I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - a First Review

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"The curious sequel of our investigation" [SOLI]</h4>
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[<i>Editor's note</i>: the following is the first is a series of reviews by contributors to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.]<br />
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I should start by mentioning that I enjoyed Guy Ritchie’s first <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OQCV6K/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001OQCV6K"><i>Sherlock Holmes</i></a>. There were elements that grated, but I thought it was an overall fun action film. To quote Roger Ebert, “The less I thought about Sherlock Holmes, the more I enjoyed Sherlock Holmes.” For the sequel, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” I was already familiar with Guy Ritchie’s version of Holmes’ world and was able to become a little more immersed in the story, having established the rules of the game in the first film. Though there were certainly still points that could have been improved upon, I left the theater with a grin on my face.<br />
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The film starts with Watson at his typewriter, establishing right away that this is all one long flashback - we are viewing his account of the adventure. The year is 1891, and a series of bombings throughout Europe have led to the straining of already tense relations of the continent’s nations, particularly those between France and Germany.<br />
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To assure the viewer of exactly what we are in for, as if we didn’t know, things start with a very loud bang - literally. Along with an explosion, we see Holmes in disguise, Holmes fighting multiple opponents in the same slow-motion style as was utilized in the first film, our first glimpse of Moriarty being delightfully creepy without becoming melodramatic, and a character ends a brief cameo by being murdered. All of this happens before the opening credits.<br />
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I should take a moment to point out that it is not all one massive adrenaline rush. I thought the movie was well paced for an action film, and there are a few quieter moments that are taken advantage of, particularly the wedding of Dr. John Watson and Miss Mary Morstan. It is a brief scene, but in it we see Holmes’ reaction to his best and only friend getting married, and it is appropriately bittersweet. On the other end of the emotional spectrum are moments of suspense given weight by Jared Harris’ shiver-inducing performance as Moriarty. When Holmes and his archenemy meet face to face for the first time, it is all restrained gentility and diabolical undertones. They even manage to work in a nod to the original Canon.<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
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As I said before, this is a sequel and works within the already established changes of the first film. Differences from what fans of the Great Detective might expect are to be, well, expected. This time there were two elements that sort of threw me off, though as more of a mild annoyance than anything else. Holmes is seen in disguise many times in this film, and while that is excellent in concept, the disguises themselves were obviously designed to get a chuckle from the audience, rather than show Holmes’ skill in the art. Then there’s Mycroft Holmes. Stephen Fry gives an excellent performance, he rejoices in the character’s stuffy aristocratic omniscience, is given a fun tweak in calling Holmes “Shirley” just to annoy his brother... and then we see him in his office, nude. Not doing anything in particular, apparently just preferring not to wear clothes while he goes over correspondence and tells an understandably flustered Mrs. Watson (who is nicely utilized - take that Doyle) that he is starting to understand why a man might possibly want to associate with “a person of your, ah... gender.” The scene is funny, no denying it, but very superfluous.<br />
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The only issue I had with the film itself, outside of Canonical derivations, was one sequence in which the heroes and company are running through a forest and the slow-motion I had grown accustomed to seeing for the majority of Holmes’ fight scenes becomes so excessive it killed the momentum of the film at that point. Lots of explosions? Fine, it’s a Guy Ritchie film with anarchist bombers and steampunk weapon manufacturers (automatic pistol, anyone?), there will be lots of explosions. An over-the-top moment for the villain to torture his nemesis while singing along to opera? The cliche actually works well, which was somewhat surprising, thanks largely to the torture itself being relatively mild and Jared Harris obviously enjoying being evil so much. The slow-motion, however, works when Holmes is narrating his thought process for each fight, but to have an entire scene of running with explosions and trees shattering from artillery fire all done in jerky stop and go slow-motion is too much. They’re trying to escape - just let them run!<br />
