has been done successfully before. Of course this movie will make no money. The lovers look a bit boring in this version. But Djimon Hounsou as Caliban....I like.

Well, I figured it was a bad sign that Prospero became Prospera. You know, in a play where the daughter of the sorcerer has never interacted with other women beyond infancy? That might, you know, undermine a major aspect of the play.

I've heard terrible things about this film. Horrible, ugly things that I do not wish to believe could happen in neither Helen Mirren nor William Shakespeare pictures. Yet the complaints are consistent and I'm getting scared.

Julie Taymor struck gold once with a Broadway show and she has a free pass to do whatever crazy things she wants to and they just aren't working. I liked Titus as much as the next Shakespeare fan, but this looks like crap. Pure crap. Crap in its most distilled form. And now I fear for the Spider-Man musical I want ever so much to be good. Is it a matter of reigning in Taymor's artistic vision or making sure she has the right material to begin with? I don't know.

Have you seen Taymor's Titus? I AM THERE BASED ON THAT ALONE.

It's already shejuled in my datebook. IN INK.

P.S. HELEN MIRREN.

I've always felt that "The Tempest" was written after Shakespeare went on one of his drunken week-long binges and woke up with a hangover and a quill in his hand, wondering what the hell he had actually put on paper.

I will admit that, for some obviously stupid reason (because I love the play) I have not yet seen Titus. But it wouldn't make my expectations for a Shax adaptation to film any higher. Just because.

PS: professor_love, I heart you. Or maybe just your degree. Someday, it shall be mine. Oh yes...

it looks like 2 different movies.

one is a crappy special effects wizard movie. cheap looking computer generated effects and bad music.

then there's this other movie with actors that i love, shot in a beautiful, crisp, detailed fashion. natural and stunning.

combined it's a confusing hot mess.

After watching this I can't quite tell if the film sucks or if the person responsible for designing the trailer needs to be shot. As long as the music and cheesier of the cgi scenes (the ones that superimpose a character over a different scene) are "not appearing in this film," it might not be terrible.

Although there's no real excuse for the overacting. Yeah, it's Shakespearean, but that's because back in the Bard's time you had to yell at the audience so they could hear you. No reason to do that in a movie.

Y'know. I'm probably going to see this. It's purdy and has Helen Mirren in it. That's really all it takes to get me in a seat.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Shakespeare played to the groundlings. We all know this. Methinks today's groundling analog would be utterly confused by this abstract, arthouse trailer. That argument is just silly.

Oh, the trailer itself is cocked up eleven ways to Sunday. It's aimed either at ardent Bard-heads who will go to anything penned by or based on Shakespeare or at LSD addicts. Or possibly the intersection of the two groups.

Still, there are enough compelling images (these images involve neither CGI hellhounds nor Russell Brand (though I'd totally be on board with CGI hellhounds devouring Russell Brand)) to give me hope. It can't be as messed up as Propero's Books (he says, whispering a silent prayer to Melpomene).

Besides, , as has already been noted, Helen Mirren as Prospera is total win.

Rob P, I love the premiered Spider-Man song and fully intend on auditioning with that sucker in a few years when the hooplah dies down.

Then again, I also audition with "Heaven" from Carrie: The Musical and do the occasional 8-bar audition with a random section of Starmites, so my taste level is questionable.

Yet another Shakespeare aficionado chiming in to say that I will be watching this. The Tempest is not my favorite of his works, but I have to think the movie is far better than the trailer.

"The Top" just called, he said this fucker was flying over so gorram high you'd need a winch to pull it down.

And I loved Titus.

Dustin, get your hands on Titus, directed by Taymor. Do it right now. Holy batshit crazy movie and it's AMAZING. Based on that, and the cast she put together (yes, even Brand) I cannot wait for this movie.

And I'm with twig. Yes, yes it fucking is.

Don't tell Cromwell the Widow Dido's dead.

Eh, it could be way worse. Even if the visuals are bat-shit insane, I still want to see that cast in action. Especially Felicity Jones - eeeeek she is so adorable!

@Tamata: yes, I'm pretty sure that it's Sigur Ros that's playing at the end, which is quite an appropriate choice I would say. As for the movie, sure it's over the top, but that Taymor for you. Still, seeing Helen Mirren as a sorceress is just like an early Christmas present. So I'm not going to miss out on that.

okay, just: did this remind anyone else of, like, the result of a makeout session between The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Where The Wild Things Are?

me doi a conocer como soi y que el cliete se sienta satisfecho