Sherlock. Series 2, Episode 1: "A Scandal in Belgravia"

The best way to start the new year is, of course, Benedict Cumberbatch. Y'all don't know how long I've waited for this. I even had to wait longer than the British audience, since the Philippines crosses the date line eight hours before England. Thank God I read the entire Holmes canon by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle during the holidays, mainly to keep me occupied, but also because I wanted to identify each and every allusion they throw at me this time.

"Oh, you can throw the canon out the window."

Thank you, Messrs. Moffat and Gatiss, for giving us something even better than the first series. A lot of folks on Tumblr would also be extremely grateful for giving them loads of shipping materials that would last them until 2013 (and when I say "shipping", I don't mean the one that goes in the water). It's probably become quite clear now that John Watson (Martin Freeman) is not gay, since he's gone through a string of lovers already, the latest being the lovely Ms. Oona Chaplin, but I don't think she'll be back for the next episode. Too bad also for Sarah, who was Watson's squeeze in the first season. I liked her.

"Wait, who said I'm gay?"

But Sherlock's sexual preference still leaves a cloud of doubt. Is he gay? The fact that he's never had any romantic relationship isn't really conclusive proof of that. And the fact that he went out of his way to save "The Woman" isn't conclusive proof of the contrary, either. Too bad, though. I just loved all their scenes together, with sexual tension so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. Too bad Irene Adler makes only one appearance in the canon, which means that Lara Pulver would also probably make only one appearance in the series.

One appearance that was totally worth it.

So, is Sherlock gay? Is Mycroft married, because he has a ring on his finger? Is Irene Adler alive? Frankly, I don't know, and I don't really care.

This applies to everyone who loves this show.

Sherlock (Series 2). UK. 2012.



Eight and a half out of ten.



*some info from IMDb
GIFs by Sue Denim




You may also want to check out the review of Sherlock Series 1.

Sherlock. Series 1

What do both Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have in common, aside from both being writers of Doctor Who, and proper Whovians in themselves? The answer is that they are both big fans of Arthur Conan Doyle, and the ones who came up with the idea of putting the Conan Doyle's famous creation smack in the middle of second millennium-London.

This is the first time I've actually encountered a TV show with only three episodes per series ("season" in the US), with each episode lasting 90 minutes. I'm familiar with the 6-, 12-, and 24-episode series, but not this. Anyway, I'm not complaining. I just wanted to mention that I learned something new from the Brits. Yet again.

This first series came out in mid-2010, and fans had to wait a year and a half for series 2. Blame it on Peter Jackson, whose film The Hobbit created scheduling conflicts for Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo Baggins, and maybe Benedict Cumberbatch as well, who voices the dragon Smaug. But the BBC decided to start the year right, by bringing series 2 on New Year's Day itself, creating the grand fireworks display between Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler.

But before we go onto the review of the first episode of series 2, here is a recap of the entire first series. Clicking on the episode title links back to the original review, which is actually already here, so it wouldn't be necessary to click it. Unless you want to give this blog more hits, then by all means, click away.


1. "A Study in Pink"

I've been a fan of Sherlock Holmes since grade school. Although I admit, I haven't read the entire canon. But I've read quite a lot. And if you've been a fan of Holmes for some time now, you'll recognize the title from A Study in Scarlet.

Then you get to the part where Sherlock asks John:

"Afghanistan or Iraq?"

The Fallen of Twenty-Eleven

First, a pat on the back for a great rhyming title. Autofistbump! (Au·to·fist·bump noun \ˌä-(ˌ)tō-ˈfist-bəmp\ The act of bumping your closed left fist with your closed right fist.)

Now here is everyone we lost for the last year before the Mayan end of the world. The name links to the original obituary as it appeared on this blog. If the name doesn't link to anything, then there was no obituary composed for that person. Obviously.

Paquito Diaz

28 May 1937 - 3 March 2011

The Top 11 12 of 2011

And 2011 comes to a close. We now reach the much-awaited year of the Mayan calendar when the Himalayas will drown in a great wave and the earth will be repopulated with the sperm of John Cusack.

Anyway, I would like to apologize to Philippine Cinema for not patronizing you too much this year. I didn't have too much money to spend on movies, and when I did, I went for the 3D films. I'm sorry, really. I hope to watch more Filipino movies in 2012. Which is why I am hoping my friend Cris will get to work on that MTRCB deputy card. I designed her wedding invitation in exchange for this, and I really hope she honors our arrangement. Okay, let me be more blatant: Cris, if you're reading this, where's my MTRCB deputy card? Philippine Cinema needs our reviews.

Okay, so the films in this list were chosen for their rating. For films with multiple reviews, the mean average rating is considered. And that is why I keep reminding my co-writers on this blog to include a rating, if only for the sake of the year-end Top 12.

I would have wanted to do a Top 11 for 2011, just so it rhymes. But there were actually 7 films tied for the bottom slot, which would make it 14 films total. So I decided to just drop two films and end up with a Top 12 list, as always. So to find out which films would be cut, I consulted Rotten Tomatoes (no relation, despite us both having the word "tomato") and used their tomato-meter to rank these films. I ended up dropping 30: Minutes or Less and Cowboys & Aliens, much as I wanted to include the latter for its homegrown Filipino cinematographer, Mr. Matthew Libatique.

Again, this list is limited to 1) films reviewed on this blog; and 2) films released locally and internationally this year. Great films such as The Help are sadly excluded, because although it was released in the States in 2011, it will only hit Philippine theaters next year. And yes, we do condone file sharing.

Before we begin, let me remind you that the title links back to the original review. All rightey then, let's begin with...

