IT’S HARD TO BE THE BARD: Join me and filmmaker David Au (Eat With Me, Don’t Be Sorry), as we talk My Own Private Idaho and Chimes at Midnight, two adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Falstaff stories.

“I only have sex with a guy for money” What’s a father to do? You’re rich and powerful, maybe a king even—hey, it could happen; but your son, your heir, would rather become a male prostitute or hang out with some lazy ne’er do wells, drinking and bedding wenches. Sounds like it’s time for Episode 104 of Pop Art, where we find the pop culture in art and the art in pop culture. It’s the podcast where my guest chooses a movie from popular culture, and I’ll select a film from the more art/classic/indie/foreign side of cinema with a connection to it. For this episode, I am happy to welcome back as my guest, filmmaker David Au, who has chosen as his film Gus Van Sant’s indie My Own Private Idaho, while I have chosen Orson Welles’ indie, Chimes at Midnight, both films that are based on some history plays by a guy named William Shakespeare.

And in this episode, we answer such questions as: What is it with adaptations of Shakespeare? What is the one scene in each film that helps the films achieve transcendence? What’s odd about the statue of the elk in Portland when the characters in …Idaho first arrive? Why did Welles have such a difficult time getting films made? Where can the director be seen in …Idaho? What do the titles mean? Why did Chimes at Midnight flop? What is the new queer cinema? What is historically incorrect about knights getting on their horses in Chimes at Midnight?