On Sunday CuteFilmNerd and I went to see Sherlock Holmes. It was definitely a Guy Ritchie movie – very early on we saw some very stock Guy Ritchie shots that were new and exciting with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Luckily he didn’t go overboard with those shots – just enough to work with the film.
On the whole it was a fun movie. I didn’t cringe as much as I feared I might. Jude Law was an acceptable Watson, one that made sense within the movie, but had his roots in the Canon. I liked the denouement – it made complete sense, even if there were parts of it I had already deduced. I even liked the inclusion of the building of the Tower Bridge in the movie. It showed some sense of history.
However…
Robert Downey, Jr. was fun to watch, with a pretty good English accent, but he wasn’t Holmes. Despite the many nice touches in the movie that showed that somebody had read the stories (Holmes shooting V.R. into the wall, having him box McMurdo onscreen, which was mentioned in Sign of the Four, as well as others touches), I saw nothing of Holmes in his performance.
Still, I didn’t hate the movie. I can deal with that.
…too bad Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Simon Kinberg and Guy Richie don’t.
Who are they? The writers and the director of the latest film incarnation of Sherlock Holmes, titled – cleverly enough – Sherlock Holmes, due out on Christmas Day.
Of course I’d heard of the coming film for some time, but hadn’t checked out the trailer until GruvLoungeGoth (who, I’m thinking, needs a new nickname – it’s never quite sit right with me, but I’m too creatively bankrupt to come up with a new one) asked me via Twitter if I had seen the new trailers. His question stirred up an inadvisable curiosity within me that had to be sated. And so I viewed this:
Oh, how painful it was. And how painful it still is, especially for a long-time Sherlock Holmes fanatic like myself. I briefly considered harakiri to erase the memory.
Unfortunately the release date is almost upon us, which means that marketing for the movie has significantly increased. Billboards, bus shelters, sides of buildings have sprung up all over the city, the charmingly weathered visage of Robert Downey, Jr. painfully reminding me of that which is to come. Not to mention such logical tie-ins as:
7-11 breakfast sandwiches (though, to be fair, Holmes was known to slap together a quick (cold) sandwich and stick it in his pocket for later when on the trail of a criminal)
7-11 white chocolate caramel lattes (because Holmes and Watson were famous for ordering such drinks when dining at Simpson's)
and
scratcher lottery tickets (because if they gambled with their lives for England, surely you can gamble a measly $2)
The weird thing about this is, I would normally be excited (though slightly weirded out) about all this marketing if the trailer promised a good movie. I love me some Sherlock and think it would be great for the characters and stories to have another resurgence.
So…what is it about the trailer that has got me so twitchy? Not what you would think.
It’s not all the action. I actually don’t have a problem with Holmes and Watson being plopped into a big budget action flick, as long as the action feels natural to the story and the characters (though, yes, it does feel a bit too action-y). As originally written by Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes was a boxer, fencer, single-stick expert and master of baritsu. It was his knowledge of baritsu that saved him from Moriarty’s clutches at the Reichenbach Falls. Watson was also a man of action, ready with a pistol or a fist when needed, as well as being a veteran of the Second Afghan War. Much as I hate to say it: Nigel Bruce, he wasn’t.
Speaking of which, Jude Law looks like an acceptable Watson to me. A man who spoke of having “an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents” (The Sign of Four) was bound to be handsome (the appropriate Watsonian mustache lessens Law’s distracting prettiness, making him more manly), plus he seems to have a nice bit of non-stodgy gravitas which suits the character, as does the twinkle of intelligence and mischievousness in the eye.
I reserve judgment on Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler. She looks far too tartish, to be honest, and relies on a kick to the groin where I believe Irene would have used her admirable brains, charm and wit. But as this is a re-imagining, I’ll wait.
Okay, so I don’t have a problem with the action or with Watson and am willing to play wait-and-see with the femme fatale of the piece. Just what is my problem?
Yep. Robert Downey, Jr.
Never mind that, frankly, his nose is too small (so was Jeremy Brett’s, who is my favorite Holmes of all, narrowly edging out Basil Rathbone, who had a proper Holmesian aquiline nose).
What gets me is…I don’t see Sherlock Holmes. I see Tony Stark with an English accent in sloppy Victorian clothes. There’s no real difference between the two characters, except that Downey’s Holmes looks less mentally and emotionally tortured than Downey’s Stark. Also, Holmes was described by Watson to be as meticulous in his personal grooming as he was messy in his housekeeping (I can’t find the exact quote right now, but that was the gist of it). Looking slovenly and unshaven was never something Holmes would be.
Downey just looks…wrong.