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One thing I think many people had problems with in the first film was Robert Downey Jr’s performance. I have to admit, it grows on me. His Holmes is manically obsessed with Moriarty, to the point where the start of the film made me wince a little. “Please don’t let him be this crazy the entire film”, I thought to myself. <br />
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Fortunately, while maintaining his own brand of a quirkier, scruffier Holmes, the craziness gives way to a comparatively much more Holmes-ish intensity. His fights are all well choreographed, more like dances with weaponry than fights, and Downey gets to display some of his martial arts knowledge by working it into Holmes’ demonstrations of bartitsu. He also gives something of a justification for his character’s strange behavior. While dancing around a room in which he knows an assassin is hiding, his partner (a rather two-dimensional gypsy played by the lovely Noomi Rapace) asks, “What do you see?” His response? “Everything. That is my curse.” As was hinted in the first film, this is a Holmes who literally observes everything, and can’t turn it off. No wonder he’s a little crazy.<br />
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<a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/peoplescritic/files/2011/12/Sherlock2.jpg"><img border="0" height="404" src="http://blog.seattlepi.com/peoplescritic/files/2011/12/Sherlock2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Fortunately for him, and us, he has Watson. I loved Jude Law’s portrayal of the Good Doctor in the first film, and he does not disappoint this time either. Watson primarily provides backup with his trusty revolver, but he is still granted some clever moments of ingenuity. Law’s portrayal of Watson, in addition to maintaining a slight limp through the whole film, is every bit the soldier, a soldier who simply wants to have his honeymoon in peace and quiet but who will also follow his frien<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">d no matter what because he knows he is needed. </span><br />
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[POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT]</h4>
They maintain the “Odd-Couple” bickering that was seen in the first film, but there are some small touches this time around that add shades of a deeper bond to their friendship, making them a little more believably best friends rather than just action hero partners. For example, during Watson’s very impromptu bachelor’s party (Holmes is not the best best-man in the world) the doctor declares that he is going to gamble. Holmes’ response is that Watson should give him the wedding ring, a request which Watson scoffs at and derides as Holmes has never professed any interest in performing his ‘best man’ duties. Holmes, mildly abashed, very quietly protests that he doesn’t want Watson losing the ring on a bet. This reference to Watson’s “gambling problem” (the fact that Holmes keeps his cheque book locked up and that Watson is ‘familiar with the turf’ at the very least) also illustrates how much Holmes really does watch out for his friend. Similarly, Watson gets to display how much he cares about Holmes a couple of times, once when he thinks Holmes has died, and once when he... well. Thinks Holmes has died. The first happens on a train. The second happens at a peace conference by a waterfall in Switzerland. <br />
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It is a great scene. I knew what was coming and I still gasped.<br />
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The Russian playwright Anton Chekov once said, "If in Act I you have a pistol hanging on the wall, then it must fire in the last act." Apparently, the writers behind “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” must have studied, or at least Googled, Anton Chekov. Every reference made to everything throughout, no matter how ridiculous it may have seemed initially, gets used and/or referenced and/or wrapped up at a later time... except, of course, for the fate of Holmes and Moriarty. We know Holmes lives - so does anyone in the audience who hasn’t read the books by the very end - but it is still a classic (campy?) question mark ending, with just enough being left open for the next film in the franchise to expand upon. And, to be honest, this time I’m rather looking forward to it.</div>
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<i>Kate writes at <a href="http://www.thediaryofdrwatts.com/">The Diary of Dr. Watts</a>.</i><br />
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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - a First Review

