Cool Stuff Sunday: "Movie Posters, Fat Hamlets, and... A Weird Dark Souls Video?"

It's Sunday! Do you know what that means? Do you REALLY? I mean, besides that I'm unwashed, unshaven, and unslept, and that I'm shouting words at you via internet text medium thing. No, I don't mean that I'm going to have delicious bacon and maybe eggs if I'm not too lazy. No, I don't mean that tomorrow's Monday. I mean that it's time for COOL STUFF SUNDAY! WOO!

First up, apparently Hamlet might have been fat? I don't know that I believe this, since "fat" could also mean "out of shape" but not "corpulent to the point of morbid obesity." But that's up to you to decide.

Slipcovers for every animated Disney movie. They're pretty cool.

A bunch of hi-res movie posters without the text. Also pretty cool.

A glimpse behind the curtain of movie-making.

This YouTube video about Ornstein and Smough from Dark Souls... I don't even.

German messers aren't technically swords, but they're totally swords.

This blog here analyzes depictions of dinosaurs for lord knows what reason, and it's pretty cool.

Oh, hey. This dude does Lego stop motion of stuff like Fallout, and it's cool.

Disparate Gazes: Camera Styles in Hamlet

A security camera’s viewfinder frames the empty hallway. Cautiously, a guard trudges down the corridor. The camera pans to track him. After setting the stage in the castle’s night-emptied halls, we are introduced to Horatio, Barnardo, and Marcellus using an over-the-shoulder shot which operates almost as a fourth person eavesdropping on the trio. As the three men huddle together, their retelling of the previous night’s events is interrupted by an abrupt switch to a first-person handheld shot. This viewpoint stalks slowly towards the murmuring group, who quickly turn in terror, shying away from the unseen arrival. Horatio stammers out a command to speak, but the apparition—Hamlet Senior’s ghost—ignores him and departs. Once again the point of view switches abruptly, back to the security camera. Three men stand together, terrified, in an empty hallway. 

Hamlet and Incest

Oedipal Desires & the Subconscious in the Language of Hamlet

For many people, especially those who have never encountered Shakespeare, or who have only experienced Bowdlerized versions, Shakespeare’s works are a clean and wholesome alternative to what they consider “modern filth.” However, even a basic knowledge of Shakespeare’s writing reveals themes such as those found in Hamlet: Self-harm, murder, incest, and more, all used to reveal deeper truths about humanity. This essay will examine Hamlet’s use of incestuous themes, particularly Ophelia’s song to deceased Polonius and two of Hamlet’s interactions with Gertrude; find that Hamlet and Ophelia indeed possess Oedipal desires; and examine possible reasons for Shakespeare’s inclusion of such longings.