Slow motion punches and Italian cinema...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone.

I can't say I've been at the theater as much as I'd have liked this past week. Instead, I'm visiting my family in Virginia, drinking and arguing politics entirely too much. I did, however, have the chance to catch Sherlock Holmes and Nine. Both are disappointments for various reasons.



In the hands of Guy Ritchie, Sherlock Holmes is a film that endeavors to please the same crowds that went for something like Pirates of the Caribbean, an action film that offers a wild ride, a few laughs, and plenty of combat. On the surface, it achieves just that, but it does not offer enough depth or story development to rival Pirates. Also, Pirates had a powerhouse performance from Johnny Depp carrying the film to mild Oscar recognition, and unfortunately Robert Downey, Jr. does not deliver such a striking performance.

My greatest complaint, and I suspect other admirers of the Sherlock Holmes canon might agree, is that the character is written as an action hero and not the sage maverick of the original story. Sure, there is acknowledgement of his intellectual prowess, but the original Holmes would never throw such agressive punches at his nemesis. It's a new take on the old story, and it just doesn't work for me.

I'm not sure that I can even really assert that the film is "a good time" like many other critics are saying. It's been about a week since I saw it, and I can't remember much of the plot details at this point. I do, however, recall the excitement and effectiveness of the score from Hans Zimmer.



And in the other corner, Rob Marshall applies every dazzling trick up his sleeve from his first hit musical, Chicago, to his latest film Nine. The only problem is that this time, those borrowed techniques have translated into a sour critical and commercial response. The main character of the musical, Guido (played by a half-assed Daniel Day-Lewis--yikes, it really hurts to say that) worries that his next film will flop, and indeed Marshall's does as well.

I'm not familiar with the stage musical, so I can't comment on any sort of discrepancies there, but I have to say that all things considered, I was still pretty entertained by this hot mess. It reminds me very much of another guilty pleasure film I'm sporting in my dvd collection these days, Across the Universe. Both films are a string of music videos that barely resemble one another, resulting in a disjointed storyline (or lack of story altogether). However, each individual section is a production in its own right. Does that make a good film? Absolutely not, but it's still a good time.

On pre-screening hype alone, Nine has been on many predictions lists for a while now. But now we have to consider whether or not Nine's critical and box office failure will keep it out of the Best Picture category. I'm going to say, quite confidently, that this one is out of the race for all categories but Best Costume Design and Best Supporting Actress (for Penelope, because Harvey Weinstein decided to screw Cotillard's chances and campaign her for lead).

What did you see over the holidays?