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lampie1970
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« on: December 28, 2009, 05:52:42 AM » |
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I was SOOO looking forward to this movie. My girlfriends and I planned months ago to go see it together on Christmas Day. And I don't think we were disappointed...okay...a teensy bit.
Anybody that reads my reviews, KNOWS i do not like formula movies OR like an overly coincidental come-uppance. I mean, I know formulas work, that's why screenwriters keep using them and I know that people like to see the villans get theirs in the end, that's why screenwriters keep giving it to them. But I allow that not everything has to be tied up in a nice little bow.
But that is what you are getting in this movie. A movie with a bow on top. It is written very well, the dialog is smart. And the acting is really really good, there are no slouches in this one. Being that it is a Guy Ritchie directed movie means that it is going to be guy-friendly: the fight scenes in slow-mo, explosions, beautiful women (including Rachel McAdams in corseted outfits...), but it is also Girl-friendly with 6 words:Robert Downey Jr & Jude Law.
The costumes were awesome and I dont just mean Rachel's.
The artistic styling was another actor in the movie. I think they did a great job of giving us a dark, burgeoning London. Side Note: I have always, ALWAYS, been a Holmes fan from the books to Jeremy Brett. When I went to London in 2004, I did go to 221 Baker Street expressly for the purpose of seeing the monument and memorabilia there in honor of Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. So, I like that Ritchie pays respect to that :D
The problems I had are overshadowed by the things I have already mentioned, but in the interest of disclosure, it does have some predictable outcomes for some characters and a grand: AH! but everything is not as it seems....but no big deal cause:
You guys are gonna like it, I just know. And I liked it alot too: 4 stars
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Kylenz
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« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2009, 06:48:23 PM » |
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I plan to see this early in the new year, looks classy. My fave Guy Ritchie film would be Snatch - such a crackup with Brad Pitt as that Irish 'piker' gypsy guy!!!  |
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lampie1970
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« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2009, 07:38:23 PM » |
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he is pretty awesome in that...so funny
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chris
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« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2009, 08:59:26 PM » |
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lampie, great review. haven't seen it yet, but i plan to. i too, really like guy ritchie films. my fave would probably be lock stock and two smoking barrels. i think of him as an english tarantino. he has his own style, no doubt. but i haven't seen a bad one by mr. ritchie yet (although rocknrolla comes closest to being average)
and the thing about formula movies...if the filmmaker is clever enough...is that most never really catch on that they are indeed watching a formula. it takes a sharp eye. and someone with an attention span that exceeds 4 minutes, so again, lampie...my hat is off to you. you know that one tom cruse movie? where he is an up and coming wise-ass...and the by the rules regular teaches him the way to do things before old tommy boy reaches his skill level and passes him up? let's see...is it days of thunder (race cars?), or cocktail (bartender?), or color of money (pool shark?)...or was it top gun (fighter pilot?) most have no idea they are watching something that has been done before. mel gibson made the patriot, which was widely enjoyed. but i liked it much, much better when they called it braveheart.
mr downey jr. is hot right now...y'know...as an actor doing great films. i figure he and mr ritchie should make one heck of a good movie. i look forward to it.
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sometimes i'd rather run and hide...than stay to face the fear inside...
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lampie1970
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« Reply #4 on: December 31, 2009, 02:15:07 PM » |
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most have no idea they are watching something that has been done before so very true. And I dont mind formula either if the director can fool me. but, i think i see too many to be fooled easily. And sometimes i just dont care, i know it going in...I guess i knew it here, cause have read all the sherlock Holmes stories and uh, Sherlock is Sherlock for a reason. He gets the bad guys. So, I am OK with it. Matter of fact I think i will go see it again since the girl that was sitting in front of me was TEXTING. what do you have to do to get a private screening around here?? |
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Paperback Writer
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« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2010, 11:02:58 AM » |
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Chris, excellent points about 'formula' in movies. A lot of scripts are totally slaves to a formula and well-grooved theme. I, myself, have grown weary of the "Hero's Journey" archetype of Joseph Campbell in movies. Just make me laugh, cry or SCREAM! (or ogle  ) LOL  |
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Kylenz
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« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2010, 02:53:26 AM » |
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I went on a date (*WOOT* haha!) the other night and saw Sherlock. Very enjoyable movie. The villain character reminded me a lot of Aleister Crowley and The Golden Dawn - very dark, supernatural, a real sense of evil - he looked a bit like Dracula too. Robert Downey Jr was surprisingly brilliant as a British guy. He was fab in Tropic Thunder too!
It was so cool how Sherlock solved everything from the most obscure clues. I've never read any of the books so for me it was a fresh and entertaining movie experience. I liked how Guy Ritchie even had a Snatch-style street fight set to the backdrop of some lowdown grassroots celtic folk music, and some of the music arrangement was downright weird - detuned gypsy-style folk music, even Sherlock himself would contribute with his violin every now and then with a chromatic scale (the jar of flies experiment). So yeah, loved the movie soundtrack.
Rating - 8/10 for me.
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« Last Edit: January 08, 2010, 02:54:17 AM by Kylenz »
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lampie1970
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« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2010, 08:22:30 AM » |
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I liked too that Guy showed us how he derived what he derived and how Holmes saw things in a scene that maybe we saw but didn't process the way he did...
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