[Kevin Yong]

I just finished watching the final episode of the current Sherlock series over the weekend and was wondering if anyone knew if this was the first filmed attempt to put Holmes into a contemporary setting since Universal made those Holmes films in the 1940s (starring Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce) that had a WWII background with Homes taking on various Nazis, spies and saboteurs.

I remember two unrelated TV movies, one from 1987 ("The Return of Sherlock Holmes") and one from 1993 ("1994 Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns"), both of which featured a cryogenically frozen Holmes who had been revived as a fish-out-of-water story in America set in the TV movies' respective decades. Not sure if there have been other attempts at "contemporary" Holmes stories.

-- Kevin

[paw broon]

Yes, Lovejoy. Repeats have been shown here recently on a satellite channel.  As for Sherlock Holmes, there are a number of films and t.v.shows on internet archive, here:-
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=sherlock%20holmes%20AND%20collection%3Amoviesandfilms
My wife and I have been watching re-runs of Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective with Peter Davison. Originally based on the books by Leslie Thomas, which are really fun reads, this is a well done, slightly down at heel cop show.  You should be able to find it somewhere in USA.
I get slagged of a bit now and then by friends for liking Midsomer Murders but I don't mind 'cos it's good, light entertainment - and very well lit.  Now I've admitted that, some of you are welcome to join in laughing at me.

[bowers]

Lovejoy was a lot of fun. I'll be on the lookout for "Dangerous Davies"- Peter Davison is one of my favorites. I really enjoyed him in the long-ago "Campion" series and "All Creatures Great and Small". He wasn't a half-bad Doctor either. Cheers, Bowers

[narfstar]

I don't know anything about Midsummer Murders to get a laugh. Peter D had the misfortune of following the ultra popular (in the US) Tom Baker Doctor. It took me a while to get used to him but I did enjoy his run. The third Doctor is the one I just could not get into. It would be good if more non-US series and movies make it to archive for all to enjoy. There are still a lot of TV series that I have never seen a single episode of.

[CharlieRock]

Lately I've been watching Tick: Season 2 (animated) and Mythbusters. My brother likes to hang out at my house and he loves Mythbusters so I am becoming a casual fan of the series.

[Menticide]

I don't know anything about Midsummer Murders to get a laugh. Peter D had the misfortune of following the ultra popular (in the US) Tom Baker Doctor. It took me a while to get used to him but I did enjoy his run. The third Doctor is the one I just could not get into. It would be good if more non-US series and movies make it to archive for all to enjoy. There are still a lot of TV series that I have never seen a single episode of.

Hey, Pertwee is my second favorite Doctor, and yes, to illustrate a cliche, Baker is my favorite. But, Peter Davison was my third favorite, and I'm uncertain beyond that. But, Matt Smith has really won me over, and I think my wife is about kick me, because she's really only into David Tennant.

It's funny, when it comes to Doctor Who, most people's favorite is based on who they were first introduced to in the role.

[narfstar]

Often the same with James Bond. You always remember your first 

[bowers]

Does anyone know when the Doctor's next season will begin? Or even the reruns of this season? Cheers, Bowers

[Menticide]

They are supposed to start the next season in March, but I'm not sure when they'll start showing those episodes in the U.S.

[josemas]

I recently finished watching a couple of DVD collections of 1950's US television series.

Terry and the Pirates-this was a short-lived syndicated series originally broadcast in 1953.  The 16 episodes I viewed may or may not be the entire series (some sources suggest there may have been 18 episodes). 
I found the series to be a fairly faithful adaptation of the comic strip as it was then depicted by George Wunder featuring several characters from the strip such as Terry Lee, Hot Shot Charlie, Chopstick Joe, Burma and the Dragon Lady.  The regular actors playing these parts are all fine and there are some occasional interesting guest stars such as Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane from The Adventures of Superman television series) and Keye Luke ("No. 1 Son" from the Charlie Chan movies).   Another interesting note about the actors is that William Tracy, who plays Hotshot Charlie in the series, had previously played Terry Lee in the 1940 Columbia Terry and the Pirates theatrical serial.
The series, which is aimed at kids, is adequately written but shows its low budgets and suffers accordingly by confining almost all of the stories to indoor sets which is something not conducive to doing a good adventure series.

