Just how much Shakespeare is, literally, at your fingertips? I was thinking about this the other day while searching my Netflix account for keyword “Shakespeare”. And then I thought, “Yes but I also have Amazon Prime. And what about YouTube? People upload full versions of movies to YouTube all the time. You can watch 10 Things I Hate About You right now, actually.”
Apparently I’m not the only one thinking along these lines, because Can I Stream It? exists and looks to be pretty awesome. Go ahead, type in “shakespeare” and watch what happens. All the Shakespeare movies, along with a button telling you where you can get them.
Oh look, I can rent Josh Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing on Amazon for $1.99.
There’s also a feature where I can sign up for notifications, and get a message when it’s available for streaming on Amazon Prime or Netflix (or any of a number of other services that you may have, that I do not).
It could be a smidge better – I’d like the option to filter out certain services. Why get my hopes up that a movie is available for streaming on Hulu if I don’t have Hulu? But I can understand why they leave it in.
Ok, so, here’s the game. Play around with search. Report back on your most interesting finding, the one that makes you say, “Oh, wait, ______ is available online? Freaking awesome!”
I found a 1981 Cymbeline that’s only available on Netflix DVD, so I guess I’ll wait on that one.
I found a Shakespeare Conspiracy movie from 2000 starring Derek Jacobi? Has he always been on the wrong side of the authorship argument? I thought (hoped?) they just paid him off for that last movie. No link for authorship movies :-P.
You can rent Sir Ian’s Acting Shakespeare, but I added that one to my “alert when streaming” queue.
Oh hey cool, Fiennes’ Coriolanus is available for streaming on Netflix! And Sir Ian’s King Lear is on Amazon Prime!
Ok, that’s enough from me. What have you found?
UPDATE : Ok, I spoke too soon. Behold King Lear, a Jean-Luc Godard film starring Burgess Meredith, Molly Ringwald and Peter Sellars. WTactualH?
And there is a lot of free streaming Shakespeare at http://globalshakespeares.mit.edu/#.
If you miss the PBS series Hollow Crown on TV they will be streaming it for a limited time this fall on their website.
King Lear by Jean Luc Godard
From the Internet Movie Database:
Everything returns to normal after Chernobyl. That is, everything but art. Most of the great works are lost, and it is up to people like William Shakespear Junior the Fifth to restore the lost artwork of the human race. He finds strange goings-on at a resort enough to remind him of all the lines of the play, dealing with mob boss Don Learo and his daughter Cordelia, a strange professor named Jean Luc-Godard (sic), who repeatedly xeroxes his hand for no particular reason. He is followed by four humanoid goblins that keep tormenting Cordelia. There is also the gentleman whose girlfriend, Valerie, isn't always visible. Then the film is sent off to New York for Mr. Alien to edit.
WTactualH, indeed!