Sherlock Holmes trailer

I'm aware that, as someone who just recently used JJ Abrams' "Not-Your-Father's-Star-Trek" as a jumping-off point for taking swipes at the practice of retooling cerebrally-oriented older material into flash-first/brains-second "tentpole" action movies; I'm expected to hate the idea of Warner Bros "reimagining" of Sherlock Holmes. Robert Downey Jr. has the title role, Guy Ritchie is directing, and the new-spin places a heavy emphasis on Holmes as a rougish, action-oriented tough guy.

Well, I don't. Hate it, that is. I'm skeptical as all hell - mostly of Ritchie, a wildly uneven filmmaker who's thus far failed to prove he has anything to offer beyond superficially-amusing British gangster films - but the premise itself doesn't bother me all that much. In cinematic terms, Holmes occupies the same rare space as Dracula and Christ... characters that have been done to death a hundred times over to the point that no "departure" could concievably be radical enough to do any kind of "damage." Hell, the image most people have of the "classical" Sherlock Holmes (deerstalker cap, opera coat, "elementary," etc.,) has very little to do with the original literary version to begin with.

So, basically, my mind is WIDE OPEN for this movie. This first TRAILER for it, on the other hand... yikes.



The first troubling thing about this trailer, right off the bat, is that it looks like a joke. Not a "comedy." I mean it looks like a parody... like something "FunnyOrDie" or whoever would cook up as a brutal SATIRE of the idea of Sherlock Holmes as an action franchise - right down to the quippy one-liners, slapstick partial-nudity, fireball-dodging, absurb "bullet-time" fistfight and the "S!! H!!! E!!! R!!!! L!!!!!" title-countdown bit - not something that's supposed to be the genuine article. I mean, for our introduction to the new-and-improved Holmes he delivers a dry-cool quip, dodges a gunshot and then takes an olympic-style dive from a 5th-story window into The Thames River. Wow. Look, the "traditionalists" were going to be DREADING this thing no matter what... but I bet even they didn't expect they'd be laughing at it.

But, whatever. Like I said, this character has been reworked and reshaped so many times nothing they seem to be doing here can really be called a "desecration" or any such hyperbolic nonsense. Bare-knuckle boxing? Fine. What appears to be two-handed baton fighting? Sure. Bantering-while-gunfighting opposite Watson like old-timey "Bad Boys?" Works for me. The production has been right up front about going for a kind of Pirates of The Carribean-style Victorian-dress adventure vibe, and so far that mission looks accomplished.

No, what's raising my red flag here is that the trailer A.) seems to cover a lot of ground and B.) is almost entirely action-oriented. This is character you can add to or subtract from nearly endlessly, but at the end of the day it ALWAYS has to be about one thing: Smart. Holmes is smart. Ridiculously observant, probably the point of what we'd now call OCD, solving mysteries through deductive reasoning via details so small "normal" minds don't even notice them, much less connect them. We get NO sense of that here. Not one scene shown seems to indicate anything about how Downey is playing (or how the film is visualizing) this central aspect of the character and the franchise. In fact... we don't really see him doing anything that looks like detective work save for futzing with some old-school lockpicking tools and what looks to be a trick involving dust and hidden draft-sources. Hell, if you look at this divorced from prior knowledge of who this character is supposed to be, it looks as though The Authorities have sought Holmes' help primarily for his martial-arts and acrobatic skills.

Granted, it's a trailer and it's going to go heavy on the action anyway, but... "worrisome," to say the least. Also, that last bit with the guy and the hammer? Did anyone else get a weird "Wild Wild West" kinda feeling there?

Victory

Wow.

So... I won my matchup in the ScrewAttack semifinals. Holy shit.
http://www.screwattack.com/HardNews/051809

Thanks to EVERYONE who voted. When the finals roll around, I'll be sure to put up another link. I'm really, genuinely surprised by all this.

3D Shorts: FINAL DESTINATION Gets New Name; 50 YEARS Gets Distribution; HUMPTY DUMPTY Gets New Poster

Hey Jim here. Got some quick 3D news for you...

