Holmes Summer and Air.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes, movie about a man who is part of psyche and UFC brawler. While certainly there has been some discussion amongst my friends regarding how Sherlock Holmes will do at the box office and more importantly if it will be any good? And well it's not the train wreck that Public Enemies was and it didn't revitalize the series the same way that Star Trek did. I think main problem may stem from the fact that Guy Richie has too much going on, too many characters that aren't introduced all that well, yet the complexity of the story works well. I guess I'll get to the big elephant in the room yes Jude Law looks nothing like Dr. Watson or at least the popular opinion that Watson is a stout, portly man. That said Jude does a great job as companion to Holmes, he's not the bumbling fool that films have shown him to be. Robert Downey Jr does a fine a job as the title character although I would of like to see a bit more madness or drug use from Holmes as depicted in the Doyle's stories. The femme fatale played by Rachel McAdams does a good job of wooing us (and Holmes) in and yet she never feels like the damsel in distress who's job it is is to be kidnapped and eventually saved by the hero. The rest of the usual characters from Doyle's stories also make their appearance here and with only two hours to work with there is very little time for a lot of these characters; hopefully in further movies they'll be fleshed out a bit more.

I'll give some credit to the film for one quoting revelation (use of antichrist in particular) and using it correctly as a precursor to the story, and to tie into the more modern story telling there is the religious cult group behind the nefarious deeds occurring in the story just like your favorite Dan Brown book. If you've seen an episode of Psych you'll understand how Holmes notices the small details and is able to pick up on what the criminal are doing or where their off to, which works for me considering the famous line of “it's elementary my dear Watson.” The one aspect I find hard to follow is Holmes as the fighter, I don't see him being this great fighter, (although the tactical strikes worked I thought) I've always thought that the detective side should show a bit more in this film. I think it's more over that there's obviously a certain MMA style of fighting that just didn't exist in this era of time.  Overall I am leaning more towards a positive feeling for this film, with hopes that with the groundwork laid (origin stories are normally the toughest to tell) Richie can now move into some more establish works like The Hound of the Baskervilles.

(500) Days of Summer

Far too many times do I see a movie trailer for some romantic-comedy and I already know that the exact plot points and how the story will move and where twist is and what the resolution will be.....that is not the case for (500) Days of Summer, which features a look at the first 500 days spend with the 'one'. A film like this comes down to chemistry between the two leads (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel) who are able to deliver the awkwardness that occurs with the start of any relationship. I think what works so well in this movie is that your quite sure where the relationship is progressing to, due in part to the non-linear storytelling. This may have something to do with newcomer director Marc Webb who really turn this genre on it's head with some new and fresh ideas. Your never completely sure if this couple is going to make it out of the hardship or go their separate ways and really you feel Tom (Levitt) as he deals with feelings for Summer. He's an everyday man that is completely that you can feel for, stuck in a job that while he enjoys isn't necessarily his dream job and friends that could very well be your core group of friends. I am quite surprised by the quality of this movie, the characters are believable in all their actions and the writing is top notch. The only thing that worries me about this film is the open ending which worries me for sequels, I don't think it's necessary but hey everything nowadays has a sequel.

Up in the Air

George Clooney you can do no wrong since you've made Batman and Robin, he's an actor living at the top his game making the movies he wants to taking the roles he wants to. Although it would be nice to see him in something else other then the older charming male role he's generally does. Likewise Jason Reitman so far as an impressive track record. Three films (Thank you for Smoking, Juno) out and three winners thus far, and Up in the Air is by far his strongest picture. Based on the novel of the same name, Up in the Air shows explores interesting themes of loneliness, dating, and the uncertain future. Ryan Bingham (Clooney) job is to fire let people go. What's interesting about the film is that there are clips of real people who talk about what it means to lose their job and what will they do next, these scene are woven in extremely well in between actually firing that occur in the movie. The stronger points of this film is the amazing supporting cast of Alex, (played by Vera Farmiga) the audience identification character new apprentice in training Natalie (Anna Kendrick) and Jason Bateman as Craig the boss.

Bingham is cold calculating man who's only goal in life is to simply reach 10 million miles of air travel (there's been more people on the moon then who have accomplish this) and avoiding being at home. Working in a system of First class tickets and automatic check lines Bingham (as he puts it “All the things that you hate about traveling… are warm reminders that I am home”.) is at home at the airport it's his world, it's where he can be himself. And it's at the airport that we meet Alex who also lives this same sort of detached lifestyle, she the closest thing to a relationship that Ryan has. Whereas Natalie is trying to rip Ryan out of the sky by forcing him to work behind a monitor and fire people from behind a web cam, something that Ryan feels is undignified.....this from a man who takes pleasure in flying to collect miles and not having to be at home with family. The film does eventually turn into a transformation of Ryan's character as we this hollow person who wants nothing in his backpack to someone who's looking for something. It's one of the better films this year and I'd recommend it to anyone who has a chance to see it.