Movie/TV recommendations

[pabosher]

I just thought it so impractical that he actually saved her, and the idea of him being her Knight in Shining Armour (in her dreams) reinforces the idea of how much she cared for him, despite claiming not to, etc.

[Roderick]

Having just seen the episode, I'm conflicted. Not by plot incongruities, which I can easily accept as 'Sherlock is so clever he'll have figured it out', but by the quality of the episode. On the one hand it was entertaining, but the whole thing didn't stop feeling like a first act. The stakes were hardly ever raised and apart from the

plane with corpses

there was never a real climax or momentous event that it all lead up to.

An hour and a half of romantic filler in the life of Sherlock Holmes. Not unwelcome, but not exactly a grandiose return of such an anticipated show.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I just thought it so impractical that he actually saved her, and the idea of him being her Knight in Shining Armour (in her dreams) reinforces the idea of how much she cared for him, despite claiming not to, etc.

I totally agree that it seems beyond impractical, but as Nappi says, I don't think that was the writers' intention -- I believe we were supposed to buy it.

Maybe they'll do a short where they'll explain how he did it.

Speaking of which, 90mins seems far too long for an episode of a TV show. I think the original hour-long format would have been a better idea.

[Thyroid]

Well, this is surprising. Where'd all this over-analysis come from? I'm amused.

[Scrobbs]

The Devil's Double - this is a story based on Latif Yahia who was chosen by Uday Hussein to be a stand in. It follow's Latif's compressed 4 years of life and his eventual escape.

Pretty dark in some places, but actually helluva good.

[Salka]

I was confused - was she actually meant to be gay or not? I didn't think it was sexist so much, but the fact she was gay and HE TURNED HER was just too stupid for words. They could've made her straight or bisexual or something if they wanted her to fall in love with Holmes... It felt like they only made her be a lesbian so they could make her character succumb to someones fantasy of wanting to "turn" a lesbian. It was deeply irritating - that, and the entire ending and loads of the plot.

I would like to think the final scene was a fantasy too, but it didn't seem to be presented that way to me, and there was so much stupidity in the whole episode that I don't put it past them to have an equally stupid ending.

I think it also annoys me that, while I like that Sherlock is a bit of a dick, I hate that the conclusions he draws are so fucking ridiculous. They don't even try to make puzzles that will engage the viewer and make it fun to watch the episode and try to keep up with Sherlock, or at least to be able to say "Ahhh I see!". Instead it's just like being tortured, having to sit and watch some total fuckwad goad you because he figured out something that you didn't know, and never could have known, not even if you had all the presented facts and access to google, because ultimately the answer to any puzzle will just be some random shit pulled out of some writers ass.

[/rant]

[Salka]

It was kinda fun though, I did overall enjoy it despite everything...

[Thyroid]

I was confused - was she actually meant to be gay or not? I didn't think it was sexist so much, but the fact she was gay and HE TURNED HER was just too stupid for words. They could've made her straight or bisexual or something if they wanted her to fall in love with Holmes... It felt like they only made her be a lesbian so they could make her character succumb to someones fantasy of wanting to "turn" a lesbian.

Doubtful. The showrunner is gay.

I'm going to assume she isn't really gay. After all, why would a wealthy, lesbian dominatrix agree to be hired by male clients? It's most likely a lie, and one you could explain.

[Ben X]

why would a wealthy, lesbian dominatrix agree to be hired by male clients?

For the continuation of her wealth (and in this case government secrets and string-pulling). Dominatrices generally don't have sex with their clients, so her sexuality wouldn't necessarily dictate their gender.

[pabosher]

I think it also annoys me that, while I like that Sherlock is a bit of a dick, I hate that the conclusions he draws are so fucking ridiculous. They don't even try to make puzzles that will engage the viewer and make it fun to watch the episode and try to keep up with Sherlock, or at least to be able to say "Ahhh I see!". Instead it's just like being tortured, having to sit and watch some total fuckwad goad you because he figured out something that you didn't know, and never could have known, not even if you had all the presented facts and access to google, because ultimately the answer to any puzzle will just be some random shit pulled out of some writers ass.

[/rant]

To be fair, the books themselves are like that. There's clearly logic underpinning all of it, but often it's like WHAT THE FUCK.

