Ep 75 - Romeo and Juliet (1996)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Our classic star crossed lovers are thrown into mid-90s culture. Houses shall be divided, swords shall be shot, and iambic pentameter shall be more accessible to tweens than ever before. [00:00:13] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:00:14] Speaker A: You all know the story of Romeo and Juliet, right? [00:00:23] Speaker C: Completely overrated. [00:00:24] Speaker B: Hello, everybody, and welcome back to our rating the show where I get together with a couple of my buddies, we take a movie franchise, break it down by a movie, give it an overall score, and then throw it back the board so we can see how it lands compared to the other movie franchises. I'm joined, as always, by Brian and Will. Brian, how you doing today? [00:00:39] Speaker C: I'm doing great, Dan, how are you? [00:00:41] Speaker B: I'm doing very well, Will. How are you? [00:00:44] Speaker A: I'm good. [00:00:46] Speaker B: Excellent. [00:00:48] Speaker C: So, and we've been doing this for going on two years. We're still awkward at the start. [00:00:55] Speaker B: Well, because it's always the exact same. Like, you guys both do your one word answer, but no, like, because I would normally go into my spiel, but then like, are you going to. [00:01:04] Speaker C: Oh, damn. [00:01:04] Speaker B: Yeah, there we go. [00:01:05] Speaker C: Bring up the board and show them the best part of why you should be watching this video all the way to the end. The board, please, Dan. Whenever you're ready. [00:01:14] Speaker A: He's gone. [00:01:15] Speaker B: He's gone. [00:01:17] Speaker C: Hey, folks. We try new things here once. [00:01:19] Speaker B: It's a professional show. [00:01:21] Speaker C: Sometimes they don't. [00:01:23] Speaker B: We specifically were like, you didn't give you a chance to throw to me. I'm like, all right, what do you. Here's a bone. You're like, no, I'm good. I don't need that bone. Oh, right, a bone. Yeah, Yeah, I will take that bone. Thanks. [00:01:35] Speaker C: So we rate these movies. We like to work on franchises. Today we're working on what we call the Patreon pick. It's people who are members of our Patreon get to pick what we watch for the last week of each month. So that's a singular movie that isn't part of a franchise. This is our franchise list of the movies we've gone over. We do review these. When new movies enter these franchises, we go back to them and add them to their overall ranking. And these are the franchises ranked against franchises. And that's why some of our favorite movies may not make the top of the list because the franchise as a whole is lacking. [00:02:09] Speaker B: But that's actually a great segue that I'm going to steal from you there. Next month for March, we're going to be doing our first ever March movie madness, where we each are going to get to choose any movie we want not part of a franchise. And that will give it. Give us the opportunity to talk about maybe one of our favorites, something we're curious about, something we know the other guys have not seen. Whatever we decide to go with will, I believe you're going up first. Have you decided on which movie you're going to make us watch next week? [00:02:32] Speaker A: I have, and spoiler alert, it's already been announced on a video we did a long time ago. Dan, you did a we did a flicks that make you tick video, and it was the first one I listed. Do you remember what it is? No, but I know you haven't seen it. It is. [00:02:48] Speaker B: Wait, wait, wait. Oh, okay. Rumble in the Bronx. I was gonna say, like, I think I remember your five because you had, like, Rumble in the Bronx. Mad Max, Bull Bullworth. No Bow Finger. Thank you. [00:03:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:03:03] Speaker B: I don't know if I actually, I. I said I got. I got three of five. I don't know if I can get the other two. [00:03:07] Speaker A: That's not bad. [00:03:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:08] Speaker A: But I am selecting Rumble in the Bronx, which I assume you haven't seen yet. [00:03:12] Speaker B: I have not. [00:03:14] Speaker A: It is a classic Jackie Chan martial arts comedy. That's what he kind of specializes in. And it was the very first Jackie Chan movie I saw when I was growing up, and so it always has a special place in my heart. Is it the best Jackie Chan movie? Maybe not, but it is perfect in my mind, and so I'm excited to force you all to watch this. And I also thought, what's a genre we haven't even covered in any of our discussions? And that's the martial arts genre, so I'm excited to go there with y'. All. [00:03:45] Speaker B: I. I'm not going to be choosing my pick for this one, because I want to choose something a little bit more personal or meaning something to me, but I'm not gonna lie. One of the first things that came to mind was a movie called Iron Mask, which I've not seen, but I know it starts Jackie Chan, which is a favorite of yours, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, which is a favorite of mine. I'd just be curious to see those two actually interacting with each other. Not curious enough