Elementary Series Premiere Review

Director:

Michael Cuesta

Writer:

Rob Doherty

Cast:

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes

Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson.

Aidan Quinn as Captain Tobias Gregson

Review:

Sherlock in modern times… Wait a minute.. Haven’t I already seen something like this?

Sherlock Holmes in modern times isn’t a new concept.. The great Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have already used it in their BBC series ‘Sherlock’. Two major differences in this is that, this is in America and Watson is a woman. I was apprehensive of changing the gender of Watson and thus destroying the essential Holmes/Watson Bromance that I look forward to in any Sherlock story. After sometime I was quite excited to see how Elementary actually is. How were they going to explain Sherlock in New York? What will happen between Holmes and Watson? These were few of the questions in my mind before. I really wanted them answered.

The episode started like any other crime and police procedural drama by showing us a woman being killed. Then we meet Joan played by Lucy Liu and Sherlock played by Johnny Lee Miller. She is his sober companion sent by his father. Sherlock being Sherlock figures out that she was a surgeon. Then we meet Captain Tobias Gregson, Elementary’s Lestrade (though he is a minor character in the Conan Doyle’s series). They get into the case and Sherlock uses his deduction skills to find out that something was missing from the house and found the body and found out that she allowed the killer into the house and gave him some water. He just goes on figuring out stuff in the episode and we just have to keep wondering who the killer is. When we think that this man is the killer, he goes and finds another man who might be the killer and then another and then we return to the first man who is that actual killer.

Frankly I wasn’t very impressed by this episode. This episode had no reference to the books or anything. The BBC Sherlock was filled with nods to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works. The story in this episode was quite weak. The chemistry between Holmes and Watson was different. I can’t explain what’s happening or what going to happen between them. As I mentioned before the essential Bromance is missing. Joan is a good companion (though one would have thought of her to be more of a firefly companion, but she is more like a Doctor Who companion), she gets into the business of being Holmes’ partner pretty fast and is an efficient one. She helps him and she also shows ger dedication to her job.

As I mentioned before the story was weak. For a pilot, which is quite important to make the show work and people to like it, it was disappointing. On the bright side, the acting was good. Johnny Lee Miller’s Sherlock is good but, it is no where near Benedict Cumberpatch’s or even Robert Downey’s. Lucy Liu’s Dr. Joan Watson is also pretty good, but I am missing the bromance. Aidan Quinn’s Gregson was amazing; his performance was one of the high points of the episode. There were some funny lines in this episode one of them was “My barrister was rubbish”. Elementary’s cast outclasses its script..

Though this episode isn’t as much of a disaster as I had initially expected it to be. It was fun to see Miller’s Holmes, Liu’s Watson and Quinn’s Gregson, but neither is it worth watching. In a world where Moffat’s Sherlock didn’t exist, this would have been better. But thank god we don’t live in such a world.

Nevertheless I will continue watching this series to see where it goes.

Final Verdict:

4/10

Book Review: The Sherlockian

“The Old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere modernity cannot kill”

                                                     – Bram Stoker ‘Dracula’

Author:

Graham Moore

Publishers:

Twelve Books

Published on:

November 21st 2011

Story:

In December 1893- Sherlock Holmes-adoring Londoners eagerly opened their Strand magazines, anticipating the detective’s next adventure, only to find the unthinkable: his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, had killed their hero off. London spiraled into mourning — crowds sported black armbands in grief — and railed against Conan Doyle as his assassin.
Then in 1901, just as abruptly as Conan Doyle had “murdered” Holmes in “The Final Problem,” he resurrected him. Though the writer kept detailed diaries of his days and work, Conan Doyle never explained this sudden change of heart. After his death, one of his journals from the interim period was discovered to be missing, and in the decades since, has never been found.
In January 2010- When literary researcher Harold White is inducted into the preeminent Sherlock Holmes enthusiast society, The Baker Street Irregulars, he never imagines he’s about to be thrust onto the hunt for the holy grail of Holmes-ophiles: the missing diary. But when the world’s leading Doylean scholar is found murdered in his hotel room, it is Harold – using wisdom and methods gleaned from countless detective stories – who takes up the search, both for the diary and for the killer.