[ThunderPeel2001]

To be fair, the books themselves are like that. There's clearly logic underpinning all of it, but often it's like WHAT THE FUCK.

Yeah, that's exactly the Holmes experience as laid out by Conan Doyle. You'd never be able to "keep up" with Holmes, it was just about him solving the clues.

[pabosher]

Yeah, that's exactly the Holmes experience as laid out by Conan Doyle. You'd never be able to "keep up" with Holmes, it was just about him solving the clues.

There's even a bit in (I think??) Sign of Four when Holmes says that to be like he is, you need to be able observe, understand, and have a huge wealth of pre-existing knowledge.

[ThunderPeel2001]

There's even a bit in (I think??) Sign of Four when Holmes says that to be like he is, you need to be able observe, understand, and have a huge wealth of pre-existing knowledge.

Yep. Characters are never introduced like, "His suit was immaculate, apart from the small traces of a reddish mud found only in a certain province of South Africa." Although undoubtedly Holmes would later say he recognized the mud's origins. It's a little frustrating, but it can still be rewarding if you're following all the pieces, I think.

I believe someone said here that Agatha Christie does give all the information to her readers?

[Roderick]

It's funny, just yesterday I read A Scandal in Bohemia for the first time, and it's such a short, uncomplicated story. Almost no more than a vignette. There were many parallels with the show though, like the fire trick.

[Thyroid]

I believe someone said here that Agatha Christie does give all the information to her readers?

Yes. Her works vary from great (Peril at End House, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd) to poor (The Big Four, The Mystery of the Blue Train), but she always plays fair.

[Nappi]

There is some "I went to the village to confirm my suspicion" stuff going on in Christie's books as well. I guess they are more fair than Sherlock Holmes cases, but I still wouldn't stop reading before the conclusion to try to figure it out myself.

[Thyroid]

There is some "I went to the village to confirm my suspicion" stuff going on in Christie's books as well. I guess they are more fair than Sherlock Holmes cases, but I still wouldn't stop reading before the conclusion to try to figure it out myself.

Well, I've done it, and figured out the culprit sometimes. I worked-out Murder on the Orient Express and Peril at End House. Murder of Roger Ackroyd I almost had, but decided that that person couldn't actually be the killer. Turns out I had the right culprit. Oh well.

[Salka]

To be fair, the books themselves are like that. There's clearly logic underpinning all of it, but often it's like WHAT THE FUCK.

True fact, but I don't recall them being quite as "WTF". It's been a long time though so maybe my tastes have changed and it just didn't annoy me back then. I don't mind the ridiculous stuff he notices when he meets people, for instance, it's other stuff. Like when

he gets the code for the safe right and also knows to duck because it will be boobie trapped

, it feels like it should have been an interesting and clever reveal instead of just confusing and lame and unrewarding.

Kroms, just to clarify: I don't actually think anyone intended to pander to that fantasy, but it just smacked so hard of that kind of immature storyline nonetheless. I can tell myself she was lying about her sexuality or that the end was

just her fantasy before she was killed,

but I think that would just be me trying to make myself feel better about bits of the episode that were lacking. The way it was seemingly intended was that

she is gay and Sherlock saves her at the end

, and it doesn't seem to me that it was intended to be looked at in any greater depth than that.

I also saw The Room yesterday, it was entirely bewildering. I don't know how real it was. It was like a movie-length episode of Darkplace or something.

[Thyroid]

The way it was seemingly intended was that

she is gay and Sherlock saves her at the end

, and it doesn't seem to me that it was intended to be looked at in any greater depth than that.

Ah well. If we all agreed the world would be boring.

I also saw The Room yesterday, it was entirely bewildering. I don't know how real it was. It was like a movie-length episode of Darkplace or something.

I usually hate movies that turn out badly. I feel like I'm hurting the feelings of the people involved by laughing. However, I saw The Room with a couple of friends at 3 am one time and I couldn't stop. It's so surreal.

The sex scene at the beginning may have ruined sex for me. I can't do it now without devolving into fits of laughter. I mean, sex was always funny to me (what? It's funny if you think about it), but now that stupid song gets stuck in my head every time and I completely lose it. Oh man. Fuck The Room, unless you're watching it at 3 am with some friends.

