I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

The Blue Carbuncle, As Told via Animated Gif

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"It arrived upon Christmas morning." [BLUE]</h4>
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Usually we save our Christmas greetings on this site for "the second morning after Christmas." But in this case, we found a relic from our digital version of Holmes's own "large tin box" [MUSG] containing notes of his early cases. <br />
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In our own instance, the artifact is an animated gif that we found and sought permission (some four years ago) from a member of <a href="http://www.holmesian.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=473&st=20">Holmesian.net</a> named "whorl". We had misplaced the image, and then did not have an appropriate hosting service to be able to share it with you. <br />
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Now, on Christmas morning, that has all been solved. We're proud and honored to bring you <b><a href="http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj88/scottmonty/stick_BLUE-1.gif">The Bloo Sparkly</a></b> (click for the fullsize image), a retelling of "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" with stick figures, which you can see below. <i><b>If you're reading this on a feed reader or via email, please click on "I Hear of Sherlock" in the header of the email to advance to the website to see the animation</b></i>. The slides advance automatically, so if you need to start over, just hit F5 or refresh your browser to start over.  <br />
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We hope that your holiday is an enjoyable one. Expect to see us back here again in two days (i.e. "the second morning after Christmas" [BLUE]).  <br />
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The Blue Carbuncle, As Told via Animated Gif

"It arrived upon Christmas morning." [BLUE] Usually we save our Christmas greetings on this site for "the second m...

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by Scott Monty

“Those Shots Must Have Told Him that the Game was Up.” [HOUN]

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<br /><i>Editor's note</i>: this is another review in our continuing series from our contributors. If you would like to contribute to the site, please <a href="http://www.bakerstreetblog.com/p/about-me.html">click here</a>.<br /><br /> It has been three years since the original Guy Ritchie reboot of the Sherlock Holmes film franchise. At the time, Holmes hadn't been seen on the big screen in years, and excitement for this new take on the classic character was huge. We were promised a faster, rougher Holmes from the director of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000093FLA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000093FLA%22"><i>Snatch</i></a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00007ELEP/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00007ELEP"><i>Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels</i></a>, and that’s exactly what we got. The best part? It was fun, if not exactly true to the original characters and tales as told by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.<br /><br />

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<br /><a href="http://sherlockholmes2.warnerbros.com/"><i>Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows</i></a> opened this weekend to a substantially different reception. While the original film brought in over $60 million it’s first weekend, GAME barely topped out at $40 million. Were we all just tired of waiting three years to see more of Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes? Or have we seen all that Ritchie had to offer and just don’t feel the need to pay to see any more?<br /><br />Part of this reviewer’s personal apathy towards seeing the film was the fact that, yes, I enjoyed seeing the original <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OQCV6A/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001OQCV6A"><i>Sherlock Holmes</i></a> for Christmas in 2009, but that’s before the BBC television series, <i>Sherlock</i>, had aired. Seeing Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman embody the fully-modernized Holmes and Watson in Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffat’s three episode series is everything you hoped the big-budget Ritchie film would be: clever, exciting, and extremely well done. If <i>Sherlock</i> didn’t exist as a series, then maybe, just maybe, GAME wouldn’t have disappointed quite as much as it did.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows</i> finds Watson (the handsomely-mustachioed Jude Law) about to marry, and Holmes teetering on the edge of psychosis. Is Holmes manic, has he lost his edge? the film seems to ask. The film never misses a moment of making Holmes seem, well, incredibly ridiculous—whether he is downing a glass of formaldehyde rather than brandy, or trotting along on a tiny pony while everyone else rushes by on their full-sized horses. If the filmmaker’s objective was to make Holmes look downright silly, rather than classically brilliant, or even heroic, then consider this movie a success.<br /><br />The film is much more an action film than a well-written mystery, centering around the machinations of Holmes’ latest obsession, Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris, whom Americans will recognize from the AMC series <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YABIQ6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000YABIQ6"><i>Mad Men</i></a>). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the climax happens at Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland, which is not an incredibly exciting plot point to anyone who knows anything about the canon of Holmes stories.<br /><br />That being said, there were some very beautiful shots in the film. The scene with Holmes, Watson, and their gypsy companion, played by Noomi Rapace, running through the woods while under heavy artillery fire leaps to mind. My viewing companion (not a Holmes aficionado) enjoyed the film very much, so I believe it stands on its own as an enjoyable time at the movies. I can’t help my reservations at recommending the film, though. Any movie that sets out to make the Great Detective seem silly overall is doing the legacy quite an injustice. <br /><br />Word is that the green light has been given to a third film as well, so we’ll just have to endure more action-packed ridiculousness from the Ritchie group. All of this Hollywood Holmes stuff just leaves me wondering, ‘When does the BBC “Sherlock” air in the US?’ This reviewer is ready to see some really taut storytelling and acting as befits the great Sherlock Holmes. </div>
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<i>Jill Brumer is a small business owner, college drama professor, and all around creative type who has lived all over the States. She has her father to thank for purchasing her first Sherlock Holmes story when she was twelve years old- the fascination has never stopped!</i>--<br />
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“Those Shots Must Have Told Him that the Game was Up.” [HOUN]