Review:

The Sherlockain, has parallel stories of Harold White and the famous and ever so AWESOME Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The concept was interesting and the book had an engaging plot. This book is such a rare one. It’s one of those types where on reading the first line itself, you get to know how awesome it will be. The first lines of this book are so amazing and so awesome.

The first lines are-

‘ Arthur Conan Doyle curled his brow tightly and thought only of murder. 

“I’m going to kill him, ” Conan Doyle said…’

If my quoting didn’t convince you that this book is awesome, maybe my review would.

The author had developed such an amazing story with one of the greatest mystery writers. Two parallel mysteries take place in the book- one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the second of Harold White. Their reason for investigating is also closely related to Sherlock Holmes. Arthur being the creator of SH, would know more about detection. But Harold White, having read all of Sherlock’s mysteries and can quote every single line of it and id a proud member of The Sherlockian, thinks that he too can solve the case using the detective skills of his idol Sherlock Holmes. The story is wonderfully written and the plot is engaging. The story is such that, you’d not want to put the book down. It was hard for me to put the book down while reading it.

The author added a nice touch by giving quotes form the Sherlock books at the start of each chapter. My favorite form that was “Crime is common. Logic is rare.” The ending was stunning and the mystery it self is unique (I don’t want to reveal much of it in this review). The way Harold and Arthur solve their cases was awesome! This is a must read for those hard-core Sherlock Fans and also for those who love Mystery.

Final Verdict:

8/10

WMM #3.2

Weekly Mish-Mash #3.2 (Tv Shows)

Note: This edition of WMM is extra long and to make it easier, I’m splitting it in two. The first would be the Movies part  and the next would be the TV Shows part (This  one). They would be names #3.1 and #3.2. This was done because the TV Shows part had a large number of TV Show trailers for the Fall of this year. All the TV Net works are premiering the trailers for their new TV Shows. I have attached the link to the other one at the end.

TV News:

Sherlock wins 3 BAFTA Craft awards: one for the writer Steven Moffat, one for editing Charlie Philips and one for sound team John Mooney, Jeremy Child, Howard Bargroff and Doug Sinclair, all for episode 2.1, A Scandal in Belgravia.

The Voice, Up All Night and Whitney return for another season this fall.

 Covert Affairs Season 3 airs July 10th. Rizzoli and Isles season 3 arrives June 5th.

Warehouse 13 returns on July 23rd.

Suits returns with the new season on June 14

Franklin & Bash returns with the second season 5th June

Revolution, Go On and The New Normal premiere after The Voice.

Hannibal is a TV series based on the early days of Hannibal Lecter. Which premieres on NBC this fall.

Missing has been cancelled along with Are You There Chelsea?, Awake, Bent , Best Friends Forever, Harry’s Law, How to be a Gentleman, Luck, The Finder, The Firm. The River, GCB, Hung, Pan Am & The Secret Circle. If you liked any of them, bad for you.

Dan Harmon, creator of Community, is no longer its show runner.

New TV Trailers:

The first teaser trailer Elementary arrives. It’s a show about a modern day Sherlock Holmes, where Dr. Watson is played by Lucy Lui. She is a surgeon by the name of Joan Watson helping Holmes. Here it is:

Second trailer for Arrow TV series arrives:

Trailer for Vegas arrives, which stars Dennis Quaid as Mobsters in  1960s Vegas, premiering in CBS this Fall. Here’s the Trailer:

Made in Jersey is a new procedural show on CBS about an off-beat lawyer. It stars Janet Montgomery. Here’s the trailer:

Partners (Also on CBS)  is a story of two best friends and business partners, one straight, one gay by the creators of Will & Grace. Here’s the trailer:

Last Resort is about a nuclear sub that refuses orders to fire and is declared enemies of the state. Its a very new concept and the trailer is like a movie. Here it is:

666 Park Avenue is about a couple becoming landlords of a fancy New York building which is apparently owned by the Devil, played by Lost’s Terry O’Quinn. The trailer has some creepy things . Here it is:

‘How to Live With Your Parents  (For the rest of your lives)’ which is a new sitcom.From the trailer, the series seems to be funny, but I’m not sure if it’ll last. Starring Sarah Chalke, Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garrett. Here’s the trailer:

