| Author | Message | ||
     Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Okay ... anyone else seen it yet? I can only say that I totally and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm sure that some Holmes purists will be turning in their graves, but though it wasn't totally reverential to the original, I thought they maintained the amtosphere nicely and I enjoyed the rapport between the two leads. Also, I don't think there was anything in Robert Downey Jnr's Holmes that Conan Doyle would have disapproved of, apart possibly from the Bond-type physicality. They've sexed it up a lot, which I don't relish for its own sake - pretty much the way I feel about the sexing up of Dr Who - but if it has the same effect, and endears Holmes to a new generation, then I feel that's a small price to pay. A fun romp, very skillfully realised. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 88.202.206.180 |
I couldn't agree more. Just saw it after being snowbound for a couple of days and it was a jolt of much-needed pure escapist fun! | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.204.111.196 |
I swear this is a true event that happened today :- I work in an office. Many of my colleagues are young, single and female, so the usual topics of conversation involve Peter Andre, Big Brother, Heat magazine, etc. A girl who works alongside me today commented that she thought I'd like Sherlock Holmes (which she saw with her boyfriend last night) because it's set "in the olden days". I smiled and said that I was quite a fan of Conan Doyle. She said "No, it's Guy Ritchie; you know - him that made Snatch and Lock Stock." I told her I meant Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the original stories. She looked at me blankly for a second and then said, "Oh, are there some Sherlock Holmes stories?" | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.155.107.188 |
OMG! WTF! LOL! | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Sorry, but this film (mindlessly entertaining no doubt) is making me realise just what a grumpy old purist I am... and proud of it! | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
Am I right in saying that there are more films about Sherlock Holmes than any other fictional character? Someone needs to make a film about Watson where Holmes never appears, just for a QI style fact that Watson has more film appearences than Holmes. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Best Sherlock Holmes movie ever made: Hammer & Terence Fisher's version of 'The Hound Of The Baskervilles' (1959) with Peter Cushing & Andre Morell. Best reinvention/spoof of Sherlock Holmes: Billy Wilder's criminally neglected 'The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes' (1970) with Robert Stephens & Colin Blakely. IMHO | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.51.94 |
Murder by Decree is one of my all-time favourites. I like Wilder's film a lot too, and many of the older adaptations, as well as the Jeremy Brett versions. Haven't seen the new one yet. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Best Sherlock Holmes movie ever made: Hammer & Terence Fisher's version of 'The Hound Of The Baskervilles' (1959) with Peter Cushing & Andre Morell. This gets my vote, too. I remember when the great man died and BBC2 screened a beautiful 10-minute montage of Cushing clips followed by this film. I cried. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.242.148 |
Yes, Stephen! The Billy Wilder Holmes movie is a beautiful film, and I"ve not even seen it yet with all the deleted footage restored, etc. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
It was like the death of a favourite uncle... a reassuring presence who'd been there all your life and then suddenly wasn't anymore.  | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I wasn't aware it even needed restored!! That's a DVD high up on my list to get now... favourite scene - the monster emerging from the fog behind him while Holmes witters on about "eliminating the impossible" and the look on Watson's face. I remember that scene burning its way into my consciousness as a child - exciting, scary and incredibly funny all at the same time. A wonderful film!! | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.204.111.196 |
I remember Peter Cushing being on (I think) Jim'll Fix It, where they created a hydrid rose and named it after his late wife. He was crying, bless him. So was I. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.109.185 |
I'm hopefully going to see the new release in my tiny little cinema, up in the hills, this weekend. Always loads of plush red velvet seats - never crowded. Kids who are very well behaved. If they aren't you tell their parents. Wonderful. Thank God- I live in small communtity. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.109.185 |
or community. Ooops. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.109.185 |
No Zed nooo... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
Huh? | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 188.146.82.98 |
 Indeed, Ally. How's the collection and novel doing? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.23.22 |
I LOVE the Wilder Holmes! It's been restored?!?!?!? | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.109.185 |
Gary - well I thought my hitting the wrong key might start all those booby jokes off again which you've put on my posts on Facebook  | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.109.185 |
Thank you for asking Frank. The collection is coming on very well indeed. Eclectic as usual. Sold it to Dark Regions on the strength of three stories plus they had read Bull Running for Girls which they praised highly. Another three stories finished and working on the last four now. Then it will go off to Joe Lansdale for the intro. I'll finish the novel after I have completed the collection. But it looks like it is going to be a good year. The novel might be launched this year or perhaps at Texas WHC next year. I'd really like to get out to that convention. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 212.121.214.114 |
Cushing was one of the greats. And by all accounts a very sweet, very gentle man. I was devastated to hear of his death as well. Also a lifelong vegetarian, apparently- he detested cruelty to animals. As for Sherlock Holmes, I grew up on the Basil Rathbone films, so Rathbone is the face I always see when I picture Holmes. I suspect, though, I might be alone in rather liking the film 'Without A Clue'- Michael Caine as Holmes and Ben Kingsley as Watson... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.23.22 |
I saw all the Holmes Rathbones in a game shop the other day for three quid. Bargain of the century - nearly bought them again, even though I already have them. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.177.70 |
A few years back I was chatting with one of my friends about whether Peter Cushing was still alive. Neither of us could remember so my mate looked him up on the Internet but was puzzled that no search results came up. When I looked at the screen it turned out that he'd typed in Peter Cushion. God knows what other furniture related celebrities he's tried looking up: Marti Pillow, Peter O'Stool, Sonny and Chair, Bed Norton, Sofa Loren. Couple of weeks later he did the same thing. We were talking about the Star Wars prequels and he mentioned the Samuel L Jackson character Mace Window. Which of course led to me suggesting he did an Internet search for Ceiling Dion and Babe Roof... Anyway, fond memories of Murder by Decree and Without a Clue. Btw, does anyone remember Granada TV's Young Sherlock back in 1982? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.151.150 |
