Today's review is the new Guy Ritchie directed Sherlock Holmes.  Sherlock Holmes stars Robert Downey Jr as the titular character and Jude Law as his partner is sleuthing, Dr. Watson.  In this film, Holmes and Watson try to solve a series of murders that occur after the execution of master of the dark arts, Lord Blackwood.

This Sherlock Holmes is not your father's Sherlock Holmes.  It is a more physical, more bedraggled Holmes played with a great deal of humor but no shortness of logic reasoning to solve his predicaments.  Not as sophisticated and smooth as Basil Rathbone's iconic Holmes, Downey brings a freshness to the role.  His English accent is steady and convincing, at least to these Yankee ears.  I would expect nothing less from a thespian of Downey's caliber.

Jude Law plays Watson like a pro.  He wants to move on with his life and his fiance but can not say no to the thrill of the hunt that he so much enjoys with his old friend.  Downey and Law are perfectly matched in this film as they breath life into these two characters that are well known to the over forty crowd but in a way that can make Holmes and Watson an ongoing franchise for the under forty crowd. 

The only complaint I have is the film relies so much on CGI for scenery and backgrounds that they are forced to create a grainy London of the late 1800s in which there is no sunshine.  CGI holds up better that way but it is distracting to this film fan. 

There have been complaints that this Sherlock Holmes is too much like a super hero and less like the detective of literature and films of the 1940s.  I watched the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce films as a child on Sundays but I don't recall them as much as I'd like to.  Given that, Basil Rathbone created such an iconic Holmes that I can fully understand fans of that version being upset like many Godzilla fans were in 1998 when the icon monster was given an unrecognizable facelift that left almost all fans disappointed. 

If you change an iconic character to update it for a current generation you will almost certainly disappoint the fans of the original who have certain expectations going in.  That may be the case with Sherlock Holmes but since I am not as familiar with the iconic portrayal, I thoroughly enjoyed this version.

I give Sherlock Holmes four Billys.

I experienced James Cameron's Avatar in 3D today at a local IMAX.  This is a wonderful film that transports the viewer to the planet Pandora where the military is on hand to assist a corporate concern in acquiring a rare mineral that brings a fortune and only exists on the planet.  The reason the military is on hand is Pandora's residents, the Na'vi, live over the mineral and are somewhat territorial. 

Scientists have created avatars that allow them to transfer themselves in the form of Na'vi to the planet's surface in hopes that they can mingle with the inhabitants and learn the ways of their culture.  Jake Sully, an paraplegic  ex-marine, sees his twin brother killed just before he leaves for Pandora to release his own avatar among the Na'vi.  Because Jake is a match for his brother, he has been chosen dispite his complete lack of lab training.

This film is a fantastic mixture of visual, aural and mental film making at it's finest.  Cameron shows us again that a Special Effects driven film can be more than eye candy.  The characters are done so well that I often forgot I was watching CGI creations.  James Horner created a dramatic score for a film that really benefitted it.  The triumvirate of ILM, Weta and Stan Winston Studio brought the world of Pandora to life in very convincing fashion. 

The art design was amazing. Pandora looked like Roger Dean's art from his many Yes albums of the 1970s, which is not a bad thing at all.  It was perfect.

Avatar should be seen on the big screen, in 3D at an IMAX theater if at all possible.  This is the only way to experience this wonderful work of art.  Seeing it on anything less than a movie screen is really missing out.

 I give Avatar four and a half Billys.

It had been a number of years since I'd seen The Jerk starring Steve Martin.  In the time since it's release, Martin has hosted Saturday Night Live more than anyone else and has completely reinvented himself.  So much so, he was almost unrocognizable to my kids who know him from his Cheaper By The Dozen films and other post 1990s films. 

He has completely moved away from his goofball persona that made him a star in the late 1970s.  I still enjoy the Steve Martin that was a superstar.  The King Tut Steve Martin, the Wild and Crazy Guy Steve Martin, Steve Martin, The Jerk.

The Jerk was released in 1979 at the height of his initial popularity.  He had released two hit albums, Let's Get Small and The Wild and Crazy Guy.  Wild and Crazy Guy reached number 2 on the US charts and had included the top-20 single King Tut.  The next logical step was a leading role in a comedy.

The Jerk was written by Martin and Carl Gotlieb, who wrote Jaws, Jaws 2 and Jaws 3-D.  It was directed by Carl Reiner, who also has a cameo in the film.  It tells story of Navin Johnson, a man out on his luck that was born a "poor, young black child".  Surprisingly, the film still stands up pretty well. 

