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clipsie(Originally posted at LJ on 2012.01.18 @ 02:34)
So, I went to see War Horse today with a co-worker that agreed to go with me (completely random open invitation). Now, going to the movies alone doesn't actually bother me, but it's a bit awkward while I'm still living at home. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but that's just how I ~feel~.
War Horse
So, this movie, it was actually quite good from my stance, but then again, sometimes I wonder if I'm the best person to be reviewing anything, given my track record of absolutely loving the worst movies you could possibly see (just because they're bad, doesn't mean they aren't entertaining). I actually did tear up during it, and so did a fair few of the audience, if the collective sobbing sniffle was anything to go by.
Bits of the movie I liked were as follows:
1 The raid on the German camp (and all scenes before hand including the Cumberbatch, why yes, I'm biased, and Hiddleston). Anyway, the acting in these scenes just happened to be beautiful and rather convincing. Cumberbatch was his normal, beautiful self, with his acting, and his moustached face, so I don't really have much to add there. Hiddleston though, all of his scenes, I just, and the scene before his character died. His face! That one moment, my heart! The cinematography at that time was also wonderful, it really was just a beautifully acted, beautifully shot, moment.
2 The moment where they freed the horse in No Man's Land. Okay, sure, freeing an animal seems kind of out there, but the fact that the movie even touched on the fact that all people aren't evil, and that no side is completely "the bad guy" in war, through out the whole movie actually, with the adventure of the horse and everything, but this scene was just an all around nice thing for me. The one man from the British side goes to save the horse and gets assisted by a man from the German side. Friendship and banners of humanity all around! I mean, it is something that did happen, so it's a plausible situation, and that's enough for me.
3 Major Stewart's horse. Okay, so someone could accuse me of extending my Cumberbatch fan-ing to the story horse that his character was riding, but damn, that horse had a tragic story, I can't even. Poor, poor horse. It feels so wrong that I should include this as a moment I liked, but the horses friendship. Their friendship!
4 Cinematography. This is actually an important part of movies and television to me in general, and the movie was beautiful at all times in that respect, so no complaints from me here.
Sherlock
So, Sherlock. Some of the best television I've seen in a while, I mean, it does have it's problems, but most shows do. The second episode of the first series being one of them. That whole episode, it has it's good points, but it's also a bit of a mess. One thing I do love though, well, that would be the cinematography of the show. It's shot so amazingly, I swear you hardly ever see this in television, and the text on the screen is always a fun touch, whether it be for text messages or anything else, it's just so darn lovely. Currently I'm catching up on my literature (I'm slow, it's been on my reading list for years, and I'm lazy, or something like that), so my appreciation has been going up even more because there are the most random references to little bits of the original story. There are also references to The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy every so often, like the random flash of a backwards "42" at the bank in The Blind Banker. That one, while amusing, can also be explained away with Martin Freeman being Dr. John Watson.
Currently I'd have to say my favourites in this show is, well, everyone. Benedict Cumberbatch is pretty amazing at playing Sherlock Holmes, and while he doesn't have the "classic look" of the part, the man has acting chops, which is the most important thing. Martin Freeman is the best Watson to Cumberbatch's Holmes. The chemistry, it's amazing, and they are both amazing actors. The relationship between the two characters is definitely my favourite thing. I'm also going to take this moment to mention Mark Gatiss (one of the creators and writers) as Mycroft Holmes. He does an amazing job at it, and it's always a delight when he pops up on screen. I just love it.
It seems there was an uproar to the nudity in A Scandal In Belgravia, you know, with Irene Adler (played by Lara Pulver) meeting Sherlock in the nude, but it's the perfect defence against Sherlock. He can't use observation to get anything from you (except your measurements of course). I don't know, I had no problem with the nudity, and for the most part I enjoyed the character of Irene Adler (except the ending).