to have seen it in the last seven years since it came out. But, you know, I thought maybe, but I was like, no, I think I want to choose something I actually want to talk about instead of that. I do want to watch that at some point with you. That'd be very fun. [00:04:13] Speaker A: Totally fair. Yes, we can do that. For sure. I'm down for a watch party. [00:04:18] Speaker B: Excellent. So the entire month of March we're going to be choosing our own movies. I guess three of the weeks of March and then the last week of March. We're doing what we do every month, which is the Patreon pick. And we'll this, we'll see what the head writers have for us in store then. But this month we're talking about Romeo and Juliet because that's what the head writers decided. This is a movie that came out in 1996 and I remember seeing this in theaters because quite frankly, my sister wanted to go see it. We were both too young to drive, so my parents had to drive her and, and I just wanted a free trip into town so I could go buy a video game. So I tagged along and ended up actually really enjoying this movie back in 1996 and developing a little bit of a crush on a, you know, semi older Claire Danes at the time. Do you remember your first time watching this one, Brian? [00:04:59] Speaker C: Yes, this was probably how a lot of people my age watched this. We were in high school and the teachers were like, oh, we can get them to watch Shakespeare now. And they wield the box shaped television in on the cart and plugged this movie in. I think it was like in 98 or something when it was on VHS. That kind of dates me. And we watched it as a class in there and that's it. [00:05:28] Speaker B: What about you, Will? Do you remember your first time seeing this one? Or is this your first time seeing this one? [00:05:32] Speaker A: No, I've seen it once or twice, maybe three times some. Some time ago. You know, 96 on. It's a long time to remember back and it didn't make that much of an impact on me back then just because maybe I'm not the biggest fan of this particular Shakespeare work. [00:05:51] Speaker B: You know, this movie, but Romeo and Juliet itself. [00:05:54] Speaker A: Correct. [00:05:55] Speaker B: Interesting. [00:05:55] Speaker C: Okay, I'm with Will on this. This particular version of Romeo and Juliet doesn't do it for me. I have seen many, many versions of this in, in a real theater, not a movie theater. And I've seen some good ones and bad ones and this one of course translates to modern times with guns and instead of swords and thing and other things like that. And I'm just not a fan of the way it translates and I'm not a fan of the way they took this. [00:06:24] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:06:25] Speaker C: But I do like the story of Romeo and Juliet and I've seen some people put it on in ways that were unique and different and did a really Good job. And I've seen people do it a very more traditional style and do a very good job. This one just wasn't a good translation for me. [00:06:40] Speaker B: Fair enough. So I guess I'm gonna be alone on this. In this land where I actually did enjoy this movie, especially back in 1996, watching it on the watch party was a little bit different. Specifically the first, like, five minutes or so. Like, the whole gas station scene was so over the top. I was like, oh, no, do I, I haven't seen this in like 15, 20 years. Do I just not remember how ridiculously over the top it was? And then it feels like it settles down quite a bit after that, or, or fall. It finds its pacing, if you will. I, I will stand on this hill. I think there are some phenomenal performances in this, and it has maybe one of my favorite soundtracks from at least my teenage years. Just an absolutely incredible soundtrack. I think there's a lot to like here, but I also completely understand how this would not be your favorite version of this. Or will. You don't even like Will Romeo and Juliet at all. I just think, like, John Leguizamo and, and Harold Peru. [00:07:36] Speaker C: Is that how you pronounce Mercutio? [00:07:38] Speaker B: Mercurio. He has been Mercutio for 20, for 30 years. Everything I see him in. [00:07:43] Speaker C: So come on. Mercutio is just an awesome character in general. And so. But in this movie, I do like the performance by what's his name, who plays Mercurio. I can't pronounce his name to save my life. He does do a great job as Mercutio in this one too. [00:07:57] Speaker B: It's just one of those things where, like, I've seen him in Lost. I've seen him in the Rookie. I've seen him in other things, and it's always like, is that, is that Mercurio? Like, every time, like, I, I, I'm trying so hard to remember his name because he is such a phenomenal actor. He's really good in everything I've seen him in. And yet every time I'm just like, oh, it's Mercutio. [00:08:13] Speaker A: Okay, Coolio. I mean, it is a standout performance in the movie for sure. So it's, it's definitely a good, a good way to remember him by. By all means. Yeah. Yeah. And it's not that I hate this story. I do think Shakespeare is a very talented writer. I mean, or they. [00:08:34] Speaker C: He's got better