Much Ado About Joss Whedon (in black and white)

Another rain storm. A long, productive day with weird, unexpected parts in it. Then, finally, a movie all alone, at BAM. But not just a movie—a Joss Whedon movie. Not just a JW movie—Shakespeare. Not just Shakespeare—black and white, gorgeously lit.

I loved this version of the timeless comedy. It was fresh, fun, easy, contemporary and yet spoken in Shakespeare's verse. Shot in Whedon's own home, which I didn't know while watching, but I actually guessed, it gave the sense of being sort of in LA, sort of in Italy, but it didn't really matter, as long as we understood it was somewhere wealthy and cultured.

The black and white cinematography was gorgeous. Beatrice was perfect. The bumbling cops (with Nathan Fillion as the laugh-out-loud funny chief) were bumbling.

I'm not the only one who loved it. A.O Scott loved it too. So did other people but I'll let you google them yourselves.

Raining outside, laughing inside. A perfect solo evening. And a sneaky photograph.