Attention Shakespeare Fans: “Coriolanus” DVD Giveaway

Every once in a while a Shakespeare adaptation comes along that just blows me away. Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing (1993) had that effect on me as well as Julie Taymor’s Titus (199). Both effortlessly and artfully achieved that golden ideal we always talk about in terms of reading and appreciating Shakespeare in schools—how to make his work feel contemporary and alive for audiences today. Well, in the past year Ralph Feinnes’ Coriolanus achieved the same thing, and more: it made a 400+-year-old tragedy seem vibrantly relevant. Add to this some terrific, often stunning, performances from the likes of Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave, and Fiennes himself in the title role, and you’ve got a real winner.

And that “you’ve got” may be literal in this case—because Connect The Pop has some copies of the DVD, which releases today, to give away courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment. Here are the rules:

1. You must have a U.S. or Canadian mailing address to which the DVD can be shipped.
2. Leave a comment on any of the posts on Connect the Pop. Just use the tags or categories to find a topic you find interesting, or simply browse through the older posts on the landing page:  http://blogs.slj.com/connect-the-pop/ .
3. “@” me on Twitter with the hashtags #Coriolanus and #ConnectThePop in the tweet to let me know you’ve done this, and the date of the post where you left the comment. (I’m @Peter_Gutierrez.)
4. Everyone who does these two things between now and 12:01 am EST on May 31 will be entered into the drawing.
5. If you don’t have a Twitter account, just have a friend or colleague tweet on your behalf, letting me know which date and comment here is associated with the tweet—but of course since the DVD will be sent to him/her (see #6 below), you’ll have to work it out from there. (Or just start your own Twitter account in a couple of minutes, and close it when this giveaway is over.)
6. I’ll notify you on Twitter, not here, if you’ve won a DVD, and if you don’t respond within 48 hours, I’ll just draw another name. If you’re a winner, you’ll simply DM me your mailing address and we’ll be all set. Thanks!