Warning! This Contains Spoilers For: Sherlock (Seasons 2 and 3's finales, specifically), Supernatural (mainly season 9), The Avengers (and to an extent Agents of SHIELD), Thor: The Dark World, Game of Thrones, and Doctor Who)
You know, I kinda did...
So, the last episode of Sherlock season 3 has aired in America, and revealed the next cliffhanger: Moriarty (or as I've started calling him here: "Scottiarty") is alive as well. I kinda suspected it (Moffat kept insisting he was dead a little too much for me). So, I figured this was a perfect time to discuss something of a trend/trope that seems to be cropping up in the movies and TV shows I like: The Fake Out Death.
Yes, it seems that a lot of shows are using this. They pretend to kill a character (or in some cases, legitimately kill) a character, only to bring them back. And to be honest, it's gotten kind of old.
I started feeling this when I saw Thor: The Dark World for the first time. As many who saw that know, somewhere around the third act, Loki is apparently impaled through the chest and killed by Skurge. It's sad (legend says you could hear Tumblr collectively go comatose with shock), but then at the end it's revealed Loki has survived being mortally wounded, and has in fact taken Odin's place (literally).
Now, besides me wanting more explanation as to how Loki survived, I felt a little bored with this sort of thing. It seemed to me like it came up too much in the last two years.
Two big offenders of this are Doctor Who and Supernatural.
I read a very interesting post (that I highly recommend), that brings up how Steven Moffat doesn't really "kill" many characters off in Doctor Who, when you think about it. Heck, the most notable example is Rory. Every time he got killed, he seems to come back. When he finally did bite it, it was that he just died years after being time-displaced (long story). Not being killed (presumably).
It's Rory, Amy. It's 33.3% of his shtick.
Heck, Moffat's undone THE ENTIRE FRIGGIN' GENOCIDE OF THE GALLFREYANS AND THE DALEKS!
There was also the recent Christmas Special where The Doctor regenerates, but the whole episode The Doctor goes on and on about Eleven being his last regeneration, and that if he dies at the time of the special, it's forever, yadda yadda. Yeeeah, we already knew about Capaldi being the next Doctor. But that's more an issue of false/failed drama than anything else.
Supernatural does it worse, though. While the show has an infamously high death toll (at this point, it's easier to count the living characters), there has also been quite a bit of characters un-dying. Especially in season nine, where we not only have Cas briefly die in one episode, but the next bloody episode Charlie freaking dies for a few minutes. While it's nice when a beloved character comes back (especially with the dwindling number of reoccurring characters), I think this is also a flaw with the show. It starts getting harder to accept the legitimate deaths when they arise. Seriously, let Death do his job, writers!
Maybe, Death. Maybe...
I think this is one of the things I like about Game of Thrones: that when they kill a character, they stick with it. There's not even that "I'm a main character/regular" immunity. Nope, sorry, Ned! Being on the poster won't save you now! And don't get me started on the Red Wedding (there's one way to wrap up a subplot). Heck, the one time they had a "revival" it went bad and ultimately led to that character having to die for good. Death is death.
Now, am I completely against bringing characters back from the dead? No. I can accept some of them.
What? It's not too soon, anymore!
Let's take one of the most famous "recent" examples: Sherlock's faked suicide at the end of season 2. We knew he was alive at the end of the episode (heck, anyone who'd read "The Final Problem" knew he'd live...) Besides the inevitability of this, I was fine with it because it had weight to it. There was the aftermath for everyone, the suspense of how everyone would react to seeing him again, the mystery of how he did it... It worked to the story's advantage and had repercussions. (Heck, I'm actually looking forward to seeing what they do with Moriarty's return in season 4. The story opportunities...)
There's also The Avengers, where Coulson "died"...
XD I love this bit from the gag reel...
That also had weight. It helped motivate the team to get their crap together. But it also had ambiguity. We couldn't be sure that Coulson was coming back. All we had was confirmation that Fury lied about Coulson's trading cards being on his person when Loki impaled him through the chest (yeah, I'm starting to believe people in the MCU can't be killed by impalement...). It also provides an early mystery in his spin-off, Agents of SHIELD. Heck, even when it's revealed how he's alive, there's the ramifications of Fury playing God and Coulson dealing with this reveal.
My problem with Loki's "death" in Thor: The Dark World was there was little weight, I felt. He died and it was just: "Welp! On to the next thing!" (The same could be said of Frigga's death, but that's another thing). It doesn't leave much impact.
I guess what I'm saying is: writers, if you're going to kill a character and bring them back, at least let there be ramifications or some degree of weight to it. Or, if not, at least use Fake Out Deaths sparingly. And please, just cool it on them for a while, okay? Okay. We're good.
Okay, so Thursday I went to the movies and saw Despicable Me 2 (it was a cute and funny movie, BTW). And, obviously, there were movie trailers. I had thoughts on the trailers, of course, so I decided, "Hey, let's judge the trailers and share our thoughts on them with all of Internetland! ^_^" They say you can't judge a book by it's cover, but they say nothing about movies and trailers. Besides, trailers are supposed to give good impressions. After all, they're trying to get you to watch the freaking movie and help them get your eight bucks (or more, if it's in gratuitous glorious 3D)! So, here's my experiment, I call it, "Trailer Park".
Okay, I'll stick to the ones I saw in the theater Thursday, and if you like it, I'll do more of the trailers out there...
Okay, first up:
ENDER'S GAME
Okay, I'm gonna start by saying I've never read Ender's Game. I knew it was a book before seeing this trailer, but I never read it. The trailer looks alright, your typical sci-fi epic fare. But what caught my attention is the sheer amount of "Academy Award Nominee"s in the trailer. It feels like they're trying to make this into award bait or are just flaunting their credentials. Like "LOOKIT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ACCOMPLISHED STUFF! WATCH THIS!!!!!" Just because you have successful people in or behind something, it doesn't necessarily mean it's guaranteed to be a good movie. How many good actors have been in complete bombs/stupid movies? Heck, how many good directors have made complete bombs/stupid movies? Plus, notice 90% of the actors they're flaunting are just nominees. There's only one they admit won something: Ben Kingsley (oh hai, nice to see you again after Iron Man 3!). Yeah, I'm a tad skeptical.
...Oh, and Harrison Ford is in here, too. Nice to see you, too, HanIndy Ford...
R.I.P.D.
(I can't find the exact one I saw this time, sorry, but I did see a different one before Man of Steel, so I guess I'll put that one up... Sorry about the annotations, can't be helped... ;/)
This movie looks like it can be fun. Not a cinematic masterpiece, but fun. Ryan Reynolds is pretty funny. I think I'd enjoy this one. Also, I can't help but notice something about Ryan Reynolds. Ever notice how he seems to be in every movie for a while, then sorta vanishes for a while? He's almost never a major role in just one movie? Like he has to recharge his powers or something (I don't think he was fully charged in 2011, hence that Green Lantern movie I heard was awful and The Change-Up which looked like a terrible movie from it's trailer...).
One more thing, seeing as this is yet another comic book movie he's in, I'm now convinced that in the future, all male comic book characters will have been played by Ryan Reynolds at least once, and if not, Chris Evans will have played them. :P (And in animation, they'll have all been voiced by Nolan North...)
PLANES
*buries head in hands* Pixar, wh-why do you keep making Cars-related films? NOBODY LIKES CARS THAT MUCH! (Personally, I find them rather "eh" and not exactly Pixar's best work.) Is Disney making you continue to make them because they make money from the merchandise? Because they make money from the Disney Princess line, but they don't force the animation department to make sequels to those movies... Anymore...
(Speaking of Direct-To-Video sequels, this was originally intended to be a DTV movie. Make with that what you will...)
Also, you got Dane Cook to voice the main character? DANE FRIGGIN' COOK!? HAVE YOU NOT SEEN HIS WORK!? *facepalm* It ain't exactly "kid-friendly". (Though, I guess that could be said with a lot of actors in animated movies, but for some reason this one in particular strikes me as mind-boggling...)
Finally, the whole "dog" joke throws me for a loop. There... there are no living creatures except the vehicles in this world, how do they know what a "dog" is? It can't be a "we call certain vehicles "dogs"", because the first one had tractors act like cows, but they were still called 'tractors"! It doesn't make sense with the world. Unless...
Sweet merciful Disney...
