I'll be interested to get the reactions of any of you who go and see the new Sherlock Holmes movie coming out on Xmas Day.
I had been eager to see it. However, after seeing some stills showing Robert Downey, Jr., as Holmes sporting designer stubble, I am strongly disinclined to go see it. I grew up as a boy regarding the impeccably groomed Basil Rathbone as the quintessential Holmes. Later I discovered the original illustrations of Sidney Padget. I also enjoyed Jeremy Brett's portrayals of Holmes. After all that, I am very disinclined to go see a movie with a designer-stubbled Holmes.
A friend of mine remarked that they seem to have re-made Holmes as an action hero in the mould of Spider Man. He is a professor at decent private college. Recently he made an allusion to Sherlock Holmes in one of his classes. It was evident that several of his [American] students had no idea who Holmes was.
Similarly, I made an allusion to The Hound of the Baskervilles to a woman the other day. She had never heard of it! An interesting commentary on the decline of general cultural literacy.
I have heard it said that Sherlock Holmes, Dracula and Tarzan are the three most familiar figures from literature worldwide. Interesting that they were all nearly contemporaneous.
I had been eager to see it. However, after seeing some stills showing Robert Downey, Jr., as Holmes sporting designer stubble, I am strongly disinclined to go see it. I grew up as a boy regarding the impeccably groomed Basil Rathbone as the quintessential Holmes. Later I discovered the original illustrations of Sidney Padget. I also enjoyed Jeremy Brett's portrayals of Holmes. After all that, I am very disinclined to go see a movie with a designer-stubbled Holmes.
A friend of mine remarked that they seem to have re-made Holmes as an action hero in the mould of Spider Man. He is a professor at decent private college. Recently he made an allusion to Sherlock Holmes in one of his classes. It was evident that several of his [American] students had no idea who Holmes was.
Similarly, I made an allusion to The Hound of the Baskervilles to a woman the other day. She had never heard of it! An interesting commentary on the decline of general cultural literacy.
I have heard it said that Sherlock Holmes, Dracula and Tarzan are the three most familiar figures from literature worldwide. Interesting that they were all nearly contemporaneous.