Northwest Passage-this was a 26 episode series that was originally aired in 1958-1959 by NBC.  By the mid to late 1950s most of the major film studios had decided to stop trying to fight television and instead jumped aboard and began producing series of their own.  This series was produced by the elite of studios-Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)-and shows the slickness that a major studio could bring to a production.  Another plus is that the series was produced in color as NBC was the first network to really begin pushing color series as a selling point.
The series was "sort of" a western as it was set during the French and Indian War (aka the Seven Years War) during the mid 18th century in what was then the western region of the American colonies.  The series stars were Keith Larsen, Don Burnett and Buddy Ebsen (just a couple of years before he became Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbilles) as members of Rogers' Rangers who fight the good fight against the French and Indians.
The 10 episodes on the set I watched were generally all entertaining and I would welcome viewing more of them.

Best

Joe

[bowers]

I can just barely remember watching "Terry" on TV. I do remember Terry and Hotshot were always swigging Canada Dry ginger ale. (Their sponsor) I do remember "Northwest Passage" much better. I was about 8 or 9 at the time, and had just become aware of The French and Indian War. This was a pretty cool series for a kid, but seeing some episodes later, as an adult, I noticed the acting was a bit wooden. Also a few glaring errors, such as sometimes outfitting Brit redcoats c. 1760 in Napoleanic uniforms and other stuff like that. All- in- all, I did enjoy the series. Does anybody remember a series called "The 77th Bengal Lancers"? I think it was produced in the mid-fifties. I've been looking for some episodes on DVD, but have not been successful. I did, however, find a Dell 4-Color of this series. Cheers, Bowers

[paw broon]

Don't know Bengal Lancers.  I've seen wee bits of T & Pirates and wasn't keen enough to follow that up. I think it was from the t.v.show.
Never thought to mention this before but I trust all you Dr. Who fans are keeping up with The Sarah Jane Adventures. Although done by Childrens BBC, it can still be exciting and quite thoughtful at times and Matt Smith turns up.  Not only that but Jo Grant also  co-stars in the Matt Smith 2 parter.  Go on, you know it makes sense.
Found episodes of Dragnet on the internet and have been watching now and then - they're great.

[bowers]

I think the Syfy Channel showed just a handful of Sarah Jane episodes last year- I only got to see two because they were shown very, very late at night. I did enjoy them. Cheers, Bowers

[narfstar]

If Terry and the Pirates is PD I wish someone would put them up at Archives.org

[CharlieRock]

Never thought to mention this before but I trust all you Dr. Who fans are keeping up with The Sarah Jane Adventures. Although done by Childrens BBC, it can still be exciting and quite thoughtful at times and Matt Smith turns up.  Not only that but Jo Grant also  co-stars in the Matt Smith 2 parter.  Go on, you know it makes sense.

I have been waiting for this series to come out on Netflix for the last coupla months. So far we got the whole new series of Dr. Who, Torchwood ssns 1 & 2. And a big stack of the classic series.

[josemas]

Some recent Movie Night viewings.

The Crackerjack-1925-C.C. Burr-   Johnny Hines was the star of the amusing comedy feature that was shot down in the wilds of Florida!?!  Hines, although pretty much forgotten by all but silent film buffs these days, was a very popular comedian in the 1920s and made a string of well received features throughout the decade.

Texas Cyclone-1932-Columbia-  A Tim McCoy B western with a young John Wayne and a "fairly young" Walter Brennan in supporting roles.  I've always found McCoy to be one of the more consistently dependable B-Western stars.  This film proved no exception to that observation.

Do Detective Think-1927-Roach-MGM-2 rls-   A fairly early and very funny Laurel and Hardy film.  They're still working on defining their "Stan & Ollie" characters at this point but have many of the major components in place.  I've seen this film numerous times but it never fails to get laughs from me!

