just watched Romeo + Juliet (1996) and was surprised by how genuinely good it was. I had seen clips of it here and there for years but like it actually did a really impressive job mixing the drama and comedy and sheer absurdity without going over the top. Is it believable? no of course not but the story in the first place is supposed to be ridiculous. it's supposed to be silly while also tragic, and contextualizing it in 90s surfer bros and rival gangsters and fuckin radiohead's talk show host made it all work in the most fascinating way. if it was made any earlier it would've been too goofy, if it was made any later it would've been too sarcastic, but it being made in the 90s in this way and with the way it was played seriously while also showing off that it is an over the top ridiculous story made everything just WORK. especially the entire part of romeo and mercutio vs tybalt was FASCINATING with how everything was done. genuinely fun movie
