Sherlock Holmes Sequels in Trouble

I must admit that I haven't gotten out to see Sherlock Holmes yet at the theatre, but I can say that it has done very well with over $230 million worldwide.  Its just unfortunate that there seems to have developed a very interesting controversy surrounding some comments made by Sherlock Holmes star Robert Downy Jr. on The Tonight Show With David Letterman.

Apparently, Robert Downey Jr. (which you can see above) made some comments that seemed to indicate that Sherlock Holmes and Watson had a somewhat "homo erotic" relationship in the movie.  These comments haven't sat very well with the current rights holder  of the Sherlock Holmes franchise, Andrea Plunket.  Andrea has stated that, if this (a gay Sherlock Holmes and Watson) is going to be the future direction of the franchise she will not be allowing any further films in the franchise, as this goes against the "spirit" of the books.

Now it seems that some people seem to think that Andrea is really just taking this situation too seriously, but I have to agree with her.  I've never read the Sherlock Holmes books, but from what I know, Sherlock Holmes and Watson always have had a close relationship without being gay.

Why can't two guys in a movie share a very close relationship, without them being gay?  I remember after The Lord of the Rings trilogy came out many people seemed to think that Sam and Frodo were gay.  Anyone that read the books or saw the end of The Return of the King clearly knows that Sam gets married to a women, and the relationship he has with Frodo doesn't evolve farther than a close friendship.  But that never stopped people from saying that Frodo and Sam were gay.

Now people are trying to imply that Sherlock Holmes and Watson are gay.  And you know what, I haven't seen the movie so I really don't know what people are seeing in Sherlock Holmes.  Nor do I really know the source of Robert Downey Jr.'s comments.  Was he just joiking?  The truth is I hope he is joking since I don't want to see a gay Sherlock Holmes and Watson.  Sorry I have nothing against anyone that is gay, as I find them to be very nice people.  I just don't want to see a gay Sherlock Holmes.

But in any case, what are your thoughts on this whole situation?  Do you want to see a Gay Sherlock Holmes?  Is this just a publicity stunt?

The Box Office has it biggest Weekend Ever

Script to Screen is reporting that this past Christmas weekend was not only the biggest Christmas box office weekend, but also the biggest box office weekend ever with an estimated $285 million made for the domestic market.

This weekend saw the release of some pretty big movies. Sherlock Holmes pulled in $65.2 million dollars, $24.5 million of which it made on Christmas day, making it the biggest Christmas release ever.  But, the big winner for this past weekend was Avatar with $75 million which is actually quite good for its second week, as last week you will remember it pulled in about $73 million domestically. 

I’m not sure what this means for us in North America.  Are we more lonely this year, or are people looking to get out more on Holidays?  It would be interesting to really find out what has lead to this increased interest in going to the theatre on Christmas.  For my family we have a long standing tradition of meeting for Christmas Dinner and spending the day together.  I doubt that it would ever change to us heading to the movies on Christmas, but clearly for a lot of people going to the movies is part of their Christmas holiday.

Sherlock Holmes Holds a 68%

A few weeks ago, I put up a post warning people to stay away from Sherlock Holmes this Christmas due to the likelihood that it would be bad, given its release date.  Well, this weekend some reviews of Sherlock Holmes have come out and currently, Sherlock Holmes is sitting at a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes with 28 reviews.

Certainly 28 reviews doesn't make for an overall consensus on the film, but does give a good baseline.  As we get closer to Christmas,  there will be more reviews that will come out for Sherlock Holmes and we'll get a better picture of where this film stands in terms of reviewers. 

In any case, I felt that I should at the very lest acknowledge these reviews, since I had previously warned people not to see Sherlock Holmes. 

Beware of Sherlock Holmes

Sound the Alarm Bells.  Bad Movie Alert! Bad Movie Alert!

Hey Guys.  I just thought that it was time to put up this warning to those reading my blog.  Many of you may have been seeing all sorts of trailers and previews for this movie online and in theatres for months, and been fairly impressed with them.  I know that I was.  I was very much looking forward to seeing this movie.  Up until I saw the release date. 

For those of you that don’t know, Sherlock Holmes is slated to release on Christmas Day.   Now you might ask “What is so special about Christmas Day that has warranted such a warning about this film?” 

Well, its just that many films have used Christmas Day releases as a way to hide bad movies.  Let me give you some examples:

1. The Spirit   Last year on Christmas Day ‘The Spirit’ released and that film was just garbage.  (Sorry).  I felt sorry for anyone that endured it.  Well that’s not to say that some people may have liked it.  I know someone that said they felt it wasn’t that bad.  But I was bored watching it.

2. Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem   On Christmas Day of 2007 AVPR released and it was pretty bad.  It was better than the Spirit, but just bad.

And on and on, there have been bad movies released on Christmas Day.  Why? Film studios that know that they have a bad movie will sometimes use Christmas Day as a way of hiding a movie, since people are busy and they don’t have time to read reviews.  So the film slips under people’s radars and they go see it.  Sherlock Holmes is in a position that many people will want to see this film, but will it be good is the only problem I have.  If you still want to see this film (which I will probably end up doing), proceed with caution.  

You have been warned.