Jr. is on the Case

I must admit that I am awaiting the new Sherlock Holmes movie with fear and trembling. My apprehensive fear is caused by Guy Ritchie and my hopeful trembling is caused by Robert Downey Jr. I will begin with Guy Ritchie, who has stated that he is trying to give this film as modern look as possible while maintaining a Victorian feel. His hope is that the audience will find a more contemporary Sherlock Holmes in this film. I worry that there may be too much bang for it's buck. Mysteries are about the subtle unfolding of a story, not smashing and crashing. Give the people what they want, I suppose! This being said, when Robert Downey Jr. is added to the mix anything can happen.
I have not been a Robert Downey Jr. fan until recently, and have found myself wandering through his past films with enjoyable results. When it comes to a Robert Downey Jr. film I can never determine if I liked the film or not, but always enjoy him. This was definitely the case with his film Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang; if it hadn't have been for Jr's humor, I probably would hated the film. Again, with Ironman, the plot was fairly formulaic, but Jr. kinda stole the show. I find it rather ironic that an american icon will be playing a British icon. Jr. has the potential to turn Sherlock Holmes into a sex symbol; strange yes, but not surprising in a Guy Ritchie film.
I love a good Sherlock Holmes story, and the Robert Downey Jr. of late has wooed me, but the more I learn about the film the more I fear for it (especially the fact that Rachel McAdams will be playing alongside Jr). Don't get me wrong, I think this movie is going to be a huge blockbuster hit, and I'm sure Robert Downey Jr. will twist and turn every cliche we think we know about Sherlock. I'm looking forward to this case!

What do you think?

Sherlock Holmes currently has no rating on RT.

Master of Macabre

Tim Burton's films have a strange mysterious pull on audiences. To say he has a dark sense of humor would be an understatement. Vanity Fair recently wrote an article on the director entitled, "Death Becomes Him." Perhaps this statement best sums up the director. He is truly in his element when delving into the darker side of life. What is fascinating about Burton, is that he successfully walks the fine line between, the dark genre of gothic, and the candy coated world of Disney. In fact, his early career began at Disney working on the failed animated telling of The Black Cauldron, at the time thought to be too dark for Disney. Perhaps the world was not ready for Burton form of storytelling, yet Disney would return to Burton for his film Nightmare Before Christmas. Burton now has a eclectic assortment of films, that all seem to share a morbid, fantasy quality. Although Burton's films unabashedly enter into darkness, the audience is always shown a glimmer of hope and beauty; perhaps not a traditional sense of beauty, but beauty nevertheless. This is particularly true of his early film Edward Scissorhands, that forged Burton's gothic niche, and was effortless in its ability to captivate in its audience. This film was funny, quirky, morbid, and surprisingly poignant; bringing us to another magical element of his film: the cast. The director surrounds himself with muses who often look like they have walked off his sketchbook. Burton's filmic successes often share one thing: Johnny Depp, whose elegant scarecrow looks lend themselves to his characters. More recently in Barber of Seville, Depp showed the world another of his many talents, his singing voice: the beauty among the darkness. Johnny Depp many be Burton's lucky charm but his true muse is gothic queen herself, Helen Bonham Carter. Despite the fact that Depp and Boham Carter are often a whimsical couple onscreen, offscreen it is the director who holds the heart of the queen. Although they are probably not the most popular couple in hollywood, they certainly do make bed head look chic. Both Johnny Depp and Helen Bonham Carter, have an amazing gift for caricature. These two acotrs also give life to Burton stop motion characters, by lending their voices. In keeping with the proper custom, Carter and Depp will once again be featured in the upcoming film Alice in Wonderland. His newest film will take a step towards the digital world of animation, with its blending of live action and digital overlay. This version of the familiar tale will not surprisingly be a rather untraditional telling, as he creates a new story using character from both of Lewis Caroll's books: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.
Burton's stop motion films are always delicately crafted; a perfect art form to describe the worlds that he imagines.
Tim Burton's work is currently on display at the MoMa Gallery in New York. Those lucky enough to see the exhibit, will be treated to hand sketches of concept art, storyboards from previous films, and character sculptures used in some of his stop motion films.
He truly is the master of macabre, constantly returning to the world of fairytales as the source for his storytelling. It is excited to think what Tim Burton's imagination will create next.

Tim Burton's films have received an average rating of 83% on RT.

What do you think?

Hunt for Oscar

The hunt for this year's Oscar host continues. Apparently this role isn't quite so coveted as it use to be. Although the gig was once again offered to last year's host Hugh Jackman, he politely refused. Ricky Gervais, another hopefully, has taken on that role for the Golden Globes. As well, both Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. have declined the offers.

I'm going to throw a couple names out there: Johnny Depp, Clive Owen, Bill Murray.
What about a female hostess?

Who would you choose to host the 2010 Oscars?

The 82nd Oscar awards take place March 7th, 2010. Synchronizing watches now!