...The Cars universe takes place after the end of life on the planet. Life died in the machine uprising. This... this is horrifying! The dark implications... *shudder*
Something less over-thinkable and lighter, please!
(Also, I love how the trailers posted to YouTube I looked at ALL had annotation links to How To Train Your Dragon 2's teaser trailer. EVEN YOUTUBE THINKS YOU SHOULD WATCH THE TRAILER FOR WHAT WILL PROBABLY BE A BETTER MOVIE! (I do thoughts on that trailer if I do another one of these...))
TURBO
(Can't find the trailer I saw, sorry)
Oh, lookie, the OTHER movie with Ryan Reynolds... Yeah, when it comes to DreamWorks Animation, I'll wait for How To Train Your Dragon 2, thanks. Also, I can't help but notice that, well, the trailers can't seem to decide what song to go with? Usually, trailers stick to one, maybe two songs per trailer. These ones just use every song they can think of! (Plus, the one I saw pretty much gave away the whole plot... I hate those trailers...)
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2
SO. MANY. FOOD PUNS...
I saw the first one, it was better than I thought it'd be. It was... cute... I kinda question the need for a sequel, though (besides "MOAR MONEY FOR SONY")... Though the food puns may be worth a Netflix Instant View... I guess...
FREE BIRDS
This just looks dumb. It truly does. That's all I have to say... Really? Just... really? (Fun fact, I'd totally forgotten what this movie was called. My brain is actively trying to forget this...)
...Is there an unspoken rule that executives HAVE to let at least one lame animated/kids movie out to make the rest look better in comparison?
"We have to greenlight a movie that'll make Planes look like Up!" "IT CAN'T BE DONE, JOHNSON! IT CAN'T BE DONE!!!" "Get a hold of yourself, Perkins!"
...I am taking these family flicks too seriously...
---
So, yeah, this was my experiment. Tell me what you think! Should I do this more often? (I promise, next time I'll have more diversity in trailers...) Are there any trailers you want me to throw my two cents in about? (I know How To Train Your Dragon 2 and The Sea of Monsters are two I want to talk about next time... maybe Thor: The Dark World...)
And, I'm back for more Marvel May. Yesterday, I discussed the first movie in the original X-Men Trilogy, so it's only logical that I talk about the second in that series: X2: X-Men United!
Sadly not pictured: the best X-Man ever...
Yeah, I know the movie's like 10 years old, but I'd hate to give it away for someone who hasn't seen it. You know the drill...
In The White House, the president is attacked by a certain teleporting mutant. Naturally, Xavier and Cyclops go to see if Magneto is somehow behind this. But they are captured by Col. William Stryker. Stryker has been controlling mutants using his son Jason's (a mutant with the power to create illusions, not unlike the comics' Mastermind) brain fluid, and plans to eliminate the mutant population once and for all using his son, Professor Xavier, and a version of Cerebro he made himself. He also kidnaps some students from the school. Now the X-Men (including a newly-returned Wolverine), Iceman, Rogue, and Nightcrawler must team up with Mystique and Magneto (who escaped prison in the coolest way EVER!) to save mutantkind. Cool fight scenes, some flaws in logic, and the ultimate sacrifice that anyone who reads the comics knew the outcome of ensues.
I'm going to get my biggest source of fangirling out of the way: OHMYGOSH NIGHTCRAWLER IS AWESOME!
I mean, from the minute he appears on screen, he is brilliant! The costume is awesome! The teleporting effect is fantastic! The actor did a good job! And they kept his faith, which is good, since I like that about the character (that and his being the most genuinely good guy on the team. Why did freakin' Marvel have to replace him in-comics with his chaotic AoA counterpart? (sorry I keep complaining, but it still ticks me off...)). Though I thought the whole "Self-mutilation for every sin/angel symbol "cutter-ish scar-toos"" were a little weird. I don't know what the deal was with those. But they looked cool, too. (Maybe I've answered my own question...) It was worth it to see this movie just for him alone. He was so awesome, they never used him again in the movies for fear he'd overshadow the others! (At least, that's what I think... ;) )
Okay, that's out now...
Once again, the cast is really good. I loved Magneto and Wolverine, as usual. And, again, Mystique was cool. It's now apparent to me that that is where Nightcrawler got his awesome. (At least, in-comics, where Mystique's his mother. I'm not sure as far as the movies go yet. I mean, they had his dad in-comics in First Class, so maybe...) Stryker was a good villain. Also, I liked this version of Lady Deathstrike. (Mutants are cooler than cyborgs. Just sayin'...) And they worked in a lot of characters as cameos. Especially during the part where Mystique hacks into Stryker's files. I paused the movie to look at the names, and I was pleased to know all but three. Here were the names and who they were:
Guthrie (2) (Cannonball and Husk)
Keniucho Harade (Silver Samurai)
Remy LeBeau (Gambit)
Garrison Kane (didn't know this guy, had to look him up)
Artie Maddiks (again, no idea. Looked him up.)
Jaime Mardrox (Multiple Man)
Xi'an Coy Mahn (Karma, but I didn't recognize the name...)
Maximoff (2) (Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch)
Kevin McTaggart (Proteus)
Danielle Moonstar
Okay, that self-ego-stroking's out of the way...
The story is really awesome. I enjoyed it. Though, I did find some things I had problems with, logic-wise.
First, there was the whole, "leaving the kids with Colossus" thing for Wolverine. Seriously, he leaves the kids to fend for themselves with only one guy to protect them from trained military officers (who, evidently, can only capture six mostly sleeping kids)? And he eventually takes the three teenagers who could, in theory, fend for themselves better on their own or help the kids? Obviously, Wolverine is only capable of taking care of small groups of teenagers, especially teenage girls. :P
But the biggest one was probably Jean's sacrifice in the end. Why did she necessarily have to leave the plane to hold back the water long enough for the plane and give the plane the boost it needed? Seriously! It would have been easier to do that in the plane! And she wouldn't have to waste energy saying goodbye through Xavier and keeping Nightcrawler from teleporting her back. Clearly, if she could do all that, I'm sure she could do it from INSIDE THE PLANE! And another thing, how was she keeping Nightcrawler from teleporting? I know The Phoenix is all-powerful, but I don't think she could screw up powers! Seriously, I know it's Jean's lot in life to die and become the Flame Bird of Psycho, but still, that's ridiculous! They never explain it properly!
But, despite these flaws, it's still a good movie. And they balance it out with clever things like Magneto's escape. That was cool.
Alright, final thoughts:
Favorite scenes were Nightcrawler's opening scene, Magneto's escape, Mystique getting into Stryker's base, and various assorted things.
Mutantism is totally not used for a metaphor for anything, here.../sarcasm
Did anyone else get a creepy vibe from the Mystique/Nightcrawler conversation? At least Nightcrawler's reaction afterwards? Or was it just me? Seriously, that's his mom in the comics!
Cyclops still cannot be discreet. Seriously, couldn't they make him some more casual-looking visor/glasses for sneaky stuff? You can't do that cosplaying as the guy from Star Trek: The Next Generation... And listening to Backstreet Boys proves he can't own a motorcycle...
The Drakes' Cat is the best cat ever. He don't give a crap about any of the weirdness...
Overall, I really like this movie. Yeah, it has some logic flaws, but the awesome stuff balances it out. It's as good, if not better than, its predecessor...
Well, next time I do Marvel May reviews, I'll get to the more... infamous of the X-Men movies. X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And boy, do I have a controversial opinion on the latter...
(Blogger's still being rude and won't let me put up a new profile pic. Meanie...)
Well, to start off Marvel May, I thought I'd begin with one of the earliest Marvel Comics movies to come out that's in my possession: X-Men!
I love the X-Men! They're one of my favorite superhero teams. Mostly because their series' produced a lot of characters I love/think are cool: Rogue, Psylocke, Gambit, Deadpool, Wolverine, and of course, Nightcrawler to name a few. So I figured I'd start out with that! Does it hold up, 13 years after it came out? We'll see!
Oh, yeah, for those who haven't seen it, there's likely to be
In "the not too distant future" (Next Sunday AD), humankind fears the rising of mutants: superhuman individuals who claim to be the next step in human evolution. We see one of these mutants, a young girl called Rogue, develop her power to syphon people's life force and powers. She runs away in fear of what she could do, and meets the mysterious Wolverine. After a fight with Sabertooth, they end up at Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters, a school for mutants and home of the X-Men. They soon end up involved in the conflict between The X-Men and Magneto and The Brotherhood, who believe mutant supremacy is the only way they'll be accepted. Decent special effects, superhero fights, and science I don't fully understand ensues.
