Sherlocked

Nobody in my office watches Sherlock.


This means i can't talk to anyone about yesterday's epic (and thoroughly awesome) season finale.


Now I know how football fans must feel when they share an office with me.


The difference being that Sherlock isn't boring like football.


Just saying.

Keeping Mum

Due to an unforgivable oversight on my part, I haven't pointed out that my Mum has now joined the blogosphere.


You can find her posts here. 


They're more entertaining than mine and also contain much better spelling and grammar.   

Happy anniversary

So for our anniversary, I took my wife to see two films at the cinema. Sherlock Holmes 2 and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Which effectively breaks down as scenes of homoeroticism and scenes of anal rape.

How romantic.

I touched on SH2 yesterday, so won't cover that again. With regards, to TGWTDT, I'm a big fan of the books and have seen the original Swedish version. How did this compare? Well, for one Fincher is a masterful director. The film is clearly set up to be part of a trilogy, hence he makes more of Berger than the Swedish version did, and she's much more important in later books. It's a long film, but I never once checked my watch, which suggests that I was gripped throughout.

I'm not sure if I would have got as much out of it if I hadn't read the books, but obviously that's difficult for me to judge.

Overall, worth a watch, if you can get past the (frankly harrowing) rape scenes and the weird fetish James Bond-esque credits.  

The Shadow Game

So, "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows".


It's billed as being bigger, better, louder than the first film. It's certainly louder.


Now I'm a big fan of the first Sherlock Holmes not least because:
a) Robert Downey-Jr is brilliant
b) It's the only film where I don't want to punch Jude Law in the face (including films he's not in)
c) It's was a remarkable return to form for Guy Ritchie, who, despite what anyone says, made some good films. "Lock, Stock" is great - it just fell apart when he got to "Revolver". And the less said about "Swept Away" the better


Anyway, SH2 didn't disappoint. I didn't think it was as good as the first, but it did have the welcome addition of Stephen Fry as Mycroft. 


Cons: Lestrad wasn't in it enough. Noomi Rapace was completely underused.
Pros: Jared Harris made an excellent Moriarty. And there was lots of camp banter between Holmes and Watson, which was thoroughly entertaining. The "fight" scene at the end was also very well done. 


All in all, a fun popcorn film and a worthy sequel.

And the winner is...

So film of the year then.


Unsurprisingly, my favourite film of the year was Super 8.


Incredibly heart-wrenching performances in a gripping story as a teenage boy comes to terms with the death of his mother, whilst discovering young love for the first time.


I just thought it was a well-directed, well-acted movie, which I'll be able to watch again and again for years to come. The fact it's a homage to all things Spielberg from my youth just made me like it even more.


In my mind thoroughly deserving of the title "film of the year".


Sorry it took so long to get it all down!


My post-film review can be found here.

And in second place

So, film of the year continues. To those regular readers who remember my earlier praise, it should be no surprise that at two we have "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy".


A genuine British gem with an amazing British cast led more-than-ably by Gary Oldman. Solid performances all around, but Colin Firth, Kathy Burke, Tom Hardy are all good. In fact, scratch that, it's almost unfair to start naming people as everyone involved is excellent.


Thoroughly tense, even when there's very little "action" taking place on the screen. Everything takes place in the minute details, the slightest look can mean everything, a small action tells a whole story.


Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.


My post-film review can be found here.

Film of the year (third place)

Yes, I'm determined to drag this out as long as possible.


So, my third favourite film of the year was...


Harry Potter 7b.


Now, I've never really been a fan of the Potter films. Yes, they're a who's who of British thesps, and yes, Alan Rickman is brilliant throughout, but overall they've always left me cold.


Maybe it's because I'm such a fan of the books (a late convert, I'll admit), but with the exception of "Prisoner of Azkaban" the films have never lived up to the source material in my opinion. 


So huzzah for Deathly Hallows part II. After the first hour it becomes a Siege movie, which makes it even more interesting, but even before that there are some stand out moments. McGonnagle standing up to Snape gave me goosebumps.


Then there's Neville's heroic transformation and the genuinely heartbreaking Snape flashback.


A truly excellent end to a real hit and miss series, this is hands down the best of the eight and if the Potters were ever going to be recognised for awards, this would be the one to do it.