"The curious sequel of our investigation" [SOLI] [ Editor's note : the following is the first is a series of reviews by c...

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by Katie Magnusson

"Still, Elementary As It Was" [BLAN]

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmkuWtv65KxW4U0KlfiEq2txDmw_trsb7You3kIntPfOnxRyCiBghYMPCG3wxiKh-YU9LnoUAV8Lj6Adnqqss8Df0O08u-kt7od65GuPt0mbS4OobJJcjLY_29UihRloNZ3otk2r5Ji37E/s1600/GAME-Poster3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmkuWtv65KxW4U0KlfiEq2txDmw_trsb7You3kIntPfOnxRyCiBghYMPCG3wxiKh-YU9LnoUAV8Lj6Adnqqss8Df0O08u-kt7od65GuPt0mbS4OobJJcjLY_29UihRloNZ3otk2r5Ji37E/s200/GAME-Poster3.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>The latest stills and posters are out for <b><i><a href="http://www.odeon.co.uk/fanatic/film_info/m12941/Sherlock_Holmes_A_Game_Of_Shadows/">Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows</a></i></b>. It's a reminder that production has ceased and we're in the home stretch for the screening, which will be on December 16. If you happen to live in the UK, you can see the film (alternatively known in some circles as "<a href="http://www.odeon.co.uk/fanatic/film_info/m12941/Sherlock_Holmes_A_Game_Of_Shadows/" style="font-weight: bold;">Sherlock Holmes 2</a>") at your local ODEON cinema - click through to find the one nearest you.<br /><br />And while we have a good sense as to what to expect from the last film, there is no doubt that the sequel brings to us a certain level of intrigue, as it features not only Holmes's archenemy Professor Moriarty, but also his brother Mycroft Holmes. Both characters seem to have more hair than their <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmonty/4181732661/">original</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmonty/4182496698/">illustrations</a> in "The Final Problem" and "The Greek Interpreter," respectively.<br /><br />You can have a look for yourself at the 60 images (stills, posters, etc.) <b><a href="http://movies.yahoo.com/photos/movie-stills/gallery/3086/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows-stills">on the Yahoo! Movies site</a></b>.<br /><br />We've included some of the stylized posters here for your enjoyment. If you're reading this on email or an RSS reader, please click through to see the slideshow.<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><iframe align="center" frameborder="0" height="500" scrolling="no" src="http://www.flickr.com/slideShow/index.gne?group_id=&user_id=39297597@N00&set_id=72157627058381653&text=" width="500"></iframe><br /><small>Created with <a href="http://www.admarket.se/" title="Admarket.se">Admarket's</a> <a href="http://flickrslidr.com/" title="flickrSLiDR">flickrSLiDR</a>.</small></center><br /><br /><br /><i>When you make purchases from the links we share, it provides us with a stream of revenue to help keep this site running. Thank you for your generosity.</i><br />--

"Still, Elementary As It Was" [BLAN]

The latest stills and posters are out for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows . It's a reminder that production has ceased and we're ...

