Movies and Tea #1 – Shopping

Welcome to the Booth! Elwood and I just released the first episode of Movies and Tea, our new movie podcast. The structure of the show is divided into seasons where each season we take a look at different directors and their works. The first to kick off this debut season is Paul W.S. Anderson and his directorial full feature debut, Shopping.

Head over to our blog to check out the podcast!
Give us a follow is you like it so you don’t miss out on the upcoming episodes!

Movies and Tea

Kicking off our first season looking at the films of director Paul W.S. Anderson starting with his debut film Shopping

Released in 1994 to a mixed critical response and much distain from the BBFC Paul W.S Anderson’s Shopping gave a pre-apocalypic vision of an unanmed British city in which the recently released joyrider Billy (played by an impossibly young jude law) and his best friend Jo (played by Law’s future ex-wife Sadie Frost).

Here they set out to leave thier mark on the city along the way clashing with Jonathan Pryce’s authoritarian chief of police and Sean Pertwee’s rival gang leader Tommy in what could have been seen as sparking the revial of the british independent scene had it not been eclipsed by the release of Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave the following year.

Join us in the booth as we discuss this debut aswell as looking at the rebel girls…

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The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

You gotta love Netflix when it has at least ONE Best Picture nomination available.  Not being sarcastic if thats what you are reading.  I’m pretty happy that there’s even one.  Seeing as I’ve been talking about seeing American Sniper and never actually made it to the theatres, maybe this week?

The Grand Budapest Hotel looks a little peculiar and that totally has to do with the fact that this is the first Wes Anderson film I’ll be seeing. Shocked? Don’t be…I still have a lot of movies to watch 😉

Let’s check this Oscar contender out!

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014)

Director: Wes Anderson

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Tom Revolori, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Jude Law, F. Murray Abraham, Jeff Goldblum

The adventures of Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), a legendary concierge at a famous hotel from the fictional Republic of Zubrowka between the first and second World Wars, and Zero Moustafa (Tom Revolori), the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.-IMDB

Oh, the adventures Monsieur Gustave has! The Grand Budapest Hotel is a little peculiar to say the least, exactly the impression I got.  The deal with a peculiar movie is that it can either be to your taste or not, or should I say mine.  Although, I have to say that it takes a little time to adapt to and there was always this feeling gnawing at me a little that something was off, it was hard to not be charmed by this movie.  For one, look at the colors and the visuals, just wow.  The whole set was such a joy to watch.  I’m not just talking about The Grand Budapest Hotel itself, but also when him and Zero was on the train, the scenery of the mountains and the whole action plus the costumes.  Every component was thought through with so much detail that it was really hard to ignore.  However, I have to stay true that while it may be a favorite for many, I’m a little half-half on this.  While some 30% of the movie felt a little random and dragged out, the other 70% (mostly the second half) was really fun to watch, adding in bit of humor and just drowning in its own unique style. The atmosphere it sets for itself is definitely one thats artistic and quirkly but somehow still really entertaining.

The cast portraying each of the characters happened to be some of my favorites, let me elaborate a little.  For one, we start off with our narrators and how the recount of Monsieur Gustave H. was introduced during a dinner between an older Zero (who looks nothing like the younger version) and an author played by Jude Law.  This is where I first swoon a little.  Jude Law himself made me intrigued when this movie started.  He’s really just the backdrop of this event and the listener to the story that the elder Zero shares.  Right off the bat, the encounter already shows that this movie is going to be in the whole definition of awkward.

Let me clarify before we move forward that awkward doesn’t bother me, I watch a ton of movies like that and I like them.  What I’m saying is that if not for these characters who made the awkwardness convincingly fun, I would have just closed this 30 minutes in.

Another showstopper is our own Monsieur Gustave. Ralph Fiennes is a fine actor and we see it over and over again.  Sure, he’s not much of a comedian, which begs why he was chosen for this role but in his seriousness, we can laugh at exactly that because the movie itself really isn’t all that serious.  Which also makes this one of Ralph Fiennes best comedic roles surprisingly proving that he can do it.  Ralph is awesome (I’m sure most of us agree) and him as Monsieur Gustave is so much fun but that has to do with the interactions he has and the music they match with the scenes as well. Here’s where I need to talk about young Zero played by Tom Revolori.  I don’t know this guy at all but he made this hilarious expressions.  The relationship and interaction between Monsieur Gustave and Zero was another great aspect.