I think they did a good job at casting three of the major roles in this movie. Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Hugh Jackman all do fantastic as Professor X, Magneto, and Wolverine respectively. The others do good, too, but they're the standouts.
They showed the dark grey morality of Magneto pretty good. I especially like how with Wolverine, they got to show one of the traits that I adore/find amusing about him: that while he's one of the baddest bad boys of the Marvel Universe, he's also kinda a mentor/surrogate father to almost all the teenage mutant girls! In the movies, it's Rogue, but in the comics he's been one to Kitty Pryde, Jubilee, X-23 (technically, by cloning genetics, he IS her dad, biologically), Armor...
The effects are pretty good for early 2000s, they still hold up. Like Cerebro is cool, and that computer thingy that looks like those little metal needly things you can stick your hand of face into and it keeps the shape. I especially think they had a good time with Magneto's magnetic stuff, which was really good. I also think they had a lot of fun with how much punishment Wolverine can take. And the story's pretty decent, too.
Though I do have one problem: how the heck does magnetism generate mutating radiation at all? Especially with Magneto's funky device? I don't think magnetism creates that strong of radiation.... I mean, yeah, I'm questioning comic book science, but I still wanna know! (Also, fun fact: Professor Xavier's mutation was the result of radiation. Maybe it's a nod to that...) But, I did like the idea of Magneto turning Senator Kelly into a mutant. It was awesome karma.
I feel the need to mention it now: I do NOT like the character of Cyclops. Here or otherwise. I just don't. Most of it might be the recent stuff I've heard about the character (that he's basically becoming Magneto 2.0), though to be fair that could be Wolverine fanboys running things and it basically being "make your fanfiction from when you were 12 where Wolverine was a freaking god and Cyclops was a big jerk canon". And there was the fact he left his wife and son when Jean Grey came back to life. And that in-comics he's dating Emma Frost, who I also despise. But I gotta ask: people who've read more X-Men than me, was Cyclops ever cool? Like, back in the early days of the X-Men? I genuinely want to know. Does he have fans? And why?
Like, one of the things I don't like about movie Cyclops was when he gets onto Wolverine for accidentally stabbing Rogue in his sleep. I'm sorry he was SUFFERING A PTSD-INDUCED DREAM AND ACCIDENTALLY HURT SOMEONE WHO WAS CHECKING ON HIM! Seriously, he didn't know! >:( Sorry for ranting. I just don't like Cyclops. (Why does half the mutant population now have to be connected to him by blood or other relation again?)
But, I have realized I like Mystique, now. She's pretty cool. Though, I have to wonder, too: how does she make clothes when she shapeshifts? Is it just skin? (Eww....) I can't be the only one who wonders this... (Also, I don't think she can turn into inanimate objects, movie. Sorry...)
Final Thoughts:
Favorite parts were a lot of Wolverine's lines and all the Ellis Island stuff at the end (I especially liked Wolverine and Cyclops's banter)
Cyclops you are not cool enough for a motorcycle. Nor can you stealth when you have your BIG FREAKIN' VISOR ON!
I won't get into continuity errors with Origins or First Class, here. I might get into them if/when I get to them. (Since it's their fault said errors exist...)
I'm not as well-versed in DC as I am Marvel, but does movie!Toad look a lot like DC's The Creeper?
Also, Rogue's hoodie jacket and her scarf/V-neck looks kinda remind me of two of her later looks in comics. Which is weird, seeing as those looks weren't around in 2000, I think...
I forgot to mention, I really like that they didn't kill off Magneto in this movie. It kinda bugs me when they kill off the villains in superhero movies, especially big ones like The Green Goblin in Spider-Man...
While the story is decent, it's not exactly the best movie I've ever seen. It's still decent, though. The stuff at Ellis Island's probably the best stuff. And it still does clever things. Like the plastic prison for Magneto, the turning Kelly mutie thing I said earlier... It's a movie I don't mind watching again, but it's not on my top movie lists.
Tomorrow(?), I review the improved-from-the-original sequel, X2: X-Men United! AKA "The one with my beloved Nightcrawler in it!"
Well, it's May! And I'm excited! So many wonderful things: soon I'll be free of my Unbreakable Vow with myself and finish watching/reviewing Elementary, Iron Man 3 is out this month (and Star Trek: Into Darkness [note to self: WATCH THE FIRST MOVIE!]), and my birthday is on the 25th! (Fun fact: not only do I share a birthday with Sir Ian McKellen (awesome!) but it also falls on Towel Day AND Geek Pride Day.)
So, I decided to do something special this month. In addition to wrapping up the Elementary reviews, I'm going to review some of the Marvel movies. At least the ones I own (Netflix Instant View never ceases to amaze me with what it does and doesn't have…). *So that means I'll be covering:
-The X-Men Trilogy
-X-Men Origins: Wolverine (More in-depth than I did last time, anyway...)
And of course...
-The Marvel Cinematic Universe (Iron Man 1&2, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: The First Avenger (again, more in-depth), and The Avengers!
(*I may get some movies besides them, and I might get to review them, too. And, since I'm planning on seeing Iron Man 3 for my birthday, so that may get a review this month, too...)
So, I'm going to start this project this Saturday, hopefully. Hope this goes well! :D
Okay, so I'm trying to expand my horizons and write more than just Sherlock-related stuff. I really am. In fact, I have a post planned about a recent show and my thoughts on it tomorrow in lieu of an Elementary review. But I felt the need to say this. To get this out there…
What is up with two of the recent Adlers?
There's something I've noticed about two of the recent ones: a sort of double-standard that's employed. Allow me to explain...
I've made it no secret that I dislike BBC Sherlock's Irene Adler. Seriously, Moffat? You've written/created girl characters I like:
Amy,
Clara,
River,
Molly,
Madame Vastra and Jenny...
Why'd you have to drop the ball on the classic female character I already like?
Sorry.
I could talk about how I felt she was over sexualized, and about the possible unfortunate implications I've read regarding her sexuality (Eek! Who'd have thought I'd be using those words and "prostitute" so many times? Talking about SHERLOCK HOLMES!? Ye gads). But I wanna talk about something I realized. It has to do with when Irene is escaping her house, the authorities, and our favorite duo...
When Irene tries to get her phone back, she stabs Cumberlock with a giant needle full of drugs, and beats him with a riding crop until he goes down. She then strokes his face with said riding crop, saying she wants him to remember her as the woman who beat him. this is treated as not too terrible a thing.
Totally No Big Deal...
So what's the problem? Well, let's just picture this scene with the genders switched. With Sherlock as a "Sherline" and Irene as an "Ian". Had it been that way, I think the scene wouldn't be treated lightly. It'd be treated for drama. There may have been an outrage. But no, since she's a woman, he's a man, it's no big deal. It's pretty much the double standard that men don't get abused, let alone by women. Or that they don't get raped, either.
Speaking of which...
I realize I neglected to mention something I noticed, but kinda sidestepped about the Rachel McAdams Adler. But since I'm going here, I can't ignore this. The scene where she and Downeylock are in the hotel. She drugs him and it's strongly implied, if not outright stated, that she and him... Did it. Yeah. Let's face it, she pretty much raped him. Seriously, think about it.
Again, if they were different genders, it probably would've been a bigger deal. I admit, I found the following scene with Downeylock, his pillow, and the chambermaid funny. But still! If nothing else, he treats it as a minor annoyance. (which probably has it's own issues) Who knows? Maybe for him and her, that's normal... I know Downeylock has feelings for her, but we never see him give consent. Rape is rape...
Don't get me wrong, I still like a lot of things about Movie!Adler, but I really wish they hadn't done that. It's unnecessary and has double-standards...
My lord! No WONDER Millerlock is a man-tramp into that sorta thing! These previous Irenes' actions to his predecessors must've messed up his psyche! (Though I still believe it's because they didn't want Joan Watson to be labeled a tramp if they kept the "three continents" trait from the original male version, so they just gave it to Millerlock instead. Which would be, in itself, a double standard...)