Editor's note : this is another review in our continuing series from our contributors. If you would like to contribute to the site, pl...

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by Scott Monty

"You Will Find That the Clips Are Too" [GOLD]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmonty/6540058639/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Sherlock Series 2 BBC Poster by Scott Monty, on Flickr"><img alt="Sherlock Series 2 BBC Poster" height="240" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/6540058639_770c819209_m.jpg" width="164" /></a>The BBC series "<b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018ttws">Sherlock</a></b>" is making is second series run on BBC One this holiday season.<br /><br />If you <b><a href="http://www.bakerstreetblog.com/2010/10/something-more-modern-houn.html">missed the first one</a></b> (viewed in the United States on Masterpiece Mystery), you're in for a real treat. The series takes the original stories and characters and updates them for the 21st century. Watson is returning from Afghanistan (strange how some conflicts never end) and Holmes is an oddity of a consulting/science machine that lives alone in Baker Street. The two share rooms and Watson is there to chronicle Holmes's cases (albeit with <b><a href="http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/">Dr. Watson's Blog</a></b> rather than the <i><a href="http://www.bakerstreetblog.com/2007/01/i-even-embodied-it-in-small-brochure.html"><b>Strand Magazine</b></a></i>). And instead of chemical retorts and tobacco ash research, Holmes relies on GPS and his iPhone, among other devices.<br /><br />Lest you thumb your nose at such a modernization of the character, o traditional Sherlock Holmes fan, let us remind you that the Basil Rathbone series was almost, in its entirety, set in modern-day England. This new series manages to update the stories while paying proper respect to the stories from which inspired it. The co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss are each students of the Canon.<br /><br />Here we have <b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAFD3D45AD81DC848">a two-video playlist</a></b> of clips from the upcoming season.<br /><br /><br /><center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="244" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLAFD3D45AD81DC848&hl=en_US" width="480"></iframe></center><br /><i><br /></i><br />The episodes should be truly excellent, with titles like "A Scandal in Belgravia," "The Hounds of Baskerville," and "The Reichenbach Fall," all clearly taken from "A Scandal in Bohemia," <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> and "The Final Problem."<br /><br />Have you seen the first series? What are your expectations from the second? Let us know in a comment here on the site.<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 />--<br /><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thebakerstree-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B004132I20" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>  <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thebakerstree-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B00499LTLM" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>  <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thebakerstree-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B004132HZS" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>

"You Will Find That the Clips Are Too" [GOLD]

The BBC series " Sherlock " is making is second series run on BBC One this holiday season. If you missed the first one (viewed in...

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by Scott Monty

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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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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