Many of the jokes that were funny in 1979 still bring a chuckle.  M. Emmet Walsh's take as the "oil can hating" sniper is especially funny.  The "all I need is the lamp.. and this paddle ball..." scene is classic.  The bathtub "Dear Navin" letter scene is choice.  The "You Belong To Me" duet has even been used in a US. Cellular commercial.

It's no real surprise that Steve Martin moved away from the character.  There is only so far you can take that character without being completely type-cast.  It may have taken some time to do so, but Steve Martin is no longer remebered as the Wild and Crazy guy.  After seeing him in so many other roles, the Steve Martin as seen in the Jerk is a distant memory.  A memory that is still very funny when taken out of the nostalgia closet from time to time. 

If you haven't seen The Jerk in a while, try it again.  It is still a very funny movie that surprisingly holds up very well thirty years later.

I give The Jerk three Billys.

Tonight we watched the film Fanboys.  It tells the story of a group of Star Wars fanboys who are getting ready to see the release of Star Wars Episode 1 in 1999.  Any of us who are fans of any particular films series, even one starring an oversized, radioactive lizard from Japan can relate to their tale.

The film has plenty of cameos and in-jokes that fans of Star Wars can appreciate.  After looking into the film on IMDB, I learned that it was delayed over and over until it was finally released in a very limited run in a very small number of theaters in February 2009.  Apparently The Weinstein Company and the dire straits of their films' repeated box office results caused them to reshoot several scenes a year and a half after it was complete in an effort to make a film that would appeal to non-genre fans. 

As a result, any buzz for the film was lost.  Petitions and protests were organized asking that the film not be recut or changed from the original vision of director Kyle Newman.  After all the delays, any buzz that remained was gone.  When it's theatrical run finished, it grossed just over six hundred thousand dollars.

We enjoyed the movie a lot.  There are some very funny scenes.  The cameos work very well and the characters are well developed and reminded me of the many friends I've met through conventions and comic stores over the years.  While not a perfect film, it is made by people who respect the subject matter.  For that reason, anyone who has seen Star Wars, has been to a comic convention or a comic store should see this film.

I give Fanboys three Billys.

Mary and I went to the theater last night and took in the Vince Vaughn ensemble comedy Couple's Retreat.  It has received fairly unfavorable reviews that we both think are unwarranted.  It received a paltry 12% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.  That doesn't speak very well for our taste in comedy, apparently.

The film tells the story Vaughn and his inner circle of friends, all of whom are married.  All of the couples have relationships are in various states of stability.  Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell approach their friends with a proposition to attend the couples getaway in an effort to repair their crumbling marriage.  Although it's met with resistance at first, it obviously works itself out, otherwise the film would only be twenty minutes long.

The cast is great.  In addition to Vaughn, it stars Malin Akerman, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, Faizon Love and Jean Reno.  Constant Favreau and Vaughn co-hort Peter Billingsley makes his directorial debut.  

I laughed quite a bit throughout this film.  Favreau, Vaughn and Dana Fox share writing credit.  My only possible complaint is that it could have been trimmed.  I still maintain that a comedy should not be longer than 90 minutes.  A body has a hard time sustaining laughter for a period over that length.  To stretch it past 90 minutes is asking an awful lot.  The film better be pretty darn funny to go beyond that point.

I also felt Jean Reno's character was weak.  His performance seemed hollow.  But there are enough strong characters around him to pick up the slack.

While the film is nearing the end of it's theatrical run, I recommend picking it up for rental when it hits DVD release.

I give Couples Retreat two and a half Billys.

Tonight's film was Knowing starring Nick Cage.  Knowing is a thriller that tells the story of a school that places a time capsule in the ground in 1959.  One of the students places a page of apparently random numbers in the capsule.  When the capsule is opened in 2009, Nic Cage's son receives the page of numbers.

Nick plays John Koestler,  a professor from MIT, who stumbles upon the secret of the numbers.  After John discovers their meaning and becomes obsessed with unlocking the secret of the final numbers, he sets out to save people from the events yet to happen.

This is a special effects movie that allows the viewer to uncover the secret that Nick does.  It moves fairly quickly and sets the viewer up for the ending.  How one deals with the ending is approached from several angles.  This is a film based on faith and how one's faith prepares them for the end of time.