I personally think that Willem Dafoe is so underrated as an actor.  Has he won anything in his career? He is in a lot of really great roles, at least he has to talent to even make a role in a bad movie work out most of the time (at least what I remember).  As the assassin here, he has this dangerous feeling to him and yet, he plays well with the whole black humor portion.  His boss, being Dmitri, a rich boy played by Adrien Brody just charms my pants off.  I love Adrien Brody so much.  This guy needs to be in more movies (or I just need to search out more of his work).  Whatever it is, as horrible as those two characters are, gosh, they are some awesome bad dudes in The Grand Budapest Hotel.

There’s a huge talented cast here and I can’t possibly go through everyone (which I almost have).  Edward Norton is also in this as the military officer Henckels but his role is relatively small and Jeff Goldblum is the executor of the will (also a smaller role), but my focus right now was seeing Saoirse Ronan *double checks the spelling*.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Saoirse Ronan.  I’ve seen a lot of the movie’s she’s been in and she is just so talented.  Her role may not have been big as Agatha but she sheds this light on the movie that the other darker characters don’t have.  At the same time, it introduces the intricate details of Mendl’s desserts that I kind of wanted to pull out of the screen and taste.  Just to show the attention to detail to this quirky movie.

Overall, I’m not as big of a fan of The Grand Budapest Hotel as others may be, but there is no doubt that the visuals and style steals the show here.  The talented cast also lifts this movie into an incredible territory.  While the story and pacing of the story held me only a part of the time, there is no doubt that I understand why this is a contender for Best Picture.  Its extremely unique and there is a whole wow factor going on here.  Just the second half made me forget about even the little bit of problems I felt in the beginning. Is it a movie I’d revisit? Maybe not often but there is something here that deserves recognition.  I haven’t seen enough of the other choices to make my predictions, maybe as I get a few more movies in this week, I’ll have a clearer idea 🙂

Have you seen The Grand Budapest Hotel? What are your thoughts? Were you impressed with the cast in this? Did you love the whole set and atmosphere?

Resolutions 2015: Anna Karenina

No post today up till now?
Yes! Thats because I was waiting for Cara at Silver Screen Serenade’s Resolution series to go up. Today was my contribution.

A huge thanks to Cara for thinking up this genius idea and putting it together. My choice for Resolutions is a movie I have owned in my collection for over 2 years and have never found the moment to watch until this series came around. That movie is period drama and movie adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel with the same name, Anna Karenina. Head over to Silver Screen Serenade and check it out. I did enjoy it quite a bit and you can see why.

While you are there, remember to check out the other Resolutions series posts from other bloggers and remember to look around a little. Cara writes amazing reviews of movies, TV and has thought up a few segments that are pure awesomeness! 🙂

Happy Wednesday!!

Silver Screen Serenade

Another day, another film resolution conquered! That’s right, I’ve got another guest here today for my Resolutions series, which is going swimmingly so far! Today’s resolution fulfiller? That would be the lovely Miss Kim of Tranquil Dreams, a blog which is officially celebrating its FOURTH ANNIVERSARY!! How awesome is that?! Congrats, Kim!!

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Genre Grandeur – The Holiday (2006) – Tranquil Dreams

Check out this month’s Genre Grandeur for Holiday movies. My pick went to The Holiday. The movie title pretty much says it all but its my go-to feel good movie set during the holidays making it perfect for the holidays.
Remember to check out the other Genre Grandeur entries for holiday movies! 🙂

MovieRob

For the next entry in this month’s Genre Grandeur – Holiday movies, here’s a review by Kim of Tranquil Dreams of The Holiday (2006)

Next month’s genre has been chosen by my good friend Emma of emmakwall (explains it all) and she has chosen the genre of British Thrillers, so send me your reviews of your favorite British Thriller(s) by Jan 25th and I’ll post it.  It’s real simple, just send me an email to britthrills@movierob.net and I’ll post it.

Take it away Kim!

Holiday movies don’t get anymore holiday than The Holiday – also one of my favorite movies.  I watch it during the Christmas holidays every year AND I watch it anytime during the year.  Its kind of my go-to feel good movie.

