Last reviews of the year...
Dec. 31st, 2009 01:08 pmWent to see Sherlock Holmes at the cinema last night.
At last! Revenge of the slash fanfic writer!! My inevitable identification of the tiniest presence of homoerotic undertones in film and TV is consistently (and rightly) mocked and derided. But, with Sherlock Holmes, I have proof from the director and stars that it was all entirely deliberate! Mwahahahahah!
Anyway, putting aside that issue, I had three problems with the film:
Robert Downey Jnr mumbled terribly in places (particularly at the start) and it was often difficult to make out what he said.
Considering the depth they went into to describe the damage that could be done by a few blows to the bad guys, I was disappointed in the lack of physical consequences when one of the good guys was injured. It was good to see Holmes' sense of guilt, but that was rather undermined by Watson happily pulling him out of the river and fighting large assailants only a few hours later.
I have to confess I didn't realise this myself - but getting from the Houses of Parliament to Tower Bridge in about five minutes on foot is rather impressive, considering they're over three miles apart.
Still, overall, I found the film very enjoyable. It was much cleverer than I had expected, I thought the two main actors worked well together, and there were several amusing moments. Good holiday fare.
Holiday reading:
Dork Tower - first three collections - generally entertaining with some very funny moments, though I never enjoy the frustration of two characters utterly failing to get together when they're perfect for each other.
Calvin & Hobbes - There's Treasure Everywhere - very cute and very funny as long as you don't think too hard about it. Otherwise, it turns into the rather sad story of a little boy, whose only friend is a stuffed tiger he imagines beating him up most of the time.
Hunter: The Reckoning - I'm not very familiar with White Wolf's World of Darkness, so it was interesting to come at it from the Hunter point of view, and I really enjoyed the fact that most of the book is made up of extended sections of fiction, or game background as if written by characters. However, it does seem rather a doom-laden roleplaying game, since the humans are completely outclassed by every type of adversary, so I can't see PCs lasting very long in a campaign.
At last! Revenge of the slash fanfic writer!! My inevitable identification of the tiniest presence of homoerotic undertones in film and TV is consistently (and rightly) mocked and derided. But, with Sherlock Holmes, I have proof from the director and stars that it was all entirely deliberate! Mwahahahahah!
Anyway, putting aside that issue, I had three problems with the film:
Robert Downey Jnr mumbled terribly in places (particularly at the start) and it was often difficult to make out what he said.
Considering the depth they went into to describe the damage that could be done by a few blows to the bad guys, I was disappointed in the lack of physical consequences when one of the good guys was injured. It was good to see Holmes' sense of guilt, but that was rather undermined by Watson happily pulling him out of the river and fighting large assailants only a few hours later.
I have to confess I didn't realise this myself - but getting from the Houses of Parliament to Tower Bridge in about five minutes on foot is rather impressive, considering they're over three miles apart.
Still, overall, I found the film very enjoyable. It was much cleverer than I had expected, I thought the two main actors worked well together, and there were several amusing moments. Good holiday fare.
Holiday reading:
Dork Tower - first three collections - generally entertaining with some very funny moments, though I never enjoy the frustration of two characters utterly failing to get together when they're perfect for each other.
Calvin & Hobbes - There's Treasure Everywhere - very cute and very funny as long as you don't think too hard about it. Otherwise, it turns into the rather sad story of a little boy, whose only friend is a stuffed tiger he imagines beating him up most of the time.
Hunter: The Reckoning - I'm not very familiar with White Wolf's World of Darkness, so it was interesting to come at it from the Hunter point of view, and I really enjoyed the fact that most of the book is made up of extended sections of fiction, or game background as if written by characters. However, it does seem rather a doom-laden roleplaying game, since the humans are completely outclassed by every type of adversary, so I can't see PCs lasting very long in a campaign.