‘The Family Tools’. A Very useless trailer.. I’d avoid this show completely! Any way you decide, here is the trailer:

Nashville is another musical show. After the surprise success of Smash, there come another Musical TV Show.It’s about a longtime country star and a young, pop/country crossover star.  Here it is:

Red Widow is a new thriller abou a women seeking revenge for the death of her husband. Here’s the trailer:

Mistresses stars Alyssa Milano and Lost’s Yunjin Kim. Here’s the Trailer:

The Following, premiering on Fox durin the Fall, is about a man searching for an escaped serial killer whom he had caught years ago. This looks like an interesting trailer and TV Show.  Here it is for you to decide:

The Mindy Project also on Fox during the Fall. When I saw this trailer, it kinda reminded me of New Girl, an unexpected hit.Here’s the Trailer:

From the creators of HIMYM, comes this new comedy called “The Goodwin Games”. The trailer was funny. Here it is:

The Mob Doctor is an interesting show. Here’s the Trailer:

Animal Practice premiering on NBC this fall, is what House MD would be like if Dr. House would have been a Vet. Here’s the trailer:

Chicago Fire is a drama about firefighters in Chicago.

Go on is Matthew Perrys new TV Show. Here is the Trailer:

Guys with Kids is about three 30-something dads try to raise their new kids while refusing to grow up themselves.Here’s the Trailer

The New Normal  is a sitcom about a gay couple and the surrogate they have chosen to give birth to their child. Here’s the Trailer:

Revolution is about  a post apocalyptic society when all electricity is lost and technology becomes useless. Here’s the trailer:

1600 Penn is a sitcom about a family in the whitehouse. Here’s the trailer:

Do No Harm is a modern day version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Here’s the trailer:

Infamous  is about a detective goes undercover as a maid to investigate the murder of a childhood friend. Here’s the trailer:

Next Caller is a sitcom about an odd couple of talk radio hosts. Here’s the Trailer:

Save Me is a sitcom about a woman who tries to completely change her life after a near deadly accident. Here’s the trailer:

New On Galactica:

Crazy, Stupid, Love Review

A Storm of Swords Part 2: Blood and Gold Review

Game of Thrones S02E07

New poster for Galactica:

Weekly Mish-Mash #3.1

Weekly Mish-Mash #2

Life, The Universe and Censorship!

Censorship is a major problem in India. The Central Board of Film Certification has ruined movies for all the Indian. They make unnecessary cuts in a movie. And on top of that they give it an [A] rating. Seriously!!! Why would they make it [A]?? Would it damage the very fragile minds of adults?

The Censor board is headed by idiots who have no clue as to what should be cut from movies. For example: the board had cut few minutes from Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, they pointlessly cut a scene from the movie when, John Watson’s wife is pushed off the train by Sherlock and into the river, Mycroft picks her up. That scene had nothing explicit for it to be cut out of the movie.

I do not understand why, the Board makes cuts in an [A] movie and release it. If they are making it [A], shouldn’t it be left uncut. Whats damage can be done to the adults? I’d understand if they make cuts in movies and release it with a [U/A] rating, but leaving it [A] makes no sense. I’d be happy if they make a movie [A] without any cuts. At least other people can see the whole movie! But to make it [A] there has to be a some thing which is not meant for children.

And it is because of the same board that us Indians weren’t able to see David Fincher‘s ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo‘. They wanted to cut the scenes where Lisbeth is being abused by Bjurman, but if they do, there will be continuity issues for the upcoming sequels. Also they gave Sherlock Holmes (the first one) an [A] rating but every where else  in the world it was given [U/A] rating. And that was only because it had black magic. Thats no reason to give it an [A] rating. Also they did the same for X-Men: The Last Stand. It was given an [A] rating in India  because it ha scenes of people being disintegrated.

Same goes for TV shows. So many scenes have been cut from the TV Shows and some of the word are also bleeped out. This ruins the episode.

Heres a video of the lines of movies which are edited for TV:

Here are some pictures of whats been edited out of the movies:

Agneepath (Hindi):

Agent Vinod (Hindi):

Three (Tamil):

These pictures and videos given above are example of how scenes have been cut from movies for no reason.