[Roderick]

When Adler said that she was gay, I took it instantly as just her toying with Watson. Nothing is face value with that woman.

The Room is interesting to watch. I really enjoyed the joke of it being so bad when I saw it, but then I learned Tommy Wiseau is a money-laundering crook acting snooty about his movie, and that kind of takes the fun out of the 'idiot makes a hilariously awful film' premise. Still, the gratuitous sex scenes are classic, I mean, 80s George Michael would've thought them tacky.

And then there are the outrageous loose ends such as the cancer scare

Edited January 8, 2012 by Rodi

[Salka]

I'm watching the latest Sherlock and they're in a lab and I keep hearing the Gameboy start-up sound, I swear it's the same sample...

The sex scenes in The Room were unbearable. I don't really know a lot about that guy - where did you read about him being a crook? He is still definitely an idiot though, I wouldn't worry about that. I was really amused by how despite anything that was happening in the 'plot', characters would keep saying things like "oh Johnny is so kind, he works with orphans" and stuff like that... People would randomly go on long monologues about how great and kind he was as a person. His future wife even interrupted a rant about how much she didn't love him, to talk about how great and kind he was. It was so narcissistic! I had to wonder what kind of an idiot would seriously write that dialogue in reference to themselves and not just want to curl up and die of shame.

I loved how he managed to incorporate so many elements of a drama about the human condition in a way, but did so in a way that totally nullified them. Like you know, you could read it as the story of a young woman pushed into a premature marriage by her conservative mother. So she's struggling with that, struggling with feelings for her fiance's best friend whom she had a drunken accident with, and then finds out her mother is dying from breast cancer. She is crushed, trying to cope with her mother's illness and not wanting to disappoint her by breaking off the engagement, and so begins a downwards spiral of self-destruction due to the depression caused by all these factors. For instance.

But instead it's just completely nonsensical. The breast cancer is mentioned and then never comes up again, and the characters do a really hammy job of that entire scene. She makes up the thing about the baby not because she's on a spiral of self-destruction, but to make things more "interesting". It's just like he almost understood how to make a story about the lives of some people, but then failed because he doesn't actually understand people or how they work or what emotions are, or acting. I think that was the thing I found most delightful about the entire thing.

Sorry that was a long post. That movie is still fresh in my head, bewildering me.

[Nachimir]

That film is amazing in it's awfulness. It's best watched with a lot of other people, especially for the sex scenes; a single nervous laugh will set everyone off.

I enjoyed the latest Sherlock, with the exception of all of the overused beepy techy sci fi computer sounds. At one point they were used for a sequence about Holmes' brain. He was meant to be in a memory palace, but it looked like a cosmetics advert with all the sciency guff floating around close ups of his face.

[pabosher]

I didn't enjoy The Hounds of Baskerville, personally. It was way too much action and not enough Sherlock being a pro for my personal liking.

[Ben X]

I'm watching the latest Sherlock and they're in a lab and I keep hearing the Gameboy start-up sound, I swear it's the same sample...

I thought that too! I kept looking round the room to see if a phantom handheld had snuck in.

Re the safe combo and the booby trap, I figured those out at the same time as Holmes (

a set of numbers starting with 3 that a naked woman has told him without saying anything, and a subtle look towards the floor from a master criminal before opening their safe

- both elementary, my dear Yufster).

I enjoyed the ep overall, and thought they did horror quite well, and a clever update of the original as usual (Holmes refusing to believe in genetic experiment urban legends rather than supernatural ones). I thought Holmes solved it all a bit too easily at the end though (

he just remembered something that he read about, then the culprit decides to show up at the scene

).

I really must watch The Room once I'm recovered. They play it at the Prince Charles regularly.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I pretty much enjoyed Sherlock. I thought they did a reasonably good job of coming up with something new surrounding Baskervilles. They keep taking steps to making Sherlock more human, which i like (can't say I was a fan of the weird revelation that he's a sociopath -- still don't know what to make of that, really, and it seems the writers don't either). The series isn't perfect, but they do a decent job of reinventing Holmes and stretching an hour long story to 90 mins.