Director: Nancy Meyers

Cast: Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Eli Wallach, Rufus Sewell

Simple commitments columnist Iris (Kate Winslet) and big shot…

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Contagion (2011)

I’m starting to feel like I’ve been living under a rock because in the past while, I haven’t really known much about any of the movies I watch. Usually, I just do that for B-horror and this isn’t one of those.  Honestly, I never had a doubt about Contagion because Steven Soderbergh (who I love) directed it and the entire cast is pretty strong so there were high expectations for this one.

Now, just to see if they actually lived up to my expectations 🙂

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Cast: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Jennifer Ehle, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bryan Cranston, Chin Han, John Hawkes

When Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow) comes home from a business trip feeling ill, the following day she has a seizure and ends up dying.  Shortly afterwards, her son is also infected and her husband Mitch (Matt Damon) is quarantined.  At the same time, multiple people around the world also start falling ill and dying with similar symptoms.  Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) is brought in to take care of what seems to be an epidemic and with the help of Dr. Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) to find out what this virus is exactly; Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) to go out into the field to contain and help set up facilities for the widespread virus and treatment and Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) to Hong Kong to investigate where and how it all began.  They are racing against time to figure out the vaccine that will save the lives against the constantly changing lethal virus.  While at the same time, they are up against the turmoil in the public along with people doubting their motives such as Alan Krumweide (Jude Law).

Contagion is a drama thriller as you would probably expect with the topic on hand: epidemic and racing with time.  I love thrillers and I believe since Outbreak I haven’t quite found one about spreading virus that has quite as much impact.  Funny enough, I have never reviewed Outbreak.  These movies tend to be heavy and I spread out the viewings.  But, I will do it soon.  With that said, Contagion 1-ups Outbreak.  I’m going to tell you a little story of what happened while I was watching this.  I turned this on Saturday night after dinner and I was sitting in my room and then Gwyneth Paltrow enters and shortly leaves because she dies fairly early in the flick (is that considered a spoiler?) It becomes obvious that coughing is a symptom and then as they were going through this intense part of infected people around the world sweating, coughing, hazy vision and then they go back to Laurence Fishburne and the other doctors talking about it and then right then when its more silent and tense, my mom starts coughing.  I kid you not, I jumped out of my chair and I tensed up really quickly.

Contagion was a kick-ass thriller.  I have nothing but good things to say about it.  The opening sequence, Gwyneth Paltrow, the buildup of the virus, the balance of chaos and tension, the whole tone of the movie: everything worked well together. The only thing was that they involved so many characters that at times, I needed to recall who those people were and a lot of times, it didn’t give the space to relate to them much.  The one person would be Marion Cotillard’s character who pretty much is dismissed at the second half for a good part until she resurfaces for just a small part.  Some characters, like Matt Damon, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne and Jennifer Ehle had more impact on the movie as they were the main leads of the whole operation on different sides of the situation. Matt Damon was the biggest loser in this though.  He lost his wife and his stepson and even when he’s being the overprotective parent, I still felt that I supported his idea in this one.  He really didn’t have much else to lose so even if it seemed unfair, extreme measures, right?  I had to write some on Matt Damon because I don’t watch a lot of him and he is usually in the “meh” territory but this one, I did like his character.

Still, the other characters did a great job.  I particularly like Kate Winslet’s character.  If you’ve been reading my reviews, you already know I’m a HUGE fan of hers.  She is just a classy awesome actress who can do no wrong.  And if there is wrong, its the movie, the story, the writers and whatever else, but nope, never her.  In this one, she just totally steals it.  As for Laurence Fishburne, the only thing that bothered me was his moustache.  It just doesn’t suit him well but other than that, his character was great.  He tried to keep the pieces together and his character was human because it wasn’t a perfect savior.  He just tried to balance his own personal worries during the tough time and make as objective as possible decisions based on what he had.  Along with Jennifer Ehle, who I have never seen before this, was pretty awesome.  She was really just in and out of scenes for short amount of times but she was in a lot of the critical scenes and handled them very well.

The character I hated the most (and I believe we are supposed to hate) was Jude Law’s Alan. The man was batshit crazy and obnoxious and just ridiculous.  You know the guy that pours oil on fire.  Thats him.  As the story intensifies, his face just irritated me.  Plus, Jude Law actually did pull off those facial expressions so well.  All in all, he did everything his character needed.  Great job, Jude Law.  You never let me down.

