On July 25th of 2010, the first episode of the BBC drama, Sherlock, was aired. A Study in Pink it was titled, a nod to the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story and the original Sherlock Holmes' first adventure with Dr. Watson, A Study in Scarlet. Pink was followed by two more episodes, The Blind Banker and The Great Game. The first season of Sherlock received much attention from both the U.K. and the U.S. Not long after, the go-ahead was given for a second season to be aired in 2012. Season Two consisted of A Scandal in Belgravia, The Hounds of Baskerville, and finally The Reichenbach Fall. With an enormous cliff-hanger in the season finale, fans are left waiting until summer of 2013 for a resolution.
Then, September 27th of 2012, the world was introduced the CBS crime-drama, Elementary. Sherlock fans everywhere groaned collectively. So far, six episodes of the show have been aired, with more to come. So far, Elementary has received relatively positive critical reviews, with Metacritic giving the show a 73% based on 29 "generally favorable" popular reviews. ^ "Elementary: Season 1". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. http://www.metacritic.com/tv/elementary/critic-reviews.
But its number of U.S. viewers has been declining episodically, with an initial 13.41 million viewers for the pilot, and eventually retiring down from 11.13 to 10.91 to 10.31 million for the fourth and most recent episode, Rat Race. The fifth episode will air on November 1st.
Finally, a poll by entertainmentwise.com shows that 6.16% prefer Elementary over Sherlock, while 93.84% voted vice versa, placing Sherlock far above Elementary.
Allow me to explain why I have presented you with the facts I have. I am, if you haven't yet figured it out, a Sherlock Holmes fanatic. Not just of the BBC show, but also of the Robert Downey, Jr. film adaptation and, most of all, the original works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I like to think that I know Sherlock Holmes very, very well. I've been a fan for many years now, beginning with my first reading of the Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, which I have since reread twice. Then, I saw Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law take on the role of the Victorian-era consulting detective and his loyal biographer. RDJ added more of an action-adventurer feel to it, a popular ingredient in today's films. RDJ's Holmes, however, still retained every bit of the classic Bohemian's arrogance, intelligence, and unfailing loyalty. Then, only a few months ago, I came across BBC's Sherlock series on Netflix. In three short nights I had devoured all three, 90-minute episodes. Very much impressed, I quickly jetted over to iTunes in order to purchase the full second season in HD. Only a week later, I had watched the full series on my iPad. I have since watched them a second time. Then, mere weeks later, Elementary was introduced to the airwaves. I, for weeks before it was shown, had been denouncing Elementary with everything I had. As far as I was concerned, no adaptation of my favorite book, film, and television character could be successful with such mangling as was given to Elementary.
"Watson is a girl?!" I cried. "Blasphemy!"
Not to mention New York. Spider-man stops crime in New York. The Avengers take down criminals in New York. The NYPD put men behind bars. Not Sherlock Holmes. He belongs in London, on Baker Street, pacing 221B, in a dressing gown, smoking a pipe, bemoaning the idiocy of those around him, and pondering the sheer intelligence of Professor James Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime.
But my arguments against the appeal of Elementary were lacking. I could only base them off a thirty-second TV spot. However, the second I found the pilot episode to be free on iTunes, I quickly downloaded it. That night, I sat down, grinning mischieveiously to myself, anxious to begin denouncing every place CBS got it wrong. How surprised I was when I was able to watch through the first ten-minutes of the episode with nothing to scoff at, besides the obvious Dr. Joan Watson. But I still had 35 minutes of material left. Believe me when I say, I was scrutinizing every word Johnny Lee Miller said, cross-referencing it against every bit of Holmesian knowledge I had at my disposal. I wasn't wasting my time. As the credits began rolling, I sat back, thinking hard and analyzing every second of the show. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed. I had been desperately wanting to be proven wrong; I was begging CBS to give me something Sherlock to whet my appetite until Benedict Cumberbatch of BBC's adaptation returned. But they let me down; big time. Thus, the reason for this blog post. But, as it is unraveling to be much longer than I had anticipated, it will now become a two-part argument. This will become the introduction. Tomorrow's post will be the main piece. In part two, I will break down both shows and compare the pros and cons of each.
