It’s Friday morning, and time for another weekly dose of entertainment news. This week’s news bites include a healthy dose of mighty Marvel Movie news, a little speculation on Green Lantern, some other sequel news, and a little bit of talk about television and music. So while the movie talk may be pretty fantasy-centric, overall it’s a pretty well-rounded batch. Continue reading
I vaguely remember reading one or two of the John Carter of Mars stories (also called Barsoom) when I was in middle school. It’s been a long time, though, so I don’t recall many details; I do, however, maintain a deep respect for the franchise because of its massive impact on science fiction. Edgar Rice Burroughs (who also created Tarzan) wrote the first book 100 years ago, and its influence ranges from Conan to Star Wars to Avatar. So when seeing that somebody (Disney, to be precise) was finally tackling the task of adapting the stories to film, I was curious and wanted to see it. Enough so that I took the rare (for me) step of attending a midnight premiere, being one of the first people to see the new film. This wasn’t without some trepidation, as there are definite pitfalls to be avoided, and the preliminary marketing for John Carter has been rocky at best, starting with the name changes and continuing on with the early trailers. Continue reading
Sherlock Holmes is one of those characters that is immediately recognizable to anybody. Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 1800s, he is as much a part of the common culture as Robin Hood and King Arthur, and like those characters is frequently referenced, often parodied, and sometimes mistaken for having been real. I was surprised to find, while looking at IMDb’s page for this film, that it was the first time in a little over 20 years that a film based on Sherlock Holmes had been released in the United States (the predecessor being 1988′s comedy, Without a Clue, starring Michael Caine). This means it’s probable that until the 2009 release of this film, the average American in or under their 30s was familiar with Sherlock Holmes yet completely unaware of any actual work concerning him. I suppose it’s possible the average person my age or younger may have read the books, but I’m a cynic; I read the complete adventures in sixth grade, but I don’t recall anybody else in my class doing so.
Casting Robert Downey Jr. in the title role no doubt went a long way to ensuring that more people could truthfully say they’d experienced a Sherlock Holmes story. So the question to be answered next is did it amount to a good movie? Continue reading