Because of all the characters involved in this, switching from different levels of investigation and management and research for this epidemic, the plot stays focused on the big problem on hand. It stay tense and compelling throughout its slight short of 2 hour run time but I never felt it was even that long.  Plus, in the Hong Kong scenes, they actually used some of the Hong Kong entertainment industry’s familiar faces so it hit even closer to home for me.

Overall, Contagion has an amazing cast, a gripping plot and it may possibly be the best epidemic disaster movie I have seen ever! So yes, I’d totally recommend this.  Its smart and it brings out the scary level of this especially since we’ve already experienced some similar scares (not quite to their extent, thank goodness) in the past decade.

Have you seen Contagion? What do you think of its plot and the cast? Did it get under your skin? 

Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow (2004)

I’m starting to finally work on the backlog of all the movies I watched during last month outside of recommendations.  Netflix went crazy and had about 8 movies expire at the end of the month so I tried to watch all of them.  One of those was Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow.  I’ve never heard much about this one and somehow I always remembering confusing this with Master and Commander.  I never saw that one before but I think its because they came out at about the same time and had a really long title also. Either way, the poster showed a cast I liked so it was all good with me.

Let’s check it out!

Director: Kerry Conran

Cast: Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon, Bai Ling, Laurence Olivier

In a futuristic New York City, there are giant robots set out to sabotage the city and frighten the citizens. In this chaos, ambitious reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) is determined to find her big story.  It is then she joins her ex-lover, Joe aka Sky Captain as they exchange information that she has found on her trails to hopefully stop Dr. Totenkropf as they try to rescue a group of the world’s best scientists from his grasp and prevent him from doing even more harm. However, as great as they are as a duo, they are gradually entering into more and more dangerous areas even if they have the help of female air commander Franky (Angelina Jolie) and technical expert Dex (Giovanni Ribisi).

Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow is a pretty average movie.  The story is lacking and they don’t develop the characters too much.  However, Sky Captain is also eye candy because the visuals are amazing.  Its all very CGI-y and all but doesn’t stop it from looking like you are watching a live action comic book open up in front of you and acting out all the sequences.  That part makes it fun and entertaining.  Other than Gwyneth Paltrow not really doing great, and I’ve never really enjoyed her in much, maybe thats just me, Jude Law always lights up the screen for me. Just let the man talk and I’m down for whatever he plays. Thats also just a personal preference.

What surprised me the most is that usually I’m not a huge fan of Angelina Jolie but in this one, her character Franky was pretty awesome.  This role matched her a lot.  Its too bad that they didn’t give her too much time on-screen as it was dominated by Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow.  Franky brought style just like the whole CGI set did 🙂

Honestly, I’m at a loss for how to express myself.  Its been over a week since I’ve seen this and the only part I remember was the awesome effects, the set and some characters.  The story could have been so much better.  Some parts didn’t make a lot of sense and some parts didn’t link well together but then, maybe it was because I was dozing off at parts in the middle. Plus, I didn’t really like Jude Law with Gwyneth Paltrow.  At parts the whole scorned lovers thing works and its pretty funny but in other parts, it just makes the character Polly seem stupid.

Overall, I’m half and half with this one.  There are parts I really really liked and I think that if you like these comic book style, CGI setting movies, this one packs in a lot of style and class.  It has some action which carries the movie along but the story doesn’t really work out too well and its missing something.  If you like Jude Law or Angelina Jolie, I’d say they are quite enjoyable to watch as well. 🙂

Have you seen Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow? What did you think? Are you a fan of Angelina Jolie? Any movies that stands out of hers that you liked? Do you think Gwyneth Paltrow is a good actress?

CK’s Not So Secret Santa Review Swap: The Holiday (2006)

Earlier this year in July, I participated in Cinematic Katzenjammer’s Not So Secret Santa Review Swap Blogathon and my secret Santa gave me a fantastic movie, Dark Harbor.  Obviously, since the first time was so much fun, I decided to join for this December edition of it as well.  This time around, I didn’t get an unknown movie but one that I absolutely adore and just as I was wondering how to work it into my Christmas marathon this year since I already reviewed it last year, I received notice that my Secret Santa gave me THE HOLIDAY 🙂

Whoever you are, Secret Santa, YOU ARE AWESOME! Can I say I love you? Is that awkward? Because if not for that, I would never have thought of doing THIS to lead up to this very post.