Now, I may not be the best person to talk about this. I may not be qualified. Someone could put this into words better. I'm just some random young woman on the Internet who fangirls and is to much of a shy, introverted nerd in real life that it's a wonder I can function in society. In fact, maybe I'm coming off as some whiny soapbox sadie. But I felt this needed to be said. To be put out there for thought...
So, Elementary writers, please, do not pull this sort of thing with your Irene Adler (who recently got cast. Please for the love of Conan Doyle let her be better than Pulver's). So far, the only bad thin is her being a "woman in the refrigerator" for Millerlock to give him pathos. Please don't make it "worse".
In fact, any future Sherlock Holmes writers, don't pull this crap with Irene. She never did ANYTHING like this in the canon! Who thought that needed to be a thing with her?
That's all I have to say. If anyone out there cares to discuss, please kindly do so.
Okay, first of all, cool, I've gotten over 9,000 page views as of this post. (*insert really old "It's Over 9000!" meme here*) Good, got that out of my system...
So, I just went to the movies today and decided I'd do a review. And try and actually do a post without bringing up Sher... Nope! I can go a whole post without talking about it! I am capable! So, here's my review of Oz: The Great and Powerful!
"We're off to see The... Oh, wait, that's me..."
And, okay, I know it's been out about two weeks, and I'll try not to give too much away, but I'm just gonna be safe and say:
I didn't even intend the rhyming, happy accident!
Alright, so the movie serves a prequel to The Wizard of Oz movie. Here, telling the story of Oscar "Oz" Diggs (James Franco) , a travelling circus's magician who'd become The Wizard. Oscar, after what can only be described as a bad day consisting of: getting booed off the stage by his angry audience for not being able to heal a sick girl's legs (kinda asking a lot from a stage magician, guys...), having his girlfriend Annie reveal to him she's gotten a proposal from another man, ticking off the circus strongman by flirting with his wife... oh, and the whole, "blown away in a hot air balloon by a tornado, with various flying objects trying to kill him" thing. Yeah, that's a bummer.
Anyway, he arrives in the magical land of Oz, where he meets the witch Theodora (Mila Kunis), who becomes quite smitten with Oscar. She tells him that he's the wizard prophesied to defeat The Wicked Witch and rule all of Oz. Theodora's sister, another witch named Evanora (Rachel Wiesz), doubts he's a real wizard, and sends him off to kill the third witch (played by Michelle Williams). But all is not as it seems. Along the way, he's accompanied by a flying monkey named Finley (Zach Braff) and a living china doll girl we're never given a name for (Joey King). Transformation, revelation, and prestidigitation ensue.
The movie is beautiful visually. Oz (the country) was beautiful. Very visually pleasing. And the effects were pretty good and solid, too. I also liked the opening part of the movie, which is in black and white (like the original, which was in a sepia), and also in a smaller frame, as opposed to the colorful, fullscreen Oz. I thought it was a nice touch. They really had a lot of nice things to look at. And I dug the opening credits, too. They were really cool. Also, the flying monkeys (minus Finley, who was adorable-looking) are creepier, here. NOW A WHOLE NEW GENERATIONS CAN EXPERIENCE FLYING MONKEY-INDUCED NIGHTMARES! >:D
The music was good, too. Danny Elfman, along with Hans Zimmer, is one of my favorite movie music composers. So, as always, he did a good job with the music.
The characters I felt were pretty decent. I think they actually made Theodora, AKA The Wicked Witch of the West (hey, I put the River Song Gif up, people! You were warned!) fairly sympathetic. (Yes, I mean, besides that whole Broadway musical, Wicked, that came out years before. I haven't seen it, but I (unfortunately) read the book by Gregory Maguire that it was loosely based on. Oh, I'll never remove the mental scarring! DX) And I think, once she becomes the Wicked Witch we know, love, and were terrified by as little kids, Mila Kunis had a LOT of fun, hamming it up.
I feel the need to talk about Oscar/Oz, played by James Franco. The character is kind of a cad. He's a liar, he's greedy, and a womanizer. But he does have some redeeming qualities so he's not entirely bad. And, in the end, he does become sort of a better person, obviously. Anyway, way before this movie was made, I heard Robert Downey Jr. was being considered for the part. And, yeah, I can see it; it shows. At least to me, anyway. I'm not saying Franco does bad, he does a good job as The Wizard. But I couldn't help but think: "Yeah, RDJ could've totally played this role." "It's his type of character." "This movie would've been 20% cooler with him, everything's better with RDJ..." But, again, Franco does a decent RDJ-impression, so to speak... ;)
Also, this movie is chock-full of clever nods to the original movie and the book (technically I haven't read the book-book, but I read the Marvel comic adaptation of the book). For example, Annie is engaged to a man with the last name Gale (as in, "Dorothy Gale"). Theodora's tears burn her skin. The "protection kiss" from the book. The fact the circus was named "Baum's Family Circus", after L. Frank Baum, the author (and as an added bonus, Oscar's assistant in Kansas was named "Frank"). And there's the fact that some of the actors play different characters in both the Kansas part and the Oz part.
Final Thoughts:
I really liked the China Girl (though, seriously, they couldn't give her a name?) character.
The final battle was really cool. I also loved the "The pure-hearted can get through the wall"/ "I'M GONNA DIE!" exchange.
I am never becoming a stage magician in Kansas. They will accept no less than you raising the dead...
Overall, it was a pretty good movie. I enjoyed it. It's not quite on my list of "the greatest movies I've ever seen" (that would be The Avengers and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (darn it, so close to going a whole post with no Sherlock mentions...)), but it was really good. Like I said, at the very least, it's clever and has nice visuals. And it works very well as a prequel to the earlier movie. I'd recommend it, and wouldn't be opposed to watching it again...
So, I was watching part of this movie toady, and one of the people in it was Richard Harris. The name sounded familiar to me, so I went to my good ol' friend Google to look up who it was. Turns out I did know him from somewhere. He played Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (he was replaced in the other movies after his death in 2002). At ease, I was glad I sorted that out before I went insane.
Then later, I thought of something: the man who plays Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is named Jared Harris... So I started wondering if they were related. Once again, to Google! *insert classic Batman TV show music*
And sure enough, they are. Richard Harris was Jared Harris's dad. So that means...
Huh. You'd think he'd have turned out better...
I just find that incredibly cool. And it proves how my interests are slowly turning into "Six Degrees of Sherlock Holmes". (And I am okay with that).
Anyway, I just felt like sharing that cool fact...
Ugh! I've been sick the last three days, and I'm quite sick tired of it! Oh, well. I decided to take advantage of staying in bed today and desided to finally get around to watching something I've really been meaning to see, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog!
The behind-the-scenes story of this musical is simple: Joss Whedon (the genius who wrote and directed the super-special-awesomeness that is The Avengers movie (and apparently helped co-write Toy Story... holy crap this dude is awesome!), along with his brothers, Jack and Zed, and his sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen had an idea. They decided, during the time of the 2007 Writer's Guild Strike, that they would make something. A small, inexpensive, yet professionally-done project, avoiding the problems that were being protested at the time. The result was a three-act web miniseries, called Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. The whole thing was done out of Joss's own pocket, and everyone did it despite the fact they weren't going to be paid at the time. (Of course, they later released it on iTunes and on DVD, so in the end everyone got paid. Heck, they still made a profit.)
Anyway, the musical revolves around aspiring supervillian Dr. Horrible (played by Neil Patrick Harris), who is trying to get into the supervillian group known as The Evil League of Evil. He has, of course, a video blog documenting his schemes and answering fanmail. Outside of his attempted villiany (in his mild-mannered alter ego, Billy), he tries unsuccessfully to get the girl of his dreams, Penny (played by Felicia Day). But when Dr. Horrible's nemisis, the superhero Captain Hammer (played by Nathan Fillion), "rescues" Penny, and proceeds to go out with her... well...
Thank you, River...
...let's just say the end result's not pretty and leave it at that, shall we?
I liked this musical. It's a really good story. It manages to get what could be a whole movie across in 42 minutes all together. The ending is really sad, but I won't share why. Dr. Horrible is quite sympathetic. And I can see where Dr. Horrible's motivations are coming from. Plus, I'm a fan of Neil Patrick Harris, and he does great job. We also have Captain Hammer, who is the exact opposite. But luckily, Nathan Fillion is able to make him at least a likable kind of horrible (no pun intended). And the love interest, Penny, is likable, too.