That's the Spirit-1945-Universal-  An enjoyable little musical comedy fantasy with a fine cast including Jack Oakie, Peggy Ryan, Andy Devine, Gene Lockhart, Arthur Treacher, Buster Keaton, and Irene Ryan (better known later on as Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies). 

Moguls and Movie Stars-2010-   We only watched some bits from this documentary series on the history of film (currently running on TCM), at my request, because I wanted to see some of the parts where one of my Movie Night buddies was interviewed for the series. 
My friend consented to this but didn't want to sit through much more of the series than that because he had been so unimpressed with the preproduction when he filmed his bit-as apparently the series assignment was given to the lowest bidder (who knew very little about film history-"and it showed" he said, when they interviewed him) and then further had its budget cut while still under production (not a good sign!). 


Plus more episodes of the 1931 serial Battling With Buffalo Bill which continues to be light on plot and heavy on action.  In other words, a fine Saturday morning chapterplay!

Recent DVD watches

The American President-2000-  This is a documentary series of 10 one hour episodes that originally ran on PBS.  Since each episode has to cover four presidents allowing, on average, less than 15 minutes per president there isn't any great depth given to any individual.  While the series did uncover a goodly number of photos and paintings of the presidents that I had never seen I didn't learn much that I hadn't already known.  It's probably best for someone wanting an introduction to the subject.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo-2009-  I found this Swedish movie to be a pretty straightforward adaptation of Steig Larsson's excellent mystery novel.  As with most book adaptations there are pieces cut out and things are condensed but overall I thought they did pretty fair justice to the original story. Noomi Rapace was perhaps a bit too pretty as the story's unlikely protagonist Lisbeth Salander but generally quite good in the role otherwise.  Soon to be remade as a Hollywood movie.

Let the Right One In-2008-   Here's another Swedish movie recently watched.  This one has already been remade by Hollywood (as Let Me In) and is probably still playing in some theaters (I saw it just over a month ago).  It was interesting to compare the two films.  The Hollywood remake didn't stray too much the Swedish original.  There's a bit more action in the American version and the kids look more "American" but quite a number of the scenes play out almost exactly the same and both films keep their early 1980s setting.  I was surprised at how much the little apartment complex in Los Alamos, New Mexico looked like that in Sweden though.  For fans of vampire movies who are tired of the Twilight/Vampire Diaries take on the subject.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

I just watched Kick A** and really liked it.

In a totally different vein I watched the silent Dr Pickle and Mr Pride with Laurel and Hardy. These movies are best watched in double speed. All the laughs twice as fast

[josemas]

I just watched Kick A** and really liked it.

In a totally different vein I watched the silent Dr Pickle and Mr Pride with Laurel and Hardy. These movies are best watched in double speed. All the laughs twice as fast

Yeah, I enjoyed Kick-A** too when I saw it at the theaters last year.  I didn't mind the scattered deviations from the source comics as they still stayed faithful to the spirit of the story.

Silent films were shot, for the most part, with hand-cranked cameras and certain genres such as comedies, action films, and westerns were almost always cranked slower than real life speed so that when projected they would move faster and have an extra "bounce".  Anybody who transfers such films to video at a slow speed to try to make them look "natural" will literally kill them for anyone trying to watch them. 
BTW, for those unaware of it, the Dr. Pickle and Mr. Pride film which Narf references is a 1925 silent comedy short starring Stan Laurel that parodies Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

Last night we watched Final Appointment with John Bentley.  A British b-movie from the 50's and a bit of Carry on Admiral with David Tomlinson and Brian Reece (who played P.C. 49) Not part of the Carry On series and seeing it again after all those years we thought it was a bit duff.  Not going to see (or want to watch) Kick A** as I like virtually nothing by Mark Miller.  He and Frank Quitely were doing a drink and chat session in a new Glasgow G.N. shop a couple of weeks ago and it was probably well attended.  I suppose he's a decent enough wee guy but it's been a while since I chatted to him (mainly prior to his fame).  I always think his stuff is very derivative and a bit unpleasant under all that gung ho violence.  Or, perhaps he's fooling me and millions of others and is being satirical about U S A and superheroes.
Also, with so much American football on here, incl. College games, a lot of time is taken up with watching that.  Plus, the cricket test series between England and Australia is on now and although we don't have Sky, we get a highlights show every night .  Great stuff.

