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theLilAsimov
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25 Dec 2009, 12:59 pm

Hello to all of Wrong Planet!! Merry Christmas! :)

I was wondering if anyone has seen or is going to see Sherlock Holmes today? I know I am; my mother is taking my sister and I to the movies as a holiday treat. :D


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25 Dec 2009, 2:40 pm

I think I'd like to see it, but I'm so afraid of what how Hollywood is going to treat this character; i.e., how many explosions and GC effects will they be able to fit into 19-century England (remember Wild Wild West)?



theLilAsimov
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25 Dec 2009, 3:26 pm

Yeah, I remember Wild Wild West. Despite it not being the best movie ever, it was still a piece of Steampunk film (which I am fond of the whole steampunk subgenre. :D)

I understand your concern. Hollywood is known for adding in as many explosions and other effects as possible. :lol: But! As a Sherlockian, I will see the movie. :)


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25 Dec 2009, 6:18 pm

I want very much to see this movie. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are two of my favorite actors. Of course it will be a bit over the top, but that won't bother me, the acting and the dialogue, I think, will be superb.



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25 Dec 2009, 6:40 pm

I went to the first showing at my local theatre. I thoroughly enjoyed it! :D


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25 Dec 2009, 7:38 pm

I was scouring the article database for a school assignment, and then decided to type in "asperger" to see what would come up. I've found this article:

Quote:
DEMYSTIFYING SHERLOCK HOLMES
by Rachel Abramowitz

Forget the deerstalker hat, the tweed houndstooth Inverness overcoat and the oversized magnifying glass. Sherlock Holmes in the 2009 big-budget rendition of Arthur Conan Doyle's famed detective is most certainly no sexless, stuffy, Edwardian gentleman.

In Sherlock Holmes, the detective -- as played by the turbo-speed Robert Downey Jr. -- is a bare-knuckle brawler, a martial arts devotee with a mind that whizzes along like a Ferrari and a penchant for falling into a dishevelled slough of depression between cases.

And his sidekick, Watson, now embodied by Jude Law, is no neutered, bumbling tag along either, but a military man back from the Afghan wars with a definite taste for mayhem and gambling beneath his ramrod-straight posture.

Directing the testosterone-riddled duo is Guy Ritchie, the British filmmaker best known for the kinetic, cartoonish violence promulgated in such gangster films as Snatch.

This latest depiction of Holmes is a far cry from the 200 or so previous films based on Conan Doyle's works, or the 70-plus actors who've embodied the detective. Yet, producer Lionel Wigram, who came up with the idea for the latest Holmes incarnation, insists their brash Holmes is much more akin to the Victorian original.

Wigram began rereading the books several years ago and "my big discovery was that the original stories that were written 120 years ago were more modern than the films that came after it."

Wigram also brought a modern psychology to Conan Doyle's hero, noting the antisocial detective most probably had bipolar disorder (the fits of mania followed by weeks of morosely affixing himself to the couch) as well as Asperger's syndrome, a more high-functioning form of autism. Wigram lists the traits: "his ability to fixate on one particular thing, his rather lacking social skills. He's not comfortable about people, and he doesn't read the emotional cues.

"Every single thing we have Sherlock Holmes do comes from the books," adds Wigram, who often sounds like a walking Holmes encyclopedia, able to annotate which book provided which detail for the movie.

This said, Sherlock Holmes, which hits theatres on Christmas Day, follows none of Conan Doyle's stories, which were deemed too small, but presents Holmes battling the ominous Lord Blackwood, a figure inspired by the Victorian occultist Aleister Crowley.

The screenplay was written by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham (Invictus) and Simon Kinberg (Mr. and Mrs. Smith), who came on during production to modernize Holmes by making him more mischievous and irreverent.

"I was looking at Holmes as a prototypical superhero," Kinberg says. "Before we had Batman or Spider-Man, we had someone who had superpowers, powers of perception unlike anyone else had, and also incredibly flawed vulnerabilities, that most superheroes have as well. We were trying to find ways in the action sequences to dramatize that."