But the big thing here is the music! I really like the songs here, which is good for any musical. The ones that really stand out (that I like the most) are "My Freeze Ray", both versions of "Bad Horse Chorus", "Brand New Day", and the final song "Everything You Ever" is pretty good, too. I'll definitely buy the soundtrack on iTunes.
So, some last minute thoughts:
My only problem is that it's so short. Yes, it's good and gets everything across. And yes, there's no padding. But still, I'd expected it to be longer. But, there is going to be a sequel, so...
I am quite dissapointed in The Avengers fandom, specifically the Loki fans, after watching this/hearing the soundtrack. Seriously? With the big deal y'all make over the fact Loki changed into a horse and got pregnant in Norse Mythology, you've neglected to make a "Bad Horse" video with Loki on YouTube? For shame! We have ones for Moriarty from Sherlock, The Master from Doctor Who, and waaaay too many for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but no Loki yet? Tsk, tsk. I thought I knew you, fandom. (Note: I don't check Tumblr, so there might be one there. If you've seen one, readers who are on Tumblr, let me know)
Well, that's all I have to say. Sing me out, Neil Patrick Harris!
At long last, I'm properly reviewing Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows! I've stated how much I love this movie, but now I'm going to go more in-depth about my thoughts on this movie (it's gonna take a while), and it may include a tad more...
I'm using some gifs now. Gifs are cool.
So be forewarned, those who haven't seen this fantastic movie! Here, there be spoilers.
Okay, before I get to the actual movie, I have to comment on two of the DVD's ads. One, I find it kind of funny that they have an anti-smoking ad on the DVD, when Holmes and Watson clearly smoke in this movie! (If I'd have been thinking, I'd have kept a tally. Oh well, what could have been...)
Second, I love that they have an advertisement promoting the DVD and Blu-Ray for Sherlock Series II (or "Season II" as they called it to make it easier for us Americans...). I think it's nice that they aren't pretending they're the only Sherlock Holmes anything out nowadays and promoting another Holmes work. See, Sherlock fandom? They can play nice with the other Sherlock Holmes works and get along! So why can't we all get along?
Okay, on to the actual movie. A Game of Shadows chronicles the adventures of Sherlock Holmes (played once again by Robert Downey Jr., or "Downeylock" as I call him) and Dr. John Watson (played by Jude Law, who I have yet to come up with a clever nickname for... ("LaWatson?" "Lawson?")) as they trek across Europe (mainly France, Germany, and inevitably Switzerland) to stop the nefarious Professor James Moriarty (played by Jared Harris, who I haven't even bothered with nicknaming, yet). Along the way, they get help from a band of gypsies, Watson gets married, Holmes, Moriarty, and their respective allies cause a lot of stuff to blow up, and we get what is in my humble opinion the best. movie. ending. EVER!
Okay, so first of all, in this movie, Rachel McAdams's Irene Adler ("McAddler"?) is killed via poison by Moriarty, because she is of no further use to him. *sigh* I shall miss her and her Catwoman/Batman-eske dynamic with Downeylock. WHY MCADDLER!? As cool and nonchalantly as Moriarty killed you here, WHY MUST YOU DIE WHILE LARA PULVER'S ADLER ("Padler?" Oh, I give up on coming up with nicknames until further notice!) LIVES!? (Oops. "Belgravia" spoilers...)
Though, I did read a theory by some anonymous guy on TV Tropes that Adler could be alive and faked her death. I don't know, I think it's unlikely, and it probably won't happen. But I can see how it could be possible. Like if you do the math that:
Irene Adler's proven to be >/= (<- greater than or equal to sign) Sherlock Holmes,
and Sherlock Holmes >/= Professor James Moriarty,
so by law of substitution/just plain logic,
Irene Adler >/= Professor James Moriarty.
*sigh* Movie!Adler, you are SO much easier to do abstract math for than Sherlock!Adler...
Anyway, enough of that. Besides, Downeylock is still awesome, with or without her! He doesn't need to be in a romantic relationship anyway...
Yes, Downeylock is still as amazing as he was the last movie, if not more so. In fact, I love how they show that, despite being undeniably brilliant, he's not some omnipotent, deductive god, and screws up sometimes. He's still very much the Holmes I fell in love with and made me fall in love with Sherlock Holmes things in general.
And, again, Jude Law shines as Watson once again. I love that they let Watson be brilliant here, as well. Like when he gets in on Sherlock and Mycroft's (Sherlock's older brother) "deduct-off". Even Mycroft admits "he's not as dull-witted as you say..." (a clever nod to the "not so bright" interpretation of the good doctor.) But I do admit to getting a giggle out of seeing him, the "straight man" of the duo, drunk, hungover to the point of almost acting like a small, sleepy child, and ridiculously dancing in this movie, too... ;)
The duo's chemistry is still amazing in this movie. Though, I must admit, they certainly got more... "bromantic" this time around. The most blatant examples (to me) being that... kind of awkward fight scene on the train (which I can't help but wonder what was going through the minds of Moriarty's men when they saw that) and the ballroom dance scene:
Yeah... I think it's a bad sign when, during the scene where Holmes is only mostly dead and Watson's trying desperately to bring him back, that besides thinking: "The adrenaline shot/epi-pen/Chekhov's gun, Watson! Use it! It's a better use then what you were planning to use it for, man!", I was half-expecting him to try to use the kiss of life? (Which then prompted me to be filled with shame, and fear I was turning into one of those fangirls...) But all joking, snark, and possible over-thinking aside, I still love their friendship.
One more and again before getting to the "new stuff", Hans Zimmer's music is still as glorious as always. My two favorite songs this time being "The End" and "Romanian Wind".
ANYWAY, enough being a broken record, on to some of the newer elements! :D
First of all, the big thing here is Holmes's arch-nemesis, Moriarty! Jared Harris plays Moriarty spectacularly! Yeah, I know in an earlier post I said I preferred Andrew Scott's Moriarty (and I still like him, but I'll get into why when I review "The Great Game"), but at the time, it had been about three months since I'd seen this movie, so it was a little fuzzy. Except for the scene where he IMPALES SHERLOCK'S SHOULDER WITH A HOOK, HANGS HIM FROM SAID HOOK, PLAYS/SINGS SHUBERT TO HIM, PLAYS SHERLOCK'S CRIES OF AGONY OVER A PA SYSTEM SO WATSON CAN HEAR, AND BASICALLY TORTURES SHERLOCK! Yeah, that scene was still (and always will be) engraved in my mind forever!
But now that I've re-watched this at least twice, I feel I can appreciate him a little more than the me of seven months ago. He's clever, subtle, and just magnificently evil. It's really awesome to watch, as all good villains are. He is very much the evil equivalent of Holmes. And his plan in this film (to buy up all the businesses that deal with war necessities, then instigate The Great War/World War I) is ingenious. And the final showdown between Holmes and Moriarty is fantastic. They pretty much fight most of it in their minds, via classic Holmes-O-Vision and spectacular new Moriarty-O-Vision! (Warning: Moriarty-O-Vision is not available in all incarnations...) I'll get to the resolution of that later. Anyway, Moriarty is great here. Nice job, Harris. I'm sorry I said I thought I liked Scott's more, I like you both equally for different reasons (and some similar ones I'll explain in a later post). Moving on!
We also have Moriarty's right hand man, Col. Sebastian Moran (Paul Anderson). He is just as awesome as his boss! Moffat! Gatiss! Thompson, maybe! (But mostly Gatiss, he is in charge of the "Empty House" episode, after all...) If you're reading this, watch this movie and take notes! Moran had better be this awesome in Series 3 of Sherlock! I really hope we see him again. But, just for an example of how awesome Moran is here, I present a (sadly poor quality) clip:
LIKE. A. BOSS.
And we also finally meet Mycroft Holmes! Here, he's played by Stephen Fry (who now I can't think of without thinking of this song). Fry does a great job of playing Sherlock's older brother. He was the first one I ever saw as Mycroft (again, I saw these movies before Sherlock and reading the books), and I like him for that. And I love how, like his character's first appearance in the story "The Greek Interpreter", he and his little brother "Sherly" get into a little "Deduce-Off". It was a nice way to introduce him.
