GUIDE TO THIS BLOG.

So, first off WELCOME! I'm glad you found my project. 

Secondly: I would like to explain how this page works. 

• There is no particular order of the posts: Each is its own topic. 
• The "beginning" as in the post below this own, is truly the end, or the most recent posts. So, if you would like to start at the beginning head to the bottom. (There is a second page so hit the "Older Posts" button.)
• Feel free to comment, you should be able to do it anonymously so you do not even need an account, but please sign your name.
• If you disagree with me, feel free to let me know in  the comments, I would love a good discussion.

A Game of Shadows.

I seem to have reached the finish of my blog here. (For now atleast) and well, I could not do a Sherlock Holmes The Movie blog without posting the preview for the sequal now could I?

So here it is: ((drumroll))

Comparisons to Other Mysteries and Characters

This is a bit of a peculiar question for me to answer.  I mean how does Sherlock Holmes not relate to every other mystery we have read in this class? There is a detective or problem solver who has a past. There is a bad guy who you only find out at the end. There are victims. The story is typically fast moving and keeps you on your toes. You are lead down different paths and end up thinking you have figured out this deep, twisted mystery and then find out you were no where close. You end up rooting for someone, connecting with a character, and rooting for the victim to find justice. Almost all of the stories we have read have had these things in common. To make a good mystery like Sherlock Holmes you need to feel a connection to one of the characters.  I feel only a few did not feel connect to in this way to the Sherlock Holmes way of mystery writing. One story that I did not feel this connection with is "Skin Deep" by  Sara Paretsky  (p. 308). For whatever reason I felt no connection what so ever to the characters in the story, which I think is vital for this genre of writing and really, any genre of writing. I think it may have been because it was so far-fetched when I feel like Sherlock Holmes actually seems somewhat possible and logical.

That also connects most of the stories in this class is the fact that all of the detectives are gritty around the edges and I think that all of the main detectives/crime solvers fall into this from this term.  Sherlock connects with the others in this way. He is definitely gritty in the movie. He is often seen dirty, fighting, drinking, drunk, disheveled, or just plain out of it.

Survey of Critics' and Scholars' Writings on the Movie

Below are two great sources written on Sherlock Holmes 2009. 
"The opening scenes of Sherlock Holmes (2009) immediately show Guy Ritchie´s signature
and the fact that this film will offer a new take on the detective´s adventures. Holmes and Watson
fight their way through several henchmen and save a woman from a seance-like ritual performed by
villain Lord Blackwood. Holmes' intellect, too, is immediately depicted, but he uses his brain not so
much for deductions based on a clue as for a physicality different from Rathbone's and Brett's:
before he corners a guard, a slow-motion sequence shows how he plans to attack the man and what
he predicts the reactions will be. The amount of frames per second then returns to the regular
number, and Holmes is proven right, disabling the man in a second with martial arts. In the film's
commentary track, Ritchie describes this ability as “Holmes-o-vision”. Watson may not have
Holmes-o-vision, but his fighting skills are proven to be adequate in the scene that follows (and, in
the rest of the film). This Holmes and Watson are presented like action heroes and are nothing like
any previous depictions of the duo – so how are these the true Conan Doyle-characters?"

Continue at: http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:sT2RZz3WgMAJ:scholar.google.com/+guy+ritchie+sherlock+holmes+&hl=en&as_sdt=0,38

"It is because of Downey Jr's place in the modern superhero canon that he was cast, so successfully, as Sherlock Holmes. One of the most common negative responses that I encountered in regard to Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes (2009) has been that the detective should not be muscular and built with a six-pack. But in the current cultural climate where narratives from the past are becoming updated, taking on meanings and identities that have traversed time and settling in a new generation, his six-pack is particularly apt. Sherlock Holmes is a superhero. He is, remarkably, and like Superman, equal to the rigors of the industrial age of his time: he fights side-by-side with the Industrial Revolution, escaping death at the hands of a ship-in-production, and at the great heights of an under-construction bridge. Bukatman writes that "superhero bodies, despite their plasticity, are armoured bodies, rigid against the chaos of surrounding disorder" (Bukatman, 56). This is where the strength of Holmes’ six-pack lies; whereas in Iron Man it is Downey Jr’s suit that is excessively fetishized, in Sherlock Holmes, it is above all his body. He is defined by his a body from the opening scene of the film, where his muscles are on display and even spectacularized in slow motion as a signifier of his strength. Susan Bordo provides a perfect assessment: “[M]uscles have chiefly symbolized and continue to symbolize masculine power as physical strength” (Bordo, 193). Without this display of muscularity it is unclear whether Sherlock would be quite as strong; Watson, after all, is only the sidekick, and there is a reason he never takes off his shirt."