Until then,
~Ian James~
Yesterday, I found myself in the mood for some good Italian eats and, having had a certain restaurant recommended to me by a good friend, I decided to head downtown the the newly opened Pasta Stravagante. Pasta Stravagante, Italian for "extravagant pasta", is seated in the perfect neighborhood. Arriving at 17:30 on an early summer night set the mood very well. The setting sun cast an orange glow upon the bricks adorning the face of the pasta eatery, as well as a beautiful reflection on the river situated behind the restaurant. As soon as I walked through the door, I was assaulted with many first impressions and, as those are the most important, I took my time to soak it all in. For a downtown, just-opened restaurant, the decor wasn't bad. The obvious vegetable paintings were hung on the wall; tomato, celery, onion... all done in a classical oil-painting style. This, along with ceramic chef statuettes, gave the place a decidedly American feel, as no eatery in Italy would be caught dead with such decorations on display. But decoration isn't everything. People come here to eat, after all, not to sit and stare at a porcelain chef wielding whisk and mixing bowl.
After being shown to my seat, (I chose an indoor table, although outside tables overlooking the river were available.) I proceeded to examine the menu. It was chiefly composed of pasta, but this came as no surprise, nor was it amiss. Raviolis, tortellinis, macaronis, fettuchinis, and of course spaghettis dominated the pages, in coordination with a monster amount of sauces and ingredients. White sauces, red sauces, light sauces, heavy sauces; all were present. Shrimp, chicken, beef, and pork each took their places among the dishes as well. A good amount of kid's meals were included in the restaurant's available fare, too. Drinks were served in good number, to include wine, soda, beer, and assorted umbrella beverages. A Coca-Cola sat on the table as I scoured the menu once more in an attempt to find which dish would give me the best feel as to how this eatery's food was to be rated. The waiter recommended to me the Italian Sausage Fettuchini with Cream Sauce, but I ended up choosing the simple, yet seemingly elegant, Spaghetti with Red Meat Sauce. One thing that was certainly in Pasta Stravagante's favor was the English menu. Instead following in the footsteps of Olive Garden and others with an Italian menu that makes you feel stupid and uncultured while ordering, Pasta Stravagante gave straightforward, English titles to their dishes. How many times, I lament, have a been at a restaurant, ordered and then have the waiter correct my pronunciation? Not a good way to go. Pasta Stravagante managed to keep things simple, and rightfully so.
While waiting for my food, I sat back and looked around the room. While I was doing so, strains of Frank Sinatra reached my ears. I payed more attention and, sure enough, I was hearing "Luck Be A Lady" emanating from a speaker in the corner of the ceiling. As time passed, other similar favorites sweetened the airwaves, including the well-known "Lazy Mary" sung by the even better-known Lou Monte of said fame. This particular song got me smiling and reminiscing. But I wasn't left to myself for long, as a steaming plate of pasta was placed before me. A generous pile of spaghetti, combined with a staggering amount of red meat sauce, threatened to collapse the table. The waiter served me a helping of freshly-grated Parmesan before departing to the next table. Not wasting any time, I grabbed a fork and dug in. The pasta was well cooked, with an excellent texture that spoke of its quality. The sauce, however, was what lent the dish its perfection. A tomatoey flavor mixed with that of Chardonnay and meat and an unknown assortment of seasonings. Beyond this, the flavor became increasingly difficult to describe and much easier to wolf down.
I soon became full, and was left with enough on my plate to warrant a leftovers container. Quite satisfied, I moved on to pay my not overly large bill, grab an after-dinner mint, and step outside, full and happy. Pasta Stravagante did not fail to deliver, food-wise. Over-all, they gave me a very good experience. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good pasta dinner. It's worth it.