One more character introduced is a new character: a gypsy named Simza played by Noomi Rapace. She (the character) is alright, and Rapace plays her well, but I'm not attached to the character. I don't dislike her, but I don't adore her, especially not like Adler or (as I came to adore with this movie) Mary Watson (formerly Morstan). But, I will admit, I am jealous because Sim got to steal then wear Watson's hat. >:( Lucky...
Anyway, the moment I've been waiting to get to: The Ending! The ending was phenomenal! Again, when I first saw this, I had no idea about The Canon, the movies were all I knew. So I was shocked when Holmes grabbed Moriarty and flung the two of them over the falls. I remember thinking:
"No... They can't be doing this. He... he can't be dead. He survived somehow...Right?"
Then it got to the funeral, and Watson's narration. And then I thought:
"They...they're going through with this? :( But... but I don't want Holmes to die. I like him..."
Then came the end, where it's revealed that Sherlock did survive! And he's hiding in Watson's house in his "urban camouflage"! (which, by the way, makes it fun to re-watch to try and spot him) To which I felt like applauding. My thoughts were something along the lines of:
"You faked your own death and are hiding, in camouflage, in your friend's house without his knowledge?"
Okay, I added the "I bloody love you" part later...
It was quite a finale. Though my inner scientist can't help but wonder how. I mean, yes, he had the breathing thing, but with the force of the fall, the rocks at the bottom, and the cold water... I know, it's just a movie, I should really just relax, but I still want to know. He let go of Moriarty, so he obviously didn't use him to cushion the impact like a human air bag. Was it some crazy survival thing? Is he just more durable? Or is it just the fact he's played by Robert Downey Jr., so I should accept that as the answer for now and deal with it?
...He's played by Robert Downey Jr., I should accept that as the answer for now and deal with it...
Okay, wow, this is long. Last minute thoughts:
I cracked up at watching Sherlock Holmes ride a pony. I feel that sentence should be followed by a "your argument is invalid". Thus, I love it.
I have a lot of favorite scenes. The aforementioned Pony, Riechenbach! (DUN DUN DUN!*thunderclap*), and final scenes. The gypsy camp scene (Watson dancing ridiculously and Holmes... dancing(?). That is all). The forest scene (loved the striking visuals and Moran's quick scoping). The opening scene (Oh, Adler, I will miss you next movie. And Sherlock is still the man). The train scene (Mary got to do something awesome, Watson and Holmes were awesome as usual, and we got to see Robert Downey Jr. in drag! XD) And.... Well, let's stop there before this list gets too long... ;)
I liked seeing more of Mary and Watson together (ah, my honest OTP! How I love their relationship. Especially in The Sign of Four). Heck, I loved seeing more of Mary, period. She did a lot of awesome things in this movie, like when she pulled Watson's gun on the guy attacking them. I hope they ignore the fact Mary dies before "The Empty House", and let her be in the next movie. Hey, maybe she'll get to tag along with Holmes and Watson next time! Please? I really like her...
I noticed last time I watched this, on the train, Downeylock at one point (shortly after pushing Mary off the train ("I timed it perfectly!")) calls Watson "John". I think it was nice to hear a little "first name basis" use. Shows Cumberlock's not the only one (as far as I know of) capable of doing so. Your move, Millerlock!
I still want everyone's hats...
Am I the only one who thinks Downeylock totally secretly tagged along on Watson's honeymoon at the end?
I find it funny that yet another movie with Jude Law has him narrate (at least at the beginning and the end) as his character types at a typewriter, writing about the main character.
And I also want Moran's dart cane. That is awesome.
Overall, this is still one of my favorite movies ever. It's just amazing, and everyone (after watching the first) should watch it.
So, like I said in my other post today, I went to the movies and saw some trailers. There are two trailers I feel like talking about.
First, Rise of the Guardians.
Yeah, the concept (when I saw the first trailer) seemed weird to me. I mean, Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, The Sandman, The Easter Bunny, and Jack Frost face off against The Bogeyman. What. But then I realized something.
Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman is playing the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny. (Granted, a tough one...) That is so bizarrely freakin' awesome!
And Jude "Dr. Watson" Law is playing THE FREAKIN' BOGEYMAN! And he sounds fantastic as a villian so far! The freakin' awesome has been doubled!
...I think I might just watch this movie, now. Just for these two.
And the other trailer I felt like talking about is the one for Chasing Mavericks. It's not so much because it's the type of movie I'd see (I don't go out for those sports-related/based on a true story/"the inspiring tale of..."-type flicks.). Heck, I read up on it's protagonist, and now I know how it'll end (*SPOILER* He falls from the wave, but lives.). No...
What caught my attention was in the beginning, it shows a classroom, and the teacher's calling out, "Moriarty? Moriarty?" It got my attention.
So I'm naively thinking: "Oh! What could this be? "Sherlock Origins: Moriarty?" Starring Andrew Scott and some younger actors as Jim Moriarty? Written by Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson?"
...Of course not! It's about surfer Jay Moriarty.
...
...Dang it.
To be honest, that sounds like an awesome idea. Seeing how young Jim Moriarty became the consulting criminal we know on Sherlock. Hmm...
Well, if you'll excuse me, I suddenly have a movie/miniseries pitch to write and some contact information to find...
It's no secret that I disliked the movie adaptation of The Lightning Thief. It cut out important characters, changed events and plot details (like the fact they DIDN'T take Percy's mom out of The Underworld. Percy left without her because he didn't want to sacrifice his friends and knew it wasn't what his mom would want. Hades restored her as a reward for Percy when he got Hades's helm back.), wasn't much like the books, and just gave me the feeling Columbus and his crew just skimmed the first book (maybe read some cliff notes) and just wrote the movie afterwords.
It wasn't what I hoped.
So, naturally, I wasn't pleased that they were going ahead with adapting the sequel. But, I was on Pintrest and saw a picture from the shooting. And, as the pinner put it (paraphrased): "ANNABETH IS BLONDE NOW! THEY'RE FIXING THEIR MISTAKES!" So, I looked at the Wikipedia page.
...And it looks to be true.
-First of all: THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE EVERYONE THEY FORGOT! Thalia, Kronos, Mr. D, Clarisse; they're all going to be there!
-Second: NATHAN. FILLION. IS PLAYING. HERMES! Nathan "Castle/Voice of Hal Jordan in some animated movies/other things" Fillion. That is going to be awesome. Seriously, they better not screw that up.
-And finally, Columbus isn't directing this time. Good, he had his chance, and he failed. This time, a man by the name of Thor Freudenthal (*resisting urge to make Thor jokes*) is in-charge of that. The only other things of his I've seen of his are Stuart Little (which was decent) and the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie. The latter I thought was a pretty good adaption of the book (which surprised me for a Fox-distributed flick). so I have hope. (Then again, I had hope for Columbus, and look how that turned out...)
So, I'm actually kind of... excited for this, now. I love the books, and I want to see a good movie of them this time. I'm sure this will be better than its predecessor. If not; get my hopes up once, Fox, shame on you. Get them up twice, I will hunt you down Artemis style!
Yes, at long last, I'm reviewing Sherlock Holmes, as promised. I love this movie, I really do. One of my favorites. I consider this to be my first Sherlock. Well, technically I saw a movie in-class in eighth grade, but I wasn't blown away. I don't even remember what it was called. All I remember is that it involved a woman and there were music boxes. That's it. Maybe someone with better Sherlock knowledge than I can help me out. So, the 2009 movie was the first Sherlock that got me into Sherlock Holmes.
But enough babbling, let's get to the review!
So, this movie is about Holmes and Watson trying to stop Lord Blackwood from essentially taking over England. Along the way, they get assistance from Irene Adler, Holmes tries to meddle with Watson's relationship with Mary Morstan, Professor Moriarty makes a few cameos, and we get forshadowing for the next movie.
Alright, first of all, the leads. Jude Law is fantastic as Dr. Watson. He does brilliantly portraying him like the original from the stories. And Robert Downey Jr. does good as Holmes. While, yes, there are some flaws, he does great. And I love the dynamic between the two characters. You can almost tell they've known each other for a long time. Like you can tell Watson accepts Holmes the way he is, but at the same time he's not going to put up with everything. It's sort of like: "Yes, Holmes, I know you're brilliant. But I've stopped being in awe a long time ago. And quit killing Gladstone!" I think the movie summed it up nicely; that they're brothers, not in blood, but in bond.