The last movie to make it a perfect top 10 in my must-see Christmas flicks is The Holiday.  I’m not going to review it again since I read through last year’s and its probably everything I was going to say and you can check it out HERE! 🙂

The Holiday is one of my absolute favorite movies EVER! I always watch it for Christmas, sometimes even more than once, and I usually sneak it in mid year once or twice.  Its not only a great holiday watch but its also one of the best feel good romantic comedies I’ve ever seen.  I literally have a huge smile on my face throughout the whole thing, even if I know whats going to happen and what they say and all that.

So, I figured I’d take a different path and show you my top moments that made me smile 🙂

6) IRIS IN LA

Being revealed to the unknown of a completely different lifestyle from the one you are used to is always amazing and I think Kate Winslet does a fantastic job in showing that.  Its a feel good scene and it emphasizes the lovable character of Iris as the down to earth modern day simple girl. Trust me, if I saw that, I’d react pretty much the same way 😉

5) VIDEO STORE GAME

This scene is simply good fun.  The charisma between Jack Black and Kate Winslet is awesome and with a cameo of Dustin Hoffman, its makes it even funnier.

4) TENT

Wouldn’t you want that tent? I’m seriously impressed. Plus, the little girls are adorable.  Its like a fantasy world at home and thats pretty incredible.

3) LEADING LADY VS. BEST FRIEND

The character of Arthur Abbott is one of my faves because even though he isn’t a main character, he helps Iris to grow and also put in perspective what this movie is all about.  You can’t help but agree with him, right?

2) KISSING A STRANGER

The whole scene is great but the part I’m referring to starts at 5m 10s of the video.  Funny, passionate and pretty awesome in my book. This was when I fell in love with Jude Law! And goodness, aren’t you thinking that she should shut up and enjoy the moment? 😉 The romantic in me is speaking, of course.

1) IRIS/ARTHUR’S THEME

This scene is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE! Its romantic and cute! I think thats where I fell in love in Jack Black, something that I did not think would ever be possible.

I didn’t intend for this to be a countdown and I love the WHOLE ENTIRE movie so this was mega difficult to put together. Plus, there were some scenes that were fantastic. I did love Jude Law in so many other scenes.  Although, if given who was not so great, it would have to be Cameron Diaz.  I’m just not a huge fan of hers in general but she does a decent job :).

Not only that but her and Kate Winslet are fabulous together for example with their expressions.

That scene was seriously funny! I think I’ve admitted that I have a girl crush on Kate Winslet and think she is possibly one of the best actresses with elegance and charm.

Before I start spilling the whole movie because I would love to convince a few of you to actually give it a shot.  I think The Holiday is one of the most underrated movies ever!

Overall, great cast, hilarious, heartwarming and clever romantic comedy set during the holidays, The Holiday is a great watch! Thanks again to my Secret Santa because you allowed me to watch this three times in two days to be inspired as to how to approach this post.  AND, I was feeling really not in the holiday mood and I think this just made it all come back.  Also, HUGE THANKS to Nick for putting this together because once again, it was mega fun! 🙂

Have you seen The Holiday? What are your thoughts on the four leads here?

Remember to check out the other reviews for the blogathon either by clicking HERE or its linked to the blogathon banner on the top 🙂

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

Saturday movie night with my best friend ended up being her choice out of my unseen movies pile! We love watching animation together and its been forever since we’ve actually sat down at home eating dinner together and just enjoy a movie.  Last movie we saw was in the theatres last year, Brave and it was totally awesome 😉 Rise of the Guardians was one that we believe we saw the preview of when we went to see Brave.

Director: Peter Ramsey

Voice Cast: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Jude Law, Dakota Goyo

The Four Guardians have always taken care of the hopes and beliefs and happiness of all the kids around the world.  They consisted of a russian accent Santa Claus called North (Alec Baldwin), Easter Bunny called Bunny (Hugh Jackman), Tooth Fairy called Tooth (Isla Fisher) and Sandman called Sandy who doesn’t talk.  When North sees that the Boogeyman called Pitch, has come out of hiding and used his darkness to try to take over the Earth, he calls up the Guardians for a meeting.  When asking advice from the moon, they see that they are to summon a 5th Guardian, who is a mischievous Jack Frost (Chris Pine). This comes as a surprise to both Jack Frost and the Guardians.  As Pitch launches his plan to come out of hiding and destroy every child’s dreams and happiness, the Guardians along with Jack Frost needs to find a way to work together and figure out how to stop him before its too late.