words. This is just a popularized one for some reason. I don't know why this is the one Everybody goes to, I mean, I [00:08:41] Speaker A: think there's, there's solid reasons as to why it's as produced as it is. [00:08:45] Speaker C: I mean it's a, it's a very [00:08:46] Speaker A: universal story of young love and the dangers of such love. And you know, I think Shakespeare has a way of really writing to the people of the time and it translates like, like young love is always young love. It's always going to be, you know, you dive in too deep, you're most likely going to get hurt, you're going to make mistakes along the way, but you're all in. And yeah, he, he has a great way of putting that on, on the page. And unlike Run, I thought there was a lot of good elements in this from, from the script and put onto the, onto the big screen. It wasn't all perfect, but there was a lot of good elements in this movie as well. From the director, whatever his name is, Baz. [00:09:38] Speaker B: Luhrmann. [00:09:38] Speaker A: Lurman. [00:09:39] Speaker C: Yes. Mr. Lurman. [00:09:41] Speaker B: I think this story captures the feeling, if not the reality of young love where like when you fall in love, right then like this, teenage years, like everything, like all emotions are so heightened, which is why you kind of like gravitate to music from that time period, generally speaking, because when you listened to it, all of your emotions were so much higher than they are as an adult. And so this movie, like it's, it's infatuation. They fall in love, fall in love, get married within 24 hours, all this like kill themselves because they can't be with the other person. And it's just that, like accentuation of what it feels like to be in love as a young person or to be in lust as a young person. Because watching this as an adult, you're kind of like, well, you're stupid. Like, like what are you doing? [00:10:27] Speaker A: Right, yeah, it is like that. But you can also recall the time when you were like that, right? [00:10:34] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:10:35] Speaker A: So that's the thing, that's the beauty of it and that's why it's universal, is because almost everybody goes through this part of their life, you know, their first love, their first couple of instances is, is it, it's like this, you feel like that infatuation, whether it's ends up being a long lasting relationship, whether this would have been a long lasting relationship, who knows? They didn't really know anything about each other except for that they liked the look of each other. And who doesn't like a little wet haired Leo, Am I right? [00:11:07] Speaker C: Speaking of Leo, they really leaned into the heartthrob era of Leonardo DiCaprio, which I didn't enjoy, that just wasn't for me. I think maybe young women at the time would absolutely flock to this movie to see that look of him. Yeah, they did. He was, you know, always walking around with a cigarette, kind of that James Dean kind of appeal to him. And I love James Dean and everything, but it was a little bit much for me, especially being a fan of Leo's. This just wasn't one of his best works for me to watch. And it just felt like they were relying a lot on his sex appeal at that time, that, that they really kind of leaned into it a little too hard for my tastes. I've never felt Romeo was quite that much of a heartthrob in the stories, and they really kind of pushed that. [00:11:58] Speaker B: Well, in fairness, she falls for him just as hard as he falls for her. Like, he's not chasing her per se. They both just kind of lock eyes from across the room and are like, oh, yeah. So he has to be pretty good looking, right? Good enough. [00:12:11] Speaker A: Looking good, right. [00:12:12] Speaker C: They just have like these, these long shots of him sitting on the beach, writing in his journal, cigarette and all that. You know, that Cool. I'm a, I'm an outsider. I'm a loner. His parents pull up him and he stands up and he's like, I'm too cool for you, and walks away from his parents and just kind of stuff like that, that I'm like, you whiny little, Go get a ride home, you know? [00:12:31] Speaker B: Are you gonna attend your father's house tonight? [00:12:35] Speaker A: I, I, I'll push back on that a little bit. Just in, in how I portrayed this movie. I feel like this movie isn't your typical acting movie. This is like a play production on film. I mean, Dan mentioned it from the, from the top, the movie jumps in, it's bigger than life, and everybody's over the top. And that's, that's theater. They're theater, acting. Right. Because in theater, live theater, you have to project out to like, you know, upward of 600 people in a room, and you have to play it big so people can see it. And I feel like that was their directive in this movie, was to play, play it as a theater production. And I think all the characters amped up in, in all those ways throughout the movie. And so, yeah, that means Romeo has to be even hotter, even more of the, the love interest that, you know, everything has to be amped up. The costume is amped up. The, the set designs are amped up. Everything in this movie is amped up and it comes