Toward that end, Downey's Holmes often previsualizes his mode of attack, methodically pinpointing his opponents' weaknesses in his mind before launching his assault. That was Ritchie's idea, Kinberg says.

"That was a big part of giving him modern action but with Holmes' characteristics."

Haven't watched the movie myself yet. I'll go if someone else agrees to come with me.


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25 Dec 2009, 8:04 pm

It's a pretty common train of thought from various professionals that he has AS in the books.



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25 Dec 2009, 8:08 pm

MathGirl wrote:
I'll go if someone else agrees to come with me.


Why do you need someone to go with you? I'm genuinely interested, as many people say they'd never be caught dead going to the movies by themselves, and they don't give a sound reason.

I go by myself if it's something I want to see.



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25 Dec 2009, 9:04 pm

Danielismyname wrote:
MathGirl wrote:
I'll go if someone else agrees to come with me.

Why do you need someone to go with you? I'm genuinely interested, as many people say they'd never be caught dead going to the movies by themselves, and they don't give a sound reason.

I go by myself if it's something I want to see.
It's not directly tied to my special interests, that's why. I guess I'm not that interested in seeing it, then. I had no problem seeing Adam all by myself. :P
But if anyone invites me to watch it with them, I'll happily come along.

I guess it's a characteristic of being an extrovert. I spend ample amounts of time alone only because of my special interests. If I had the opportunity to spend hours with people only discussing and exploring my special interest, I would definitely choose to do that over spending time on my own.


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theLilAsimov
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25 Dec 2009, 10:29 pm

I saw it at 4:10, and I loved it! Robert Downey, Jr. played a superb Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law was just as excellent of a Watson. :) I am definitely going to buy it on DVD. Despite the twist of Irene Adler being in it, it still was amazing. ^_^


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theLilAsimov
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25 Dec 2009, 10:32 pm

MathGirl wrote:
I was scouring the article database for a school assignment, and then decided to type in "asperger" to see what would come up. I've found this article:

Quote:
DEMYSTIFYING SHERLOCK HOLMES
by Rachel Abramowitz

Forget the deerstalker hat, the tweed houndstooth Inverness overcoat and the oversized magnifying glass. Sherlock Holmes in the 2009 big-budget rendition of Arthur Conan Doyle's famed detective is most certainly no sexless, stuffy, Edwardian gentleman.

In Sherlock Holmes, the detective -- as played by the turbo-speed Robert Downey Jr. -- is a bare-knuckle brawler, a martial arts devotee with a mind that whizzes along like a Ferrari and a penchant for falling into a dishevelled slough of depression between cases.

And his sidekick, Watson, now embodied by Jude Law, is no neutered, bumbling tag along either, but a military man back from the Afghan wars with a definite taste for mayhem and gambling beneath his ramrod-straight posture.

Directing the testosterone-riddled duo is Guy Ritchie, the British filmmaker best known for the kinetic, cartoonish violence promulgated in such gangster films as Snatch.

This latest depiction of Holmes is a far cry from the 200 or so previous films based on Conan Doyle's works, or the 70-plus actors who've embodied the detective. Yet, producer Lionel Wigram, who came up with the idea for the latest Holmes incarnation, insists their brash Holmes is much more akin to the Victorian original.

Wigram began rereading the books several years ago and "my big discovery was that the original stories that were written 120 years ago were more modern than the films that came after it."

Wigram also brought a modern psychology to Conan Doyle's hero, noting the antisocial detective most probably had bipolar disorder (the fits of mania followed by weeks of morosely affixing himself to the couch) as well as Asperger's syndrome, a more high-functioning form of autism. Wigram lists the traits: "his ability to fixate on one particular thing, his rather lacking social skills. He's not comfortable about people, and he doesn't read the emotional cues.

"Every single thing we have Sherlock Holmes do comes from the books," adds Wigram, who often sounds like a walking Holmes encyclopedia, able to annotate which book provided which detail for the movie.

