Al Pacino's Merchant Of Venice....

Nothing undervalu'd to Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia.

I finally got to see the new "Merchant Of Venice" movie and from the opening editing of Antonio's "In sooth" speech I was concerned. And as the movie progressed my concerns were amply justified. There is just too much monkeying about with the text. Shoot where is "How sweet the moonlight sits upon this bank?" and all the "on such a night.." stuff? The text was pared down way too much, breaking the poetry very badly. And then inserting modern words just kills the beauty of the language even more. So "Not until it is paid according to the tenure" has to become "Not until it is paid according to the terms". There are many other jarring examples you can pick out for yourself, needlessly changing the lines. I was also disappointed by the playing down of the Lorenzo and Jessica story. If the most important aspect of this work is the humanizing of Shylock with the "hath not a Jew hands?" speech, surely almost equally importantly is the Lorenzo and Jessica story showing that love can overcome prejudice? That being said, Pacino is excellent as is Lynn Collins, primarily because they have less of the "updated dialogue to say. The "quality of mercy" speech is just about the best thing in the picture, delivered flawlessly by Lynn Collins.

The supporting act for Steve Earle.....Allison Moorer

Allison Moorer is a thousand times more beautiful in person. She was the supporting act for Steve Earle at the Carefree Theater in West Palm Beach. Her voice is to die for and she is simply pretty beyond belief - definitely this picture does not really do her justice. She also accompanied Steve on those songs requiring female vocals. The song "Comin' Around" was just perfect. Steve said "When you have a beautiful red haired girl from Kentucky on the stage, you have to use her as much as possible". I'm so glad that he did. Her set was with an acoustic guitar only and at one point she thanked the audience for "listening to my sad songs" and that was the point that I became a fan. She also had Steve Earle come out on the stage to accompany her on the mandolin for her version of "Carrickfergus". That ( being such a classic ) is not an easy song to pull off, but she added some words of her own and carried it off flawlessly. She had an Oscar nomination some years ago for a song in the movie "The Horse Whisperer".

It has been a couple of weeks people

Steve Earle looking happy.

I saw Steve Earle And The Dukes At the Carefree Theater in West Palm Beach. He was his usual curmudgeonly self, cracking jokes and ripping the US political system. He said "Clinton was the only Republican I ever voted for....twice". I think it's good to have an overtly left wing country singer to provide balance to the Toby Keith's of this world. Steve was pretty funny, cracking quite a few jokes. The one about the red haired girls from Alabama and tornadoes was quite well received - perhaps hitting a little close too home as he said, because Florida is in some proximity to Alabama. Check out his latest CD, "The Revolution Starts Now". It is probably the best thing he has done in a while. We all enjoyed a good sing-a-long to the songs on the new CD, including the rocking "F the CC". The crowd booed during the song "Condi Condi" at the one point where the name "Condolezza" is mentioned in full. It was quite a moment. All in all, I would say a good time was had by all and I got to hear two sentences I never felt I would hear in the USA...."I am from Texas. I make pretty good money for a borderline Marxist".

Now THAT was worth the price of the ticket.