across as a stage play in my mind. [00:13:43] Speaker C: Yeah, I guess that's. I guess that's the problem I have with it, is that if you're gonna bring it to film, you can use the subtleties of film, and they don't. And they do. [00:13:51] Speaker A: They do. [00:13:52] Speaker C: They do. Especially in the middle version. And when they're talking with a lot of the parents, there's some scenes in there where they kind of bring it down and get in close. Claire Danes has a lot of scenes and where she does really well in. In. And that. I like those scenes. But especially the big scene opening up. It is a theatrical experience at this. At this gas station. And it's a jarring thing to see on the silver screen a theater play. It. It didn't work for me. It wasn't what I was looking for. That's my opinion, though. That's not wrong. I'm not saying they did it wrong. It's just not the way I wanted this to go about. [00:14:32] Speaker B: I feel like there's been a couple movies, specifically musicals, where they will start off louder than the rest of the movie is in. Almost like a testing you. Like a are you in or are you out Kind of way. Another one that comes to mind is La La Land. Like that opening scene on the LA highway. [00:14:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:50] Speaker B: Just feels kind of out of place compared to the rest of the movie. [00:14:53] Speaker C: That scene made me turn that movie off. Exactly. I found out later it settles down a bit now. I'm not big on musicals in the first place, so I wasn't in for it from the start. But you're right. You're absolutely right. It's a great example. [00:15:05] Speaker A: Except for Sound of Music, which you loved. That said, that's true. I think that's like a lot of action movies, though, too. Right. You open with a big action scene, get. Get the audience invested and then go from there. Right. [00:15:17] Speaker B: I think movies, though, will start off with action but build to something bigger down the road. Whereas I feel like it starts off with one of the loudest pieces of the movie and then it kind of finds its way after that. [00:15:30] Speaker C: At least it didn't use, like, the cheesiest narrative hook ever, which is to show the ending of the film and then go, let me back up and start from the beginning. And then they start the movie. I hate when they do that. [00:15:40] Speaker B: It's easy with the tv. [00:15:42] Speaker A: They actually absolutely do that zooming in [00:15:46] Speaker B: where they're like, true. [00:15:47] Speaker C: That's true. The tale of. Whoa. Juliet and her Romeo. Yeah, you're right. They actually do do that. I, I forget about the TV phase in parts at the end. You're right. [00:15:57] Speaker A: Now that said again, they actually stuck pretty close to the script of Romeo and Juliet, which after this movie, I think this movie kind of jump started a lot of other Shakespeare adaptations in the modern times, you know, oh, she's the man. All those things. 10 things I hate about you. [00:16:17] Speaker B: 10 things I hate about you is [00:16:18] Speaker A: when I was gonna go with, yeah, for sure, right? Like, I think those, this movie probably allowed for those to happen. But those movies, unlike this, made it an adaptation, didn't speak the language, went a very different way with it, which is fine. [00:16:32] Speaker B: Which do you prefer? [00:16:34] Speaker A: I think it was brave to stick to the text. And again, I think it leans into my thought process of he wanted to modernize a theatrical production of Shakespeare. Let's jump into Shakespeare's boots right now. If Shakespeare was alive today and wanted to put on Romeo and Juliet, why wouldn't he film it? You know, they were putting it on in modern day, why wouldn't they film it and put it on the big screen in modern day setting? So I think that's an interesting way to look at it and I think that's kind of where they, they started the jumping off point and it was, it was an interesting take. [00:17:14] Speaker C: And, and I love the things that they did to adapt this, like the dagger 9 millimeter behind me. They had the sword and the sword.40 and sword.45 caliber weapons. I loved that. Not only do these guns just look outrageously cool, I don't know why it's got a hollow whatever. They look amazing. They're really cool. And I thought that was a really cool way to have a sword fight in the film. I like that there were a couple of other twists, but for the most part, you know, I didn't get to see them like saddle up their horse and jump into a car instead of. I mean, they did jump into cars and stuff, but it wasn't like as pronounced. So there were some things that like the gun really stuck out where other things were kind of subtle and you don't even really notice them until you watch it a couple of times and go, oh yeah. They had to modernize this by doing that. So interesting little twists that they put into it. I would have liked to see a few more things done to really make it pop like they did with the guns. [00:18:15] Speaker B: I do, I do kind of like that they kept the language as close as possible. I'm not super familiar with the Actual language of Romeo. They