...And I also enjoyed when Watson was trolling Holmes about Irene Adler. ("You're not her type, she prefers ginger dwarves!")
Speaking of Adler, I prefer this Irene to the Irene Adler in Sherlock. She;s pretty awesome. TV Tropes did mention she's a tad "flanderized" (exaggerated) into this femme fatale thief, and I do admit, it's a little true, but I don't think that's too negative a portrayal. And at least she's not a dominatrix.
But I will admit, re-watching the movie, I can see some flaws with her character. Like I'm not too pleased with the implication Irene's been married to multiple men. On one hand, yay, possible acknowledgement to the fact she got married (to man named Godfrey Norton, AKA not Sherlock Holmes) in "A Scandal in Bohemia". But on the other hand, I don't like her doing that. And, yes, I would love to see a recent adaptation that doesn't have Irene Adler ans Holmes's love interest. But, I do admit, I like the "Batman/Catwoman"-eske dynamic the two have here.
...And my thought when she ran out at started shooting Blackwood's goons as Holmes and Watson were planning was: "Alright, let's do this!LEEROY JENKINS! IRENE ADLER!"
Lord Blackwood is a decent villain. I have to admit it. He's no Moriarty, but he is admittedly fairly brilliant. Fun fact: the introduction to my copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Vol. II brings up the name of a rival magazine (to the one that published the original Holmes stories, no doubt) was called Blackwood's. Hmm... Cleverness on Ritchie and Co.'s part, or just a coincidence?
Okay, as for Lestrade. I think he's alright. I don't really have much of an opinion on him, honestly. I admit, I prefer Rupert Graves's Lestrade. But, I do love how the movie's Lestrade (and some of the other cops) are still loyal to Holmes. Even if Holmes mocks Lestrade... a lot. Seriously, he's like Anderson to Cumberbatch's Sherlock. I can just picture it:
Holmes : Don't move, don't speak, don't breathe, I'm trying to think. Lestrade, face the other way, you're putting me off.
Lestrade: What, my face is?
Anyway, re-watching the movie having read the stories has led to much squeeing from me, since now I understand the references. *insert obligatory Captain America joke here* Like I'm positive the statement Holmes would've made an excellent criminal, and the "Crime is common, logic is rare" are from the canon. And shooting V.R. into the wall. The watch deduction. And, of course, "worth the wounds."
But, knowing the canon's causes me some problems, too. So, this Holmes had never met Mary before, and her parents are supposedly alive. So, does this mean The Sign of Four didn't happen? Then how did Mary and Watson meet here? Did Four happen (albeit differently) but Holmes just sent Watson to handle it (I mean, Watson does show a fair amount of deductive skill here), saying something like:
"Oh, this case seems uninteresting. You handle it. The case of Jabez Wilson, on the other hand... *chuckle* Red-Headed League..."
But, if not, what other cases have/haven't happened? And, what's this "Irene outwitted Sherlock twice" business? She only showed up once in the original. When'd she beat him a second time? And how many times have Adler and Holmes crossed paths if she says the hotel has "their old room"? Andandand...
I DEMAND AN EXPANDED UNIVERSE FOR THIS, RITCHIE! Ugh. Knowing and caring about the canon is making my head hurt. Make it stop...
Anyway, Hans Zimmer's music in this movie is awesome. It complements this movie beautifully. And this, kiddies, is why Zimmer's one of my favorite movie composers. Here's one of my favorites: "Panic, Sheer Bloody Panic".
And I love the "Holmes-O-Vision". It's always cool to see inside Holmes's head. And I have to give this adaption credit for weaponizing Holmes'sdeductive skills long before BBC's Sherlock did in "A Scandal in Belgravia".
Alright, some last minute thoughts:
-My favorite scenes are: The Boxing Match (I love the song "The Rocky Road to Dublin"), The Dinner Scene (since it showcased Holmes's skills brilliantly, and the scene with the gypsy fortuneteller always cracks me up. ("What of the warts?... Are they EXTENSIVE!?")
-Lord Coward has the worst name ever. No wonder he sided with Blackwood...
-I kind of got a little overjoyed when Irene said olives were Holmes's favorite. Because they're my favorite, too, and the more I have in common with various Sherlocks, the more geeky joy I get.
-The last time I watched this, I noticed this bit of dialogue... (paraphrased)
Watson: I'd only go to the country with my wife!
Holmes: Well, if we must...
Oh, Downeylock...
-"Suicide's not in his repertoire". FORESHADOWING!
-Everyone wears fantastic hats in these movies. I want them all. Just sayin'...
And finally...
...The joke had to be made. I regret nothing...
Well, that's my review. Next time: a proper review of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows! Play me out, The Dubliners!
Okay, I really don't ask for much in life. All I really want to do is be able to re-watch series two of Sherlock for some reviews I swear I'm going to do, and watch some movies I have little interest in besides the fact they star people I like in them. But nooooo, Netflix Instant View won't let me! GAH!
I mean, they haven't updated Sherlock with the new series, and they don't have any of the three movies I'm trying to watch (War Horse, Star Trek, and GI Joe: Rise of Cobra). Seriously, look up any of those movies I listed on Netflix, they don't have them. It's especially egregious because I know they had at least Star Trek and GI Joe on there before. Granted, I wasn't interested in either at the time, but still, what gives?
The Sherlock thing's not so bad for me. I mean, I'm willing to spend money to own copies of series one and two. But the others? I don't know anywhere where I can rent them (Redbox?) But I don't want to pay to watch those three movies only once at the most. It's a tad irritating.
I mean, I want to do is watch Sherlock and Loki fighting in World War I, The Ninth Doctor be a hammy villain in Cobra, and watch a movie to understand what's going on in another movie I want to watch for superficial reasons! Is that so wrong?
So, does anyone have any explanation for why they don't have these movies? Please?
100 Posts. I did it. I've reached 100 posts. This is pretty big for me. So I said to myself, "Yo, Freak! Let's do something special!" And, well, I've been wanting to try and enter the world of fanfic MSTing. (For those unfamiliar with MSTing, it's when someone mocks a terrible work, first pioneered by the TV Show Mystery Science Theater 3000). So, for the 100th Post, I'm doing an MST of a fanfic!
I will be MSTing something I know's a trollfic (meant to be bad), that I found through the website TV Tropes. Why? Because one, I had some good snark, and two, I sort of know one of the author's other personas (at least, I think we're Internet acquaintances), so I don't feel so guilty :). This is "Sherlock Holmes Vs Jack The Ripper" by Sue Mary, and it's pretty much what the name implies, only wackier.
I should probably have a disclaimer... Nah! The words that aren't my own are in blue...
Well, no time to waste! Let's get started! ALLONS-Y!
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Authrons Note: Thsi story is based of teh 3009 movee off SHerlock.
I believe this puts another nail in that "The World Ends In 2012" conspiracy, if we have "3009" movies.
SHERLOOK HOMES VS JACK THE RAPER Sherlook at that body. Sherlook at that body. Sherlook at that body. I work out!
sHERLOCK an Wasson were at three house solving criem.
First they would solve the crimes against grammar, then they would solve the mystery of who left the Caps Lock on! Waton wad readin a paper of news an see a big artakle.
A paper of news. As opposed to a paper of fiction. "Serhock, there is big bad news Jick Ripper has murdred again!" Sherlock standing up on him toes and grolwled at mirror.
"Stupid mirror, I can't see my handsomeness if you keep thinking I'm as tall as Cumberlock!"
"THIS IS AN UNESEEPTABALE AKSHUN!" He pumped. "We must bring hiom to justace."
...Pumped? An Waton agreed becuz on eof teh Ripper's victums was his WIFE!
Mary died? :( Well, I'm sure RDJ!Lock can live with that, he doesn't have to share Watson anymore! (Sorry, couldn't resist... ;)) First tey went to da inner city for investiage witnessis.
Um, Sherlock? You know I'd never question your methods, but wouldn't any witnesses to Jack the Ripper's murders most likely be... oh I don't know, BRUTALLY MURDERED!? "I donnot no who he is but i seed him kill ones" Sherlock nodding an Whatson rited it alldown.
Well, can't argue with that logic...
It wis hard of find more witness becuz killer was gud trail stopper.
EXACTLY! THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!
