Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Hamlet - Strange Brew Style

Right now we are watching the 80s classic Strange Brew to wile the time away until the New Year. And it just hit me, the plot is a rip off of Shakespear's Hamlet!

Pamela Elsenore is Hamlet Junior and her father was killed and her uncle married her mother, just like in Hamlet. And like in Hamlet she fakes insanity while trying to prove that her uncle did it.

Bob and Doug McKenzy (Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis) fill the role of Rozencrantz and Guildenstern, the bumbling fools of the play... except that they don't die.

The former pro hockey player guy fits the roll of Horatio in some parts and Ophelia in others (Pamela's love interest).

Pamela's father's old friend and confidant is Polonius.

Her mother is Gertrude and her uncle is Claudius of course.

The creepy doctor/criminal mastermind could either also fill the Cladius role or perhaps the role of Fortinbras, the prince of Norway plotting against Denmark and the Hamlet family.

The old videos of her father and the wierd electro ghost stuff match the ghost of Hamlet Senior.

And to top it off, Elsinore Beer, the brewery that the whole story revolves around is named after Elsinore, the castle in Denmark where much of the play, Hamlet takes place.

And for all these years I thought it was just a silly romp about a pair of witless Canadian brothers and their favorite vice. I do not condone drinking and in fact encourage everyone to stay away from alcohol, period.

Well the movie finished at about the time I finished this blog and now we're watching The Right Stuff.