couldn't tell you if they changed it or where they changed it. But by naming the guns swords, rapier, dagger, they're allowed to keep some of that language in the same way. I don't think they ever mentioned, like, get in my car versus ride your horse kind of a thing. [00:18:35] Speaker C: There's no mention of horse. I don't believe anyway, so sure. [00:18:39] Speaker B: But I do, like. Like, even the. The bite your thumb. Like, do you bite your thumb at us, sir? Like, it would have been so easy to change that to, like, him giving him the finger or something, which would probably resonated more with audiences where they're like, what is biting your thumb? Even I didn't know what biting your thumb meant to somebody. I don't 100% know what it means now. I just know that it's obviously an insult, but that line has been in my head for 30 years. Like, do you bite your thumb, sir? I do bite my thumb. [00:19:03] Speaker A: Yeah. It's the equivalent of giving the finger, of course, for sure. [00:19:06] Speaker B: But it was just like. I don't. [00:19:08] Speaker A: Maybe at the time when you first watch it, you're like, wait, I've never heard that before. Yeah, exactly. No, no, it's. It's an interesting. And again, being set in modern times and the actors going over the top with their performances, I think it helped those viewers who had never heard the iamic pentameter before really be able to understand the story because they're, like, giving you time to catch up. And like, when Juliet is like, you know, calling out Romeo for just wanting to sleep together, you know, she pauses and looks at him being like, what are you saying to me right now? And he obviously backtracks and says, no, I want you to, you know, in return say you love me. And. And so all those things played really well. Whereas if you played it more subdued, I think that language is easier to get lost if you're not familiar with it. [00:20:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:02] Speaker C: What's up tonight? There's a lot of times when I had no freaking clue what they were saying, but you could see what they meant on the screen. And so that's fine. And that's am. When I go to a lot of Shakespearean era plays, I don't really know what this dialogue means, but I get the gist of it by the actors playing it out. And so that's okay. And that's. That's what this movie did for me too. A lot of times I'm just watching the body language to get a feel for it. Of course. I know the play, like I said, I've seen it many, many times and there were some great sequences. Like I mentioned Claire Dane had some. Some good ones. I loved the. Not is it the nurse or the. The maid that's traveling. The nurse, she's traveling back and forth, passing messages. She's fantastic. I do think that Harold Perrin knew and John Leguizamo absolutely stole the show in this movie. I think they take the cake for their portrayal of Tybalt and Mercutio. That was phenomenal. And I also liked the Paul Sorvino, the. The parents, the parent, Romeo's father and Romeo's mother and Juliet's mother and Juliet's father which they are listed in the credits as. They did really well too. My biggest problem with the acting in this was probably Leonardo DiCaprio. I thought this is one of his weakest movies. Personally I didn't like his portrayal and I just felt like at times I felt like he was reading lines from Shakespeare instead of being that actor. So that really drew me away from this. [00:21:40] Speaker B: I don't know that I had that much of a problem with Leonardo DiCaprio, but I was just trying. I just looked it up actually. He was a known entity at this point. Like I Knew who Leonardo DiCaprio was going into this movie but this is probably the first movie I actually saw him in. Like I looked at some of his credentials before this movie came out and I hadn't seen them at that time. Some of them I still haven't seen and that's kind of on me. [00:21:58] Speaker C: This was after Gilbert Grape, right? [00:22:00] Speaker B: This is after Gilbert Grape and it's after Basketball Diary and it's before the Beach. So this is my first introduction to him and I don't think that he's. I don't think that he's doing a bad job by any stretch. I think he is outperformed by the louder characters, Tibalt, even Father Lawrence's performance. Pete. Pete Postle we I liked quite a bit and obviously like 14 year old Dan had the biggest crush on Claire Danes at the time. So is it wasn't that I thought he was poor. It's just that there were such larger personalities on screen. [00:22:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm also going to jump on something Brian said. You said you liked the Capulets and the Montague family members. This is the first production I'm going to call it where I seen Tibalt and Lady Capulet, you know, Juliet's mom. They totally are having an affair in this movie. And I've Never seen that portrayed in any other version of the play. And I thought they kind of slid that in really nicely and it, and it really played on why Lady Capital was so traumatized by Tybalt's death. And, and that's right in the script. Right. And, and so I thought they played that off really well