[josemas]

Some recent Movie Night viewings:

No Limit-1935-ATP-80 min.   C: George Formby, Florence Desmond

Look Up and Laugh-1935-ATP-79 min     C: Gracie Fields, Dougie Wakefield, Billy Nelson,

The two above films are fine examples of British musical comedies of the 1930s.  Neither of them are really classics but both are well done enjoyable examples of their type.  Formby and Fields (along with Will Hay) were the biggest British comedy stars of the 1930s and  1940s, providing many with much needed laughs during the bleak days of the Great Depression and World War II. 


Tired Businessmen-1926-Roach-Pathe-2 rls    A silent Our Gang comedy which has a lot to do with the theme of kids being cruel to each other.  That doesn't necessarily sound like perfect material for a comedy but it generally works here due to the slapstick manner in which the pranks are played.

Battling With Buffalo Bill-1931-    We're still enjoying this serial as we move toward the final chapters.  There really hasn't been a dud of a episode yet.

At the theatres lately:

Red-I've never read the graphic novel or miniseries that this movie was based on so have no idea how faithful it is to the original source but did generally like this action film which mainly stars an older crop of actors strutting their stuff including Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Brian Cox, and Richard Dreyfuss.

Nowhere Boy-I really enjoyed this biopic on the teenaged John Lennon.  The movie mainly concentrates on his complicated relationship with his Aunt, who raised him, and his actual Mother.  His emerging interest in music and the forming of the band that would eventually become the Beatles takes place only in the background of the the main story.  The film features some excellent performances by the three leads and was supposedly based on a book written by Lennon's sister but I don't know enough about his early life to say how accurate they were with the facts.

Jackass 3-I was in the mood for some slapstick and this was the closest I  could get to it at the movies the day I saw this.  Some very funny bits mixed with some that literally had me and the rest of the audience gagging and quite a few that just had me shaking my head at how stupid these guys can be.   The movie is probably best seen on a widescreen TV with a bunch of buddies while drinking some beers.  Of little interest to women.

Some DVDs recently watched:

My Super Ex-Girlfriend-2006-   C: Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson    The Lil' Missus and I watched this comedy a weekend or two ago and found it to be enjoyable Saturday night fare.

Bandolero-1968-    C: Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin, Raquel Welch, George Kennedy, Will Geer    Despite some pretty good chemistry between Stewart and Martin (playing two brother reunited some years after the American Civil War) this Western never really clicks story wise but, boy, Raquel sure looks hot (flashbacks to my youth and that poster of her in the fur bikini from 1,000,000 B. C.)!

Nothing But Trouble-1944-   Laurel and Hardy in one of their later efforts.  The boys find it easier to get work during the manpower shortage caused by WWII. Buyer beware!  Far from their best but still has its moments.

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger-   I just watched the first three episode story arc ("Beyond the Curtain of Space") from this 1954 syndicated sci-fi television show,  While clearly aimed at kids the series has better special effects than most similar such shows from that era that I have seen.  They may have been able to afford a bigger budget because nearly all of the episodes were done in these 3 episode arcs which were later combined into feature films and released theatrically thus giving the producer's more of a chance to make money off the shows.

Kolchak-2005-  This television series was the short lived revival of the Kolchak, The Night Stalker series from the 1970s (which the Lil' Missus and I rewatched a couple of years ago).  I really had a hard time getting into to it at first because it was much grimmer and totally lacked the humor of the original series (this really was not the Karl Kolchak I knew).  By the time I got to the last few episodes I was getting into it a little more but then it was over.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

Secretariat was a movie my wife and I both loved.

Tangled is another Disney classic my wife and I both loved.