Was 2012 the year of awesome animated flicks? I loved The Lorax (although there was a fair share that didn’t).  I absolutely adored Brave and now I had so much fun with Rise of the Guardians! I just totally blame the promotional team for this one.  It was so awesome but yet the trailers, not for one second, made me want to go see this.

This movie is definitely one that I found was really magical.  Its suitable for kids but gives the adults a good sense of adventure as well.  Its not dumb childish humor but actually rather witty dialogue.  Bringing in the mythical characters that a lot of children do (or adults have) believe in and setting them as the heroes of the story makes it very unique.  It also gives them a meaning as we are revealed that even our heroes before they become immortal have to earn their way to be who they are and each one had a life before this one.

All the characters were designed really well.  My best friend (and I) particularly loved how they made North have a Russian accent.  I thought that was really nifty and cool.  Easter Bunny was made all ninja style and he rocked the screen under Hugh Jackman’s voiceover. That makes sense since he has to jump and hop everywhere.  His interaction with everyone was most of the comic relief.  Chris Pine did a very good Jack Frost, although I almost didn’t even recognize his voice at first.  His story was the main focus throughout this flick so his character grew on me as it progressed.

This flick had Pitch as the villain. I think he did so amazing.  For one, he has one of the best voices in the business and its actually sad that I don’t recall him doing any voice work before.  He rarely does bad guys but somehow I felt he was a good level of evil to make everything work out.

One last thing that I really loved was the visuals.  The way the designed each of the “palaces” where the guardians lived were all very creative.  They each gave a beauty and imaginative.  The way the characters would use their magic and the colors they used were absolutely amazing.  I may have talked about this last but it was the big element that kept drawing me into the world of the Guardians.

This flick had a good amount of action to hold both children and adults but in no time did it feel that it was too intense or inappropriate for children at least.  They kept reminding us that we all have that child in us.  I’d recommend not only for a fun magical adventure but also that it carries a deeper meaning that we need to find our center.  No one will treat situations the same way but we all are unique and that gives us our advantage.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

I told you I’d be back with a real life movie! I was never a big fan of Robert Downey Jr. until I saw the first Sherlock Holmes. But, I’m a mega huge fan of Jude Law..I think I’ve probably confessed my love for him in a few reviews like The Holiday and Hugo.  I love his voice and his charm.  I don’t think that he’s in the drop dead gorgeous category but his charm gives him so much more.  I really enjoyed the first Sherlock Holmes and that one was a pleasant surprise.  It made me really excited to see the second one..so don’t ask me why it took so long to see it after its release…

Director: Guy Ritchie

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel  McAdams, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry

In this sequel to the 2009 original (I should go back and review that one), Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.)  is now linking a lot of affairs to do with a very smart and evil man called Dr. Moriarty (Jared Harris).  A professor that was revealed to him at the end of the first movie through a woman that his path crosses with a lot called Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams).  This time, Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) is getting ready to be married soon and to stop being his assistant afterwards because of the nature of danger that Holmes is involved in.  Holmes brings Watson out on his stag night and takes his brother (Stephen Fry) also and at this party, he syncs this with going to follow his clues which leads him to eventually saving Sim (Noomi Rapace), a fortune teller and learns about her and her brother’s connections to Moriarty’s plans.  This launche Holmes and Watson to go on at least one more adventure and mystery across different countries as they try to stop Moriarty’s plans from going forward.

I really love Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes.  I’ve never had to debate whether I like him better as Sherlock or as Ironman but the different charisma he can pull off in his role is just so great. He turns into this somewhat comedic ass. He just is that way. He’s going straight up into being in a few of my favorite on screen character.  As much as I like Holmes and Robert Downing Jr.’s version of it, there is really no way I can disregard the chemistry and bromance with Jude Law as Watson.  I love Jude Law to bits (I think I said that up there) and I can’t say it enough. He’s just such an awesome man, not that I’m saying he’s handsome but rather the vibe that he gives (weird, I know).  When Watson and Sherlock are together, you can’t help but to laugh a bit at their odd interactions.  The struggling danger of a professional and personal relationship that will end when one party goes off to get married.