Stu, RE this post we always used to muse wether Whoopi Goldberg would change her name if she married Peter 'Cushion'. So sorry. I LOVED the new Sherlock Holmes film. We watched it last night on the projector and it was brilliant. One of those films that creates a kind of company you want to revisit, however good or bad the story. Also, it's surely the film we hoped for when they made League of Exttraordianry Gentlemen but didn't get (I dunno why I say that as I never read the books before seeing it - just trying to sound with-it, I suppose). And to go back to you post Stu, I said at the beginning 'I've heard even people who don't normally like Lionel Ritchie liked this film.' There was a few laughs, as well as a bit of bemusement among the audience. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.21.50 |
I loved the film too. It really took me by surprise. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.151.150 |
What I loved was that it felt like the characters in the film had all really met one another before, that it was a functioning London. So many characters in the background felt real - there was a policeman in it for instance who could have been throw-away but he said things that were warm and real, made you feel he existed off screen. I don't know who in the crew was responsible for that but well done to them - it's rare, and to find it in an escapist film is like gold (even the big muscley heavy was likeable and three dimensional). Heck, the film was better than the last two Indys (and I liked the last Indy). Well done, Mr Ritchie. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.151.150 |
'Well done, Mr Ritchie' - for putting heart and character to the forefront of entertainment and reminding us that that is the point of it. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.18.79 |
Q: How do you make Sherlock Holmes look clever? A: Make every other character stupid. Still, I do love these and I've read that the restoration is wonderful: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0006M4S46/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROK L5A1OLE | ||
| Barbara Roden (Nebuly) Username: Nebuly Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 142.179.12.225 |
Yes, it's true that Bruce's Watson is a pretty dim bulb compared with Rathbone's Holmes; but if you watch the Holmes films that came before (and there were an awful lot of them), Bruce's sidekick looks positively brilliant in comparison (the 'Watson as bumbling boob' hardly originated with him; even ACD referred to Watson as Holmes's 'rather stupid companion', which hardly helped the cause). And there was between Rathbone and Bruce a very real and warm friendship, which translated onto the screen, giving us perhaps the first pairing of the characters where you believed they really would share rooms without killing one another, or where you felt they hadn't just met five minutes earlier. Bruce definitely shines in HOUND, where he carries a good deal of the narrative in Holmes's absence, and shows himself to be intelligent, brave, and resourceful. And in HOUSE OF FEAR he does twig to the importance of a vital clue before Holmes does, putting his life in jeopardy and showing, in the closing scenes, the very real affection the characters had for each other. And yes, the restorations are wonderful. If you're used to seeing this films on telly, in muddy prints (and perhaps broken up by ads every few minutes, depending on the channel) then you're in for a treat. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.18.79 |
I'm really glad to hear that Rathbone and Bruce got on in real life. I loved these films from childhood. Having the DOCTOR WHO producer also make SHERLOCK betrays the origins of the former: Victoriana, a brilliant main character with an exposition-hungry companion, an equally brilliant arch-nemesis. | ||
| Barbara Roden (Nebuly) Username: Nebuly Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 142.179.12.225 |
"The Talons of Weng-Chiang" is one of the best Holmes pastiches I've ever seen, complete with a housekeeper named Mrs Hudson, a doctor as a sidekick, and some giant rats for good measure. | ||
| Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker) Username: Stephen_theaker Registered: 12-2009 Posted From: 62.30.117.235 |
Change the name of the lead character in Sherlock Holmes, and how he arrived on the scene, and it could easily have been a Doctor Who movie. The clothes, the behaviour, the dialogue, the tendency to chuck himself into dangerous situations and hope his wits would help him escape, the CGI London, all reminded me a lot of modern Doctor Who. Just wasn't quite as good! Having said that I might have thought more of the script if I could have understood any of Robert Downey Jr's mumbling... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Caught the first episode of last year's TV Series in a mate's house on Friday night. He virtually forced me to watch it and, against every instinct that was howling out of me, I found myself utterly captivated and bloody loving it!! The script, performances (what inspired casting!), direction and production values all cried out instant classic of the very highest quality. I'm looking forward to catching the rest of it now and the new series. Who'd have thought it possible?! Certainly not me...  The movie can go blow lol. | ||
| Barbara Roden (Nebuly) Username: Nebuly Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 142.179.12.225 |
I had high hopes for the series when it was announced, and seeing who was behind it (once I realised that 'modern day Holmes' didn't translate to 'cryogenically frozen Holmes wakes up in 21st century London; much hilarity ensues', which has already been done twice at least on telly). But the finished product was so much better than I'd hoped for, and I think it blew the Downey film out of the water (and I liked the Downey film). Can't wait for the three new episodes later this year. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The first episode was a joy from beginning to end and I'm really kicking myself now I didn't watch the whole thing. And this from just about the most headstrong Holmes purist you're ever likely to meet. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.151.150 |
I loved the film, but loved the series too. It proved to me that you don't have to do everything the same way or even as faithfully for it to capture the spirit. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The series seems to have captured the spirit of the original stories spot on and to have successfully updated them to nowadays. I suppose the Rathbone films pulled off the same trick in the 30s/40s but it was an easier job, being much closer to Conan Doyle's era. Above even the inspired casting it was the sensitive and witty, but not overly reverential, script that really made that first episode shine! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.151.150 |
The second is less good, has less atmosphere and depth, but the third recaptures it in spades. |