True Grit was a huge disappointment. Ponderous and boring. We kept hoping it would pick up but it never did.
Bridges mumbled and no one used contractions. These rough characters talking all proper may have been meant to be cool but was really annoying. The only redeeming part of the movie was the Mattie character.

Red was a very good action flick.

Knight and Day was just OK.

Black Swan was terrible. If you like artsy fartsy you may enjoy it otherwise it was a complete downer.

How to Train Your Dragon is another great animated movie. We got it because someone on TV rated it as one of the top 5 for the year. We were not disappointed.

Skyline was an exciting movie. Don't go by most reviews. The reviewers that did not like it seemed to dislike it because they were expecting a different kind of movie. It was not about the aliens or the military effort to stop them. The movie was about a small group of characters trying to survive. Be sure to watch the end. The ending explained a lot and left me wanting a sequel. It was not perfect but my wife and I both liked it. Since it lost money we will probably never get the sequel that looks to be intended and expected. I think the sequel would have a much wider appeal based on the movies ending and potential.

[josemas]

Well this week from Christmas to New year's brought both the Doctor Who Christmas special-"A Christmas Carol" (Doctor Who style--at least I don't think the flying shark was in Dickens' original story) and the premiere of the new season of Primeval (which was rumored canceled at one time).

On DVD-

Hondo-1953-John Wayne stars in this solid western based on an early Louis Lamour novel.  Originally released in 3-D.

The Adventures of Robin Hood-Season One-(39 episodes)-1955-1956-For earlier generations Robin Hood was Douglas Fairbanks or Errol Flynn but for kids who grew up in the late 1950s he was personified by Richard Greene who starred in this very popular series which still holds up well over a half century later.

The Way West: How the West was Lost and Won 1845-1893-(4 1/2  episodes)-1995-Doing a documentary on such as vast subject as what the title suggests is a daunting task.  Film-maker Ric Burns does an admirable job as he concentrates mainly on the plains wars with the last half of the series almost exclusively on the Sioux. 

Mogambo-1953-Clark Gable remakes his earlier 1930s film-Red Dust.  Ava Gardner looks great and the film benefits quite a bit from much actual African location shooting although that at times is oddly juxtaposed next to obvious studio shot scenes.  Still I think I prefer the earlier version.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians-1964-The Lil' Missus and I watched this one on Christmas Eve.  It's low budget but actually rather goofy fun.

Fancy Pants-1950-Well I had Bob Hope and Lucille Ball for Christmas in this vintage western-comedy.

The Three Stooges Collection Volume Two 1938-1939-Since Sony finished up this series of 8 volumes collecting all 190 Three Stooges theatrical shorts I've been watching one every Saturday morning.  That means I can run through the entire canon in less than 4 years-and then start all over again!

Robin and the 7 Hoods-1964-Bing Crosby steals the film from the Rat Pack in this prohibition era gangster musical-comedy.

Huey Long-1985-This Ken Burns produced documentary was a nice follow up to the bio I read on Long last month.  Burns managed to dig up a good deal of newsreel footage as well as some self promotional films of Long's which he interposes between interviews of people who knew the Kinfish and stills of the day.   

Vamonos Con Pancho Villa-1935-My last feature of the year was this vintage Mexican feature by Fernando de Fuentes about the revolutionary years of the 1910s in Mexico.  The film follows six buddies from one small town as the battles take their toll.  The DVD also has the original censored ending-which was found on a lone battered surviving print some years back.


At the Theaters-What with the usual Holiday hassles I didn't get out to the cinemas much this month but did manage to see-

Skyline-A pretty fun alien monsters attack sci-fi film.  No big name stars.  The only actor I even recognized at all was the leading actor, Eric Balfour (who plays a supporting role on the SyFy Channel's series Haven).  It didn't do particularly well at the box office but I also heard that it was produced relatively inexpensively so it's hard to say whether or not there will be a sequel.


Some of our Movie Night viewings-

In addition to reaching the penultimate chapter of our serial Battling With Buffalo Bill we watched a slew of comedy shorts including-

The Maniac Juggler-1907-Pathe-1/2  rl-Wacky little French film.