Aside from this, the introduction of Stephen Fry as Holmes brother and Noomi Rapace as the fortune teller/gypsy Simka.  Stephen Fry gave some fun moments here and there and his addition contributed a bit to my enjoyment (only a bit). However, Noomi Rapace has been surprising me over and over again.  I first saw her as the boyish Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish original of The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo (or otherwise called Millenium Trilogy).  After that, I saw her in Prometheus and that really was interesting and she lead that role really well.  But now, we’re talking about her role in Sherlock Holmes and it was pretty awesome.  Her expressions and acting in general has impressed me. I really hope to see her in more flicks.

Another thing I look at was the villain himself, Moriarty.  Somehow I felt that the downfall was Moriarty himself, I never truly felt that anyone would be in danger.  Sure, Moriarty played a smart and intelligent man but he never made me feel like a worthy villain.  In a flick, thats based on a villain that should make you feel like he is actually threatening the movie, I wasn’t totally pleased in the domains of how evil he was or how dangerous he was.  I still enjoyed the movie but it would have really hit higher on my scale if he was better.

All in all, I’d say this one was pretty good.  Its not as good as the first one to me.  I have to get around to reviewing that one.  What this one has for it is the odd actions of Sherlock Holmes and the amazing chemistry that he has with Watson.  Their interaction and dialogue usually was what had me focused into the movie.  At the other times, I wasn’t totally into it as much.  Even though the villain wasn’t much, there were some fun elements in this flick that makes it into an entertaining watch.

What do you think of Sherlock Holmes? How about Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law? What are your favorite films of these two?

CHRISTMAS Movie Marathon begins with The Holiday (2006)

Welcome to 2012 Christmas Movie Marathon featured here! I have a lot of Christmas movies like 20+ DVD/Blurays and some multiple short animated features.  Usually, I stack them up in certain preferences and just watch them. This year, I decided to go random.  I just going to pick out the movie of the night randomly from a pile of folded paper in a little bag.  We’ll see how that goes.  I think it’ll at least give us a bit of spontaneity and mix it up…should be fun!  And different from the Halloween marathon, I’ll be reviewing all the movies individually (no Top Ten lists).

Lets get it started!

Movie: THE HOLIDAY (2006)

Director & Writer: Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give)

Cast: Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Jack Black

The Holiday is about two women, Iris from Surrey, UK (Kate Winslet) and Amanda from Los Angeles (Cameron Diaz) and both go through a bad break-up.  Amanda decides to take a vacation during the holidays to not be lonely and finds Iris on a home exchange site.  They decide to swap homes for 2 weeks. Iris ends up staying in Amanda’s mansion in LA and ends up making friends with her next door neighbor who is an elderly retired screenplay writer called Arthur Abbott and in the process, meets Miles (Jack Black) who is a film composer. While living in Iris’s cottage, she meets Iris’s older brother, Graham (Jude Law) and sparks fly.

I’m a huge fan of this movie. Ever since I’ve had it about three years ago, I always watch it on Christmas at least once.  During the year, sometimes I’ll give it a second or third run.  Its a fun, hilarious, witty, heartwarming romantic comedy.  What I loved THE absolute most is the chemistry between the characters.  Honestly, I never really preferred watching any of those actors.  This movie changed my view of things, especially Jack Black.  Kate Winslet is charming as always in her role as Iris.  Jude Law, as Graham drunk (and sober) just melts my heart (it didn’t before this movie).  I can see the charm.  As for Jack Black, I always felt that the roles he took on never really was to my taste, but this role made me feel that he can do this corny, witty type of actor.  He was really sweet and there were a lot of laugh out loud moments.  It was really awesome in that department and I think that is the one of the key elements of a good romantic comedy.

Another element that really worked for me was the dialogue.  The director, Nancy Meyers is also the writer and I guess that always adds something a little extra.  It connects better since its her own thoughts I suppose.  I’m not an expert on this, but I bought it. I thought it was witty.  If you asked my boyfriend, I’d say that he would probably say there was corny dialogue here and there.  Still, its a very likeable chick flick.

This is my feel good movie.  I never fails to put a smile on my face and some to roll over in laughter and other moments, to just get all warm and fuzzy from the cute and sweet moments.  The Holiday is a romantic comedy set during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday period so very fit to start this marathon! Especially since it comes with a happy ending and lots of smiles and laughs during the whole thing.  I highly recommend it.

Have you seen this? Did you enjoy it? If you didn’t like it, what didn’t you like?