This said, Sherlock Holmes, which hits theatres on Christmas Day, follows none of Conan Doyle's stories, which were deemed too small, but presents Holmes battling the ominous Lord Blackwood, a figure inspired by the Victorian occultist Aleister Crowley.

The screenplay was written by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham (Invictus) and Simon Kinberg (Mr. and Mrs. Smith), who came on during production to modernize Holmes by making him more mischievous and irreverent.

"I was looking at Holmes as a prototypical superhero," Kinberg says. "Before we had Batman or Spider-Man, we had someone who had superpowers, powers of perception unlike anyone else had, and also incredibly flawed vulnerabilities, that most superheroes have as well. We were trying to find ways in the action sequences to dramatize that."

Toward that end, Downey's Holmes often previsualizes his mode of attack, methodically pinpointing his opponents' weaknesses in his mind before launching his assault. That was Ritchie's idea, Kinberg says.

"That was a big part of giving him modern action but with Holmes' characteristics."

Haven't watched the movie myself yet. I'll go if someone else agrees to come with me.



That is freakingly excellent article, madam. I'm a die hard Sherlockian fan at heart. :) I thank you for quoting it; it made my Christmas even better.


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26 Dec 2009, 1:55 am

I saw it today! I really enjoyed it. I have only read a couple Sherlock Holmes stories, maybe I should read more. :3 I can't remember, is he supposed to be all tough like that? XD It seemed a little weird at first but I still got into it.
I have to see it again to see if it makes sense though. I can never make sense of those mystery-type movies the first time I see them.


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26 Dec 2009, 6:35 am

I just saw it and thought it was pretty good. While quite a bit of it was predictable, I did enjoy it. The only issue I had was Holmes having a love interest...it just doesn't seem right, somehow. :scratch: :shrug: I will say that I thought there were several elements of his character that were quite close to the literary version I recall; I even noticed several lines or references from the original stories.

wigglyspider wrote:
I can't remember, is he supposed to be all tough like that?


There was at least one story (I can't recall the title) where reference was made to Holmes' abilities as a boxer, and that he was good enough to have done it professionally and been successful. In "The Adventure of the Empty House" (I think that's the name) Holmes mentions that he had studied baritsu, which is believed to be a typo of bartitsu, a Victorian-era version of mixed martial arts.



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26 Dec 2009, 9:23 am

steelback wrote:
I think I'd like to see it, but I'm so afraid of what how Hollywood is going to treat this character; i.e., how many explosions and GC effects will they be able to fit into 19-century England (remember Wild Wild West)?


I saw it, and there were definitely quite a few explosions. I still liked it overall, though. Other people in my family didn't like it as much, and were surprised when I said I would probably buy it on DVD.


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26 Dec 2009, 10:15 am

DarrylZero wrote:
I just saw it and thought it was pretty good. While quite a bit of it was predictable, I did enjoy it. The only issue I had was Holmes having a love interest...it just doesn't seem right, somehow. :scratch: :shrug:

It was also done in "The Seven Percent Solution," though at least they kept it till the end and explained it pretty well. Romance is almost obligatory in the film industry, regardless of the facts or the original story :( It sells, especially to neurotypical women.



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26 Dec 2009, 10:41 am

cosmiccat wrote:
I want very much to see this movie. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are two of my favorite actors. Of course it will be a bit over the top, but that won't bother me, the acting and the dialogue, I think, will be superb.

I'm looking forward to it aswell! but I live in France and definitely do NOT want to see the dubbed version, so will have to wait till the DVD is out. :(

Sherlock Holmes has been one of my heroes since I was 10, and even if the film has completely left the planet in terms of story line etc, I like you, love Robert Downey Jr, and the sort of intelligent wisecracking he and Law seem to indulge in, acc to the trailer anyway.

Totally agree with what people have said about Holmes probably being a manic-depressive aspie character. :)

.