Have Mandolin Will Travel

A deep dive into the Spaghetti Western "A Fistful of Dollars (1964)" and the film it is a direct remake of, Akira Kurosawa's samurai film "Yojimbo (1961)." (Like "got sued" direct remake.)Spoilers: Both are good, but I think "Yojimbo" is better.

An exploration of Opera Orlando's 2025 production of "Werther" and the book it's adapted from: Goethe's 1774 novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther." Spoilers: Both versions are quite good, but I want to punch Werther in the face. "Horrible incel sh*t, Mason"

A dive into two fantastic comic books set in the Alien universe (i.e. the same franchise as the Sigourney Weaver film Alien), Dead Orbit (2017) and Sacrifice (1993). The two stories are standalone tales that very different from each other and mine a lot of the things I love about Alien.

The last in a series looking at Dracula and its adaptations. This episode is about Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula and the classic 1931 Dracula starring Bela Lugosi. Both really interesting adaptations, but #wheresMina

The second of three in a series looking at Dracula and its adaptations. This episode is about the 2023 horror film The Last Voyage of the Demeter, an under-seen gem. This movie flopped pretty hard in theaters but really is quite good.

The first of three in a series looking at Dracula and its adaptations. This episode is about Bram Stoker's 1897 novel with a bonus addendum about Michael Pink's 1996 ballet adaptation.

A deep dive into Gustav Flaubert's masterful 1856 novel Madame Bovary. Spoilers: It's... masterful.

A look at Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet from 1968 starring Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting. Spoiler: This is the gold standard of Romeo and Juliet film adaptations.This is the third of 3 episodes about Romeo and Juliet adaptations. 

A look at Orlando Ballet's 2024 production of Romeo and Juliet, music by Sergei Prokofiev and choreographed by James Sofranko. Spoilers: It was really good and a really good adaptation of the play.This is the second of 3 episodes about Romeo and Juliet adaptations. 

A deep dive into Baz Luhrmann's 1996 Romeo + Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. I take a look at the source play and then the adaptation itself. Spoiler: I don't think it's very good, but it is an interesting movie that's worth seeing.This is the first of 3 episodes about Romeo and Juliet adaptations.

A deep dive / historical record of Opera Orlando's January 2024 performance of "Frida," Robert Xavier Rodriguez's 1991 opera about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. There's not much about this opera online and I enjoyed it a lot, so this is my contribution to posterity.

A deep dive into Akira Kurosawa's 1957 film Throne of Blood, an adaptation of Shakepeare's Macbeth set in feudal Japan. Spoiler: this movie rules. This is the fourth and final part of my Macbeth-a-thon. (For now. Dun dun dun)

A look at Orlando Shakes's 2024 production of Macbeth. Spoiler: It was good and interesting and I really enjoyed it. (As much as one can "enjoy" the subject matter of Macbeth)

My review / analysis of Opera Orlando's 2024 production of Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth. I look at the Opera Orlando production in specific and the opera as an adaptation of Shakespeare's play.

A look at four film versions of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. I was originally just going to watch 1 version, but lost control of the assignment and watched Macbeth (1979), The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), Macbeth (2015), and Macbeth (1971) in a week.This is the first in a series of 4 episodes about the play and its adaptations.

A look at two Japanese period films. Both deal with war and its consequence on regular folk. Ugetsu is explicitly a ghost story and Onibaba is about desperation and moral degradation with an ambiguous supernatural element.

A deep dive into James Gunn's 2025 film Superman. Spoiler: I love this one. I think it's the best Superman film by a good margin and it's probably my favorite movie in quite a while.

My traumatic experience watching both versions of Zack Snyder's 2016 disaster Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I take a close look at the myriad writing problems and filmmaking issues with this train wreck. And I say the f word a lot...

A dive into the 2013 Superman film Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder. I both like this movie and don't think it's all that good and I take a look at some of the reasons why. (It's almost good...)

A look at Opera Orlando's 2025 production of Scott Joplin's 1910 opera Treemonisha. This opera was lost for decades and doesn't get performed very often; the Opera Orlando production was Treemonisha's Florida premier.

A look at Orlando Ballet's May 2024 performance "Casanova," a ballet by Kenneth Tindall based on the biography "Casanova: Actor Lover Priest Spy" by Ian Kelly. This was the US premier of the work and, spoiler, I really liked it.

The final episode in a 3 part series about my Lorem Ipsum Christmas EP, which released on Nov 29, 2025. This episode focuses on the writing and paleontology of "The 12 Tyrannosaurs of Christmas," my version of the traditional "The 12 Days of Christmas." T.rex forever!

The second in a 3 part series about my Lorem Ipsum Christmas EP, released on Nov 29, 2025. This episode focuses on my original song "Maybe Next Year (Christmas 1914)," a song inspired by the real life Christmas Truce of 1914 during World War I.

The first in a 3 part series looking at my Lorem Ipsum Christmas EP, released on Nov 29, 2025. This episodes is about the EP conception in general and focuses on the tracks "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "O Holy Night."

A look at Leo Tolstoy's masterful Anna Karenina, one of my favorite novels. I talk about the writing mechanics and share some thoughts about the title character.

A deep dive into Superman, my favorite superhero, focused on how he appears in his comics. I talk about his character, his humanity, and what he stands for as well  a bunch of stuff I like about him, including stuff that people who only know him from pop culture osmosis may not know.

A quick rundown / re-introduction to my ongoing classical music project, where I resurrect nearly forgotten pieces of music that have no extant recordings.I heard recently at an Orlando Philharmonic event that less than 1% of music survives. Doing my small part to get that number up....

This is a deep dive into / review of Opera Orlando's 2025 production of "La Boheme," set in 1930s Shanghai. Spoiler: It was both very good and very interesting.

Hello! I'm Matt Juliano and this is a little bit about what to expect from the Have Mandolin Will Travel podcast, a podcast focused on music, film, live theater, books, comics, and whatever other creative endeavors tickle my fancy.

A look at Ryan Coogler's fantastic 2025 film "Sinners" where I talk about the filmmaking and its themes and ideas.Originally published on havemandolinwilltravel.com on Sept 14, 2025.