Episode 181

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Published on:

26th May 2025

Episode 181 - Romeo + Juliet (1996) With Mono and Ciara

This week we're learning about the Garish spectacle of the Catholic Church (Here come the death threats!), the History of Shakespeare's biggest plays, Why Miriam Margoles should be given a Dameship and why you should just pick up the bloody phone!!

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Our Guests have a million projects, but they wanted us to promote their new thing because it's brilliant!

You can listen to Mono and Ciara's show about Adult Swim Metalocolypse wherever you get your pods and on Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/show/3SFmcGkwxBdMeMXteR2kTg?si=d0679c18c58749e6

But you absolutely don't have to I mean they've already given us their money, innit?

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William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (stylized as William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet) is a 1996 romantic crime film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It is a modernized adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name, albeit still utilizing Shakespearean English. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles of two teenagers who fall in love, despite their being members of feuding families. Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Miriam Margolyes, Harold Perrineau, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino and Diane Venora also star in supporting roles. It is the third major film version of the play, following adaptations by George Cukor in 1936 and by Franco Zeffirelli in 1968.

The film was released on November 1, 1996, by 20th Century Fox. It was met with generally positive reviews from critics and grossed over $147 million against its $14.5 million budget. At the 47th Berlin International Film Festival in 1997, DiCaprio won the Silver Bear for Best Actor and Luhrmann won the Alfred Bauer Prize.[6] At the 69th Academy Awards, Catherine Martin and Brigitte Broch were nominated for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration.[7] In 2005, the film was included on the BFI list of the "50 films you should watch by the age of 14".[8]


The film was also re-released in Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy DVD box set in 2002 together with Strictly Ballroom (1992) and Moulin Rouge! (2001).

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The House of Montague

Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo Montague

Brian Dennehy as Ted Montague, Romeo's father[9]

Christina Pickles as Caroline Montague, Romeo's mother

Dash Mihok as Benvolio Montague, Romeo's cousin

Jesse Bradford as Balthasar, Romeo's cousin

Zak Orth as Gregory, Romeo's cousin

Jamie Kennedy as Sampson, Romeo's cousin

The House of Capulet

Claire Danes as Juliet Capulet

Paul Sorvino as Fulgencio Capulet, Juliet's father

Diane Venora as Gloria Capulet, Juliet's mother

John Leguizamo as Tybalt, Juliet's cousin

Vincent Laresca as Abra, Juliet's cousin

Carlos Martín Manzo Otálora as Petruchio, Juliet's cousin

Miriam Margolyes as Nurse, Juliet's nanny

Others

Harold Perrineau as Mercutio, Romeo's best friend

Pete Postlethwaite as Father Laurence, the priest who marries Romeo and Juliet

Paul Rudd as Dave Paris, the governor's son and Juliet's fiancé

Vondie Curtis-Hall as Captain Prince, the chief of police

M. Emmet Walsh as Apothecary

Quindon Tarver as Choir Boy, the singer at Romeo and Juliet's wedding

Edwina Moore as the anchorwoman / newsreader, who opens the movie, reading the prologue, and later assumes the role of the Chorus.

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About the Podcast

100 Things we learned from film
Two friends take a light hearted deep dive in to film in an attempt to learn 100 things from a different movie each week. Expect trivia to impress your friends and nonsense from the start.

About your host

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Mark Plant