Continue at: http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/71/71downey_ross.php

Holmes and Watsons Portrayal

Dr. John Watson: You've been in this room for two weeks, I insist you have to get out.
Sherlock Holmes: There is absolutely nothing of interest to me, out there, on earth, at all.
Dr. John Watson: So you're free this evening?
Sherlock Holmes: Absolutely.
Dr. John Watson: Dinner?
Sherlock Holmes: Wonderful.
Dr. John Watson: The Royale?
Sherlock Holmes: My favorite.
Dr. John Watson: Mary's coming.
Sherlock Holmes: ...Not available.
Dr. John Watson: You're meeting her, Holmes!
Sherlock Holmes: Have you proposed yet?
Dr. John Watson: No, I haven't found the right ring.
Sherlock Holmes: Then it's not official.
Dr. John Watson: It's happening. Whether you like it or not, 8:30, the Royale. Wear a jacket!
Sherlock Holmes: You wear a jacket.

_____________________________________________

Sherlock Holmes: You've never complained about my methods before.
Dr. John Watson: I'm not complaining.
Sherlock Holmes: You're not? What do you call this?
Dr. John Watson: I never complain! How am I complaining? When do I ever complain about you practicing the violin at three in the morning, or your mess, your general lack of hygiene, or the fact that you steal my clothes?
Sherlock Holmes: Uh, we have a barter system...
Dr. John Watson: When have I ever complained about you setting fire to my rooms?
Sherlock Holmes: Our rooms...
Dr. John Watson: The rooms! Or, or, the fact that you experiment on my dog?
Sherlock Holmes: Our dog...
Dr. John Watson: The dog!
Sherlock Holmes: Gladstone is our dog!

 

 

These two conversations Summarize how Holmes and Watson are portrayed in this movie. They are roommates who snicker, joke, and know each-other better then anyone else. They even make fun of the others girlfriends and share a dog. 

The Director

So who was the director? And what is he all about?

The director is this guy
















 Better known to some people as this guy:

Guy Ritchie was born in 1968 in England. Growing up he struggled with dyslexia and drugs going in and out of schools and dropping out at the young age of fifteen. He was married to Madonna for 8 years and they adopted a baby together and have a son named Rocco together, they split in 2008. Guy is a screen writer and film maker but, has directed relatively few films with a grand total of only 10 titles since 1995.

According to IMDB these are a few of his trademarks:
Frequently uses narration
Numerous plot threads which intersect and assist in each other's payoffs
Often casts musicians
Frequently employs the use of high speed photography in action sequences
Frequent use of humor in violent scenes

My Full Review.

Finally! The Sherlock Holmes of the 21st century. Fact is Sherlock Holmes was being forgotten about by the rising generation. My 9 year old sister did not know who Sherlock Holmes was until she watched part of the 2009 movie with us; most of her friends still don’t know anything about him.

The movie was a hit with almost everyone but Sherlock’s most loyal being happy with the movie. So why didn’t these Sherlock die-hard fans like the movie? Honestly, I do not know. This movie has made Sherlock Holmes accessible to all generations. The worst thing for a character is to die with their original fans. One of the problems they are having with this movie is the ruffed-up, fighting, shirtless Sherlock. But, in all reality part of that is just the change in what we look for in a movie, and I am sure part of it was to not just reach an all male audience. He is much more manly in this movie then any of his other portrayals. They portrayed Sherlock as smart and quick witted as ever, and were true to his character. The fact is this movie is gaining the younger generations attention and pulling them back into the original Sherlock Holmes novels, and stories.

Sherlock Holmes was very much so intense in this movie. He can not function without solving a crime, he goes a bit crazy. This movie meshed together two worlds- A Victorian world with what us Americans could interesting. There is humor, there is some (little) romance, there is action, there is fighting, there is explosions. They have reached a large range of audience with this movie.