In The Hounds of Baskerville, Sherlock attempts to drug John and use him as a test subject. I do know that some people thought this was terrible and such, but I really didn't think it was that out of character. Sherlock does experiments, and he really doesn't think about how he's going to effect those around him, even the best friend he ever had. This is Sherlock, so I don't know, I didn't find it that shocking or out of character, and he probably figured it was lab conditions, so at least it was a monitored experiment? John does have every right to be mad, and he was, which is good. Sure, he accepted it and moved on, but this is John and Sherlock, and the quickness seems to be more plot convenient, though it lead to a nice ending of John holding the fact Sherlock was wrong over Sherlock's head.
Now to talk about The Reichenbach Fall. Emotions, everywhere. I had tears in my eyes. The acting in this episode was pretty much spot on, and it's by the same person who wrote The Blind Banker, and it was better. The vast difference in how it was written was obvious (so, just going to note, the episodes written by Gatiss are my favourites still, and that would be The Hounds of Baskerville and The Great Game). The rise and fall of Sherlock Holmes. Martin Freeman's acting in this was once again flawless, as was everyone else's, but Freeman. Damn, emotions all over the place. He's a beautiful actor. The ending though, I can't wait to see what happens next! Come on third series~
So, if we look at all the episodes:
Un-aired Pilot. Decent television, decently faithful to the source material, but just not as good as the series ended up being. The BBC made a great decision requesting a longer episode format, as the pilot was only an hour long, and the fact they just re-shot everything was a great decision there. Well, re-shot and re-worked the script.
A Study In Pink. A great start to the series, there are some things that were done better in the pilot (really, he should have known who it was faster, based on the original story and the pilot). It was good though, so I have no complaints. I mean, look at what it did to me.
The Blind Banker. So, this is the one episode I could never find a working download for, so I didn't watch it until I had bought the DVD set. It has some good moments, mostly being the Sherlock-John interactions. Oh, and the skulls that make a guest appearance. They set my anthropology heart a-flutter.
The Great Game. The second episode I ever watched, and my gosh, a good one at that. Everything from the game between Sherlock and Moriarty (who is referenced in every single episode, though more for moment of plot and trying to keep the story of the show together). It's an all around fun episode with the most evil of cliffhangers I have ever experienced.
A Scandal In Belgravia. It's a fun episode, a good way to go from the cliffhanger they left us, and I do like Irene Adler (some people don't, but hey, it's a matter of opinion, and not everyone is going to feel the same). I rather enjoyed the treatment of time, and was just all around pleased (except the ending, the ending wasn't that great). Lots of nice Mycroft moments.
The Hounds of Baskerville. A haunting episode with a slight shift to horror. It made some good uses out of how creepy blurring can be as well as just seeing slight shifts of moment with no clear cut source and sound. I really liked the execution of this episode. The 'mind palace' bit is amusing yes, but I do find that it works with the character of Sherlock. It's a good thing to have, really, and Sherlock seems the type to have it. The scene for it does make me giggle a little though.
The Reichenbach Falls. Sherlock and John getting famous and Sherlock not quite understanding the receiving of gifts, and just everything. The episode is amusing and fun to watch (well, the bits that aren't squeezing your heart and causing tears in your eyes). The ending though, I really can't wait to see how Sherlock got out of this (and we do have to wait, which I don't actually mind, it just makes my feelings stronger for this show). Moriarty's death confuses me, as there was no spray from his head when he seems to have blown his brains out. I do hope this is just a little inaccuracy and that his not actually alive though. That'd be lame. Mycroft in this episode, my gosh, my heart. ♥
So, V6 concert DVDs... I'll be getting these at some point, believe me. Well, one of them, in March. I can't wait~ I also need to get the Sherlock soundtrack. I wonder if it's going to get a North American release? I do hope so, as the music is pretty fantastic (so, I just really love soundtracks that aren't just songs that you can hear on the radio, though Blackpool doesn't count in that, just saying). Either way, watched the performance of Supernova earlier, and I am blown away. I just, so amazing~
So, I went to see War Horse today with a co-worker that agreed to go with me (completely random open invitation). Now, going to the movies alone doesn't actually bother me, but it's a bit awkward while I'm still living at home. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but that's just how I ~feel~.