(Five-way tie)

7. X-Men: First Class

"Not that way, Fassbender!"

People who love shipping straight men will have a field day here, shipping the young Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr until you throw up from bromance overdose. But the real life BAMF here is Azazel, who is Nightcrawler's father. Why? Because when he teleports, he goes "bamf!" Get it? Okay, people who never read the comic books won't get that one.

Doctor Who. "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe"

Best. Tree. Ever.

From the title alone, you already know that this is an allusion to C.S. Lewis. But I really don't know why they chose The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to represent Christmas. It's got to be more than just the snow.

That little kid has pretty poor eyesight, with lenses like that. And the little sister, played by Holly Earl, is kind of pretty. Even her name is Christmas-y. ♪ Deck the halls with boughs of holly ♫

Like a younger and prettier Helena Bonham Carter.

Now you might have noticed that everytime I review a work penned by Steven Moffat, I kind of always gush like a fanboy. That's because Moffat's stories are always brilliant. This is the second Doctor Who Christmas special that I've seen, and this is also the second one that made me cry. So that's two for two. Brilliant.

I was a bit disheartened when the opening credits flashed and I didn't see the names of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill. But it's Christmas, and Steven Moffat knows this. And here is his gift to me:

"It's Christmas, you moron."

*some info from Wikipedia



You also might want to check out the reviews for Doctor Who Series 1, Series 2, Series 4, Series 5, and Series 6.

Warrior

When you have a two-character narrative, and you pit them against each other, who will win? The more interesting character, or the one with the better story arc?

The one with the bigger fan base.

The more interesting character I'm talking about here is Tom Hardy, who plays Tommy, the ex-Marine who "ripped off the doors of a tank". Literally.

Anyone who punches that fast can surely
rip off the doors of a tank.

DJ Earworm. United State of Pop 2011: "World Go Boom"

Listening to DJ Earworm's annual mash-up has become a tradition since 2009. Without further ado, here is the product of a whole year's worth of pop music.

I'm pretty sure that was Andrew Garfield in one of the shots. Now what in heaven's name is he doing there?



*video from DJ Earworm on YouTube




You may also want to check out DJ Earworm's mash-ups for 2009 and 2010. 

Contagion

This is another one of those films which I watched without having any idea about it whatsoever. Any preliminary impressions I might have had came from the title alone.

This film was also produced by Image Nation, which is a company based in Abu Dhabi. So I believe we can expect Arab wealth to find its way into Hollywood in the near future.

So anyway, my first thought was, "Contagion? Sounds like some sort of virus. Maybe it's a zombie movie or something." Because that's typically how zombie movies start. There's some sort of killer virus in the beginning, then it begins to mutate and spread, then brat-tat-tat-tat, you get machine gun fire, then blood and gore, and before you know it, it's a full-blown zombie apocalypse.

But not this film.

Yes, this one's about a virus, and a killer virus at that. Except this one centers on the human drama. Well, not just centers, but more of focuses entirely on the human drama. What happens when a killer virus strikes? How does humanity react? And this chronicles humanity's reaction on all levels. The plot absolutely does not take a zombie apocalypse direction.

What makes this film work as a drama is the extremely talented ensemble. This is like a Dream Team for the acting department. Here are the starters (in alphabetical order), who all have Acadamy Award trophies which they can use to bash your head in.

Marion Cotillard

She is so beautiful, she looks great
in any hairstyle.

Matt Damon

(who by the way does not have an acting Oscar)

"I don't care."

Gwyneth Paltrow

"Asdajijcapemajapinc"

and

Kate Winslet

"Hmm?"

Next we have two reserves, who have no Oscar trophies, but who have been nominated at some point in their lives.

Laurence Fishburne

Morpheus can whoop your ass
while drinking coffee.

and

Jude Law

"I was nominted twice."

By the time the film ended, which was when everyone had the cure injected up their nasal cavity, I thought "Well, this is a pretty decent film. It's quite good, actually." And then the end credits flash.

Okay. That explains everything.

And on a final note: Jennifer Ehle has a very pretty face.

"I know, right?"

Contagion. USA/UAE. 2011.


Rating: Seven point nine out of ten.




*some info from IMDb

Terra Nova. Episode 10: "Within"

This episode is basically just a set-up for the next one. They found out who the spy was. It’s Bucket. Sorry, it’s Skye. Her nickname's actually Bucket, and I think it would be better if we had a bucket over her head the entire season.

"Duh, I'm the prettiest girl here."

There is, however, a cute girl in the hospital.

"I mean, why use my beauty toward
the end of the season?"

Bottom line is, Lucas has finished his equations.

Complete nonsense.

And now the portal can go both ways. Like I said, it’s just pretty much a set-up for the next episode.

And you all know what's coming.

*some info from Wikipedia

Raiders of the Lost Ark

If you've seen The Adventures of Tintin by Steven Spielberg, you've probably already heard of the story of how he acquired the rights to redo the Tintin books on film. Since the anecdote would require effort on my part to paraphrase, let me just lift it directly from Wikipedia:

Spielberg has been an avid fan of The Adventures of Tintin comic books, which he discovered in 1981 when a review compared Raiders of the Lost Ark to Tintin. His secretary bought him French-language editions of each book, but Spielberg did not have to understand them: he immediately fell in love with its art.

This then renewed my interest in the Indiana Jones films, which I've loved ever since I was a kid. In fact, at one point in my life, I wanted to be an archaeologist, especially after The Last Crusade and Jurassic Park. That's another Spielberg film. It might be safe to say that half of my childhood fantasies were directly or indirectly influenced by Steven Spielberg.

Anyway, this review will try and see what it was about Raiders which prompted the French to cry "rip-off!"