with like showing them kiss during the costume party and then all these little, little side altercations that they have during the film. It was, it was an interesting take, I will say. [00:23:30] Speaker B: As much as we're talking about the cast, I, I guess I just didn't know who Paul Rudd was at the time, but it was a massive surprise to watch this. This time. Be like, oh, yeah, okay, I forgot [00:23:38] Speaker C: he was in this too. And he shows up and I was like, oh, wow. [00:23:41] Speaker A: Yeah, pretty small character, obviously. [00:23:43] Speaker C: But it was the right role for him, though. I mean, that's the kind of character he plays, that guy who doesn't understand what's going on around him. So. Yeah, yeah, and, and if he fit right into it. But again, small role, so there wasn't much to go on there. But I was glad to see him [00:23:57] Speaker B: in it for sure. They're not wrong, though. He is kind of a vampire. Like the, the seeing him and how different he looks now versus seeing Leo and how different Leo looks now, you're just like, oh, you haven't really aged that much. That's interesting. [00:24:11] Speaker A: Yes, the same. Paul Rudd is clueless. [00:24:14] Speaker B: Yeah, [00:24:16] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't know. I don't know what else there is to. I mean, the thing is, like, if you like Shakespeare, you're probably going to be okay with this movie as long as you can get behind the modernization. If you're like a Die Hard, like, oh, Shakespeare has to be in its time and blah, blah, blah, then you're not gonna like a lot of Shakespeare's remakes along the way. But, you know, I don't think they did a bad job. And I think the director also, like, the cinematography and editing just like amps this up as well. Right. There's like a lot of quick cuts to keep the pacing up. They actually speed up the film in a lot of different scenes in different ways. [00:24:57] Speaker C: Okay, they do all right. I just thought something else was going on with me, but they are. Okay. So I was like, I was like, is this like, what's going on here? Okay. They do speed it up a bit. All right. [00:25:11] Speaker A: Lots of times throughout the film and, and I think it makes it for like a two hour movie. And I think most Romeo and Juliet Play productions I've seen are at least two and a half. So I'm like, I'll take it. [00:25:22] Speaker C: Yeah. No, a lot of the productions usually clip out or cut out most of the sex scene. I want to say it's like Act 4 or something when you go see it in theaters. I can't remember it's been a while. But a lot of them will just forego the whole sex scene where they're kind of talking in bed and stuff. This one has a bit of that. They also transplant a lot of it to them in the swimming pool. Some of the dialogue has moved over to there. And I thought that was fine. I thought. I thought the pacing of this movie was pretty good. Being you're sticking so closely to the script, it was nice to see it played out pretty well in that department. I just. Again, I just. I just think that they could have altered it differently and made it more fun, that they could have taken a little bit more liberties in some areas and still stuck with the script. And I just. For me, I was just kind of bored with the film a lot of the time, maybe because I've seen the story so many times and I've seen so many other versions that I just liked better. [00:26:20] Speaker A: Yeah, that's totally legit. If you have something in that. In your mind that you're. [00:26:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:26:24] Speaker A: Holding. Holding to a higher, high standard, [00:26:29] Speaker C: modernizing it, I think that's fun. I was just like you. You hit hard on things that I did like and missed other opportunities that I wish you would have gone after. And I just felt wanting. I felt wanting at the end of this film. [00:26:40] Speaker A: Wow. [00:26:42] Speaker B: Fair enough. I don't agree, but I'm also trying to think this might have been the first time. This not only might have been my introduction to Leonardo DiCaprio, this might have been my introduction to Romeo and Juliet. So I didn't have anything to compare it to at the time that I saw it. I definitely don't think bored was the feeling I was thinking. Even this time, watching it now, granted, it's been a while since I'd seen. It's not like I watched this every couple of years. I didn't. I. I just didn't dislike it. Now, granted, a huge chunk of that was nostalgia. There's a lot of lines in this movie that I remember not even necessarily as Shakespeare, but, like, this specific portrayal you've got. I can't remember which Romeo or Cap or Monty, you or Capulet, but one of the parents is like, come, madam, let's away. Which Is something I say to my. My wife all the time. You've got the bite your thumb at us. You've got the. The John Leguizamo's like, peace speech. [00:27:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:40] Speaker B: Which is something like. Again, I don't say it out loud, but something I think of whenever somebody's, like, talking about that. It's like, peace. I hate the word. Like, it just. The