Though I have never read the books (a fault I intend on rectifying in the very near future), I’m still a fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories and lore. Now that the vampire fad has finally faded, the new media mania seems to be focused on more cerebral entertainment (and about bloody time, too!) There are currently three incarnations of Sherlock Holmes appearing in living rooms which, of course, raises the debate between the purists and the enthusiasts as to which Holmes is better. I’d definitely fall into the latter.
Those that are in the dark, the three incarnations are the BBC mini-series called Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes, the CBS show called Elementary starring Johnny Lee Miller as Holmes, and, of course, the movies starring Robert Downey Jr (RDJ). Cumberbatch and Miller portray Holmes in a modern setting, while the movies are more focused on the period in which the books were written.
So which Sherlock is better? It depends on who you ask.
The purists will say, and I definitely respect their point of view, that Cumberbatch is the quintessential Sherlock Holmes even in the context of the modern setting. I would have to say that I agree with them. He does encompass all the characteristics as defined by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and I do enjoy Martin Freeman as John Watson almost as much as I enjoy Jude Law’s portrayal. CBS definitely took a few liberties with their interpretation; such as moving the location from London to New York City and John Watson is actually Joan Watson played by Lucy Liu. I think Miller (and RDJ) still capture the aloof, sardonic, and brilliant behavior of Sherlock Holmes very well!
If you ask me, you can’t really compare the three of them. I think all three are brilliant in their own contexts. Personally I feel that even the liberties CBS took with Elementary are easily surpassed by the excellent writing and acting. I was skeptical of a female Dr. Watson and the casting of Lucy Liu, but after a full season I think she pulled it off extremely well. I’m really looking forward to the next season (and the same can be said for the BBC version).
I really like all three of them equally and separately. I have friends that prefer the BBC version and I think their reasons are perfectly valid but to each their own.
/cheers
(P.S. There are talks emerging of a third Sherlock Holmes film)
Yesterday Microsoft unveiled their newest XBox console. This is suppose to be the next generation of console gaming, and in some ways it is. In fact, for the first time in quite a while I was actually not only excited about a console system, but a Microsoft product too! Which is a rare occasion. My excitement later diminished into bitter disappointment; I will get to that a bit later.
It’s been over a week since I have posted anything. Life, every now and then, throws a few extra curve balls and dealing with them has a tendency to let the normal stuff take a back seat. I wish I could say that it was just extra stressful at work, which it has been. There were several days last week when I would have rather been hospitalized with pneumonia then go into work. Yes, it was that stressful.
One of the biggest causes of nerd quarrels is the debate about which franchise is better; Star Wars or Star Trek. While from a fictional perspective these two are vastly different, they do have at least one thing in common. You can not deny that both have extremely loyal fans (some probably border on creepy). Personally, I’m probably a Star Wars nerd and a Star Trek fan.
I didn’t watch the Oscars this year, honestly it’s been several years since I have actually sat down and watched them like I use to. I wanted to watch some of my favorite movies potentially win the most prestigious award in the movie industry; I don’t want to hear George Clooney or some documentary troglodyte use their acceptance speech to soapbox some political agenda. When it became about politics, it stopped being interesting. We all know the primadonnas in Hollywood have their skewed and obscene opinions about certain political issues. Oscar night is not the forum for that because I. Don’t. Care.
Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, announced recently that by the end of tax season their legacy instant messenger system, MSN Messenger (now called Windows Live), will be shutdown permanently. Anyone with a Windows Live/MSN Messenger account will be automatically converted to a Skype account (and anyone with both, the accounts will be merged). The impending doom date is April 15th (originally set for early March).