Film #112: Henry V (1989)

Kenneth Branaugh had been acting on stage, TV and screen--all mostly in Britain--just a little over five years before he captured the public eye with his masterful 1989 directorial debut Henry V. It ended up netting him two Oscar nominations, for Best Actor and Best Director (the film only ended up winning one award for its costumes). This energetic helping of Shakespearean political intrigue

Film #31: Titus

After mounting such grand Broadway productions as the acclaimed The Lion King, director Julie Taymor was seen as a natural to make the leap over to movies. Her first film, Titus, proved right those willing to take a chance on her. While the movie's extraordinary design suffers from the scale-down to television, Titus -- one of Shakespeare's most maligned plays -- now crackles as a most