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by Scott Monty

New York's Department of Health Rules the Algonquin Cat a Health Hazard

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<b>"a cat-like love of personal cleanliness" [HOUN] </b></h4>
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It's amazing to think, but it looks like the end is near for the famed lobby cat of the <a href="http://www.algonquinhotel.com/">Algonquin Hotel</a>.<br />
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The Algonquin Hotel, which until recently was the unofficial headquarters of the <a href="http://bsiweekend.com/">Baker Street Irregulars weekend</a>, has had a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algonquin_Hotel#Hotel_traditions">tradition </a>in place since the 1930s, when Frank Case owned and ran the hotel that was the favorite of the literati in New York. There was always <a href="http://www.algonquinhotel.com/algonquin-cat">a cat in residence</a>, which had the run of the hotel (except the cooking and dining areas). While the original cat was named Rusty, because of the theatrical connections, he was known as Hamlet. In the course of the hotel's history, there have been 10 cats, males always being referred to as Hamlet and females as Matilda.<br />
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Now it seems that New York City is cracking down on this health hazard (as the city's Department of Health would have us believe). Last week came the news that <b><a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/meow_trage_at_algonquin_73LjLIUVYEdf5HITLCeroJ">the city is banishing Matilda from interacting with the guests in the hotel lobby</a></b>, forcing the hotel staff to keep her behind the front desk. So technically, she's no longer the "lobby cat," she's just the hotel cat.<br />
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It's almost a relief that the BSI has relocated to the Yale Club just down the street. We find it hard to believe the tried-and-true Sherlockians descending on New York in chilly January, searching fruitlessly for little Matilda as they wait in the lobby.<br />
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If you'd care to express your opinion directly to Matilda or the Algonquin, there are ways to do so.<br />
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<li>Matilda/Hamlet have <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Matilda-The-Algonquin-Cat/51291379554" style="font-weight: bold;">their own Facebook page</a> - perhaps you can "like" it and show your support</li>
<li>You may <b><a href="mailto:matildaalgonquincat@algonquinhotel.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">send an email</a></b> directly</li>
<li>You can tweet the hotel staff at <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/algonquinNYC" style="font-weight: bold;">@AlgonquinNYC</a> or visit <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/AlgonquinHotel">their Facebook page</a></b>.</li>
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Since the hotel simply has to comply with DOH wishes, perhaps you can direct any negative opinions or feedback to the NYC Department of Health:<br />
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<li>Give them a 140-character piece of your mind on Twitter: <b><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/nychealthy">@NYCHealthy</a></b></li>
<li>Drop by their <b><a href="http://nychealth.tumblr.com/">Tumblr blog</a></b> and leave a comment</li>
<li>Sorry, no Facebook page for them. Although they do have <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/public/public.shtml#smedia">pages for condoms, HIV status, healthy eating, poison prevention and smoking cessation</a>.</li>
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We wonder what Holmes would have made of all of this...<br />
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--<br />
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New York's Department of Health Rules the Algonquin Cat a Health Hazard

"a cat-like love of personal cleanliness" [HOUN] It's amazing to think, but it looks like the end is near for the famed...

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by Scott Monty

"Yes It Is, Ted" [VALL]

The <a href="http://ted.com/">TED</a> Talks have become a global stage for the world's innovators in the arts and sciences, all in 18 minutes. In this presentation, <b><a href="http://blog.ted.com/2011/09/26/a-doctors-touch-abraham-verghese-on-ted-com/">Stanford's Dr. Abraham Verghese reminds us</a></b> of the importance of physical observation of and contact with the patient - essential, Vergheses says, in this computer-coordinated and genomic-centered age.  <br /><br /><center><object height="374" width="526"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"></param><param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talk/stream/2011G/Blank/AbrahamVerghese_2011G-320k.mp4&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/AbrahamVerghese_2011G-embed.jpg&vw=512&vh=288&ap=0&ti=1231&lang=en&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=abraham_verghese_a_doctor_s_touch;year=2011;theme=medicine_without_borders;event=TEDGlobal+2011;tag=Culture;tag=Science;tag=communication;tag=health;tag=health+care;tag=medicine;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /> <embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="526" height="374" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talk/stream/2011G/Blank/AbrahamVerghese_2011G-320k.mp4&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/AbrahamVerghese_2011G-embed.jpg&vw=512&vh=288&ap=0&ti=1231&lang=en&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=abraham_verghese_a_doctor_s_touch;year=2011;theme=medicine_without_borders;event=TEDGlobal+2011;tag=Culture;tag=Science;tag=communication;tag=health;tag=health+care;tag=medicine;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;"></embed></object></center><div><br /></div>Verghese is a writer as well as a physician, and the role models he presents in this talk from <a href="http://conferences.ted.com/TEDGlobal2011/">TEDGlobal 2011</a> recorded in Edinburgh, Scotland  include, not surprisingly, Arthur Conan Doyle and a certain Dr. Joseph Bell...<div><br /><i>When you make purchases from the links we share, it provides us with a stream of revenue to help keep this site running. Thank you for your generosity.</i><br />--</div>

"Yes It Is, Ted" [VALL]

The TED Talks have become a global stage for the world's innovators in the arts and sciences, all in 18 minutes. In this presentation, ...

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by Scott Monty