I liked the film and found myself trying to solve the puzzle along with Koestler.  The ending was an effects eye candy wonder to behold.  Depressing eye candy but candy nonetheless.

Knowing was directed by Alex Proya, who also directed The Crow, Dark City and I, Robot.

I give Knowing Three Billys.

In 1998, I was fortunate to have fate introduce my family to the wonder of Hayao Miyazaki.  My son, Tom, and I were in the video store when he grabbed a video tape off the shelf that would become a family favorite, My Neighbor Totoro.  For the uninitiated, Hayao Miyazaki is known as the Walt Disney of Japan.  If this is true, Totoro is his Mickey Mouse.

My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) was released by Studo Ghibli in 1988.  It was distributed in the US by Tromo Films, under their 50th Street Films branch and release to VHS in 1993.  Disney re-released it with a new (IMHO inferior) dub when it gained the rights in 2006. 

The film tells the story of Mei and Satsuki, two young girls who move into a rural home with their father to be closer to the hospital where their mother recovers from an illness.  Shortly after moving in Mei meets Totoro while exploring after her sister goes to school for the day.  The story continues as Mei introduces Satsuki to Totoro and his magical friends.

The score by long time Miyazaki collaborator Joe Hisaishi is magical, as well.  It has many memorable themes, like my favorite theme The Path of Wind.  The opening and closing themes, Stroll and My Neighbor Totoro, are as catchy as any movie theme Disney ever came up with. 

My Neighbor Totoro has been recognized as one of outstanding animated features of all time.  Film Critic Roger Ebert has featured it as his film festivals and considers it as one of his "Great Films".  It was also named the greatest animated film of all time by Time Out London.  The film spawned a 13 minute short sequel, Mei and the Kitten Bus, which has never been released to home video.

My Neighbor Totoro is a film that is a must own for any family.  It is all about the sense of discovery that only a child can experience.  It is innocent and moving. 

My Neighbor Totoro is one of my Five Billy Films.

The makers of Zombieland followed the important rule of releasing a Halloween/Scary themed movie several weeks before Halloween so that people will see it prior to being burnt out on all things Halloween related.  I decided to take full advantage of the opportunity as we near the mid-way point of October.

Narrated by Adventureland star Jessie Eisenberg's character Columbus, Zombieland is really a Woody Harrelson tour de force.  It tells the story of survivors of a virus induced Zombie outbreak in the USA and their quest to reach "the place where there are no zombies."  That place is different for each character as everyone has heard different information.

Zombieland is much like Shaun of the Dead and the original Dawn of the Dead.  Dark humor reigns.  The film clocks in at a relatively brisk 88 minutes.  And that is just fine.  It blasts off from the get go and never lets up.

Go see Zombieland before Halloween.  I give it Four Billys.

Last night, we fired up PlayOn and watched some Hulu goodness.  Turns out they have a number of old MGM SciFi movies.  We decided to watch It! The Terror From Beyond Space.

It! is a classic 1950s Sci-Fi film but in all my years, I had never seen it.  I had recently read that it was one of the influences on Ridley Scott's Alien but until I'd seen It!, I didn't know just how much.

Marshall Thompson, the pride and joy of Peoria, Illinois, plays Col. Edward Carruthers to great affect. He’s a very strong 1950s style hero/love interest. Yes, of course, the pretty female crew member, played by Shawn Smith, not only respects the Colonel’s authority but she falls for him in the end.

As for the alien itself, It’s not the greatest screen alien but Ray “Crash” Corrigan, in his last screen role, plays it to the hilt, portraying the seemingly unstoppable It.

We get explosives wired to the ventilation system, a creature who terrorizes the crew right outside the ship’s main deck and when it seems all is lost, the Colonel opens a door to the outside which creates a vacuum that sucks the creature out into space.

As I said, It! is a classic 1950s alien Sci-Fi film and It is sure a lot of fun.

Our President let his inner Geek Flag fly yesterday as Olympic and Paralympic representatives showed up at the White House to draw attention to Chicago's bid for the 2016 games.  In order for the President to spar with a fencer, he was given a Light Saber toy and did what all Star Wars fans do as soon as they're handed one... he started buzzing like a light saber.

There have been plenty of photos and videos of the event but my favorite is one featuring a poor soul who "picked" the wrong time to go excavating.  If it is a family photo, that's one thing but when you are attending a media session at the White House, the photo of you going fishing in Lake Boogerville will now be a historic document.

Poor guy.