Sherlock (2010) TV Series

I had been an admirer of Sherlock Holmes for ages, although i have not read the complete collection of this esteemed fictional character, but i plan to do the same shortly. Incidentally my dear uncle is a huge fan as well, so when the movie "Sherlock Holmes" came to theaters in 2009 i was more than sure that he will accompany me to the theaters. But he had a different opinion, he said that he has always perceived Sherlock Holmes to be a serious and no nonsense fellow and the characterization done by "Guy Ritchie" dose not amuses him, he liked the image that "Jeremy Brent" carried of when he enacted the role in the old time TV series based on the character. However i enjoyed the movie a lot and i am looking forward to the sequel as well.

Now coming on to the latest thing, a new TV series again based on the same character, dose it offers something, the answer seems to me as yes, the only difference this time seems to be that, the setting of the present series in 2010 not the Victorian era. That means the series will contain the dosage of modern technology to full extent, and it will be amusing to see how Mr Holmes solve the crime with the help of these modern methods.

Only 3 episodes have been made for the first season of this series, with the strong possibility of another 3 episodes in the next season. I have watched only the first episode "A study in Pink". The episode introduces the lead characters i.e Sherlock Holmes an eccentric Private detective and Dr Watson an ex-army doctor how they first meet and the first crime they solve together. A matter relating to "serial suicides:.

The series highly focuses not only the crime and its detection but to a large extent on psychology of both the lead characters. Holmes for whom crime is a game which he enjoys, and even finding the truth is more important for him than catching the criminal as well and Dr Watson who seems to be the victim of stress of war but actually thrives for danger.

A stylish way of presentation, with added humor and a very intelligent plot, which not only focuses on who did the the crime, but more importantly "How" and "Why", makes this episode an irresistible watch for any fan of  suspense genre.

Rating ****1/2

Miracle on 34th Street

"Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to"

Released in 1947, "Miracle on 34th Street" is a wonderful experience rather then a movie. As the above line may have indicated, the movie is about faith, and believing in something beyond the obvious.

The story is about a woman Doris Walker who lives with her 6 year old daughter Susan, Doris is a divorcee and believes that a person needs to be practicle and should not rely on miracles in life, and her upbringing is clearly reflected on Susan as well, Susan even at such a small age, dosent believe in any fairy tales or even in Santa Claus. Doris's neighbour Fred Gailey is an attorney by profession, and is having feelings for her and adores susan as well. Now enters Kris Kringle an old man looking just like Santa Claus and whats amazing is he believes himself to be santa claus as well. Thinking him to be delusional but safe, he is liked by everbody for his kind nature.

When Kris finds about lack of faith in Doris and Susan, he makes a deal with Fred to change there perceptions, but is arrested shortly because of a psycologist how declares him to be dangerous and mentally unstable. And then follows an anazing court case where Fred tries to prove that Kris is actually Santa Claus.

There are people who have faith, people who dont have it and there are a lot of people who are in between these two categeroies. The movie deals with all three of them. Its just not about having faith in Santa Claus, it about having faith in life, about the feeling that things will be alright.

The movie is as delightful as it gets, the court room sequence is one of the most astonising part of the movie, the dilemma of the judge is shown in the most humerous way, if he declares that there is no Santa Claus, he may loose the upcoming election as people will start disliking him, and because he is an honest man, he can not declare the existance of Santa Claus without evidence.

The person inacting the role of Kris Kringle (Santa Claus) is having an amazingly soothing voice, just hearing him talk will make you feel good. He has given an unbeatble performance, all the actors have done good job, a lot of little children are havin small small roles, which is very charming as well.

Even though a lot of people dont like watching an old Black and White movie, this movie is not worth missing. Highly recommended.

Rating ****.

The Bucket List

There can be possibly two reasons for not watching "The Bucket List".

1. You have watched it already
OR
2. You have watched "Dasvidaniya" and feel "The Bucket List" has nothing more to offer.

It was the second reason that kept me from watching this movie for quite some time, but now as i have watched it, i feel the second reason should not have mattered.

The movie is about two men who have been detected cancer and are soon going to die, we may expect the movie to become dull, boring, or grim after that, but to the contrary the movie makes you laugh more than it makes you cry, or should i say there is no scene in the movie that will make you cry, think maybe, but cry? not at all. Thus start the journey of two men who want to fulfill there long time wishes before dying.

People who have watched "Dasvidaniya" may not find much novelty in story, but the point of interest may be the similarity or differences between the list made by our Indian Hero, which resembles the wishes of majority of Indians, or the two western Heroes, which may give you insight regarding the mindset of their thinking and aspirations.

Performance wise both the actors Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson have done wonderful job. Dialogues are witty and appropriate, a few sequences, like the 'sky diving' one and the one where Morgan Freeman tell Jack Nicholson about 'Kopi Luwak' the most expensive coffee in the world may make you laugh like any thing.

On the whole the movie rings a bell, it says, appreciate life, have joy in your life and bring joy to the life of others. Don't wait for the last moments to come, so that you can start living. The move is a must watch.

Rating ****.

Battle: Los Angeles World Invasion

I was not very keen on watching this movie, but the fact that there where no releases this week due to world cup, i had limited choices. The movie had Aaron Eckhart as protagonist and i am a huge fan, after watching his performances in two of my favorite movies (Thank you for Smoking and The Dark Knight) and that was the only reason i went ahead to watch another alien disaster movie.

To be frank friends what new things can come with the old concept of aliens attacking earth and brave earth men saving the day. Well nothing exceptional came here as well, the only difference was the approach with which the movie was shot, making it look like a combination of 'Black Hawk Down' and 'Independence Day' a military operation against aliens attack.

But the movie turned out to be a OK watch, although the movie is fully predictable and had a few cheesy lines and scenes here and there, but the movie is fast pased and doesn't waste time in establishing the characters either, it gets directly to the business. The visuals are good and the movie of this nature not being shot in 3D format is a welcome change.

Its surely not a must watch, but as i earlier said, there is not much action in multiplexes these days, and if you didn't find yourself doing anything else this weekend you may just go and watch the movie, but even if you don't watch this one, you are not going to miss anything big.

Rating **1/2 

I am number four

You are going to need a very strong reason to watch this movie, like for me, i appeared for my confirmation exam today and desperately needed a movie to watch after that, or like there is no other movie to watch this week, or even, it is a Steven Spielberg production so must be decent, you may have any of the above reasons but the result will be the same, disappointment.

Reliance Big makes a big entry in Hollywood with this movie, but the movie goes horribly wrong, it may be fatigue on my part, but i actually slept for about 10 minutes in the movie, it is an action flick and therefor supposed to be fast pased, but the movie is uninspiring in most of the parts, a few action scenes here and there but a good final action sequence in the climax.

But that is not the only problem in the movie, the story dose not attracts, although a good premise, that there are nine children from a distant and destroyed planet who have find shelter on earth, and as there children are supposed to be having special powers and may cause threat to villains of their home planet, so they are being killed by the bad guys one by one, cause they are being given numbers from one to nine, and can be killed in the sequence only, now the first three are dead, and our hero is number four. But as you know the movie gets predictable after a few initial sequences

The director has made the movie dull and boring, even a large part of story has not been disclosed (as compared to the original book on which the movie is based), maybe he is saving that for future, but with a opening movie like this i don't thing there are going to be any chances of a sequel.

Not recommended, watch world cup instead.

Rating *1/2.