5 January 2010: Sherlock Holmes review

We found Sherlock Holmes to be entertaining, if not especially cerebral. Guy Ritchie did a better job of adapting Arthur Conan Doyle’s seminal mysteries than some critics had feared, using dialogue and descriptions recognizable to Holmes enthusiasts. On the other hand, the movie has the director’s trademark slow-motion fisticuffs and explosions, modern quips, and focus on the seamy side of Great Britain.

Robert Downey Jr. is as much a caricature of Oscar Wilde or other Victorian bohemians as he is the great detective. As with Iron Man, he brings appropriate charisma, nervous energy, and intelligence to the role. Jude Law is good as Dr. Watson, giving Holmes’ sidekick a more youthful energy and making him more of a true partner than he has often been portrayed.

The pretty Rachel McAdams plays Irene Adler in the largest deviation from “canon” as a recurring love interest of Sherlock Holmes, and genre veteran Mark Strong plays Lord Blackwood, the key to a nefarious plot threatening London, and by extension, civilization itself.

The story is similar to that of Young Sherlock Holmes and other pastiches, and even though I’m a big fan of the original books, I can appreciate well-done variations on the classic characters. The script leaves an obvious opening for a sequel.

I’ve argued on Facebook and elsewhere that Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes is a decent adaptation of the literary sleuth but a better steampunk movie. I plan to blog more about this subgenre of speculative fiction, which has been growing in popularity and has had relatively few successes in film or on television.

Sherlock Holmes is an excellent example of steampunk, including social commentary implied in the Dickensian images of a gritty (and class-stratified) industrial metropolis, a few clockwork and steam-powered gadgets, opulent costumes, playful anachronisms, and a lively soundtrack inspired by Gypsy music.

Although my favorite version of Sherlock Holmes so far is the early 1980s BBC/PBS television series starring Jeremy Brett, I enjoyed the movie, which I’d rate an 8.5 out of 10 or a B+. It’s rated PG-13 for violence and some sexuality. Let’s hope that more movies this coming year are equally fun!

3 January 2010: Holiday report

Friends, I hope that all your holidays were happy! Janice and I enjoyed relatively quiet workweeks at the end of December 2009, and we drove to Upstate New York on Christmas Eve. We feasted on lasagna at her parents’ home and stayed at the Country Inn & Suites across from the Great Escape amusement park.

The next morning, we exchanged gifts with Janice’s parents and her middle sister Shelly’s family. Among other things, I got some DVDs, a Jedi costume, and books. Thanks to Amazon.com, I exchanged most presents online and through the mail with my own family in Virginia. Janice and I then headed down to the house of her youngest sister, Melinda, for a Christmas dinner of ham.

I gave comic books and Lego sets to my nephews David and Joshua, and we played pool and Wii video games with grandpa Marvin and brothers in law Melvin and Gary. My nieces Laura and Amanda played Dance, Dance Revolution, while Becky texted her boyfriend Tristan. I also caught up on videos, including the mildly amusing G-Force
and Night at the Smithsonian.

The day after Christmas, the children went sledding, and we enjoyed a sloppy Joe (what Janice’s family calls “barbecue”) lunch before returning to Massachusetts. On New Year’s Eve, Janice and I got vaccinated for the H1N1 flu virus and screened Sherlock Holmes at the new Showcase Cinemas at Legacy Place in Dedham, Mass. I liked the steampunky film, which I’ll try to review in more detail in the coming week or so.

We also had lunch at Qdoba and picked up my subscription at New England Comics in Norwood, despite the snow. That night, we went to local New Year’s Eve celebrations, including a Celtic music concert, some square dancing, an ice sculpture, the Needham Concert Society, and the Homegrown Coffee House. It was also interesting to visit various churches, which served as venues for the civic events. We had dinner at The Rice Barn, a good Asian restaurant.

On Saturday, 2 January 2010, former co-worker and fellow genre fan Ken G. and his girlfriend Kahmmie came over to play more Wii games. Thanks to Ken, I finally got my Wii hooked up to the Internet, and we ate nachos and macaroni and cheese. We had considered going to Avatar, but snow and mixed reviews led us to postpone seeing James Cameron’s latest blockbuster. We did watch an episode of the geek comedy The
Big Bang Theory.

I liked the finale of Doctor Who: the End of Time, which I’ll also try to review in the coming weeks, along with other genre entertainment. The D&D4e “Vanished Lands:
the Faith-Based Initiative” fantasy campaign has finally wound down, amid some
contention among the role-players and clearing the way for one-shots and
miniseries.

Since my circles of acquaintances suffered through layoffs, divorces, and other stresses over the past year, let us hope that 2010 is better for everyone!

7 December 2009: Potter, cake, and catching up

Friends, I hope you had a good weekend. Janice and I took Friday, 4 December 2009, off from work. We slept in, did some housecleaning, and walked to the Fuji Japanese steakhouse for lunch (and Spasso Café for gelato dessert). I also touched base with longtime friends including Damon F.P. and David I.S. by telephone. Among other things, we talked of news of murders at our alma mater and Dave’s university.

On Saturday, Janice drove her parents and me into town for the Harry Potter exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science. The movie props and costumes were impressively detailed, and there were many young and enthusiastic fans of J.K. Rowling’s fantasy novels.

We went to Bertucci’s for lunch, followed by a chocolate cake for Janice’s birthday. Janice’s parents later returned to Upstate New York as snow began to fall. In addition to doing most of our Christmas shopping online, Janice and I ordered a new laptop from Dell. It will be in addition to our aging desktop computer and my work laptop, and we plan to use it for watching Blu-ray DVDs, travel, and faster performance.