Recently CuteFilmNerd and I saw Nine. In the very first scene I was taken aback by how completely Daniel Day-Lewis inhabited his role, as he did in There Will Be Blood and, my favorite film of his, In the Name of the Father. Instantly I remembered the Robert Downey, Jr of Chaplin and wondered where that immersive actor went. Because I sure didn’t see him in that Sherlock Holmes trailer. I’m sure that Ritchie is a big reason for that – he’s known for flip characters and fast action and I will have no problem heaping the proper amount of blame on his head for any Sherlockian misfiring. Still, it would be nice to have Downey be strong enough to overcome the flippancy of his director and the potentially poor writing of one of the men responsible for X-Men: The Last Stand.
Perhaps I should just chill out until I see the movie. And yes, I will be seeing the movie, though I may have to have CuteFilmNerd gag me and tie my hands to the chair arms to keep me from flailing and screaming. As a member of his employer’s film society, CuteFilmNerd can get into a screening of the movie the weekend after Christmas for free. I will, of course, be his guest, for I feel compelled to watch the damned thing but I have no desire to pay my hard-earned money for it.
So, the last few days have been chock full of interesting things. The least of these was the acquisition of a new phone: Google myTouch 3G. My last phone (Nokia 6133) had been bugging the crap outta me – my first one died in March after less than two years and the replacement was getting buggy. I was surprised because my previous phone was a Nokia 3220, which I got free when I signed up with T-Mobile in 2005 – it was a sturdy little phone that I only replaced in 2007 because I wanted something a little fancier and I’d dropped it a billion times on hard pavement and cement and the reception was finally starting to get spotty. Its replacement was seriously disappointing.
Both CuteFilmNerd and I picked up the myTouch on Satuday. While it’s not perfect, I’ve been thrilled with it so far, while CuteFilmNerd has been a little more frustrated. But, while he loves his toys, he’s less of a tech geek than I am. Once he’s got it all down, I think he’ll be very pleased with his selection.
Here’s my new baby, with all of the accessories that came with it (the only accessory that I purchased was the acrylic case – it even came with a 4GB mini-SD card):
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On Friday, I attended American Cinematheque’s special event The American Cinematheque Blows Up the Internet: Webisodes on the Big Screen, thanks to the auspices of CuteFilmNerd, who was volunteering to photograph and write up the event only because I desperately wanted to go. And why did I want to go so badly? Because they were projecting the second season of The Guild and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. And Joss Whedon and Felcia Day were schedule to participate in a Q&A session. It turns out that they weren’t the only participants: Joss’s brothers Zach and Jed, Maurissa Tancharoen (co-writers on Dr. Horrible) and Vincent Caso, Sandeep Parikh and director Sean Becker (all from The Guild) also sat up on the stage. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I was a bit of a wuss, so I didn’t pose for any photos with anyone (not to mention the place was packed with geeks far more aggressive than me). All wasn’t in vain, however:
While Joss Whedon was a bit reserved (which is fine – I understand how geek fangirls and fanboys can be sometimes), Felicia Day was such a sweetie. I introduced myself and said hi and as she shook my hand, someone she knew swooped down on her and commandeered attention. I had turned around to leave and suddenly she was right next to me, asking if she had said hi to me. I pulled out my Dr. Horrible DVD, feeling kind of awkward because I very rarely ask for autographs, and she just signed away, then shook my hand before going into the theater. Very sweet.
It was great seeing it on the big screen. And while things didn’t go quite the way I might have liked – at least according to the absurdly high hopes I held – it was still a fun evening. I’m very happy CuteFilmNerd got me into the event and volunteered just because I wanted to go. Turns out he enjoyed the events of the evening too.
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Last night CuteFilmNerd got me into another event that he was working: the 100th birthday celebration of Carla Laemmle. Carla is the niece of Carl Laemmle (the founder of Universal Studios) and uttered the first lines in Dracula (1931). It was a lovely evening and I was fortunate enough to meet a woman who is still beautiful and gracious and whom I hope to emulate when I’m even half her age:
I relayed birthday wishes from Eric that he had tweeted to me. Her response: “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
The true definition of a class act.
However, a very unexpected plus for me was meeting Ray Bradbury. In 1985, when I lived in a Northridge apartment, I saw him speak at Cal State Northridge and was very impressed, then again this year at the Forrest J. Ackerman tribute. I’ve enjoyed his work over the years, though I’ve, by no means, have come close to reading a large percentage of his work.
I had noticed him during the after-event reception, when he was on his way out but still posing for photos with various people. Not wanting to be obnoxious, I stood off to the side and took some surreptitious photos:
Then, as he were definitely leaving, his assistant noticed me off to the side, saw the camera in my hand and asked if I wanted a photo. Not surprisingly, I leapt at the opportunity. While not saying much, he was very sweet and took my hand after the photo.
