Today, April 23rd we celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday, also the same day he died. (Geesh does it get more epic than that?)

If you’re like me, Shakespeare seems ultra intimidating. It wasn’t until I finally took a Shakespeare class while studying in London that I began to sorta shed my Shakespeare scare. His plays are actually easily understood plots told through gorgeous language and brilliant word play. If you’re afraid of Shakespeare and check out http://www.shakespeare.org. Not only does this organization produce performances but they also offer one of the most extensive Shakespeare arts-in-education programs in the northeast, reaching more than 40,000 students and teachers each year with innovative, socially responsive, and educationally challenging performances, workshops and residencies.

Also check out Shakespeare for Dummies. I am a huge fan of the Dummies book series, they offer clear cut explanations of all those things you think you should know but admittedly don’t.

My pick for Best Picture this year is overwhelmingly There Will Be Blood - everything about it is amazing, the performances, the direction, the music, the cinematography and even the social commentary on religion and greed.

Even though it’s not my preferred Oscar winner, Atonement has a lot to offer as a piece about class and the dangers of prejudice:

With lush photography and a beautiful cast, Joe Wright’s Oscar nominated Atonement is being advertised as an epic romance, and while romance does weave itself in and out of the plot, it doesn’t really get to the heart of the film.

From the opening shot, a long line of animal figurines representing all of the jungle and the natural order of things, it’s clear that instead of love, this is a movie about class. For in England, the natural order of things, no matter how unnatural it may seem, is their rigid class system.

For more on Atonement, check out the full length article over at OpenLeft.com

And to help bridge cultural divides here in the US.