Then they fond a guy. It was wereworlf name Jacob lol.
Oh...
Oh, no...
JACOB KEEP YO' FILTHY TWILIGHT GERMS AWAY FROM MY SHERLOCK!
Jaco say "Followt me, I no were he living".
Well, that's convenient...
When da duges got there it was a hunted mansion!
But I thought they'd hunted the mansions into extinction! "Im scare!" Watson crieded and poppied his pants.
Oh, it's just a haunted mansion, Watson! Suck it up, be a man, and get back in character! Be a good example for Joan Watson!
"Stay stong Wasteon, we must do for justice"
Sherlock knows what's up...
An Sherlock brokened door becuse nocking would alert THE CRIMINAL!"
...
...
Well, can't argue with that logic...
Serching in the masnon was like an episod of Skooby Doo but no moosteers or id they?
DUN DUN DUN!!!
At mansion summit was atik but Sherlock didn't see nothing. "Criminal am not nowhere" Whutson say "Gived up, SSherlock note ven u can solved this"
Oh, ye of little faith, Watson. The Canon Watson and the Sherlock fangirls are ashamed of you...
But that ony sent him intro overdive!
Oh, snap!
Jakob who went with tem saw a thing "I saw thing!"
NAW, RLY?
When they go there it a box of trouble bcause a zombied Albert Einting camed out.
Somewhere a history buff is crying...
"Shertock, lets pump!" Waton plead but Sherlock shook "no"
Oh, ye of little faith. Martin Freeman's Watson is ashamed of you....
"We canort let this abnation of justaice not put to rest!" Battle was turlf.
Show, don't tell, author...
Alber first used a punch attak but Sherlock used BRANE BLAST to make it stop.
Thaaat's more like it!
Wheatson tried to run bu slip on a banama peel and fell so da audience laffed.
Andre Morell's Watson DEFINITELY is ashamed of you from what I've read...
"Return to dead or I wilt have to kill u!"
Oh, crap! Sherlock's bustin' out the Ye Olde Englishe! Things just got real! Sherlucksperated Ablert's head and he hurt but a box went an hit him da bowls.
...Um... Okay... Yay, I guess? Shertlock looked fro signs of the crush an see Watson had triped on a box that was so much flying to the very zombie Watson blush "Did I do that?" and da audience laffed again.
Nigel Bruce's Wats... No, that was the "stupid" Watson, so I guess he's not so offended...
"Good jub!" Hacob said but he was seekritly angary. ZOMG THIS COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE FORESHADOWING! It was a lung day sso Sherlock said "Les go home an serch more torromow" An Watson agreed.
Yay! Nothing accomplished, boys! *thumbs up*
Meanwhil at ta masion Jacob said to his dark mastar "Tey defeats zombie Albert Eientin an gotted aways."
WHAT A TWIST! That TOTALLY wasn't foreshadowed or nuthin'...
"Dont worry Jakob" say Jack the Ripper "I has present fro the heroes at there house!"
Aw, Jack got them a present! That is so nice of him! You know, Moriarty would nev...
...Oh, wait, it's a bad present. Oh.... Oh, okay! I get it, I-I get it now... An they lauffed because Jacob is a bad guy seekritly workin for Jack the Riper because im on Teem Edwin!
Jacob is a villain in Victorian London, secretly working for Jack The Ripper, just because the author's on Team Edward. Jacob is a villain in Victorian London, secretly working for Jack The Ripper, just because the author's on Team Edward.
Wrap your mind around that.
When Sherock and Watson got home they was get out keys when da house shalked and den burst an a dinosaur that was more bigger than the whole everything was dere.
Yup, the historical buffs AND the zoology/paleontology buffs are definitely sobbing... Dinosaur make roarl sounds an lunged at Waton but Sherlock punch away.
That defies all logic!
Do it again! "U THINIK U CAN EAT MY HOUSE AN FREND TRYANONOSAURS REKS!"
Sherlock Holmes Fact: Do not threaten a Sherlock's Watson, or he will straight up kill you, with extreme prejudice. (Or threaten to eat his friend Tryanonosaurs Reks, apparently...)
Dinosaur that was Tryanosaruso Rex laffed and tired to eat him. Sherlocks hasd to the theink fast. "What I do What I do" Watson sad "Eskuse me!" An it farted louder than sun which was sooooooo stonky.
*facepalm*Just when you thought she couldn't stray further from Jude Law!Watson's characterization...
...And all other, unmentioned Watsons are ashamed of him... Trex felled over an Shertlok see a sowrd which was Xcalibar an say "It only way to permantely defeat da Tranno forever for good and permanent" So he stabed it.
I think this scene defines the term "crazy awesome"... "CURSES!" Jack scramed. "How I kill now?"
I DON'T KNOW! How you kill before?
Jaco comfortated him with a friendly back massage.
Riiiiight. A "friendly" back massage. Totally not awkward. Well, he could do worse. Jack could be a newborn half-vampire, half-human hybrid...
"Thhanks Jaco, I neded that."
Is it sad that the villains have more bromance than the classic, timeless bromance does in the fic? Especially since this is about the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes, with his jealousy issues? But how wuld he get revenging?
How? HOW!? Tune in next week for the... No, wait. There's more...
Shertock an Waton wents to a hotel becuse house was dino destroyed.
Waaait a minute... Was Gladstone in there? NOOOOO! GLADSTONE! CURSE YOU, JACK! KILLING THE DOG'S SHERLOCK'S JOOOOOOB! *sobs*
But hotle had a seekrit spurise for them…
*sniffle* That's nice of them. Maybe it's a new dog...
IT WAS JACK!
THAT'S NOT A GOOD SURPRISE!
"OH NO IS TERRORISTS!" Waatson cried an da audicene laffed.
Not sure whether to facepalm or laugh... So, I'm gonna do both...
"So ew meets at last Jack Ripper" Sherock demandlings. "Hahahahahahahaa I will kell u!" Say Jack an Jkaob was ther 2.
To borrow the one of the shticks of a fellow blogger, Skepkitty, from The Half World for a second:
The caul; that which covers or envelops as a caul; a net; a fold; a film.
I'll have him cut to the kell.
- Beau. & Fl.
2.
The cocoon or chrysalis of an insect.
So, Jack is gonna put Sherlock in a cocoon? Eh. I've heard of worse fates.
"NO WAY HOSE!" Screemed Sherlock.
Oh snap! Sherlock's breaking out the (bad) Spanglish! Things just got serious!
It wad time for teh final conflict of god vs evel.
Did Sue Mary just refer to Sherlock as a god? That totally wouldn't inflate his ego...
Sherlok attacks first wif FFIST UPNCH!
As opposed to a foot punch...
But Jacob went weareolf and grabed him arm.
Oh snap! C'mon Watson, now's your chance to redeem yourself! Do it for Mary!
Watson hids underd a bead an say "AAAAAAAAAAAA" really really loud.
*headdesk* Oh, COME ON! The hound from "The Hound of the Baskervilles" was scarier than Jacob. Heck, the dog in "The Copper Beeches" was scarier than him, and you shot it's brains out (like a boss)!
Jack Ripper Ripped Sherloak face but he grined the teeth and did head butt to break Jack nose. Waton pooped sooo much him pants exlodd. "I am scare!" He sayd wile Sherkok an Jack were FIGHTING.
Sherlock, I don't know how to say this, but your Watson's defective. You need to trade him in for a new one...
"Gives upd Shelock I will Ripe you like all da others I kirlled!" Sherlock got infushun of powar and justace so say "NO!" And wif power of true justice he did lots of punch and kick and chop fast liek speed of fast to win the grate victory. "Dead!" Yell JACK an Jacom as Shertok throws them out of windowed.
...Thank you for clarifying, guys. I would've thought you survived the power of true justice.
Next Dayu Sherloo and Waqtons was big news for kill of Jack teh Ripper. "Good jub guys!" Say King an givesd them key to da city of Englond.
Well, the good news is the history buffs aren't crying anymore. The bad news is they've lost their faith in humanity and the will to live! :(
TEH END
Yay!
I werked like 3 dayz on this stor so plaze give me good revioows this tiem guys.
You poor thing. Well, in that case... No. No I will not.
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So, there you go! My first MST! It's a little harder than I thought, but I'm willing to try again. So, what did you guys think?
I now return you to your regularly scheduled life...
