Status Anxiety: Is She Gonna Curtsey?

 Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette in Sofia Coppola's film

Does Kate Middleton curtsey to "blood princesses" first or vice versa? Lapham's Quarterly comments on the current Queen's recent updates to the Order of Precedence (who curtseys to whom and when) with a look back at Marie Antoinette's introduction to Comtesse du Barry, Louis XV's mistress. Read the post here. --Kim

Ivory Plans to Film Richard II in 3D

“Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour,” warns John of Gaunt in Shakespeare's Richard II. Kind of how I feel about the preponderance of 3D films glutting the market. That said, I can't help but be intrigued by the idea of Bolingbroke and Mowbray dueling it out 14th-century style in 3D IMAX. Director James Ivory, of the famed duo Merchant Ivory Productions, has announced plans to film a 3D adaptation of Richard II. Merchant, who passed away in 2005, and Ivory were known for their lush period dramas, including Romancing the Tome favorites Remains of the Day, A Room with a View, and Howards End. While the new film is yet to be listed on IMDB, there is a TV adaptation of Richard II which was filmed at Pembroke Castle in Wales and is scheduled to premier on June 30 in the UK. So whom would you cast in Ivory's adaptation? --Kim

Shakespeare on Display!

Just in time for the throngs of tourists pouring into London next month, a new exhibition debuts at the British Museum on July 19 called Shakespeare: Staging the World, which will feature a rare copy of the Bard's First Folio along with other objects which might have inspired him, like a racy, interactive picture of a Venetian courtesan. (Daily Telegraph).

This official video promoting the exhibit is crazy dramatic.

Something Wickededly Good This Way Comes: Antaeus Co. to Perform Macbeth

Yes! A duel. Antaeus Co. rehearsing Macbeth (photo via Antaeus)

Antaeus Company, LA's classical theater ensemble, will stage one of our personal fave's Macbeth, with previews beginning July 5th. Every Thursday night after the performance, members of the cast will hold a Q&A session with the audience. I enjoyed the company's clever production of the Jacobean satire The Malcontent last year. And speaking of Macbeth, here's my newly adopted one-year old pup, Macbeth. Double, double toil and trouble... --Kim

Scrappy Macbeth

Out on DVD: Mitford Mania!

Available for the first time on DVD in North America is the 1980s Masterpiece Theater miniseries "Love in a Cold Climate," based on the hilarious and charming autobiographical novel of the same name by Nancy Mitford (as well as her other tome, The Pursuit of Love). Judi Dench stars as "Lady Alconleigh," the long-suffering matriarch of the prettily precocious brood of "Bright Young Things."

If you've never read the works of Nancy, or Decca Mitford's Hons & Rebels (or a non-fiction biography of this outlandish family), add it to your list immediately. You won't be disappointed. From their crazy antics as kids to shocking elopements and even more shocking political leanings, I find myself sort of obsessed with the whole lot. I'm currently wrapped up in Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford, which I stole from Kim's personal library.

Has anyone seen this miniseries, and can you vouch for it? I've been disappointed by other film and TV renderings. (Nothing can quite capture the comedy of the books.)

Anna Karenina Trailer [HD] - Anna Karenina Official Movie Trailer 2012

This, on the other hand, is a trailer I can get excited about.

Baz's Great Gatsby: Yea Or Nay?

Another catch-up post: I had decidedly mixed feelings upon watching the trailer for Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, and was relieved to know I am not alone. (via Huffington Post).

Maybe the ennui I felt is appropriate for such a novel, but I'm pretty sure given the splash and sensationalism of this trailer that's not exactly what they intended to elicit from me. I just can't quite wrap my head around the casting, and the whole thing seems over-produced (even for Baz). I think adapting this book is a task no filmmaker has yet lived up to. The 1974 one gets a pass ONLY because I'm soft on Robert Redford, and who can forget that television version starring Mira Sorvino back in 2000? (Yeah. Pretty much all of us.) An offbeat interpretation is a good idea, yes -- so if anyone can make it work, maybe it's him. He knocked Romeo + Juliet out of the park, after all. (I'm also one of the few people who will cop to liking Australia.) So maybe this F. Scott Fitzgerald classic is in good hands, after all. I'll reserve judgment till Christmas, when it hits theaters.

P.S. I hope there's at least some actual jazz music in the film.

P.P.S. I covet Daisy's headband.

Let's Play Master & Servant

Liv Ullman and Michelle Williams are apparently teaming up on a film adaptation of Swedish playwright August Strindberg's "Miss Julie." (Plot: An upperclass young woman has a fling with a footman, with decidedly grim results.) Film deets here.

The play's been turned into a movie several times before, including a 1972 version starring Helen Mirren, which I'm keen to check out!

Our Invites Must Have Gotten Lost in the Mail....

...still, this celeb-studded Shakespeare party in Central Park last night sounds like it was epic.

Here are all the details from last night's event. Getting to see Shakespeare in the Park is on my bucket list. In the meantime, I can't sneeze at The Independent Shakespeare Co.'s performances in L.A.'s Griffith Park. This summer, I get to choose from "The Winter's Tale," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and "The Comedy of Errors." (Kim, Jess, let's book our dates.)

Love that they used the Shakespeare Bridge in Los Feliz for one of their promo shots. (See below.) I see this bridge every day from the back window of my house, and it makes me happy.

Anna!!!

This isn't exactly news, but since Kim and I are playing catch-up, I will confess to being giddy in anticipation of Joe Wright's Anna Karenina, hitting U.S. theaters November 9. (The UK gets it in September.)

The cast is killer, with Keira Knightley as Anna, Matthew MacFadyen as Oblonsky (Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, reunite!), Emily Watson, Jude Law, "Boardwalk Empire's" Kelly McDonald, "Downton Abbey's" Michelle Dockery, and more...

...though I daresay this picture of actor Aaron Johnson makes me wonder if Count Vronsky was really worth flinging oneself on railroad tracks for. (Seriously, I don't get it. Someone enlighten me.)