Dr House vs. Sherlock Holmes

While watching the movie I realized something that I had not before. I realized that Sherlock Holmes reminds me greatly of Dr House. Maybe it was just because of the acting style of the actors, or maybe it was because they both had side-kicks whose name started with W. [For Dr House: Wilson For Sherlock: Watson] So, as always I wrote it down in my notes and I went to write about it here. I began some research and found out that I definitely was not alone thinking of this. There are at least two dozen like minded people out there! I soon found out that indeed- Dr. House had been modeled after Sherlock Holmes but mixed with bits and pieces of other characters as well.

This side by side found on www.housemd-guide.com/holmesian.php was very helpful to me to see just how closely the two relate:
Sherlock Holmes
Can deduce a great deal from just looking at a person.
Gregory House, MD
Can deduce and diagnose a great deal just from looking at a person.
Sherlock Holmes
Holmes' creator based the character on a doctor.
Gregory House, MD
Greg House is a doctor
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes fought deadly criminals
Gregory House, MD
Fights deadly germs, diseases and other medical problems.
Sherlock Holmes
Used cocaine to escape boredom
Gregory House, MD
Uses Vicodin for pain in his leg, and also for boredom and the pain of dealing with "stupid" people.
Sherlock Holmes
Holmes calls even his best friend by his last name
Gregory House, MD
House calls all his associates by their last names
Sherlock Holmes
Arrogant. Said humility would be a lie
Gregory House, MD
Greg House is extremely arrogant.
Sherlock Holmes
Read the agony columns in the paper
Gregory House, MD
Watches soaps, plays video games, etc.
Sherlock Holmes
Languid and lazy when not on a case.
Gregory House, MD
Lazy until he is forced to look into something that intrigues him.

For more continue onto the site: http://www.housemd-guide.com/holmesian.php

Holmes and House are both characters who are very good at what they do and are called upon when the case is too hard for those below them.

I was amazed that I had never noticed this before as I used to be an avid House watcher.

Below is Wilson, and Watson

What other characters has Sherlock inspired?

The Cast.

So are Sherlock and Holmes physically how you pictured them?

It is often said that Jude Law, the man who plays Watson, was too skinny for the part even though Watson was never said to be large in the book? Some said that Robert Downey, ie Sherlock Holmes, was too short and too attractive.

What are your thoughts?

My Description of Sherlock

I have done this on other assignments and have come to love the "20 Words That Describe". So here it is:
20 Words that describe Sherlock Holmes- The movie version.

Wacky!
Brilliant
Cunning
Kooky
Talented
Strong
Reasoner
Curious
Brave
Confident
Intuitive
Observant
Charming
Adventurous
Mysterious
Disheveled
Eccentric
Impulsive
Quick-witted
Humorous


Is there anything that you would add/remove from the list? If so,why is this?

Some Reviews: My (short) Review

Here are a few reviews on Sherlock Holmes that I thought I would share with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0XoKtTcwvk&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnnpRCOzgm0&feature=related

In my opinion, Sherlock Holmes was a great movie! I really did enjoy it and would love to watch it again. Guy Ritchie modernized Sherlock Holmes and all in all it worked. As one of the reviews says it was a little bit hard to follow, as I wanted to be able to help more, in a sense. I wanted to see the clues that Sherlock Holmes was seeing throughout the movie, not just at the end. But, that being said I found that I did keep up with at-least half of them so, maybe it was me who was not paying attention enough. The actors performances were amazing. I loved how Robert Downey Jr. portrayed Sherlock and his "bromance" with Watson, aka Jude law. I loved that we got to see the two fight as all close friends do and it made you connect with the characters more.

The "Controversial" Fight Scene.

This scene angered some, annoyed others, and was loved all at the same time.

Full Video Found Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGCMfprPJoA

My opinion? I actually liked it it made Sherlock look a lot less passive then most pictured him to be. It shows how fast of a thinker Sherlock was and just how smart he was. I see why it annoyed some- they never pictured Sherlock like that before some were also angered because they wanted to bring children to the movie and some scenes are more mature. I have always pictured Sherlock to be a people watcher. Someone who can sit and watch and figure out what you are thinking and this scene from the movie really does illustrate that well. Most people would root for Holmes while watching this scene, fighting an opponent twice his size and winning. Leaving us viewers with a smile and the gambling crowd in the movie stunned.

I think it is an impressive scene and gave you a small glimpse inside the complex mind of Mr. Sherlock Holmes.