War Horse
So, this movie, it was actually quite good from my stance, but then again, sometimes I wonder if I'm the best person to be reviewing anything, given my track record of absolutely loving the worst movies you could possibly see (just because they're bad, doesn't mean they aren't entertaining). I actually did tear up during it, and so did a fair few of the audience, if the collective sobbing sniffle was anything to go by.
Bits of the movie I liked were as follows:
1 The raid on the German camp (and all scenes before hand including the Cumberbatch, why yes, I'm biased, and Hiddleston). Anyway, the acting in these scenes just happened to be beautiful and rather convincing. Cumberbatch was his normal, beautiful self, with his acting, and his moustached face, so I don't really have much to add there. Hiddleston though, all of his scenes, I just, and the scene before his character died. His face! That one moment, my heart! The cinematography at that time was also wonderful, it really was just a beautifully acted, beautifully shot, moment.
2 The moment where they freed the horse in No Man's Land. Okay, sure, freeing an animal seems kind of out there, but the fact that the movie even touched on the fact that all people aren't evil, and that no side is completely "the bad guy" in war, through out the whole movie actually, with the adventure of the horse and everything, but this scene was just an all around nice thing for me. The one man from the British side goes to save the horse and gets assisted by a man from the German side. Friendship and banners of humanity all around! I mean, it is something that did happen, so it's a plausible situation, and that's enough for me.
3 Major Stewart's horse. Okay, so someone could accuse me of extending my Cumberbatch fan-ing to the story horse that his character was riding, but damn, that horse had a tragic story, I can't even. Poor, poor horse. It feels so wrong that I should include this as a moment I liked, but the horses friendship. Their friendship!
4 Cinematography. This is actually an important part of movies and television to me in general, and the movie was beautiful at all times in that respect, so no complaints from me here.
Sherlock
So, Sherlock. Some of the best television I've seen in a while, I mean, it does have it's problems, but most shows do. The second episode of the first series being one of them. That whole episode, it has it's good points, but it's also a bit of a mess. One thing I do love though, well, that would be the cinematography of the show. It's shot so amazingly, I swear you hardly ever see this in television, and the text on the screen is always a fun touch, whether it be for text messages or anything else, it's just so darn lovely. Currently I'm catching up on my literature (I'm slow, it's been on my reading list for years, and I'm lazy, or something like that), so my appreciation has been going up even more because there are the most random references to little bits of the original story. There are also references to The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy every so often, like the random flash of a backwards "42" at the bank in The Blind Banker. That one, while amusing, can also be explained away with Martin Freeman being Dr. John Watson.
Currently I'd have to say my favourites in this show is, well, everyone. Benedict Cumberbatch is pretty amazing at playing Sherlock Holmes, and while he doesn't have the "classic look" of the part, the man has acting chops, which is the most important thing. Martin Freeman is the best Watson to Cumberbatch's Holmes. The chemistry, it's amazing, and they are both amazing actors. The relationship between the two characters is definitely my favourite thing. I'm also going to take this moment to mention Mark Gatiss (one of the creators and writers) as Mycroft Holmes. He does an amazing job at it, and it's always a delight when he pops up on screen. I just love it.
It seems there was an uproar to the nudity in A Scandal In Belgravia, you know, with Irene Adler (played by Lara Pulver) meeting Sherlock in the nude, but it's the perfect defence against Sherlock. He can't use observation to get anything from you (except your measurements of course). I don't know, I had no problem with the nudity, and for the most part I enjoyed the character of Irene Adler (except the ending).