performance is just stuck with me from this one, more so than any other performance of this I've seen. Now, I've also not seen this on stage very often, I think maybe once that I can think of. So I just don't have as much to compare it to, I guess. But this one I saw at a younger age. A lot of it did stick with me. I loved the soundtrack for most of my teenage years. And actually I listened to the soundtrack again this week. Just be like, is it as good as I remember? It's fantastic. I think there's one slow song that I'm kind of like. Yeah. But for the most part, like, the whole CD holds up. And, like, listening to it in the movie was so good. Like, it's not necessarily one again. Like, I'm gonna go back to over and over again. But if I was. If gun to my head, I had to watch Romeo and Juliet, this would probably be the verse I choose to sit. [00:28:29] Speaker A: Dagger to your head. [00:28:30] Speaker B: Dagger to my head. My apologies. Rapier. Rapier to my head. This is probably the one that I would choose to go back to. [00:28:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:28:36] Speaker A: Oh, go ahead. [00:28:37] Speaker C: To push back on the. On the soundtrack, though. I like the songs. I think I like them because they're nostalgic for that time. And I didn't find that they quite hit the mark for what was going on on screen. Again, I think it was just directorial choices that I just didn't agree with. Not bad ones. Just not what I wanted, [00:28:59] Speaker B: which is totally fair. I actually. I thought I would have more to say about Baz Luhrmann. I was looking at his filmograph. I'm like, oh, I actually haven't seen very many of his movies. It's really just this and Elvis are the only two movies of his that I've actually seen. [00:29:11] Speaker A: Yeah. You should probably check out Moulin Rouge. That's probably his most well known as well, like, critically acclaimed. [00:29:18] Speaker B: Yeah. I even own it. It's in the other room. Like, I have a Baz Luhrmann. My wife. My wife has a bad Luhrmann collection with Moulin Rouge, Romeo and Juliet, and a third one, maybe Australia. I don't Remember? [00:29:30] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:29:31] Speaker B: I don't, I think, I think she bought the set before Great Gatsby came out. But I could be wrong. [00:29:35] Speaker A: Right, right, right. But, yeah, I don't know. I, I, I think, I think he knew what he was doing and he's, he does have a very specific direction, the way he does things, which is very apparent in this movie. And if you see any of his other movies, whether you buy into that, some directors you just don't buy into, which is fine, you know, whatever that guy's clerk's name is. Yeah, he's so, so. And this is what it is. It doesn't, doesn't always resonate with you. And that's totally fair. [00:30:06] Speaker B: I just love the idea that some random person is going to watch this who's never watched us before and be like, why did you take the random shot at Kevin Smith? [00:30:14] Speaker A: Oh, also, I think you mentioned this, Dan, while we were in the watch party. I think it was you or maybe it was Brian. I can't remember which now. I had. I haven't seen any production of Romeo Juliet where they're both awake at the same time. [00:30:30] Speaker C: Yes, you're right. [00:30:31] Speaker A: And I thought that was a really good detail. And again, not as easy to do on stage, but on film you can very much do it. And I thought it brought a lot of intensity into that scene, and I thought that was really, really well done. [00:30:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I thought that's how it was supposed to go. No, it didn't resonate for me. [00:30:51] Speaker C: And they make it work because no one speaks during that part to, because they're, because in all the other. They're one's dead while the other one's alive. And so this one, they're both awake seeing it. That does make that sequence way more intense because now both of them realize they up. [00:31:08] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, and they can see it. [00:31:10] Speaker C: It was a cool touch. And you can't do that in theater. You can only do that in movies. So I wish they took more opportunities to do stuff like that in this one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:31:19] Speaker B: All right, are you guys ready to rate this thing and disappoint Hillary yet again? [00:31:23] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:31:25] Speaker B: All right, if you like what we do and you want to help support us, consider joining our Patreon. There's a link down below. Thank you so much to our producers as well as our executive producers, Real Bubba, Hotep and Dino, and of course, our head writers, Elder JM990 and Ms. Hillary, who helped make this episode possible. Thank you all very much. [00:31:44] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Speaking of which, The Patreon picks are now becoming hit and miss for me. This one is yet another miss. I was bored for most of it. There were some choices in the film that though I'm not going to say they were the wrong choice, they were the wrong choice for me and I just