Sunday, January 29, 2012

One for the Money movie

Well, I saw the movie on Friday with a group of Trenton oriented historians, historic preservation folks, and fans. We liked the movie pretty well - enjoyed the repartee, handsome muscular men, and Sherry Sheppard as Lula, in particular. The movie was shot not in Trenton but in Pittsburgh, which led to some very disconcerting scenes of abandoned steel mills and mountains in the background. Also the houses and streets were mostly pretty wrong for the 'burg. They did use a number of stickers, props, wall maps, signs, and local references that gave a little flavor. I thought Katherine Heigl was just fine as Stephanie Plum despite being almost universally panned by critics. My fellow movie goers thought she was too pretty but pretty good. The movie is light and enjoyable if not the greatest detective film ever, not quite the disaster it was made out to be.

House of Silk

House of Silk
Anthony Horowitz
2011

This book is is a new Sherlock Holmes mystery authorized by the Conan Doyle estate. Sherlock is hotter than ever. I saw the latest in the muscular version of Holmes and Watson depicted by Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law on Christmas Day and really enjoyed its non-stop action. Jared Harris, skilled playing an evil genius from his work on Fringe makes avery effective Moriarity. Even better is the modernized version presented by the BBC and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. The first series was on last year and the next is being shown in the UK at present and we'll see it in the U.S. in May. Laurie King's wonderful and well-received Mary Russell- Holmes mysteries featuring the young intellectual wife of Holmes and Study in Sherlock are also well worth it for the hungry Holmes fan.

House of Silk is very good and not at all revisionist. It does feature some of Holmes irregulars and focuses on the terrible mistreatment of poor children during Victoriam times. Holmes has come upon a secret so heinous it threatens to bring down the government and he continues to pursue it despite being warned off by his brother Mycroft. It is very atmospheric with a sinuous well-draw plot.