Movie Review: "Sherlock Holmes" 12/25/09

This is a movie review for "Sherlock Holmes", released December 25, 2009.



Trailer

Cast

Robert Downey Jr.          Sherlock Holmes
Jude Law                          Doctor John Watson
Rachel McAdams            Irene Adler
Mark Strong                    Lord Henry Blackwood
Eddie Marsan                  Lieutenant Lestrade



Plot
Crime in London and the brilliant Sherlock Holmes is called to the case. He stops a ritual murder and catches a criminal. This criminal, Lord Blackworth, is sentenced to death but insists on talking to Holmes before the hanging. Things get weird after the hanging (rising from the dead, a dead redheaded dwarf, chemistry, dark magic, etc). Can Holmes solve the case before the country falls?



Rating Criteria
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around. – characters, music, theme, story line, etc.


3/5 - Where to start? It took me two times to be able to fully watch and critique this movie. I'm not joking. Mr. Downey Jr is wonderful in this movie but it was over my head. The stuff is all explained at the end, like a typical Sherlock Holmes tale does, but I had a hard time keeping up the first round.

The first time I watched this, I was very disappointed in the movie. Irene, Watson's fiance and the chambermaid that finds Holmes locked up make women look terrible. Like, to the point of either women are weak and stupid, victims of the criminals or just flavor added to the storyline. I understand that the Holmes stories didn't focus on women because this was before the women's rights movement but... That was the main reason I had issues with the movie. Irene was so much of a distraction that I couldn't focus on the plotline! Okay, I get it that she was there to distract Holmes, which didn't work (spoilers but it is Holmes!), but it did distract me.

I couldn't understand the plotline through the first round but the end told how the plot worked, so the second time made more sense. The second time through, the women were merely additions to the story but still Irene was there to distract. The other women (Watson's fiance and the chambermaid) were low priority but at least Watson's fiance tried to keep Holmes on the case.

Plotline after the second viewing made sense and yet it takes a lot to catch it. Dark magic? Not so much. More of using chemistry to cause an illusion of magic, which is caught by Holmes of course.


This movie is complex to the point of I'm just going to shrug and tell you that if you like mystery and whodunnit and inspector movies, try it but don't be surprised if you can't understand it the first try. If you can, I congratulate you! Otherwise, this might not be the best movie for you. Not suggested for children, but with supervision might be okay for children? Violence, magic, death/murder, etc is all over this movie so it is up to your discretion.


Oh, music soundtrack of this movie is WONDERFUL! I highly recommend listening to at least the music of this movie.


YouTube Sherlock Holmes 2009 Soundtrack List




Thanks for reading my review! More reviews to come eventually, including Thor: Dark World (2013), Dream House (2011), and Geostorm (2017).

~ Gracie DeLunac


Contact me?

Twitter @gracie_delunac
Email graciemaedelunac@yahoo.com
Facebook https://facebook.com/GracieMaeDeLunac/







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Movie Review: "Hair" 05/09/79

This is a movie review for "Hair", released May 9, 1979.


Trailer

Cast
John Savage                Claude Hooper Bukowski
Treat Williams           George Berger
Beverly D'Angelo        Sheila Franklin
Annie Golden              Jeannie Ryan
Dorsey Wright            LaFayette aka Hud
Don Dacus                   Woof




Plot

Claude Bukowski has been drafted for the war and he wants to visit the sights of New York before he has to go overseas. He meets a group of hippies that changes his life and also meets a girl (of higher class) that he falls for. What is this country boy going to do with this alternative style of living and is he going to go perform his duty to the military?





Rating Criteria

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around. – characters, music, theme, story line, etc.



2.5/5 - This is a weird movie, even for one put out in the 1970s. Of course, it probably wasn't meant to be very straightforward but it was really weird. Not much to say about it, honestly.

This is a musical, adapted from the Broadway show. I have never seen the show but found the music strange/interesting/wtf and the video weird/wtf. Here's a few clips that I found interesting.

*SPOILERS* Not for children, by the way.

"Sodomy" - Claude just saw Sheila for the first time and she acted like a high-society snob so the group decides to go horseback riding to tease them a bit.

"I Got Life" - Claude and the gang decide to crash a party at Sheila's because Claude has a crush on her.

"Hair" - After getting booked for crashing the party at Sheila's, Berger convinces Claude to loan him the money to get himself out because he knows connections that would be able to give him money to post bail for all of them. Woof goes crazy about them cutting his hair, which starts another song.

"Hare Krishna" - Claude just took LSD and is dreaming about knocking up Sheila and marrying her so he could get out of the draft. Definitely the most WTF part of the movie.

"Black Boys/White Boys" - Another WTF part. Claude goes to do his enlistment after the group embarrasses Sheila (she went swimming in her undies, with Claude, and they stole her clothes and purse). It was his last night before reporting for duty so he went to report. This is what happens... And both women and men (the military recruitment board) are singing about their preferences towards black boys then white boys. Like I said, hard to take this movie at face value.

"Let The Sunshine In" - After receiving a letter from Claude, Berger gets a crazy idea to go from New York to Nevada so he can see his friends one last time. But Claude can't just not be there so Berger decides to do a crazy thing for his friend (showing his character development) by cutting his hair, hijacking an officer, getting into the camp in the officer's uniform and car, swapping uniforms with Claude and standing in as his replacement. As Claude rushes back to return to his rightful spot, the call comes in for their unit to move out and Berger (Claude's replacement) is swept along with the unit before the swap to right the swap can be done. We see from later that he, along with SO many others, died in the Vietnam war [somehow labeled in HIS name not Claude's]. This is what war does... Grab your tissues and feel the gut wrench.

Anyways, if you don't like musicals, this movie isn't for you. You probably got that with all of the clips in this review, huh? I, however, found it to be interesting and strange overall. I wouldn't be opposed to suggesting this movie but I know that I have no intent or interest in watching this again. I think it did a better job at showing the emotional tear at those that were drafted and the heartbreak that the nation felt after war, especially after the Vietnam war.


Thanks for reading my review. More reviews are always on the way, just not quick enough when I have no internet nor time and when I keep watching more movies (lol). A few reviews in the future, for tease: Sherlock Holmes (2009), Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963), Thor: Dark World (2013), Geostorm (2017) and many others. At this moment, my list had 10 reviews to write up [yay], so keep an eye out!

Thanks!


~ Gracie DeLunac

Contact me?

Twitter @gracie_delunac
Email graciemaedelunac@yahoo.com
Facebook https://facebook.com/GracieMaeDeLunac




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