All in all, quite a fun, geeky few days, all shared with my handsome film nerd:
I’ve written before about my love for Sligo Rags, but in listening to my iTunes, “Ordinary Man” popped up, which is my favorite Sligo Rags song ever – and one that is especially timely in today’s economic and job environment. Breaks my heart every damned time I listen to it.
The one thing that leapt out at me? James Tormé sounds so much like his father, Mel Tormé, aka The Velvet Fog, it makes me wonder if vocal reincarnation is possible.
Mind you, James has definitely got his own voice. More on the tenor side, not quite as full sounding, with a definite contemporary edge, but man, oh man, I hear his father’s influence all over his voice, and not just because both have an affinity for scat singing.
(BTW, if you’ve never heard of Mel Tormé, or you know him only from his guest appearances on Night Court in the 80s or as the co-writer of The Christmas Song, familiarize yourself with his other musictout de suite, especially if you like jazz.)
Last night CuteFilmNerd and I went to see these guys…
…and it was great.
I’ve been a fan of Sligo Rags since I reviewed their second CD (The Night Before the Morning After) when I worked for the Irish newspaper back in 2006. Later that year they played a fundraiser for Marcy Winograd, the Congressional candidate I worked for a few months later, which was the first time I’d ever seen them live. They were just as fantastic as their CD, as was the case about a year later when I saw them perform at the John Anson Ford Ampetheater.
It was a most enjoyable evening. They even sang my favorite song from The Night Before the Morning After – “An Ordinary Man” – at my request. Though they were able to fill the ampetheater with their sound back in 2007, initmate settings are what they do best.
Good music, good drinks, good company. What could be a better evening?
My word, but it’s been arid ’round these parts. Lots of things happening over the last month: CuteFilmNerd and I had some things stolen out of his car just before the new year, including his beloved laptop and iPod; my laptop has taken a nosedive and is down for the count (I was lucky enough be able to get some files off it before I send it to the iBook graveyard); a text-pissing match between my devout Christian sister and me about something she misinterpreted over the Christmas holiday; something about a war criminal leaving the White House and a brilliant lawyertaking over his job, which fills me with all sorts of glee.
But what has gotten me off my metaphorical ass to finally update this site? A little self-pimping.
I’ll have to remember to stop by here more often. Maybe even post once in a while. And to update that damned sidebar, because it is looking seriously sad.
While riding the bus into work this morning, I was listening to my lovely iPod, as I am wont to do while riding on the bus. And my lovely iPod decided that it really, really wanted me to listen to Music for Elevators, which I bought several years ago whilst in the throes of my deep Anthony Stewart Head crush.
(I still think he’s impossibly yummy, mind you. It’s just, now that I have my own nummy treat of a boyfriend, I’m a little bit more in control of my celebrity crushes.)
Oh, the iPod would toss in a few non-Tony Head songs, to throw me off the track, but I could tell what it was up to. Not that I minded – his voice is sublime and the music is good (even if I find the lyrics a bit on twee side).
Of course, now that I’m writing about it, the iTunes has decided to explore some of the other artists I have loaded up, such as Simon and Garfunkel, Richard Thompson, Laura Cantrell, Sligo Rags and Emmylou Harris. But I just bet that, a few minutes after I post this entry, iTunes will be swooning over Tony Head again.
Astronomers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have recently concluded that the upcoming planet-finding mission, SIM PlanetQuest, would be able to detect an Earth-like planet around the star 40 Eridani, a planet familiar to “Star Trek” fans as “Vulcan.” 40 Eridani, a triple-star system 16 light-years from Earth, includes a red-orange K dwarf star slightly smaller and cooler than our sun. Vulcan is thought to orbit that dwarf star, called 40 Eridani A.
Yeah, the Trek geek and the science groupie in me both perked up their ears at that.
Even cooler? I actually know people who are working on SIM.
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but working at JPL? Rocks beyond all imagining.
BTW, if y’all are in the L.A. area this weekend, check out JPL’s Open House. I’ve beentwice, before my days as a JPL contractor, and it is tons of geeky fun. I highly recommend it. I don’t know if I’ll be there – I’ve broached it to HSTeacher, but we haven’t talked about it yet.
Last night I dreamed I was at JPL, chasing after one of the scientists I knew to get information, and he was dressed up like a Klingon, with forehead ridges and everything. And he wasn’t the only costumed Klingon – several were around me. In my dream JPL, this, apparently, was not an unusual occurance.
I love the geeky side of me, but this? There has got to be an antidote for this much nerdiness…