- FINAL DESTINATION: DEATH TRIP 3D is no longer. It has been renamed to THE FINAL DESTINATION - nothing too drastic, but better if you ask me. Almost sounds like a reboot attempt from scratch rather than as part of a franchise. (Source: Box Office Mojo)

Ok. Name change. Not sure about the timing, but I didn't really like the first one anyway...

- AROUND THE WORLD IN 50 YEARS has picked up distribution while at the Cannes Film Festival through Universal Music Group. Apparently the deal was consumated after a presentation of the movie which also included about 15 minutes of 3D. Moreover, it is not just for North American theatrical distribution but also DVD, TV, Non-theatrical and global soundtrack rights. (Source: Animation Magazine)

Love it when a plan comes together. Looks like UMG fell in love the project - can't wait to see it.

- Sony and Regal Cinemas have shaken hands on a 4K digital projector rollout to ~5,000 screens over the next 3 to 5 years. Of special note is that they have a grand total of ~6,700 screens right now, so digital will be making up about 75% of all their screens. This comes right on the heels of another massive 4K projector deal with AMC (4,700 screens) - making Sony 4K the industry leader right out of no where. That is if you can ever say that about Sony. 4K is the real deal guys. Congrats on the deals. And bring on 3D! :-)

Well if you had any doubt about Sony's entry in digital and 3D, you can drop them now. That is a rather resounding industry endorsement don't you think? I have seen the tech first hand (albeit a smallish screen) and it does look amazing.

- HUMPTY DUMPTY has revealed his box office teeth early - a new poster has the human/alien creature pulling a Jack Nicholson from behind a hole in a door. The movie is about an alien that wreaks havoc on humans after his mother is "abused by two rednecks in the Deep South". I think it has a great deal of potential... (Source: MySpace via ShockTilYouDrop)

Kinda disturbing character don't you think? And if the Executive Producer (Mark Ordesky) has anything to do with it, the FX are gonna be WILD.

First Footage and Still from "A Christmas Carol"!

Hi, Michael here with the first official image and footage from Robert Zemeckis' upcoming 3D performance capture A Christmas Carol!

Click on the picture for a high-res version.

Also, our friends at Latino Review have snagged the first ever footage from the movie.  Check it out to see Ebenezer Scrooge visited by one of the ghosts.  This looks great so far- Zemeckis' Beowulf in "true" IMAX 3D (not Liemax, mind you!) is still the most amazing 3D experience I've had.  Click here and scroll to the bottom to check out the clip.

Also be sure to check out the first trailer for A Christmas Carol in front of Disney/Pixar's Up later this month!

A Christmas Carol opens in the US on November 6

THE DARK COUNTRY Will See Theatrical Light

Jim here. This is awesome news! You all know Thomas Jane who I interviewed last summer and he has been hard at work on multiple projects not the least of which is his directorial debut THE DARK COUNTRY, in 3D no less!

I believe this is the first 3D movie where the same man directed and starred in it. I have high hopes for the movie as it has been shot in Film Noir style and has some pretty exciting shots in the can. To hear more about the movie check out my interview with Thomas.

Also starring in the thriller is Ron Perlman and Lauren German. Variety says that Sony Pictures now holds the domestic distribution rights and will use a 3rd party to do so, while Nu Image holds international rights.

The movie involves a newly married couple coming across a dying victim in the middle of the road in the desert.

More when I get it!

Twilight

COMING ATTRACTIONS: GYMKATA

Sometime last year, in my review of Roller Boogie, I made this statement regarding roller skating champ Jim Bray. “For an athlete tossed in front of a movie camera for the first time, his acting is okay, nowhere near as bad as it could have been. One day, if I’m feeling masochistic, we’ll discuss Kurt Thomas in Gymkata and you will KNOW how bad it could have been.”

Thanks to a request by our old friend Che, that day has come. Egads.

(By the way, I was kind of shocked to look back and realize it took me over a month to deliver my last review. I have a new client at work who is going to keep me working through these rough times, but their time requirements are downright brutal. I’ll try and be quicker this time around, but I still won’t set any records. My thanks to everyone for sticking around even though my posting has had to slow up a bit.)