Bachelor Buttons-1912-Vitagraph-1/2 rl-An unlikely situation for a comedy arises when John Bunny, who was probably filmdom's biggest comedy star prior to Charlie Chaplin, becomes discouraged and attempts to hang himself.  He is fortunately saved by his faithful dog.

Sin on the Sabbath-1915-L-KO-1 rl-  &  Vendetta in a Hospital-1915-L-Ko-1 rl-When Charlie Chaplin rose to stardom in 1914 several imitators started making movies wearing garb similar to the tramp clothing that Chaplin favored.  As these two films (both of which survive in incomplete form) show clothes (worn here by Billy Ritchie) do not a comedian make.

The Hair of Her Head-1915-Vitagraph-1 rl-Not all silent comedies were in the slapstick mode.  The stars of this film, Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Drew, were very popular with the public in their more genteel type of situation comedies right up until Sidney Drew's death in 1919.  On a side note- Drew was the Uncle of actor John Barrymore who, in turn, was the Grandfather of today's actress Drew Barrymore.

His One Night Stand-1917-Keystone-Triangle-1 rl-There are no stars of note in this late Keystone film (the Keystone name would be defunct within the year) which never-the-less was an enjoyable if not particularly notable one.

Fuelin' Around-1949-Columbia-2 rls-Plenty of slapsticky violence in this Shemp-era Three Stooges comedy.

So You Want to Play the Piano-1956-Warner Bros-1 rl-The Joe McDoakes comedies were one of the most successful of the late theatrical short series,  George O'Hanlon played McDoakes.  His voice will be instantly recognizable to anyone who grew up watching Hanna and Barbera's The Jetsons as the voice of George Jetson.  His wife is here played by Phyllis Coates, who essayed that role in the McDoakes comedies often after leaving the television series The Adventures of Superman.

The Big Circus-1959-This was our only  feature film viewed over the Holidays at our Movie Night gatherings.  Irwin Allen, later known for his special effects laden television and theatrical films (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants, The Poseidon Adventure, and The Towering Inferno) here tries to do his version of Cecil B. DeMille's hit circus film-The Greatest Show on Earth.  He assembles a great cast which includes Victor Mature, Red Buttons, Rhonda Fleming, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Gilbert Roland and Katherine Grant.  Unfortunately it never quite jells and there's a bit too much talk and not enough action.  Given his later reputation for delivering on special effects its especially disappointing too when, what could have been a spectacular train wreck sequence rivaling that of DeMille's, takes place almost completely off screen.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

Good to hear I was not the only one who liked Skyline. I think most would if they know what to expect. I just watched the Dr Who Christmas Carol on DVR. It was OK not a favorite but OK. I used to watch Santa Conquers the Martians every year on Chiller Theater the Saturday night scifi/horror show hosted by Chilly Billy Cardilly who was Bill Cardill who was used as the newscaster for the original Night of the Living Dead. Was a double feature but turned to single in its later years. Cardill used to do little skits like the Mighty Carson Art Players from the Tonight Show. He had a character that could not lie that we just loved. The show was often sponsored by Subaru.

[bowers]

Narf, the wife and I both agree with you on "Secretariat" and "Knight and Day". The new "Leverage" episodes were pretty good and I also caught  the Doctor Who Christmas Carol and really enjoyed it. The rest of my viewing has been catching up on DVDs. Watched several "Boston Blackie" movies - Chester Morris and his snidely humorous interpretation of Blackie is always entertaining. Also used some gift cards to pick up several used discs of the "Sharpe's Rifles" series, another favorite of mine. I also downloaded some episodes of Dick Powell's "Richard Diamond , Private Detective", for the drive to work. Several episodes of this series were written by the late Blake Edwards, and his writing is a wonderful blend of adventure and humor. Great new year to all- Cheers, Bowers

[narfstar]

My son is a big Boston Blackie fan Bowers. I probably would be but have not had a chance to watch any. I love the Sharpe series. I normally wait ten years to watch reruns but only a couple on Sharpe and could probably watch them again.