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the audience applauded

From my favorite movies..

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Well, it's been almost 20 years since this film won Best Picture, and I happened to catch it on TV. I was about 11 when this film came out, so I'd never seen it.Now, having seen it, I have to say it's cute but that's about it. I don't see the huge appeal of it, aside from the costumes and Judi Dench being in the film for about 10 minutes. It's not a film that I'll remember, and certainly (IMO) not worthy of a Best Picture Oscar, especially over films made at the same time like "Saving Private Ryan," which is a film that I will always remember seeing because it made such an impression. This, sadly, did not make much of an impression and I can see why people say it didn't deserve the big prize.I also don't get the Best Actress Oscar for Gwyneth Paltrow. Personally, I've always found her too pretentious to be appealing on screen, but I'll admit she is talented. As for Best Actress... nah. There are about 100 other actresses who could have played the role just as well, so I can't watch this and say, "Oh wow, this is such a great part for her. What a performance!" Neither her nor the film are memorable, and I'd imagine she was given the award more so for being popular at the time, and not based on the strength of her actual performance. I've seen "Elizabeth" which was released the same year, and I think the very talented Cate Blanchett deserved the Oscar so much more than Paltrow. Then again, Blanchett has won two Oscars since this film and Paltrow's career declined not long after her win, so obviously we don't need to really debate who the better actor is. I'd say watch this film, and then decide for yourself what should have won the Oscar. Then watch "Saving Private Ryan" and see which you remember.

Does anyone remember this? I do, but only because its what turned me off of the Oscars. Haven't watched them since. It was the rude awakening that they were fixed, the quality of the film didn't matter as much as the bribes.It beat Saving Private Ryan for best picture.And then it beat Bulworth for best screen play.That was sort of enough to turn my head. Both of them? Bulworth was far from best picture worthy, but best original screenplay seemed as much as a shoe in as Ryan for Best Picture.And then it went on to win Best score over Mulan, A Bug's Life, and Prince of Egypt which is curious because it didn't really fit the criteria for Musical or Comedy Score as much as it's competition.And then now, looking back, who remembers it? If it's remembered at all, it's remembered for beating Saving Private Ryan, which has become a classic.Shakespeare in Love is just remembered for it's sweep of the awards, both at the Oscars and beyond, but not for its quality.

While this deals with the creation of "Romeo and Juliet", in some eyes his very best play, this is really a story of deception, a la Yentl, a la "As You Like It". This is about the desires of a young lady (Gwyneth Paltrow) who desired to act and disguised herself as a boy to play the part of Romeo, ironically opposite a young male actor as Juliet. In the process, she falls in love with Shakespeare (the dashing Joseph Fiennes) and while he returns her feelings, he uses elements of their relationship to finish the play. A jealous suitor becomes Mercutio; her nurse (Imelda Staunton) becomes Juliet's nurse, and various personal tragedies guide the conclusion, leading to a triumph....or does it?Perfect in every detail, this Oscar winning best picture features a great cast in smaller parts, most notably the Oscar winning Judi Dench as the imperious Queen Elizabeth II, basically a cameo, but a commanding one. There's some ironic cameos as well, including "Downton Abbey's" Carson (Jim Carter) as the actor playing the nurse, and deep down the cast list, "Are You Being Served?"'s Mr. Humphreys (John Inman). Geoffrey rush, Simon Callow and Ben Affleck are just a sample of the incredible cast. There's humor, tension, sexism galore (a historical fact of the times) and lush music, photography and art direction. I'm glad this just presents the facts (fictional or not) and leaves the point of view to the audience decide.

The 1998 Best Picture Winner, Shakespeare in Love has suffered from the "didn't deserve it" curse. Sometimes, a movie is remembered not on its own merits, but on what it beat out for Oscar's top prize. I have been guilty of this before as well; it took me until I was 27 years old to see Forrest Gump because I was so distraught at the fact that it beat out Pulp Fiction and Network for Best Picture. I've tried not to put movies in this purgatory anymore, but it still happens. For instance, I hardly ever meet someone who has seen How Green Was My Valley, yet I meet a lot of people who scoff that John Ford's magical piece beat out Citizen Kane in the eyes of the Academy. John Madden's feature, starring Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes, and Gwyneth Paltrow is not immune to this phenomenon. Unfortunately, Shakespeare in Love, the story of the Bard finding his muse and writing his most revered play, is more remembered as the bandit that stole Best Picture from Saving Private Ryan. A struggling poet and amateur playwright, Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is grappling with a severe case of writer's block. Having already sold a play to theater operator Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush), he is racing against the deadline of opening night to have something to give to both the operator of the theater and the audience. He needs the love of a woman to inspire him to write the romance expected of him, but every attempt to find her has proved futile. Meanwhile, Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) a beautiful admirer of theater and fan of Shakespeare's wants nothing more than to act. Since only men are allowed to act in theater, Viola takes on the identity of a fictitious Thomas Kent, dresses as a man, and auditions and is accepted for a part in Shakespeare's next play. Wil sees through her ruse and falls in love with the woman behind the mustache. The two begin a love affair tainted with the knowledge that Wil is married, and Viola has been promised to Lord Wessex. Eventually realizing their union will never endure, the two go on, promising to forever love the other. Viola enters her marriage to Lord Wessex; Wil, finally attaining his muse, goes on to write his next play. The true treat of this film is its screenplay. This clever, well- written script will have you roped in from the first scene. Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard deserve accolades and were totally deserving for their statuettes for Best Original Screenplay. Aside from how well it was written, the story is very interesting as well. Even though Shakespeare's works are read in high schools throughout the world, very little thought is put into the love life of the man behind the great romances. Costumes were another brilliant treat from this film. Granted, it seems as though period pieces always take home top prize from the Academy, there was the added pressure of also designing costumes to be used as costumes, as much of the scenes comprised of the actors rehearsing the play Shakespeare was writing. Every garment worn by the actors looked uniquely Victorian and produced a well-deserved gold statuette for costume designer Sandy Powell. This film, much like the English Patient, deserves to be viewed on its own merit, and accepted as a fine piece of filmmaking, regardless of the other films that came out the same year. Shakespeare in Love is a drama and a romance but never gets bogged down by either genre. There are playful moments abound within the film, making it all the more engaging for the audience. My favorite scene of this nature takes place in a bar; Wil is depressed over his writer's block and bumps into revered playwright Christopher Marlowe who gives Shakespeare advice for his play. The authorship of works credited to Shakespeare is heavily debated in some circles with many, myself included believing Marlowe to be the true author. It was a fun nod the film took to recognize this and incorporate it into the film. What was also fun was the repeated allusions throughout the film to other works of Shakespeare's, most notably Twelfth Night. Being a fan of works attributed to Shakespeare it was fun to see these nods within the film; these allusions also made it easier to forgive the historical inaccuracies wrought throughout the film as well. Shakespeare in Love is a fun look at the inner workings of possibly the most famous playwright to have ever lived. The film is beautiful to watch and captivating due to the exceptional screenplay and costumes. I urge audiences to view Shakespeare in Love, on its own merits; I wager you will be pleasantly surprised. Shakespeare in Love is so much more than "the film that beat Saving Private Ryan". If given the chance, audiences will fall in love with Shakespeare in Love.