Its time that I get around to reviewing the newest superhero action film. Marvel's The Avengers was released into theaters May 4, 2012. The film was directed by Joss Whedon and sported a cast of stars. Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson reprised their roles as Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Black Widow respectively. Jeremy Renner (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) took on the bow and arrow of Hawkeye. In Thor, we got a small glimpse of Hawkeye, but he never actually did anything more than say a few lines. In the Avengers, he was incredible. Mark Ruffalo stepped into the shoes of Bruce Banner and the 10-ton body of the Hulk; very successfully, too, I might add. And, of course, Samuel L. Jackson is back as a determined Nick Fury.
The movie opens circling around the Tesseract, the cosmic cube, jewel of Odin's treasury. We were introduced to the Tesseract in Captain America: The First Avenger. The Red Skull used the Tesseract's galactic power as a weapon to vaporize his enemies. It was lost in the Arctic when it "consumed" the Red Skull and transported him to who knows where. Howard Stark, however, finds the cube when searching for the lost Captain America, and the cube is entrusted to S.H.E.I.L.D, a top-secret government security force, for safe-keeping. At the end of Thor, after the credits, we see Nick Fury petition Dr. Selvig, friend of Thor, to find out how it works. As we find out later in the Avenger's movie, S.H.E.I.L.D has plans for the Tesseract's use. What they are is better found out by watching the movie.
The plots of Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Iron Man 1 & 2 all come together to form Marvel's The Avengers. As far as I know, there is no connection with the plot of The Incredible Hulk with this story beyond the fact that Dr. Selvig used to work with Dr. Bruce Banner. The main story of The Avengers is this: Loki, demi-god brother of Thor, has teamed up with a mysterious alien force known as the Chitauri in order to become the sole ruler of Earth. The brains seem to be all Loki but the "leader", I'll call him, of the Chitauri is no dummy and, from a flashback of Loki's, it would seem that the demi-god fears this alien king. But this stops Loki's determination in no way. Loki goes around getting stuff he needs to utilize the Tesseract's power in such a way as to create a portal to the outer-space-like world of the Chitauri. Nick Fury feels threatened by Loki and, against the wishes of his directors, gets the Avengers together, hoping that as one they will be a strong enough force to beat Loki once and for all.
When the portal begins to spew forth flying snake-ish monsters longer than skyscrapers are tall, the Avengers, who haven't exactly gotten along before now, band together to go into "destroy all aliens" mode. This last battle is, by far, the most exciting part of the film. Joss Whedon does a very good job of juggling six superheroes and their various superpowers as they rocket all around New York City on a Chitauri beat-down. The Hulk, predictably, smashes. Iron Man blasts aliens with his various weaponry; Thor electrocutes and hammers his way to victory, very impressively. Captain America teams up with Black Widow as the ground force; the Widow, by the way, sports a very interesting wrist-Taser. Hawkeye, though, is the most interesting, with his high-tech bow and arrow. He can toggle various attachments on his arrows and his quiver serves him the arrow so he can grab without looking. A very interesting take on the character of Hawkeye, and thoroughly enjoyable.
Eventually, the Avengers prevail and save the day and everyone lives happily-ever-after. Or so we are led to believe. But a mid-credits snippet shows us that the battle is not over. An old face returns, ready to lead the Chitauri to victory, as well as successfully building up excitement for an undeniable sequel.
Overall, the Avengers rocks. The plot took a backseat to the action, but this was not amiss. No one goes to see a superhero movie that makes them think; they'd rather see Iron Man taking down alien baddies with his repulsors. The CGI (computer-generated imagery) was incredible. The Hulk, the Chitauri, Iron Man, the pyrotechnics, it was all very well-animated. The action scenes were wicked awesome. Who doesn't want to see Thor and Iron Man going at each other? Marvel's The Avengers is a job-well done, and absolutely worth going to see this summer. Now, we wait for the sequel.
~Ian James~
Today, I am reviewing Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. This is a difficult movie to review for several reasons, but I will do my best. This Friday is Good Friday, the day which marks Jesus' death upon the Cross. The Passion of the Christ is the perfect movie to be watched on Good Friday night. It reminds us of Christ's sacrifice that we might have eternal life with Him in Heaven.
