Doing business in Asia, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Russia.

"The Banquet" is a modern day remake of Shakespeare's "Hamlet." The big star of the flick is Zhang Ziyi.

I wrote about how down-to-earth it is reported that she is. But, down-to-earth and well read are not the same.

When asked if she reread the "Hamlet" to prepare for this role, the actress, 27, replied "I didn't want to be affected by the original. After all this is an adaptation. The characters have similarities, but they're not identical."

This sounds like something my students would say. It sounds like an excuse I used to give to my teachers when I didn't want to struggle through Shakespeare either.

The director appears to have opted to not read the original also. "It is a modern work in the sense that it is created by modern people. It may be more meaningful."

Even my students could come up with better reasons than these for not reading "Hamlet." Like -

"I gotta go to work."

"Man, it looks like English but it ain't."

"I can't understand the dude."

"Can we just watch the movie version?"

What's your excuse for reading or not reading Shakespeare?