In The Hounds of Baskerville, Sherlock attempts to drug John and use him as a test subject. I do know that some people thought this was terrible and such, but I really didn't think it was that out of character. Sherlock does experiments, and he really doesn't think about how he's going to effect those around him, even the best friend he ever had. This is Sherlock, so I don't know, I didn't find it that shocking or out of character, and he probably figured it was lab conditions, so at least it was a monitored experiment? John does have every right to be mad, and he was, which is good. Sure, he accepted it and moved on, but this is John and Sherlock, and the quickness seems to be more plot convenient, though it lead to a nice ending of John holding the fact Sherlock was wrong over Sherlock's head.
Now to talk about The Reichenbach Fall. Emotions, everywhere. I had tears in my eyes. The acting in this episode was pretty much spot on, and it's by the same person who wrote The Blind Banker, and it was better. The vast difference in how it was written was obvious (so, just going to note, the episodes written by Gatiss are my favourites still, and that would be The Hounds of Baskerville and The Great Game). The rise and fall of Sherlock Holmes. Martin Freeman's acting in this was once again flawless, as was everyone else's, but Freeman. Damn, emotions all over the place. He's a beautiful actor. The ending though, I can't wait to see what happens next! Come on third series~
So, if we look at all the episodes:
Un-aired Pilot. Decent television, decently faithful to the source material, but just not as good as the series ended up being. The BBC made a great decision requesting a longer episode format, as the pilot was only an hour long, and the fact they just re-shot everything was a great decision there. Well, re-shot and re-worked the script.
A Study In Pink. A great start to the series, there are some things that were done better in the pilot (really, he should have known who it was faster, based on the original story and the pilot). It was good though, so I have no complaints. I mean, look at what it did to me.
The Blind Banker. So, this is the one episode I could never find a working download for, so I didn't watch it until I had bought the DVD set. It has some good moments, mostly being the Sherlock-John interactions. Oh, and the skulls that make a guest appearance. They set my anthropology heart a-flutter.
The Great Game. The second episode I ever watched, and my gosh, a good one at that. Everything from the game between Sherlock and Moriarty (who is referenced in every single episode, though more for moment of plot and trying to keep the story of the show together). It's an all around fun episode with the most evil of cliffhangers I have ever experienced.
A Scandal In Belgravia. It's a fun episode, a good way to go from the cliffhanger they left us, and I do like Irene Adler (some people don't, but hey, it's a matter of opinion, and not everyone is going to feel the same). I rather enjoyed the treatment of time, and was just all around pleased (except the ending, the ending wasn't that great). Lots of nice Mycroft moments.
The Hounds of Baskerville. A haunting episode with a slight shift to horror. It made some good uses out of how creepy blurring can be as well as just seeing slight shifts of moment with no clear cut source and sound. I really liked the execution of this episode. The 'mind palace' bit is amusing yes, but I do find that it works with the character of Sherlock. It's a good thing to have, really, and Sherlock seems the type to have it. The scene for it does make me giggle a little though.
The Reichenbach Falls. Sherlock and John getting famous and Sherlock not quite understanding the receiving of gifts, and just everything. The episode is amusing and fun to watch (well, the bits that aren't squeezing your heart and causing tears in your eyes). The ending though, I really can't wait to see how Sherlock got out of this (and we do have to wait, which I don't actually mind, it just makes my feelings stronger for this show). Moriarty's death confuses me, as there was no spray from his head when he seems to have blown his brains out. I do hope this is just a little inaccuracy and that his not actually alive though. That'd be lame. Mycroft in this episode, my gosh, my heart. ♥
So, V6 concert DVDs... I'll be getting these at some point, believe me. Well, one of them, in March. I can't wait~ I also need to get the Sherlock soundtrack. I wonder if it's going to get a North American release? I do hope so, as the music is pretty fantastic (so, I just really love soundtracks that aren't just songs that you can hear on the radio, though Blackpool doesn't count in that, just saying). Either way, watched the performance of Supernova earlier, and I am blown away. I just, so amazing~