The story of Christ's Passion is obviously taken from the Bible, so the story itself is not tampered with. Screenplay is well put together, and the lines flow well. The entire movie is set in Aramaic and Latin with English subtitles, which gets points for artistic originality. The costumes are well done, and as far as I know, true to the period. Directing is good, camera positions are well set up. Over all, aesthetically, the movie gets about 4 out of 5 stars.
Some points to note are the 'R' rating. Definitely, this movie is not something to share with kids under the age of 12. The movie is bloody and gory, but let's bear in mind what the movie is about. The Passion of the Christ looks to accurately recount just that; Jesus' crucifixion and last few hours of life before. This subject, Jesus' death, is one to be treated with respect. To say that the movie is awesome and really cool would be disrespectful, seeing as this is a true story of God dying for our sins. But I would be remiss to say that this movie is not a good one. It inspires and rouses the soul. It makes one ask the Lord for forgiveness, and strengthen their resolve to not sin again. So, despite its controversial gory depiction of the flogging and crucifixion of Jesus, The Passion of the Christ definitely succeeds in strengthening the spiritual relationship between man and God. I absolutely recommend it.
~Ian James~
Today, I would like to share a book that I very much enjoyed. The book is The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum. So, please, enjoy the following book review.
Robert Ludlum's 1980 New York Times bestseller, The Bourne Identity, is an incredible thriller that immerses and captures the reader from the get-go. Reading Bourne is like walking through a maze; there are surprises at every turn and you never know what will come at you next. Not until the last page do you actually know all the answers. Literally, the very last page. All throughout the book, Mr. Ludlum has us wondering, "Who is Jason Bourne?"
Ludlum lays before us a man, fished out of the sea, riddled with bullets and plagued with amnesia. His face has been surgically altered and a frame of microfilm has been implanted in his hip. Jason Bourne is being hunted down by a murderous assassin named Carlos. He is racing for his life; towards what, though, he is unsure.
Robert Ludlum's style of writing is one to be commended. It is descriptive and artistic. While sometimes the dialogue can be difficult to navigate and the book is long, its pace rarely slows down. I was quite impressed by it all.
I unfortunately can't say too much about the plot of the story without giving important parts away. But I can say that it's well put together, and has no holes or missing parts. I also have to note that sometimes Bourne's outlook on life can be depressing and kind of repetitive, but that's really my only qualm with this book. The rest of it is awesome, and I highly recommend it.
~Ian James~
The Christian group Abandon, who signed onto ForeFront Records in late 2007, just recently released a new album. Control, the band's sophomore album, hit iTunes on April 19, 2011. The new band has enjoyed much popularity, in and out of Christian circles. Their new album is packed with incredible songs from start to finish; from track 1 to track 13. The band's sound has been compared to the group The Killers. How true this is, I can't really say, because I haven't heard much from that band. One thing I can say is how much I love this album. By now, you're probably wondering why. Well, let me tell you.
The album Control has a contemporary, clean sound to it. Not a lot of heavy sounds, but plenty of upbeat synthesizer mixes. It's a sound that just about anyone can enjoy. Let me give a little breakdown:
Guitar: Light, clean; few effects.
Bass: Often prominent, impressive.
Drums: Relatively simple beats, nice sound.
Synthesizer: Light, clean; prominent; well-put together.
Vocals: Very nice leads; good backgrounds; nice harmonies.
All these instruments come together to form a good sound reminiscent of your favorite alternative-type band. Definitely a good sound. It all works very well together.
The songs as individuals are impressive. Each song is a hit, and I enjoy every one. The best, by far, is Feel It In Your Heart. An upbeat call for us to mean what we say and say what we mean, and feel our commitment to God in the depths of our heart.
Other favorites are, in chronological order, Live It Out, S.O.S, Your Love Goes On, and New Year's Day. All these songs infuse alternative-type rock with positive lyrics urging us to be closer to God. That definitely seems to be the overall theme of this record; repentance, forgiveness, and spiritual closure with our Lord. I find it inspiring as well as fun. Definitely worth listening to. Why not give it a listen?
~Ian James~