I caught up on recorded genre television, including the half-season finales of metahuman melodrama Heroes, alien invasion remake V, and new sleuth show White Collar, as well as
the midseason premiere of syndicated fantasy Legend of the Seeker and the bittersweet series finale of BBC America’s Robin Hood. I need to get started with holiday cards and decorating.

Last night’s Pathfinder: “Holy Steel” teleconferencing game was canceled because of scheduling conflicts among some of the remote role-players, but the D&D4e “Vanished Lands: the Faith-Based Initiative” fantasy game should continue tonight, despite the
death of one Player Character in the Underdark last week and the absence of a few members.

Damon and Dexter V.H.‘s planned visit for this coming weekend is up in the air because of family issues, but the next few weekends should be busy as winter and the holidays approach. Upcoming movies include Disney’s traditionally animated The Princess and the Frog, James Cameron’s sci-fi actioner Avatar, Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr.’s take on Sherlock Holmes, and Terry Gilliam and the late Heath Ledger’s Imaginarium of
Doctor Parnassus.

30 November 2009: Thanksgiving and animation

Friends, I hope that you had a Happy Thanksgiving. Janice and I enjoyed the holiday, despite the long drive from Massachusetts to her grandmother in Pennsylvania and my parents in Virginia, worries about sick nieces, and news of marital strife among our circles of acquaintances. We ate well, caught up on sleep and reading, and managed to avoid the worst traffic. The weather was also pleasant.

Janice and I also screened The Fantastic Mr. Fox, a stop-motion animated fantasy loosely based on the Roald Dahl book. Director Wes Anderson uses many familiar actors for the voice cast, including Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Bill Murray, and Michael Gambon.

Clooney plays the titular character, a snazzily dressed vulpine who retires from stealing chickens before the birth of his son but is tempted back into a life of misadventure by three farms owned by grotesque humans. I thought The Fantastic Mr. Fox‘s script and dialogue were clever, and the two-dimensional flow of the action wasn’t as annoying as some trailers and reviews suggested.

The self-aware hero, use of an Anglo-American cast, and allusions to folklore and caper films were all well-done. The offbeat humor, adult themes, and cheerful soundtrack reminded me of the recent live-action adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are.

As with Coraline and Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death, the stop-motion world again demonstrated that there are good alternatives to the current glut of computer-animated 3-D flicks. I’d give The Fantastic Mr. Fox three stars, an 8/10, or a B+. It’s rated PG for cartoony violence. The next animated movie I’ll probably catch in theaters is Disney’s The Princess and the Frog.

Speaking of cartoons, I have to note that recent television episodes of Star Wars: Clone Wars have been particularly strong, showing the grit and chaos of battle, as well as the moral erosion of an extended conflict that’s timely as the U.S. reconsiders its
military involvement in the Middle East.

Spectacular Spider-Man has also upped the ante, as Peter Parker’s personal life and numerous foes collided. Unfortunately, the Silver Age-style superhero show may be a casualty of the Marvel/Disney merger. Iron Man: Armored Avengers has been entertaining, despite stiff computer animation and making Tony Stark and
company into teenagers. Marvel’s Super Hero Squad skipped a week for the holiday.

Wolverine and the X-Men also concluded its current season, combining the “Days of Future Past,” “Phoenix Saga,” and “Rise of Apocalypse” storylines from the comics with
mixed results in terms of pacing and character development. The charmingly campy Batman and the Brave and the Bold has been on hiatus. DC/Warner Brothers’ release
of boxed sets of DVDs for Batman: the Animated Series, Superman: the Animated Series, and Justice League Unlimited are reminders of the best superhero cartoons of the past decade.

Coming soon: Live-action superheroes and remake reviews!

24 November 2009: Super MegaFest report

On Saturday, 21 November 2009, I met former co-workers Ken G. and Brian F. at the Super MegaFest at the Framingham Sheraton (photos courtesy of Ken). I’ve attended this genre entertainment convention several times over the past decade, and it’s usually a good value for a $20 weekend ticket.

There were fewer panels than at the previous weekend’s New England Fan Experience (NEFX), but the celebrity guests were more accessible. Autographs were still expensive at about $40 apiece. I met Brent Spiner, who played the Asimovian android “Data” on Star Trek: the Next Generation, as well as The Bionic Woman‘s Lindsay Wagner.

Although I had seen them before, Ken waited in line for signatures from Jame Marsters, members of The Monkees, and Ray Park. There were also pinup models,
professional wrestlers, and some people in costume. Spiner proved to be sarcastically funny during his question-and-answer session, teasing me for not following him on Twitter and being teased by Ken for his robot-like recall of people’s names.

The vendors sold comic books, DVDs, toys, and other nostalgia items to a crowd that was almost as diverse as the one at the NEFX and Star Wars in Concert. Brian was disappointed that there weren’t more dealers in superhero-related statuettes, and I agree that there were fewer vendors than in past years. Overall, I had fun, and I look forward to more fan events, such as the “Harry Potter” exhibit at the Boston Museum of
Science and the just-announced New England Comic-Con.

In the coming weeks, in between work, gaming, and holiday shopping, I hope to blog about the recent wave of animation, the midseason turnover in genre television, and the nature of steampunk. If there’s anything you’d like to see here, let me know!

Janice and I will be driving down to Pennsylvania to see her grandmother before
spending Thanksgiving with my parents in western Virginia. Unfortunately, I probably won’t have time to visit family and friends near Washington, D.C., or New
York City, and I hope that traffic and the weather are cooperative. I hope that you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!