Reader comments
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

THOUGH MANY LINES WERE CUT... the second viewing pleased me
more. The magic of Shakespeare comes through, and the
jarred changes we purists encounter (a weak Theseus, too
obviously human fairies, etc.) melt away. I miss the
nuances omitted when so much wordplay between characters is
cut. It's more action, and less psychological reflection.

Overall, I liked it the first time, even more the second.

Nothing shows up the derth of good writing in Hollywood
these days like revisiting the master. Even in this
'Reader's Digest' version of his most delightful comedy
fantasy Shakespeare's genius sparkles and shines brightly
above them all. Although I felt the fairies could and
should have seemed more magical, this film is thoroughly
enjoyable nonetheless. Always wondrously clever, sometimes
downright hilarious, the Bard's spot-on wit tickles and
entrances throughout. See this film for the sheer joy of
it! I certainly will see it again and again!

My rating says it all...if you're going to speak english,
then speak it so people can understand it. That boring old-
english mumbo-jumbo bores me. This is not a date movie.
Bring your thesaurus.

Well, i haven't actually seen the movie so i probably have
no "right" to respond to it. I do however wish to respond to
the person that said that this old enlish language needs to
be updated and modified to our current everyday
language...(of course I'm paraphrasing..) to this i have to
say that i suppose only educated minds can comprehend the
language of shakespere and maybe you should leave the
thesaurus at home and go back to school....

I had never read this in school or otherwise, so I went
into it knowing only that it had fairies. All I can say is,
WOW....Wonderful character development, great story,
teriffic acting. Stanley Tucci as Puck said more with one
lifted eyebrow than Liam Neeson did in the entire two hours
of Star Wars Episode One. Far superior to anything I've
seen in a long time. Even the most minor of characters were
well-developed. BUT...you really have to see it twice,
because tho they set it in the 19th century, they kept the
same basic script with all the lovely Shakespearean
language, so you'll miss parts of it. Not for the kiddies
(too much nudity, and they just won't get it), but great
fun for adults. If you have a choice between this and Star
Wars, see this.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" was perhaps the best film I have
seen this year. The production was captivating, the actors
were engaging and the reviewer--sadly lacking in his
knowledge of the Bard. I don't know what he was aiming for,
but the result was oatmeal and did not do the film justice.

This Midsummer was one of the most delightful I've been
through. I was most impressed with the casting of Calista
Flockhart as Helena. I highly recommend this screen version
of A Midsummer Night's Dream as one of the best Shakespeare
adaptations in recent years.