didn't have a lot of fun watching this and I kind of was just waiting for it to be over with. This movie for me gets a 59, which is just barely a passable film that anyone should watch. I think if you are a die hard Romeo and Juliet fan, you should at least check this out to see how it translates to the big screen and modernization. However, if you are not interested in Shakespeare works at all, you can totally skip this one. It will not do you any harm whatsoever to not know what you're missing out on. I will say Mercutio was a great character in this one as he is always a great character in every version of Romeo and Juliet. [00:32:39] Speaker B: I'm coming at this one with a lot of nostalgia and I'm trying to keep that one out of my review. Specifically because I want to review this movie based in 2026, not in 1996. Blows me away a little bit. This is a 30 year old movie, but that's a discussion for another time. I think a lot of the acting in this is great. Unfortunately, I think the main characters are a little bit overshadowed by the side characters, but I don't think that anybody is necessarily doing a poor job in this. I think again, harping on it. The soundtrack is absolutely incredible. I like some of the stylistic choices that Boz Luhrmann made. Some of them, not necessarily all of them. I think they worked better in 1996 than they do in 2026. Some of the fast cuts, some of the over the top scenes, whatnot. The opening again is going to be rough for some people. It might be a point of just like, ah, let's see what else is on Netflix this week. But overall I really do enjoy this movie. I enjoyed it more in 96, but I still did like it in 2026. Watching with the Watch Party was fun, even though you can kind of tell that the temperature in the room was pretty cold. I was maybe one of the only people in the room that was thoroughly getting into this one. I'm giving this one a straight 70. I think it was higher. If you'd asked me before the re watch, it came down a little bit for me, but I still really did enjoy it and I would be happy to watch this again. [00:33:46] Speaker A: Yeah, Dan, mentioned this is like a 30 year old movie. We kept saying that we've modernized Shakespeare, Shakespeare. This is now a period piece. So it's interesting in that light, 30 years later, people could stage this as a period piece. And they do that with Shakespeare all the time. You know, you put Richard III in the war times or what have you. And yeah, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Again, it's up to your kind of tastes now as a whole. I thought this movie took a lot of big swings and I think it hit on a lot of things. They, they leaned into that theatrical aspect of, you know, this is a play on film. And that worked for me, even though it's not my favorite of the Shakespearean tales. So overall, I give this a solid 75. I mean, if you have interest in Shakespeare, check it out. If you're a fan of the actors, check it out. If you're a fan of just directors going, going big and trying something different, it's worth checking out whether you like it or not. You know, that's, that's movies. That's the movies. 75 out of 100. [00:34:54] Speaker B: And with that, we see Romeo and Juliet coming in with a 70 from me, a 59 from Brian, a 75 from Will. So 68 overall, putting it at the not quite bottom, but pretty low on our list of Patreon picks. You mentioned that we're getting a few more hits than misses, but I mean, most of them are 70 plus, which isn't terrible. [00:35:15] Speaker C: I got two misses on me. That's. That's it. [00:35:17] Speaker B: Yeah, that's not, that's not too bad. [00:35:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Two misses and two highest scores. Oh, no, that's me. That's me. [00:35:23] Speaker C: Three. Three highest scores. I got three highest scores. Yeah, so, yeah, so it's all right. I have yet to land in the middle and I'm okay with that. That's what's great about the Patreon pick. It brings a singular film into my range. A lot of these I had not seen seen before or haven't seen a long time. So City of God official, Wanda. Yeah, that's about it. I've seen everything else, but I wouldn't have seen those movies had it not been for the Patreon pick. I wouldn't have circled back around to Romeo and Juliet to definitively say, yeah, I didn't like that. So I'm stoked about the Patreon pick. I'm always looking forward to it. Dan. I think part of the reason that Watch Party was so cold for me was because I was doing it on my phone. My studio was tore apart and I'd have to switch to chat to type and then switch back to the film. And so I wasn't texting in. In the. During the movie near as much as I would normally. [00:36:17] Speaker B: Well, and you're normally on screen, too, so it was. [00:36:19] Speaker C: Yeah, I like, for sure. [00:36:21] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:36:23] Speaker B: All right, that's our rating of Romeo and Juliet, but what's yours? Leave a comment down below. I'd love to hear from you. We record this live over Twitch TV slash the Mongoolie shows. Head over there and hit the follow button. 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